We spent yesterday getting a late start on planting things. I’m an uninspired gardener, I like picking out plants and making grand plans (this year I want to grow hops in the front yard that will climb up to the roof of our porch!) but I have little enthusiasm for the follow through with watering and pruning.

This year I’m going to see how growing herbs in a container full of organic soil from our hippie market goes. (I’m aware that the rosemary will grow very, very well here but I’m afraid of what might be in the soil in our yard, so a container it is for the time being.) Here are the tags, which I’m sure to loose. Two kinds of basil, that just sort of happened:

Scott decided on some artsy-and-invasive sorts to grow in staggered pots in the corner of the deck that we rarely use:

And an asparagus fern to grow in my Grobal Baby pot:

Pimm’s explained by a real British person, in this case our beloved Paola of mirrormirror. At Shelterrific.

Benedictine Caviar and Cherry Heering Caviar recipes for the Singapore Slingshot, at Spirits and Cocktails. I think cocktails might be the thing to finally get me to learn to use that sodium alginate stuff.

Classic Cocktails? at Ask Metafilter.

The best wine importers, at Slate.

Treehouse Point, you can stay overnight in a treehouse. Via Offbeat Bride who is right, it would be a wonderful place for a wedding.

Metafilter is turning 10 and throwing parties to celebrate. Nothing here in Seattle? Maybe we really do do that Seattle Freeze thing.

The Stranger’s Happy Hour iPhone App!

Couch, on Western. You choose the couch and fabric and he goes off and gets it made for you. Anybody buy a couch here? How was the experience?

Public access beach camping? at Ask Metafilter.

Scott, my musician husband, has some upcoming shows that are pretty exciting. This weekend he is playing here in Seattle at Folklife (Sat. 12:20pm, Alki Court Stage). I’ll be there with my camera attempting to get a picture of him in action when his eyes aren’t closed. (I’d never make it as a rock photographer.)

Then on June 6th Explone, Scott plays bass, is going to be at The Brick in Roslyn, WA. The Brick and Roslyn you might know as the setting for the tv show Northern Exposure which was a favorite of mine so I’m geeking out over the idea that Scott is playing at The Brick. The Brick itself is a reason to visit Roslyn, it’s the the second oldest continuously operating tavern in Washington, the oldest operating under the same name continuously. It’s got a 1890 jail cell (Drunk tank), prohibition tunnels, head stones and [a] boiler in the basement, a working 23 foot running water spittoon at the base of the bar, one of the last in the nation and in which they have an annual water spittoon boat race.

If you live around here and are looking for a little weekend getaway might I suggest you come to The Brick? Suncadia is nearby and you could stay in a nice lodge room and, uh, golf the next day. Seriously though, we’ve visited Roslyn before Suncadia was built and again last year and the town has changed a bit, it looks a bit spruced up but I’d be curious to find out what the locals think about it’s presence.

If you have any suggestions on things not to miss nearby please do let me know, we’re making a weekend of it.

Gridr Buildrrr via Swiss Miss

Plastic Logic Reader at Cool Hunting

Pogo Sketch, a stylus for the iPhone

What was the first website to hide troll’s activity to everyone but the troll himself? at Ask Metafilter

This is how Social Media really works at A Whole Lotta Nothing. See also Online Marketing 2009, snort.

Crabble iPhone Stand at Mighty Goods

What are the most fun and useful iPhone apps? at Ask Metafilter

The next Grassroots meeting is tomorrow, Wed. May 20th, and the topic is Craft Show Vending A to Z with Moxie who is President and Director of Vendor Relations for Urban Craft Uprising and sells her own good at Made by Moxie, and Kristen Rask who owns the shop and gallery Schmancy and does the Plush You! show each year.

The response for this meeting was so big that we cannot fit into our usual meeting space so please note the meeting has been moved to the Richard Hugo House, not too far away from our usual spot at Vermillion.

The unanticipated change of venue came with needing to pay for the meeting space so, pretty please, if you could come with a donation to help us cover costs for the meeting space and the handout for the meeting we, the Grassroots people, would deeply appreciate it. We are of course thrilled that the group has grown, and I for one am pleased as punch that we are big enough to fill such a cool place. As much as I’d like to be able to say we, the organizers, have no trouble covering costs for the group, the reality is that we are ourselves small business people and independent shop owners and we’re feeling the pinch from the unexpected expense. So, contributions to help out will be met with gleeful appreciation.

