Collecting Coriander Seeds

Do you have cilantro (Coriandrum sativum) in your herb garden? If you do, you also have coriander. When eaten, the leaves of this plant are called cilantro, while the seeds are called coriander. If you can refrain from eating all of your cilantro, you’ll also reap the rewards of coriander.


An even better reason to let your plant go to seed is to grow more cilantro. Cilantro is an annual with a very short life span. The best way to assure a steady supply of cilantro is to plant seeds every few weeks. You can harvest cilantro leaves about 40 days after seeding. A clump of cilantro will produce lots of seeds that mature in about 120 days after seeding. These seeds are easily harvested and also germinate easily.

You’ll collect a lot of seeds, so will need somewhere to store them. I store seeds in either Chinese envelopes I purchase at Asian markets or origami envelopes that I make myself. I actually make origami drinking cups instead of origami envelopes. I like the cups better than envelopes. After filling the cup with seeds, just take one of the flaps of the cups and fold it over the top to seal the seeds in. Tape to seal unless you want seeds spilled everywhere. The packets then go in the refrigerator. The cool environment preserves the viability of most seeds for up to five years.

Here's an animated tutorial on making an origami cup.

Happy Birthday, Mayonnaise!

Unless you were tuned into NPR this weekend, you might be belated in wishing mayonnaise a happy birthday. In celebration of this vinegar, oil, and egg emulsion, I actually got a present in the mail!

A new, 32-ounce jar of Duke’s mayonnaise arrived on my porch this past Saturday. With only minor jeering from an ex boyfriend in South Carolina, I requested a jar of mayonnaise to restock my fridge. See, it is wise to remain friends with exes.

Let’s tally my mayo consumption for this year. I brought two 32 ounce jars home with me at the start of the year from my Christmas travels, my mom shipped me two 16 ounce jars this spring, and I’m currently working on the 32-ounce jar from my ex. That’s a total of 128 ounces, or 8 pounds of mayonnaise. I’m the only person in the house, so a “household” is not consuming this …and the year is not over yet!

I couldn’t find data on the average amount of mayonnaise consumed by one person in one year. I’m suspecting that I consume more than average. I did find sites praising and warning against the oils and fats in mayo. This site not so subtly hints that mayo makes you fat, but I’m proof that mayo does no such thing. I just eat the light version and go on with my merry, mayo-inclusive life.

Happy Belated Birthday, Mayo!
Love, Taylor

Canned Mac and Cheese

Curiosity got the better of me, so I purchased the can of Heinz macaroni and cheese that called to me from the shelves of Waitrose. I knew it couldn’t be good, but maybe it would surprise me and be not bad.

What was going to be in the can when I popped the lid off? Would it be fluorescent orange like mac and cheese from a box? Would it be gelatinously creamy like Velveeta? Oh my god, what if it looked like homemade and had real hunks of cheese! Wouldn’t I be sorry that I bought the small can?

I pulled back the pop-top lid with excited nonchalance to be greeted by elbow macaroni swimming in whitish, pale yellow, goopy sauce. So, it’s going to be more of a creamy Velveeta experience, I thought. The suspense was killing me, so I forwent the heating process and dove in with my fork.

My first flavor recognition was of metal! I have fond memories of the tinny taste that metal cans impart due to my love of Del Monte pudding that used to come in those little cans. Pudding now comes in plastic cups and just doesn’t taste the same.

Other than the metal taste, I’d have to say that the mac and cheese experience was rather bland. I can’t say it tasted like cheese and the texture of the sauce was like watered down cream of mushroom soup concentrate. This mac and cheese is comparable to hospital food or cafeteria food. I don't even think Heinz's suped-up recipe could save this product.

Yep, my pessimism served me well. I’m so glad I didn’t buy the big can. The only great thing about this product is that if you were stranded without a can opener or other tool, you can pop the top and not starve to death.

Find Local Food

Since row homes aren’t conducive to vegetable gardens and I don’t see myself moving in the near future, I’m stuck without a garden. The few ornamental vegetables I sneak into my client’s gardens and one client’s abundance of apples – Who the hell plants an orchard at a residence they visit 20 days out of the year? – can’t replace the joy of having my own glut of produce.

Farmer’s markets are an option. The really close ones to me are during the week and have midday hours, which is great if you are unemployed! I can’t get there and I even work for myself and can do what ever I please! I'm more sensible than that, so I go to work.

I’ve been digging the CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) option, thanks to the introduction and experiences at Café Cyan. If I’m invested in a farm then I have motivation to pick up my produce. Plus, CSA farms usually have convenient Saturday pick-ups for the employed.

I looked around on the computer for local CSA’s and came up short. I found some, but they were a little far away. Thanks to an article this week in City Paper (a local Philly rag) about eating locally, I found a good tool to locate CSA’s, farmer’s markets, food Co-ops, and U-pick farms across the nation. Well, wouldn’t you know it? There’s a CSA farm two miles from my house!! Here’s the tool.

