RoboTastic

Just planted a tub of basil, a mint plant we got and a handful of random seeds include salad green, hot peppers, an herb mix and chives. Should be interesting! We have them growing out our bedroom window on the roof of the people below us. Fingers are crossed!

The Pink Lady is a new type of apple that was breed in Australia and just started to be grown in the US. The skin color is actaully sort of pink… it definatly stands out a little. It is a natural cross between Golden Delicous and Lady Williams Apples. I looked around and people describe the flavor as tart and sweet… but to me it taste almost pear like. On top of that it is a nice crisp apple. Acording to the apple brands website the apple has lots of tightly packed cells that make it firm and store well. Also acording to the apple’s website (sound weird, right?) this is not the only cross between the Golden Delicous and Lady Williams, the Sundowner is another cross and considered to be its sister.

Overall this is a great apple that is worth giving a try. It taste a bit different than other apples, and looks good to boot.

I think Braeburn Apples are my new favorite apples… not sure I had one before, but these are definatly it now! The are sweet with a bit of tangy-ness to them. They are also very crisp, not mealy or mushy. Another great thing is that they do not really have a distinct core, so you can eat almost all the way through without hitting any yucky core. Watch for the seeds though, they WILL grow in your stomach… trust me.

Verdict: This oil has some personality.

In Mort Rosenblum’s book on olives, Olives: The Life and Lore of a Noble Fruit, he gush about the Nunez Prado brothers and how they use traditional methods to produce olive oil. The do most of the work by hand, the weeding, pruning and picking. The olives are then pressed using the traditional method, with large granite stones.

Now I am not sure how much difference all of this makes in the end, but this is some tasty oil. I got the Early Harvest variety which has a bit more body to it, but I also tried the regular variety. Both have a strong distinct taste, with a bit of bite. It tastes great with bread, also good on salad. Probably good for things that need a flavor, like fresh mozarella.

Also I would try to pick up a bottle from Whole Foods. They have their own bottle and it is about half the price of other places.