Bonsai!

For a while now, I have been interested in the art of bonsai. I love to watch things grow and I also feel the need to be more creative. I also just think that bonsai trees are beautiful and captivating. So several years ago, I decided to learn more about bonsai and try my hand at it. My first attempt, I purchased two shrub juniper trees from home depot and then hacked away at them. I am not sure what I did wrong (probably a few things!) but one plant died within a year. the other plant lived for a while but never flourished, and eventually died before I started medical school. Anyway, for my birthday this year, by mom rekindled my interest in bonsai by purchasing a very nice tree for me for my birthday.

Anyway, I totally killed that tree:

It was actually very sad… we tried everything we could to keep this tree alive.

However, even though the tree died, it really reminded me of how much I do enjoy bonsai. So, 2 weeks ago we when we were at home depot and all shrubs were 50% off, I decided to start anew!

The first plant I bought (for like $3.50) was a blue star juniper. I pretty much just cleaned it up and removed a few branches.

I am not exactly sure what direction I will be going with this plant, but for now I am just going to let it be , grow a little more, and then maybe next year really decide what I will do with it.

Being that the shrubs were still %50 off I went back to home depot and got two more trees.

The first is another juniper, although not a blue star (the tag said juniper chinensis, but I am not sure if that is right.) Again, I mainly just cleaned it up a bit and removed some of the more unruly branches, but feel like a informal upright will be the eventual style I will shoot for.

The last tree I got was a Korean boxwood. I am interested to see how it turns out.

Here it is:

I am really excited about these three trees, and hoping that I can keep them all alive (or at least one of them)! I will update the blog with any new updates!

A Chicago Summer Weekend….

..mainly consists of..

Art:

Music:

Dancing:

More music (free Beethoven concert)

Food:

Sunshine:

Micah’s Yellow Curry

Ok guys, let me just say that if you haven’t tried this curry, you haven’t really lived yet. NO, YOU JUST HAVEN’T LIVED!! I’M TELLING YOU!!!!!!
I’m kidding. 
But not really. This is the curry you want to eat every day for the rest of your life. Forever. Ok, I’m getting carried away again. I’ll stop.
Only after I say this is SO AMAZING IT WILL MAKE YOU WANT TO CRY TEARS OF GRAPE JUICE.

Okay for reals now. It’s basically eating candy for dinner.

We’ve been experimenting with this dish for awhile now. Not really making any radical changes, but I think the whole pineapple thing was not part of the original recipe. Micah says it’s not really authentic for Thai people to put pineapple in their curry, but we have to accommodate our American and desperate need for sweetness, don’t we? I love pineapple, so I really don’t think this is a bad idea. The picture above (which I stole from the internets) looks the most like the finished product that we make, except I think they used fish instead of chicken. Chicken is easier for me to handle, so I opt for that choice of meat.
There is only one trick to this dish that may make it seem a little tricky, and that’s the actual curry paste:



We seem to be able to find these pretty easily in most Asian markets. Apparently Amazon has some for 2.89, which isn’t a bad price at all. You will not regret buying it either way.

So here is what you need!

~ 1-2 tablespoons yellow curry paste (depending on how spicy you want it)
~ One 13 1/2 oz.  can coconut milk:

(we use this kind – Aroy-D is fine too)
~ 1 large chicken breast, cubed
~ 2 medium potatoes, also cubed
~ 1/2 Onion, chopped
~ Fish Sauce, about a tablespoon… or less or more (Ok let’s be honest. We haven’t really measured out everything in it’s exactness, but ingredients like these are more according to taste. I don’t really know how it would taste without it, but Micah says it’s vital, so while you’re out getting the curry, look for this:

(Squid brand Thai fish sauce. Just look for the squid on the bottle. Sometimes the label is written in Thai, sometimes in English. They’re both the same.)
~ 1 14oz.  can of diced pineapple, drained
~ pinch sugar
~ cilantro
~ cooked Rice, for serving
Directions:
Grease a large skillet with vegetable oil (about about 1-2 tablespoons) and put the curry in and sauté until the aroma comes out. Add 1/2 the can of the coconut milk. Add the onions and the chicken and start cooking the chicken. After onions are translucent add the potatoes. Also add the rest of the coconut milk. Once you’ve added the potatoes cover the pan and put the heat on low so that they can simmer and cook. (About 15 mins.) (Sometimes we add pineapple juice  to moisten the dish and help cook the potatoes). Once potatoes are cooked you can add the pineapples and as much cilantro as you want, as well as the elusive fish sauce. Also add a pinch of sugar to taste (naughty :-) Serve over cooked rice. This makes enough for 2-3. If you want to feed a crowd, double the ingredients.

Pretty easy, huh? Enjoy it. You deserve it.

Random things that make me happy

Sparkly jewelry

Cherries are in season

Juice of all kinds, but we recently purchased this from Ikea, and its heavenly.

Dinosaurs!! This should have been posted awhile ago, sorry.

Peaches….oh peaches…

Bonfires. Mostly for the fire part.

When Micah cooks dinner for me:

You really have to try putting dill, butter and lemon on your salmon, if you haven’t already.

A good percentage of these are food related, it seems…surprise surprise.

A weekend of wonders.

It is a rare event indeed when Micah gets a holiday. This past weekend we got to go to Indiana, to visit Bryn and Ann.

The sun was so hot at the Indy 500 parade. Poor Micah didn’t have any sunscreen, and not enough clothes.

I felt worse for the baby though!

Uncle Sam was takin a nap!

Snuggly. I have the cutest nephew.

Layin on some Indiana turf.

The friday before we left we took the dragon kite out for a flight! It was awesome!