Good Santa!

Yesterday I sent my letter to Santa (email to Vince!) requesting the Aerogarden.  I fully intended to post his response which I figured would be something to the extent that I didn’t need any more gadgets.  Instead, he sent back a response that wasn’t quite PG-13.  Let’s just say that Santa had a request of his own! 🙂

Today Vince and a co-worker had to go to Springfield for a meeting.  They arrived a bit early and Vince suggested they run into a store or two and do some shopping for the wives.  The other guy said “I already have everything for my wife except on thing .. she wants an Aerogarden!”  Vince about died laughing since I had just asked him yesterday for one.  They found the Power Plant Pro by Prepara.  They did a little research, made a few phone calls and decided this one was at least as good, if not better, than the Aerogarden.  He also got the Power Grow Lamp and the Herb Savor.  And, he got two of everything!  I have one all set up with basil seeds and due to the amount of basil we use, I might just plant the second one with basil too.  I’ll wait a week or two though so they don’t all get ready at the same time.  I would like to grow some chives, thyme and oregano though.  Dang, maybe I should’ve asked Santa for 3 of these rascals.  I’ll keep you posted too on the fruits of my labor! 🙂

Now . . for anyone questioning whether I needed this.  I did a little calculating today.

Yesterday I bought 2 packs of basil.  Each pack is supposed to weigh 3/4 ounces and each package cost $2.50.

Not sure if you can see the scale, but the basil leaves from two packages weighs .8 ounces.  It would take 20 packages of basil to make one pound and at $2.50/package, that’s $50/pound.  Granted, I don’t often need one pound of basil (though Chad could eat his weight in pesto), I never realized how expensive it is when you buy it in the store.  During the spring and summer, I have my own but since Chad discovered pesto, I never have enough to put any up to last through the winter.  Hopefully my little inside garden container will help keep basil on the table!

Since Vince was at a meeting today, I figured they’d have some yummy lunch and wouldn’t be real hungry for dinner.  Wrong!  They had some wimpy sandwiches and he was starving.  I had made a batch of Norm’s NY Style Onion Rolls from The Fresh Loaf (see them in the top picture — this is the best recipe!)  I think I’ve made those rolls 4 times in the last 2 weeks.  They’re so good for dinner rolls or sandwich rolls.  If you’re a bread maker, you should try those.  The dough feels so good and it’s fun to work with.

And, if you’re wondering what we do with all that basil . . the soup for tonight has a dollop of pesto.  The soup is a “Judy version” of Minestrone.  The sandwiches, made with the onion rolls, leftover turkey from Thanksgiving, a basil leaf or two, sliced avocado, sliced tomato and fresh spinach leaves.  Yummy!  Yep, I’ll take my food over restaurant food any day.