Herb Garden - early February 2010

The indoor herb garden I planted in early December is growing quite well! The curly basil (left) and thyme (right) are thriving while the chives (back) are probably a lost cause.

The garden sits in front of one of my large living room windows (with an Eastern exposure) but it gets plenty of light from the built-in lamp that’s on 17 hours a day. There’s no soil; just bubbling water and organic nutrients in the well below the plants.

I’ve shared the basil with friends and have experimented with lots of new recipes. I can’t keep up with it, though… it grows so fast! One morning I awoke to see burnt leaves at the top of the plant from touching the bulb! Good thing the lamp arm raises up.

The 3-hole Aerogarden was one of my Christmas presents (I’ve always wanted to experiment with an Aerogarden… thought I’d start small).

When these herbs finally die, I may experiment with lettuce or cherry tomatoes. Or I may spring for a second Aerogarden and expand my indoor garden. It’s been fun… and delicious, of course!

Valentine's Day cookies

I’ve recently started experimenting with cake decorating…inspired by my mom (who was an excellent decorator) and some books she left me.

I started small: a cookie kit from Wilton. My niece and I spent a few hours last Sunday decorating these Valentine’s Day cookies. We each decorated four (mine are pictured). I didn’t want to waste the one I accidentally broke…I figured sometimes broken hearts just need a little TLC to mend, right? The process went smoothly and was quite fun so I’ll graduate to cupcakes next, I think.