Jen Caputo

End of June Garden Update

Starting out with a bit of an overview shot.

Then, we move to my Hop Monster.

He's kind of scary looking at this point, right?  He's budding up all over the place and we'll be loaded in Centennial Hop cones shortly.

All of the tomatoes are blossoming or fruiting up.  Here are some hanging ones.

The overflowing herb pot (mint, oregano, and thyme), and another pot with two types of mint (spearmint and orange mint)

Check out my one and only Meyer Lemon.  A few more months.... nothing like it taking 1.5 years to grow one lemon.

Some basil

A patio tomato in a pot

Baby straightneck yellow squash!  Hoping to be eating one of these in the next week!

Here is the whole squash bed - that's a zucchini on the right, yellow straightneck on the left, the patio tomato in the pot, and there is a lemon cucumber sprouting in between. Those are Calendula in the very front. I have the squash growing in the upside down tomato cages to try to contain their sprawling greens.

The peas got a second wind, I think I have more developing now then I had when they were supposed to be at their prime.

The cabbage are finally heading up.  Can you eat baby cabbage?  I'm sick of the slugs trying to attack them and want to just pull them already.

This is my first baby tomato! It's a Cherokee Purple heirloom variety.

And then today I found this cluster of yellow pear tomatoes.

I LOVE their shape!  Can't wait till they ripen up.

This is the part of the bed that gets the least amount of sun but it's growing like crazy.  Lots of tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers climbing over everything.

Here's a close up of a burpless cucumber that I'm trying to get to climb on some bamboo poles but it is much more interested in the neighboring tomato cages.

These cucumbers and their growing habits absolutely crack me up.  I have three varieties growing: burpless, boston pickling, and lemon cucumbers.  The lemon cuces are flowering already!!! I expect the rest to be so shortly.

My green beans.  I recently discovered why they weren't growing up the trellis I made them... I bought bush beans, not pole beans.  Whoops.  They are flowering and making all kinds of baby snap beans though, can't wait to try them:

Can you spot the baby beans?  They're in there I swear.

Just as a reminder, this is what that area looked like back in April.  We've come a long way.

 

Lastly - I started a potted garden next to my driveway which is one of few areas that gets a ton of sun.

The big pots are all tomatoes: Jubilee Orange, Cherokee Purple, and Brandywine.  They are sharing their pots with marigolds, purple basils, and lettuces. The small pots in front are for Adam - Cayenne Peppers.

Yesterday I started second sowings of lettuce, swiss chard, and arugula and a first sowing of Chervil.  I'm going to have to keep these guys shaded and cool so they don't bolt in the summer heat.

That's where I'm at right now.  I figure in a month I'll be up to my ears in edibles but for now I'm just counting down the days until I can pick my first tomato, cucumber, or squash.

Cocktails with Adam & Jen: Grapefruit Margarita

Now here's a crowd pleaser that doesn't rely on fake sugar mixtures.  It's all fresh, and all delicious.  It was actually inspired by something we saw Ina Garten do (but she put too much Triple Sec in which made it too sweet.)

We made it for Adam's parents, brother, and his brother's girlfriend and everyone enjoyed it so much, we had to make another batch right away.

Like any drink, fresh squeezed juice is crucial for the best possible flavor. If you don't want to squeeze grapefruits you can use a good juice from the store but there's simply no substitute for fresh lime juice so don't even try.

To make a batch:

• 1 Cup Tequila
• 1 Cup Grapefruit Juice
• 1/2 Cup Lime Juice
• 1/2 Cup Cointreau/Triple Sec
• Stir in a pitcher with ice (or better yet - shake it up if you're doing individual servings)
• Garnish with a grapefruit twist and a salted rim if you're saucy.

(Or if you are just making a drink for one, substitute parts for cups)

It's not very busy but it's absolutely delicious!  Enjoy with your favorite people on a warm sunny day.

Sketch Collection #35

I showed you my sample the other day but I forgot to show you the finished collection!

So here it is.  I have lots of samples to show you too.

 

Pick them up right here.  Use coupon code jc-35blog25 to get 25% off (expires June 27 @ 11:59PM EST).