Two salads from Smitten Kitchen endive and celery salad with fennel vinaigrette and broccoli slaw.

What is your favourite curry house on Brick Lane? at Ask Metafilter. Friends who live in the UK were telling me about Brick Lane and I’m determined to visit it myself someday.

Why doesn’t Hazelnut/Almond flavoring taste like their namesakes? at Ask Metafilter.

New tricks for your coffee at Brownie Points.

Pizza Porn at Splatgirl Creates.

Table Salt Cones at Instructables.

Oatmeal Cookie Pancakes at Joy the Baker.

Pasta? Cake? Pastacake at Edible Crafts.

I’d like to somehow caffeinate the cookies I bake. at Ask Metafilter.

Examples of repurposed inventions? at Ask Metafilter

Who’s the Dr. Phil for the Dan Savage audience? at Ask Metafilter

Business card folded to make handy things for your iPhone at Core77, scroll a bit to find them

Your NPR Name at Lianablog

17 cool magnet tricks at Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories

The Stranger with Gordon Hempton, the man behind One Square Inch of Silence: One Man’s Search for Natural Silence in a Noisy World. I appreciate this, on our last retreat and relax style vacation Scott and I found ourselves at an isolated lodge on top of a foothill with a view of the Cascades, which was all lovely except that every five minutes an airplane would roar overhead. When we were out hiking it was exactly as Mr. Hempton says, “When a jet is flying overhead, your aural world has shrunk.”

These are my favorite hair clips, the ones I nearly always have with me. The clips aren’t too big or too small, they are nicely lightweight and won’t slide out of my fine hair. Two clips will hold up my messy French twist securely for a day. The teeth and handles of these clips are finer than other claw clips this size and, I think, blend into my hair a bit better than chunky style clips do. I have stockpiled a few pairs of these over the years and despite being comparatively delicate looking they only break when I accidentally step on one. They are Karina brand and I find them here in Seattle at Bartell drugstores, usually on a special display rack near the new makeup displays. I will be sad when I can no longer find them. (Shown here with a quarter for scale.)

Twitterrific – There are tons and tons of apps for Twitter, but I’m lazy and have kept using this one.

Stitcher – Lovely app that I use to catch up on public radio shows because I’m often too lazy to download them. It allows you to listen to all sorts of radio and podcasts and includes preset playlists or you can make your own.

Stanza – I swear I read more books because of this app, and it’s been perfect for reading in bed. You can configure all sorts of things that appeal to my nitpicky self, text size, alignment, font, page brightness, page turn style.

Public Radio Tuner – Because I got tired of carrying my radio around the house with me when All Things Considered was on. Allows you to listen to a huge number of public radio stations that stream. A new version, the Public Radio Player, is coming along soon.

Games:

Glyder – An enchanting flying game I’m completely smitten with. Everything about it is surprisingly soothing, and when you crash you lose very little, your character just reappears on a platform nearby. You have a few different kinds of goals to achieve (jewels to gather, trips to take) so you can be as meticulous or not as you’d like. The huge scale of it’s interior world is comparable to Shadow of the Colossus, the heights and depths you can explore are impressive and unexpected. And there are no controls you need to jab at, it’s all played by gently tilting your iPhone as your girl with wings sweeps through the air.

Drop7 Lite – This is Chain Factor for the iPhone. I lost much of last November to Chain Factor so it’s dangerous for me to have this. The lite version is newly addictive because it saves up what you score given X number of moves.

Rolando – A joyfully fun game. They are releasing Rolondo 2 soon and in the lead up are updating Rolando with a couple of new levels each week.

Archibald’s Adventure – A nice little platformer/puzzler that doesn’t frustrate me too much. An amazing amount of levels.

Bobby Carrot Forever – A blocky puzzler like Chip’s Challenge, incredible amount of levels. It doesn’t allow you to skip over levels though, and I’m currently stuck in an ice world I don’t find all that interesting. I think a few more Bobby Carrot games have been released as well.

Some other things I was excited to see, the point-and-click variety of games coming to the iPhone (it makes sense).

Submachine series, I played these in a browser and they stood out as very well done.

Myst for the iPhone. I played this on the PC what seems like ages ago, and I wonder how well the gameplay translates on a screen that is so much smaller.

If there are any apps or games you think I should check out I’d love to hear about them.