Looking at the dot-density map, you’re shit out of luck if you live in the middle of Nevada, but the good news is that you don’t live there!

Ginger Granola Bars

I adore ginger. Ginger jam on bagels, pickled ginger with sushi, Moravian ginger cookies, chocolate covered ginger… You get the idea.

I devised this recipe after being inspired by ginger granola bars I bought from the grocer in the UK. I’ll eat chewy or crispy granola bars, but I prefer chewy. These are chewy and don’t require baking – perfect for hot summer kitchens. One caveat: Keep these stored in the fridge if your kitchen is warm or the sugar/honey binder warms up too and the bars crumble.

Ginger Granola Bars

½ cup brown sugar
¼ cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla
¼ cup butter
⅛ teaspoon cinnamon
1 ½ cup oats
1 ½ cup cereal (I used Kashi GoLean)
½ cup raisins (substitute dried fruit of choice)
¼ cup crystallized ginger, chopped finely
¼ cup sunflower seeds (substitute nut of choice)

• Combine brown sugar, honey, vanilla, butter, and cinnamon in a saucepan. Bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 2 minutes or until sugar is dissolved. Cool completely.
• Mix oats, cereal, raisins, crystallized ginger, and sunflower seeds in a large bowl.
• Mix the brown sugar mixture into the oat mixture.
• Spread mixture into a buttered 13x9 baking pan and press down firmly.
• Refrigerate for 2 hours.
• Cut into bars.

Homegrown Tomato Sandwich

Yay! My first tomato of the season ripened this week. These were hard to come by, though.

Firstly, I live in a second floor apartment. I’ve had a vegetable garden every year since I was a teenager. I now grow one tomato plant in a pot on my fire escape and one tomato plant in a square of dirt next to the front sidewalk. It’s a far cry from a vegetable garden, but I WILL have tomatoes.

Secondly, I didn’t start my own seeds this year, so bought plants from a nursery. I bought a cherry tomato and an early ripening variety. Or so I thought! Those cherry tomatoes kept growing into big tomatoes. God knows if the early ripening one was labeled correctly because nothing came early! First tomatoes in my area come around July 4. Despite the recent heat wave in everyone’s memory, this spring and summer was cool in my area– not good for speedy tomato growth.

Photo by jbweir
Thirdly, a tomato hornworm defoliated half of my tomato plant on the fire escape. In umpteen years of gardening, I’ve never been afflicted with these mythical monsters. They’re huge, have a hook on their ass, can defoliate an entire plant in 24 hours, and rear up to fight when you touch them. Mine went flying off the fire escape, although, I should have done this to the bastard.

Fourthly, I have tomato theft issues. Demented squirrels run off with the tomatoes on the fire escape. People strolling down the sidewalk pocket the ripe tomatoes out front, so these must be picked before they completely ripen on the vine. Even homegrown tomatoes taste like crap if they don’t ripen on the vine.

Defoliated tomato remains. Who says you need means to harness energy from the sun? Go tomato, go!

Sooo…you can see why I’m ecstatic. And I was in even more ecstasy as I ate my first homegrown tomato sandwich of the year. Mayonnaise (Duke’s of course), pepper, and tomatoes are all that go into it. Pure summer bliss! So good I ate two of them!

Couscous Salad with Halloumi

This recipe is adapted from BBC’s Good Food magazine, which is quite nice. Sadly, a year’s subscription in the US currently costs £55.35 - a little more than $100.00. Sticker shock!

This was my second experience with Halloumi and my first experience with harissa paste. I liked this recipe a lot. I especially liked the yogurt dressing. I would recommend doubling the dressing just incase you like it as much as I did and want to smother the couscous with it.

Couscous Salad with Halloumi

2 cups couscous
2 cups water or vegetable stock
1 package Halloumi cheese
6 ounces plain yogurt
1-2 teaspoons harissa paste
1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
2 roasted red peppers, fresh or from a jar
4 artichoke hearts, sliced
fresh greens to garnish

• Poor boiling water or vegetable stock over couscous. Cover and let stand for 10 minutes until all the stock has been absorbed.
• Cut Halloumi into ½-inch slices and grill or fry for 2-3 minutes on each side.
• Combine yogurt and harissa paste in a small bowl to make dressing.
• To assemble the salad, fluff couscous with a fork. Mix chickpeas, peppers, and artichoke hearts into couscous. Top with Halloumi slices and greens. Drizzle yougurt dressing over salad and serve.

Don’t have harissa paste? Make your own.

Don’t like spicy food? Substitute mint or some other herbs and spices for harissa paste.

Halloumi stuck to grill or pan? Make sure cooking surface is very hot before cooking. The cheese will release itself when it’s ready.