Wednesday, December 19, 2018
It's been a few years since I took a quick trip to Italy, but every December, I'm reminded of my time there. I figured I'd share several of the photos on here since I've been diving into my albums and reliving it.
In Rome, we visited Vatican City, the Sistine Chapel, the Colosseum and Roman Forum, the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain. We wandered aimlessly through the Trastevere neighborhoods near our hotel, the neighborhoods near the Trevi Fountain, and some large open air farmer's markets with produce and goods. We sampled delicious treats from neighborhood restaurants, like thick and creamy hot cocoa, gelato, food truck sandwiches, manicotti, pasta and pizza. We shopped a little as well.
In Florence, we wandered through some local museums, saw Leonardo's Da Vinci's David statue, the Duomo, a musical instrument museum, and wandered more neighborhoods and open air markets, shopped, got more gelato, and ate at a restaurant that's been in business in the same family since the 1100's. I also ate the most delicious thing I had in Italy in Florence. Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli in a Butter Sage Sauce. I still salivate when I think about it years later. We stayed in a hotel along the Arno river, that overlooked the famous Ponte Vecchio bridge with all the shops on it. In Florence, we also got to see a holiday parade. I fell in love with the city.
One of the parts that got to me the most is the sheer amount of history involved in that part of the world. The colosseum is almost 2000 years old, the Sistine Chapel is almost 600 years old, the Duomo in Florence has buildings that are 700-1000 years old. The fact that we ate at a restaurant that has been handed down through the generations for just over 900 years blows my mind. Living in Utah, most of the developed cities have only been developed for a century or less. The amount of history in Rome and Florence makes my head spin.
Both hotels we stayed at provided us free breakfast, and they were both better than almost any restaurant I've eaten at before. Bananas tasted better than they do in Utah, the ripeness was perfection. The orange juice, and bacon and everything were perfect. Maybe the novelty of being in Italy helped, but overall the food is ridiculously fresh in Italy.
It would take more than one blog post to cover everything we did there to it's entirety, so I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.
If you ever get the chance to go, GO. I only wish I'd had months to explore, instead of mere days. I'll be going back again someday. I fell in love with Italy, and always look back on my trip with dreamy nostalgia colored lenses.
Saturday, December 15, 2018
Growing peppers has been one of my favorite things about gardening. They are delicious, come in a wide variety and seem to love Utah's dry heat. They did fantastic on my patio in the the heat, and produced like gangbusters in my new yard. My favorites that I've grown so far are jalapeños, hot banana peppers, and Sweet Sublime. They're also easy to grow from seed indoors, and have transplanted well into my garden from my own homegrown seedlings or from garden centers. They're easy to store, and can be used in just about every dish you make.
BASICS // WHAT PEPPERS LIKE
Sun: Full Sun, 6-10 hrs of sun a day
Soil Type: Loamy, good draining, but not too dry
Space: 18-24 inches
Water: Water regularly, aim for 1-2 inches of week, maybe more if it's really hot
Plant Type: Vegetable
Once your outdoor planting date is close, you'll want to harden your plants off outside in a bright and indirectly sunny spot (but bring them in if temperatures dip below 50°F). Your plants are soft from growing indoors and too much sun, wind or other elements will harm them until they have hardened off. This process takes a week or so, but once it's done you have sturdy strong plants that can survive outside!
See this post for how I start my seeds and what I use.
See this post for how to prune leggy peppers.
Soil Type: Loamy, good draining, but not too dry
Space: 18-24 inches
Water: Water regularly, aim for 1-2 inches of week, maybe more if it's really hot
Plant Type: Vegetable
STARTING PEPPERS FROM SEED INDOORS
When starting your peppers from seed indoors, plant the seeds in your seed starting soil mix, and keep moist and warm. Make sure to give them lots of light as well. If you start them in seed pellets, as soon as roots pop out the bottom, plant them in a small nursery pot or 16 oz cup. Keep them under regular even light so they bush out evenly. If they start to get leggy from reaching toward the light, prune the top sections off, but leave a few leaf sets and it will force leaf formation on the stem.Once your outdoor planting date is close, you'll want to harden your plants off outside in a bright and indirectly sunny spot (but bring them in if temperatures dip below 50°F). Your plants are soft from growing indoors and too much sun, wind or other elements will harm them until they have hardened off. This process takes a week or so, but once it's done you have sturdy strong plants that can survive outside!
