Casa Walsh

This Sunday I will be joining the March for Women’s Lives and demonstrating my support for safe, legal abortions, access to birth control and accurate sex education.

This Sunday I will be joining the March for Women’s Lives and demonstrating my support for safe, legal abortions, access to birth control and accurate sex education.

In true Swans style, I messed up. Turns out I accidentally signed up for produce delivery every other week. I was so upset when I come home Wednesday night to an empty box. I emailed Jeff, of Boston Organics, and passive-aggressively asked him if I was supposed to get a delivery today. He was very nice, gently told me I had signed up for bi-monthly delivery and changed my profile to weekly.

Raz suggested that I go to the Bread and Circus, sorry, Whole Foods, and buy all the items I would have received this week, and post pictures of the food and the receipt. Luckily Jeff posts the contents of the boxes on the website. So I biked over to the River Street Whole Foods with my shopping list.  

They didn’t have organic garlic, so I bought conventional. The strawberries were on sale – I saved a whole dollar! And I bought myself a treat: a box of always-disappearing melba crackers and a piece of rindy sheep’s milk cheese. That’s pretty restrained. I usually leave the Whole Foods with a bag of luxury items.

I left the receipt on the kitchen table overnight.

Turns out I have an editor who is monitoring the journalistic integrity of the blog.

Apparently he didn’t trust me to practice full disclosure. I should have bribed him with a cake and pudding parfait. Well, including the conventional garlic ($0.45), my produce total was $24.13. So, I’m paying $0.87 for someone to select my produce and deliver it to my door. A small price for laziness.

I spotted this kitty sitting in the open window on the fourth floor of the building across the street. How many black kitties do we know that would be content to sit in an open window without exercising its flight instinct?

A black kitty in an unlit window four floors up does not make a successful picture.

In true Swans style, I messed up. Turns out I accidentally signed up for produce delivery every other week. I was so upset when I come home Wednesday night to an empty box. I emailed Jeff, of Boston Organics, and passive-aggressively asked him if I was supposed to get a delivery today. He was very nice, gently told me I had signed up for bi-monthly delivery and changed my profile to weekly.

Raz suggested that I go to the Bread and Circus, sorry, Whole Foods, and buy all the items I would have received this week, and post pictures of the food and the receipt. Luckily Jeff posts the contents of the boxes on the website. So I biked over to the River Street Whole Foods with my shopping list.  

They didn’t have organic garlic, so I bought conventional. The strawberries were on sale – I saved a whole dollar! And I bought myself a treat: a box of always-disappearing melba crackers and a piece of rindy sheep’s milk cheese. That’s pretty restrained. I usually leave the Whole Foods with a bag of luxury items.

I left the receipt on the kitchen table overnight.

Turns out I have an editor who is monitoring the journalistic integrity of the blog.

Apparently he didn’t trust me to practice full disclosure. I should have bribed him with a cake and pudding parfait. Well, including the conventional garlic ($0.45), my produce total was $24.13. So, I’m paying $0.87 for someone to select my produce and deliver it to my door. A small price for laziness.

I spotted this kitty sitting in the open window on the fourth floor of the building across the street. How many black kitties do we know that would be content to sit in an open window without exercising its flight instinct?

A black kitty in an unlit window four floors up does not make a successful picture.

I put out the empty organic produce box this morning. Last week’s produce was the perfect amount for a week. Here’s the breakdown of consumption. Oh, this is scintillating blogging.

Wednesday night: Apple

Thursday: Orange

Friday: Potatoes, Broccoli

Saturday: Orange, Strawberries

Sunday: Orange

Monday: Grapefruit, Lettuce, Green Pepper

Tuesday: Kale, Lettuce, Avocado

Remaining: 1 pear (unripe), 1 apple

So, how do I feel after a week of organic food? Energized? Enlightened? Regular?

Nah, mostly I feel pleased for not allowing anything to rot in my refrigerator.

I put out the empty organic produce box this morning. Last week’s produce was the perfect amount for a week. Here’s the breakdown of consumption. Oh, this is scintillating blogging.

Wednesday night: Apple

Thursday: Orange

Friday: Potatoes, Broccoli

Saturday: Orange, Strawberries

Sunday: Orange

Monday: Grapefruit, Lettuce, Green Pepper

Tuesday: Kale, Lettuce, Avocado

Remaining: 1 pear (unripe), 1 apple

So, how do I feel after a week of organic food? Energized? Enlightened? Regular?

Nah, mostly I feel pleased for not allowing anything to rot in my refrigerator.

Something funky’s happening with last week’s pictures. I’ll reload them when I get home. [All set now. ] 

What’s Casa Walsh without pictures?

Here’s the birthday cake I made for Elias on Saturday. I’d never made a Boston cream pie before. I followed a recipe from Nigella Lawson’s How to Be a Domestic Goddess. Last week I made her strawberry shortcake – the buiscuit/scone recipe is wonderful – so I had high hopes for this cake. The recipe makes too much ganache and not nearly enough pastry cream (I had to bolster it with whipped cream and blackberries – otherwise it wouldn’t have been much of a filling). The sponge cake was a bit too dense although nicely flavorful. And yes, the strawberries are organic. Aren’t they pretty?

Something funky’s happening with last week’s pictures. I’ll reload them when I get home. [All set now. ] 

What’s Casa Walsh without pictures?

Here’s the birthday cake I made for Elias on Saturday. I’d never made a Boston cream pie before. I followed a recipe from Nigella Lawson’s How to Be a Domestic Goddess. Last week I made her strawberry shortcake – the buiscuit/scone recipe is wonderful – so I had high hopes for this cake. The recipe makes too much ganache and not nearly enough pastry cream (I had to bolster it with whipped cream and blackberries – otherwise it wouldn’t have been much of a filling). The sponge cake was a bit too dense although nicely flavorful. And yes, the strawberries are organic. Aren’t they pretty?