Author: Carrie Spritzer

I’ve been so busy this week with our daily 4-mile runs, volunteering at Luther Burbank’s house, doing homework for my Japanese ceramics class, and rereading several of my favorite Anne McCaffrey books, that I’ve had little time to hop on the net. It’s actually been a very nice break. I love filling my time with plants, books, and art.

Look! Our basil seeds are sprouting! We’ve got a couple more days until the cilantro and mint surface. A couple more weeks and then it will be transplant time. Look at the overcrowding that is already beginning! I am in biology heaven.

It’s almost Earth Day so stay tuned for our eco-conscious Earth Week coverage starting on Sunday…

Yesterday David and I saw a mother duck lead her 10-15 ducklings across a very busy street at a crosswalk by the park. Luckily traffic stopped and the ducks made it across safely. The mother duck then led her babies right by us (we were about three feet away!). The little ducklings were darling — yellow and brown, and they walked as pairs in a column behind their mother. Cute little ducklings all in a row. I immediately thought of my father (we used to love reading those baby animals themed children’s books together) and, of course, wished I had my camera. It was a heart-stopping, wonderful moment. Yes, I am ever the biologist, but who wouldn’t fawn over baby ducks?!

After that cute story, the rest of my post — about organizing our kitchen — seams trivial, but here goes… I’ve been doing some spring cleaning and organizing around here. One of my recent projects is transferring our bulk spices into something other than little ziplock baggies and identifying them with computer printed labels. So, each time we go through another jar of jam from Trader Joe’s, I set up another spice. Don’t they look pretty and organized?!

When I took the picture on the left I realized that the colors of the cayenne, cinnamon, mustard, and allspice perfectly matched the onion and pineapple gluten-free pizza that I had just pulled from the oven (photo on the right). I didn’t even plan it!

Left: Road trip to Moab, Utah, in August of 2002. Right: October 2006 trip to the California coast.

My beloved sunglasses are officially broken beyond repair. The plastic rim has snapped and the superglue that resurrected them numerous times before no longer works.

A gift from my parents in 2002, they have traveled with me from New Jersey to Arizona for grad school, across the country a year later for graduation in New York (and another cross country trip for my family to meet David), back to New Mexico, then up to Colorado for three years, and finally all the way here to California. They even traveled with us to Mexico for our honeymoon!

I have worn them nearly every single day for the past five years (our five year anniversary would have been next month). I really, really love these babies and I am so sad that they are broken. I guess it’s time to start saving up for a new pair…

Oh, and try to get rid of my raccoon-eyed tan in the meantime!
(It is so bad.)

Gardening season is upon us! Yesterday I headed down to our neighborhood nursery, which happens to sell only organic plants and natural growing supplies. Pure heaven! I exercised such restraint and walked away with only organic potting soil, a small jalapeño pepper plant, and herb seeds (basil, cilantro, mint). This year I will be gardening mostly over at Luther Burbank’s house.

In honor of our darling pepper plant, I thought I would share with you one of my favorite jalapeño dishes. It’s super simple, very versatile, and just delicious.

Spicy Mango Salsa
Adapted from Peter Berley’s Fresh Food Fast (a fabulous cookbook)

2 ripe mangos or 1 bag frozen mango, peeled and diced
½ cup chopped cilantro, plus additional for garnish
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon, lime, or orange juice
3 tablespoons minced red onion (we tend to use more!)
1 jalapeño pepper, with seeds, minced
1 ¼ teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
Pinch of coarse sea salt

In a medium bowl, combine all of the ingredients; mix to combine. Serve with black beans, enchilada casserole, on top of nachos, with seared fish or tofu, or whatever else sounds good to you!

I thought it would be fun to show you photos from my mother’s side of my family (for photos from my dad’s side, visit the February archives). My uncle recently scanned lots of family photos and I’ve had such a great time pouring over them. Here are a few of my favorites.

Left: My grandmother Florence Leff (at age 6) in 1937 outside of her dad’s store in Morristown, NJ.
Right: My grandmother at Prospect Park (NY) during high school.

Left: My great-grandmother Minnie at the beach (on the right).
Right: Driving around Camden, NJ in my great-grandfather Ezra’s car in 1923.