See this post for how I start my seeds and what I use.
See this post for how to prune leggy peppers.
GROWING PEPPERS IN CONTAINERS
Any pot at least 12 inches in diameter and depth is a good fit for peppers, however, bigger is better. If you choose a plastic pot, the dirt won't dry out as quickly as a clay pot. Make sure the pot has good drainage holes or the pepper roots will rot.
Because your pepper plants are being grown in pots, you'll want a soil rich with nutrients. Choose a fluffy potting soil that allows for good water retention but also good drainage. A lot of times the fluffier potting soils come filled with lots of fertilizer and plant food in it already, which gets your plants off to a good start. It's best not to use soil from your garden or nearby flower beds as it is likely to be full of possible pests or diseases. You can also try a slow release fertilizer that will add additional nutrients slowly over a long period while there is active fruit production.
PEPPER CARE TIPS
Plant seedlings out after all danger of frost has passed. Peppers are a warm weather plant and will not be happy in the cold of fall or early spring. When planting a seedling, make sure to plant the seedling the depth it was planted in its nursery pot. Depending on the type of pepper plant, it may be good to stake it. Some peppers grow large fruits, and will need some support during fruiting time. Be sure to place the stakes at planting time. Staking after it's been growing can hurt the roots since they'll spread out. For staking, you can use a small tomato cage for pepper plants that grow larger fruit. Or, tying the plant to a stake as it grows taller works as well.Plant peppers in a sunny spot with at least 6-8 hours of sun per day. Peppers need 1-2 inches of water a week minimum, but do not like soggy soil. So water on a regular schedule, and make sure the soil is draining well. When fertilizing, water the pepper plant first, and then fertilize it after. This protects the plant from fertilizer burn. Harvest the mature peppers regularly to keep the plant producing.
To encourage fruit formation, tickle the inside of the flower blossom with your finger. This helps push the pollen to the back of the flower where it will pollinate and turn into fruit!
HARVESTING & STORING PEPPERS
To harvest peppers, use kitchen shears or scissors to snip the stem just above the ripened fruit. Pulling them off the plant can actually uproot the plant since pepper stems are very sturdy. You can also twist the pepper until the stem above the fruit breaks. Most peppers are ripe when they turn the color they're supposed to be. However, some peppers can be eaten while still green. Jalapeños are hottest when red but still pack heat when they're green. Bell peppers can be eaten green or whatever color they're supposed to turn. Refrigerate peppers, unwashed, in a plastic bag in the vegetable drawer. Keep them dry, as moisture will eventually cause them to rot.Peppers can also be preserved, pickled, or frozen. We like to put ours in stir fries, omelets, veggie scrambles, soups, roasted dishes, grilled, casseroles, and whatever else we can think of. I've even pickled the banana peppers in rings so we can use them on sandwiches. The best part about growing them yourself is, they stay fresh for much longer than store-bought peppers because they go straight from your garden to your kitchen instead of being trucked and refrigerated for days before you get them.
COMMON PESTS OR DISEASES OF PEPPERS
The common diseases or pests that attack peppers are aphids, flea beetles, cucumber mosaic virus, blossom end rot that appears as a sunken area that is softer and turns darker. Also, if temperatures are below 60°F or above 90°F pollination can be reduced. If you fertilize with too much nitrogen, it will reduce the amount of fruit that sets and cause leafier plants.