Still a Stamper Too!

Dad - don't read this.  Lindsey - you too.

Seriously, go away.

Are you gone?

 

 

 

My cousin's wedding is this weekend and I was flat out of wedding cards.  This is what I whipped up.

 

It's simple but I like wedding cards that way.  I used an embossing plate on the bottom and PTI paper for the top.  The Congratulations stamp is from My Cute Stamps. Ribbon is PTI. Nestabilities dies.

 

 

And here are my Father's Day cards this year.

Everything here is from Papertry Ink except for the Fiskars border punch.

 

It was pretty sad to make one less Father's Day card this year :(  I miss you Grandpa.

Still a Scrapper!

Even though I haven't digi scrapped since October of last year (and April before that!) I'm still a scrapper.  I actually really miss it, it's been way too long.  Will someone find me just a few more hours a day?  I think 4 would suffice.

I scrapped my Milwaukee trip last night.  I finished some new templates (that should be up in the store by Thursday) and they actually inspired me to push some pixels around.

I used Miss Vivi's To Do Kit @ SBG. Along with Sketch Collection #35 which will be in my store shortly.

Milwaukee in a weekend

It was a few days before Memorial Day and we realized we were without plans.  So we hopped on priceline and a few minutes later had booked the Hilton in downtown Milwaukee for just over $50 a night. Not too bad!

Saturday morning we stuffed our bikes in the car and took the quick drive up.  Our first stop (after lunch) was at Great Lakes Distillery.

It was the perfect first stop! 

They have a lovely tasting room and a great bartender who pretty much pointed us in the direction of everything we did that weekend. 

We started out by trying a little sample of each of their spirits:

A gin, vodka, citrus vodka, rum, Kirsch, Grappa, and 2 kinds of Absinthe's.

The absinthe's are getting ready for us to drink them.

But first, they need some ice cold water dripped in so they do their magic!

 

See it changing colors? See the oil slick on top?  That means it's almost ready to enjoy!

After a tour, our bartender offered us a cocktail.  He could tell we were into the good stuff so he brought out all of his homemade bitters and syrups.

And then he mixed up this puppy which contained lime juice, pepper infused vodka, and rose water (along with a few other things...)

Yum! 

Next stop -  Sprecher Brewery.

We took a tour

And then did their 10 course Reserve Beer and Cheese Pairing.

These were all the beers we tried:

I highly recommend the Reserve tasting but all-in-all, the beer's were just ok. 

I can't remember where we went next... maybe just back to the hotel to relax for a little bit.  But pretty soon after we found ourselves with more cheese...

... at the Wisconsin Cheese Mart Cheese Bar.

I had a wine flight, Adam had a few beers, and we enjoyed this delicious aged cheddar flight

 

Next, we went back to the hotel and found the series finale of Lost was re-airing on ABC.  I refused to leave the room until it was over and then refused to leave the room because I was crying so hard but I finally cleaned myself up enough to head out for a nightcap and a late dinner.

At the recommendation of our new friends at Great Lakes Distillery, we walked over to Bacchus where Ira, the mixologist (who used to work at the Violet Hour in Chicago) crafted us a few amazing cocktails. 

Ira sells his line of Bittercube bitters at Bacchus so we picked up a few flavors. I didn't get any pictures here but we highly recommend it, especially if Ira is working the bar!

Sunday morning we went to breakfast at Honey Pie. Oh My.  Let me show you what Adam ate.

You start with a giant pile of handcut fries.  You top them with BBQ pulled pork.  And cheese sauce. And 2 eggs.  And Bacon.  And pickled jalapeno's if you are feeling saucy. Adam is always feeling saucy.

Nothing like a nice healthy breakfast to start the day off right!

Our big plan for Sunday was to take one of the Riverwalk Boat Brewery Tours. It was a 4 hour ride that took you to 3 breweries.  You could take a tour and enjoy 2 pints at each one.

We started the tour at Lakefront Brewery (which is also the best of the three)

This also happened to be the best brewery tour we'd ever been on (and trust me, we've been on a lot!)

This guy is what made the tour so great.  He was hilarious.  And poured a mean pint.

