Recently in one of the blogs I read through my RSS reader I read about a (new for me) way of frying potatoes; instead of dumping them in hot oil you actually pour cold oil on the cut potatoes.  And I tried. Oh, why do these obvious solutions have to be invented?  To cook an egg you do not drop in boiling water, do you (well, maybe you do, but most of us do not), or you do not put your veggies in a boiling water when you make a casserole, do you?  It all starts when things are cold.  Same here.

So, all you have to do is get yourself some Yukon Gold potatoes (medium starch is what is suggested) and cut them in 1cm thickness.  Pat dry them, put  them in a pan and cover with cold oil. I have used canola.  I love olive oil in everything but somehow for deep frying I cannot get myself to use it.  Anyway, do not stir the potatoes, and take off the oil when golden brown.  Sprinkle some salt if you wish, and voila; you got yourself some good looking, tasting fries!

Since my oil was hot when I got the potatoes out of it, I had to try using the “old” method on another batch. So I did.  I double fry them even. But the result was not as good as the first (new way) batch.  From now on we know which method we’ll be using.

One downside of this method is that you cannot make multiple batches unless you use multiple pans at the same time, or wait for the oil to cool down.  So I suggest you do neither, and enjoy your one and only batch for the night; remember, deep frying is not good for you!

Woow, it has been a long time since I have updated Yogurtland.  Life seems to be consumed by work, home and our soon to be 2  year old son.   Between all these, I am trying to continue my hobbies, trying to take on new ones, and seriously failing miserably when it comes to making time for anything new/fun.  This blog has suffered a lot, and lets see if I can continue updating as I once used to…

Like many people, we also have a veggie garden in our backyard.  For years we have grown the usuals; tomatoes, zucchini, peppers, squash, eggplants and various herbs.  Some years there were okra, lettuce, spinach, carrots and even fava beans.   And my artichoke plant never failed – still going after 4 years.  They all grew in the raised garden beds my husband put together 5 years ago, using the boards we have already.  It was about 6 inches (15cm) deep, and I wanted them deeper.  For the veggies to grow deeper, stronger roots.

While my husband was getting ready to build a sandbox for the little guy, he had to level off  the surface and some nice dirt was going to be moved out of the way.   And my veggie patches desperately needed an overhaul as the old ones’ boards were rotting.  So, it was a good excuse to build new veggie garden boxes that are deeper, so they hold that dirt that’d come out from floor leveling work.

And we went to the home improvement store.  All we knew was I wanted 12 inch deep, and this time no messing with boards that’d not last long ( at lest 10 years was my aim.)  There was a debate on whether to use pressure treated or not, it didn’t bother me to use them despite what some claim about the chemicals leeching out to the vegetables.   Decided to go and look what the options were.  We ended up choosing redwood.  Got them cut in the store. This was a really good decision as it made it easy to carry them!  Redwood, especially the ones soaked up the rain are HEAVY!

We bought some heavy duty bolts to hold them together, along with the nuts and washers obviously. Bolts were 1 3/4, and 6 inches long. Oh, the size we decided to build them was 6ft x 8ft (1.8m x 2.5m.)

My husband gave me the idea of making a template at where the bolts should so I do not need to keep measuring the distance from each corner. That really saved a lot of time.  And he also gave me the hand drill to pre-drill every hole so the 2 inch drill bit we’d be using later on (for the bolts to hold the whole structure together) would not wander off or cause damage to the wood.  While I was drilling, there was a little person helping me to clean off the wood shavings with the brush.  He kept finding the marks I made for the holes to be made, and telling where the drill next. ;)

When the small drilling exercise was finished, I moved on to the real deal.  That 2inch drill bit was quite crazy stuff!  So I started drilling, about 8am in the morning :)  When I started using the 2 inch bit, I have realized that it was not long enough for the boards and definitely not the posts.  I ended up using the drill press, too.   It was an adventure :)

The only part I have not touched was the cutting of the boards or the post.  I am still not quite sure about those tools – will let someone else deal with them.

There was no was I would be able to move them once they were assembled. Had to assemble them on the patio, since you definitely need a flat surface for that task.  My husband and I moved them, and I was exhausted by the time all took their space in the backyard.

But the sense of accomplishing this task mostly by myself was immeasurable. Now, I can proudly say that I build those boxes!

Since then we have planted tomato, pepper, eggplant, zucchini, melon, watermelon seedlings and various herb seeds.  Patiently waiting for some produce :)  Oh, I had to “shave off” some of the root from the artichoke plant to be able to place the new box, and instead of throwing that root piece away, I have put it in one of the gardens. Seems like it has rooted and will take off. So excited about it!

Are you growing anything in your backyard, or in your balcony this year?  What do you like growing?