HANDLING HOT PEPPERS
Hot peppers that have turned their ripe color will likely pack the most heat. Be very careful while handling them. Capsaicin, which is the oil from peppers that gives them their heat, is mostly concentrated in the veins, ribs and seeds. This can get stuck in your finger nails, and is often not discovered until you rub your eyes or nose. Be careful to not get the juice in your eyes or nose, and if that happens flush immediately with cold water.If your mouth is on fire, try eating yogurt or drinking milk to take away the burn. Also, blue Dawn dish soap can take the oil from under your nails. I learned this the hard way when handling serrano peppers. I got the oils under my nails and couldn't get it to wash off. I found out it was still there hours later by putting my contacts in with the oil on my fingertips. The only thing I could do was flush my eyes with eyedrops, and wait thirty minutes for them to water themselves clean. Blue Dawn was the only thing that got rid of the oil under my nails. Not a fun way to discover the power of Capsaicin!
Wednesday, December 5, 2018
If you clicked to read this article, chances are you've lost someone in your life that meant everything to you. First, I'm so sorry you've had to endure that type of loss. I wouldn't wish it on anyone. Second, I get your pain. You are in good company here. I'm feeling a little of the re-opened wound right now as well. The holidays really do dredge up those feelings again, don't they? I know my first few holidays without my mom made the grief feel as fresh as the weeks right after she died.
Grief is cyclical, and anything can trigger a renewal of your grief. Major milestones, family get togethers, activities they once did with you, holidays, birthdays, all of these tend to be bittersweet because you once shared them with your loved one, and they are now gone. Or, they were things you were looking forward to with your loved one, and they aren't here to do them.
With all that being said, let's talk about how you can get through the holidays like a pro.
1 // HAVE ZERO EXPECTATIONS FOR YOUR FEELINGS & ACCEPT THEM AS THEY COME
I don't mean have no goals the entire season and turn into a giant couch sloth. I mean make plans, do all the things you want to, but have zero expectations of how you're going to feel at any point this month. Just focus on the present (ha! Christmas pun) and enjoy yourself when you feel happy, and if you are at an event, and feel the tears welling up, allow them to exist. If you can't or don't want to cry in front of people, take a small walk and let it come out, and then rejoin your party.Allow your heart to feel that pain. It's likely you're going to be at a family or friends event where your loved one always was before. It's also likely someone else there is feeling the loss. It's totally normal to have those moments where you feel your heart start to ache because you can't kiss them under the mistletoe, or hug them and say Merry Christmas, or get your obligatory family photo with them, or just because they're not there and they always were before.
Remember, love doesn't end when a person dies, it just has nowhere to go anymore, so you have to feel both sides of it instead.
2 // CONTINUE OLD TRADITIONS AND/OR START NEW ONES
One thing I noticed when my mom died is we all kind of scattered and didn't come together for the holidays like we used to. Moms really are the glue, aren't they? As a result, the holidays felt much more lonely and chaotic. Some holidays I just stayed home wallowing about it all, others I tried to do new things and had fun but still felt like something wasn't right.This year, I'm attempting to create new similar traditions that will remind me of old times. This is something we all can do. Did you used to get together in one big house, making food, playing games, etc? Did you always go to a Christmas concert, bake cookies, go caroling, or do some other meaningful event? Continue doing that. And, while you're there, think of your person and mentally, or audibly, tell them you love them. Include them in a way. Start a new tradition in their honor. It can help bring some normalcy into your season and help you honor your grief as well.
3 // THERE IS NO RIGHT ANSWER
I can give you all this advice, and hope that it works, but the truth is, there really is no magic formula here. I think we're all just learning to live without our loved ones. Over time, we adjust and get back to life, and have way more good days than bad, and find our meaningful holidays again. It's ok if you need to set aside some time to feel your grief during the holidays. Forgive yourself for being human. Trying to handle the holidays perfectly is just more added pressure and can actually trigger worse feelings than by just letting them happen.Be good to your heart. Say what you'd say to a grieving friend, but say it to yourself. Do what you'd do for a grieving friend, but do it for yourself. It is tough work trying to make sense of how people can just be gone one day. It takes time and special times of year are a little trickier. That is 100% ok. I hope this helps, and I hope your holiday season is full of all of the good stuff.
Happy Holidays!
Love,
A Fellow Griever
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