After about an hour at Lakefront, we got on the boat.

The next stop was Milwaukee Ale House which has an awesome outdoor space.

 

And finally, we went to Rock Bottom, which is a chain.  Some Rock Bottoms (Chicago, for example) are amazing.  Some are not. 

Either way, we were feeling pretty good when the boat pulled away from RB.

We rode our bikes back to the hotel and relaxed for a little while before trying to track down some dinner.  Which sounds easier than it was.  A lot of places were closed Sunday nights and we are too picky to just go anywhere without a recommendation, so instead, we went to the place that all of the other bartenders recommended (but which didn't have food) - Bryant's Cocktail Lounge.

Walking into this place is like walking into another time.

Like... 2am maybe?

Seriously, pitch black.  You walk in and just stand there for a minute while your eyes try to adjust because you cannot see anything.

This place mixes up some amazing cocktails though.  You just tell them what you like to drink and they will whip you up something brilliant!  They make three types of drinks there: ice cream, tiki-inspired hurricane, and depression-era cocktails.  I'm going to go ahead and insist you order a depression era cocktail ;)

Like I said, it's pitch black in there but I did get this picture of our awesome bartender

And this is with a 2 second exposure (ISO at 800)!

Since we seemed to be doing so well with our bartenders recommending the next place we went, we let him pick our dinner location: Lulu

Yup, Lulu also made great cocktails.  I had the Mid-East Falafel Pita for dinner and loved it. Their Asian Slaw was awesome! I don't remember what Adam had but I know he didn't like it as much as I enjoyed mine.  Guess he picked the wrong thing!

Well, that's our quick weekend tour of Milwaukee.  We loved it!  Who knew Milwaukee was such a classic cocktail haven?  Can't wait to go back!

Early June Garden Update (Meet Ernie!)

It seemed to me that my Turnips were growing like crazy and might be getting ready to pick... so I picked one.

So... not quite ready yet I guess.  I did decide to chop up the greens though and add them to dinner. From what I've read, Turnip Greens are some of the healthiest things on earth!

My peas started flowering the other day and today - I found my first Lincoln Pea!

He's not quite ready to pick yet but I'm hoping by this weekend he'll be plumped up!

This is the first Super Sugar Snap Pea I could find.

Again, hoping I get to try him this weekend!

Here's what the carrots are looking like

And my green beans just sprouted.

Ok, it's time for you to meet Ernie before we continue.

Ernie has joined us the last few evenings in a row.  Apparently our back yard is the perfect place to soak in those last few minutes of sunshine.  If we sit on the hammocks, he sits on the table or on our t-shirts.  If I'm working in the garden, he flits around and follows me as I move from plant to plant.

He went in to investigate the Turnips after I picked the failure up at the top of this post.

 

These Bell Peppers look like they might flower soon.

The beets are so pretty but based on my Turnip experiment I'm pretty sure they aren't going to be ready any time soon.

How are the peas doing Ernie?

One of my spinach varieties is bolting :(

I need a heat tolerant green to plant in it's place - any suggestions?

Here is our one and only Meyer lemon. We had another one on a different lemon tree but a squirrel took off with him :(  Let's hope this guy makes it - I really want to make a cocktail out of him!

Here are the hanging tomatoes (Orange Jubilee, Yellow Pear, and Grape)

The thyme is getting tiny little flowers!

The hops managed to topple their original support so we changed our plan.  Now we are training the majority of the vines to head sideways along the garage and we're letting 2 go up.

They are budding like crazy and I'm anticipating some hop cones very soon!

I've got quite a few tomatoes in the raised beds

But I also decided to try a few in pots.  This one went in about 2 weeks ago with some marigolds. (It's a Brandywine)

And I just planted this Cherokee Purple over the weekend.  He's got a few purple basils in there with him and I also planted some Lettuce seeds.  Apparently they work well together. While the tomato is small, the lettuce gets the sun it needs but when it's hot out, the tomato will shade the lettuce which hates the heat. (And in turn, the lettuce shades the soil and keeps it cooler for the tomato)

I leave you with my view at 11:40PM as I lift my laptop from my lap.

 

how cute is she?