Port Potager

So last night, after we were done with or delicious turkey dinner , Kirk put the carcass directly into our stock pot with bunches of dried herbs (sage, savory, thyme, and rosemary), a leek, and a couple ribs of celery, then covered it all with water and let it simmer for the rest of the evening. This, of course, is how you make turkey stock. That's really all there is to it (well, you also have to strain it into a container once it cools). If you need more details, you can read about it here . The turkey stock was ready to go as the base for tonight's dinner, the second dish from the whole turkey we made on Sunday: This is  sopa de lima , which is a traditional turkey soup from Mexico. The literal translation from the Spanish is "lime soup," and indeed, that is its secret, awesome ingredient. This was what I had for dinner our first night in Mexico ( where we enjoyed our fifteenth anniversary trip last April ), and it was delicious. I've been wanting t...

Remember how we  went to Mexico back in April? Half the fun was in the eating, and the other night we recreated our favorite dish: This is a shrimp ceviche that Kirk made with some of our last tomatoes ( all those green ones we brought in before frost  are turning red little by little, which has extended our tomato season by a good month or so). This is pretty much exactly  like the ceviche we had in Tulum , and it was really easy to do. Like,  really  easy. All you need is 1 1/2 pounds of shrimp (peeled but uncooked), a half dozen limes, and an afternoon. Put the shrimp in a bowl and juice all the limes into the bowl. Give it a stir and let it sit for 3-4 hours.  Just before serving, drain the shrimp (which will now look pink), and add to a bowl with diced tomatoes, onion, and cilantro (and avocado, if you like) and stir.  The end. The thing with ceviche is that it "cooks" the shrimp with a chemical reaction between ...

During our vacation to Mexico earlier this month, we were surrounded by all kinds of plants we can't grow. We've resigned ourselves to having to buy our citrus, bananas, and avocados, but then we discovered something else: coconuts. On the beach in Tulum, a Mayan vendor and his son walked the beach selling freshly harvested coconuts. We bought a small bag filled with a bunch of slices, as you can see in the photo above.  Fresh coconut is nothing like the shredded, dried stuff you get in the grocery store to make macaroons. Although I like that too, the fresh slices are much more nutty in flavor. The texture is kind of like a water chestnut, although not quite that moist. It's really good, and feels like somehow eating a cool, refreshing protein. Too bad there's no way to recreate that here at home. It was also a main ingredient in this mole dish I had for dinner that night: None of the white ingredients you are looking at is the coconut. What y...

We got back from Mexico this weekend and were eager to get a look around the garden. While we were relaxing, a lot was happening here: rhubarb, daffodils, tulips, peas, and our latest sowing of salad greens all popped up. And, most surprising of all, was the moment we first saw this: For a brief moment, we weren't sure what we were looking at. It's kind of other-worldly, hovering as it is over the earth, and to us it seemed to have appeared over night (though this can't possibly be true, can it?). A closer look: Asparagus. Everywhere!  We'll get a better look when we get around to weeding it (which it clearly needs), but it looks so far like the whole bed has started coming up, with no major winter losses. The above photo shows how it starts with a purplish tinge, but most spears change to all green as they grow.  Trying to keep in mind that, since we only planted these last spring , we are supposed to harvest only "lightly" this...

¡ Bienvenidos a México ! This won't be a long post since I am typing it from my phone in Mexico, but I wanted to share an example of a courtyard garden. This is the breakfast area at Hotel Julamis , where we are staying in Mérida, the capital of Yucatan: We won't be able to emulate any of this back home in Massachusetts, where outdoor living is hardly a year-round proposition. We are definitely enjoying these indoor-outdoor gardens while we are here, though! These hanging vines grow from a planting box that is part of the wall on the second floor. On the courtyard patio, there are potted plants as well as trees that grow from a very narrow trench in the floor along the exterior walls. It seems that these plants don't need much in the way of water or fertility, but I'm not sure. We may be able to find out more when we check out the botanical gardens later this afternoon. In the photo above, you can see the small fountain in the center of the cou...