The May 2nd Splendid Table included a segment on the history of Stadium Mustard in Cleveland, including explaining why there are two kinds, Stadium and Ballpark, and why one is sold at football games and the other at baseball games. I grew up knowing this as what mustard was, all that yellow stuff seemed strange to me when I first encountered it later in life.

Me? I fall firmly on the side of Authentic Stadium Mustard, and it seems half of Cleveland agrees with me. More about the mustard at All Things Cleveland, and at Chowhound. (Image from allthingsclevelandohio.blogspot.com.)

Shelterrific on living walls, which I now really want for my barren back deck.

How high up on the wall should my mirror hang? at Ask Metafilter

The Perfect Pear Terrarium, I want this too. At Decor8.

I tried caulk singles, at Shelterrific. (It’s the name of the post, not actually me.) I agree with Mary, if I could show you all the half-used caulk guns we’ve tossed when we moved the caulk singles are far more eco-friendly.

Museum Frame Decal at Better Living Through Design. See also, Do Frame adhesive tape over at Anh-minh.

Crystalized orange, yum, at Brownie Points.

Understanding health risks and rewards in what you eat and drink, at Rebecca Blood. This article explains a nice bit.

Tasty crops for a gin garden? at Ask Metafilter

Space Invaders Cutting Boards at ThinkGeek

Prosciutto Dijon and Gruyere Puffs, gah, yum, ahh. At Joy the Baker.

Do you rinse off your chicken before cooking? at Ask Metafilter.

Edamame Hummus at Pink of Perfection

Porcelain #4 Size Coffee Cone Filter Holder with only one hole!. This search was inspired by this post over at Super Eggplant. Granted, we use our over-the-cup drip maker for single cups and a #4 may be way too large. Maybe using #2 filters in the #4 cone will work out?

We’re having a “tiny food” party / BBQ, and I need menu suggestions. at Ask Metafilter. I will never tire of tiny foods.

Has anybody sat in the Midcentury Chair from Urban Outfitters? Is it by any chance comfortable?

This is yummy, easy to make and well worth the leftovers since it tastes even better after a day in the fridge. I first had it as part of a frozen foods swap (like a soup swap but with dinners) and have been meaning to make it ever since. The recipe is from The Silver Palate Cookbook. You cook it in a little white wine, leaving you with the rest of the bottle to sip while it’s in the oven. I think I need to make a collection of recipes that involve a bit of leftover wine and a good long cooking time.

Chicken Marbella

This was the first main-course dish to be offered at The Silver Palate shop, and the distinctive colors and flavors of the prunes, olives, and capers have kept it a favorite for years. It’s good hot or at room temperature. When prepared with small drumsticks and wings, it makes a delicious appetizer.

The overnight marination is essential to the moistness of the finished product: The chicken keeps and even improves over several days of refrigeration; it travels well and makes excellent picnic fare.

1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1 cup pitted prunes
1/2 cup pitted Spanish green olives
1/2 cup capers with a bit of juice
6 bay leaves
1 head of garlic, peeled and finely puréed
1/4 cup dried oregano
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
4 chickens (2 1/2 pounds each), quartered
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup fresh Italian (flat-leaf) parsley or fresh cilantro, finely chopped

1. Combine the olive oil, vinegar, prunes, olives, capers and juice, bay leaves, garlic, oregano, and salt and pepper in a large bowl. Add the chicken and stir to coat. Cover the bowl and refrigerate overnight.

2. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

3. Arrange the chicken in a single layer in one or two large, shallow baking pans and spoon the marinade over it evenly. Sprinkle the chicken pieces with the brown sugar and pour the white wine around them.

4. Bake, basting frequently with the pan juices, until the thigh pieces yield clear yellow (rather than pink) juice when pricked with a fork, 50 minutes to 1 hour.

5. With a slotted spoon, transfer the chicken, prunes, olives, and capers to a serving platter. Moisten with a few spoonfuls of the pan juices and sprinkle generously with the parsley or cilantro. Pass the remaining pan juices in a sauceboat.

16 pieces, 10 or more portions

Note: To serve Chicken Marbella cold, cool to room temperature in the cooking juices before transferring the pieces to a serving platter. If the chicken has been covered and refrigerated, reheat it in the juices, then allow it to come to room temperature before serving. Spoon some of the reserved juice over the chicken.

(From The Silver Palate Cookbook. Prettier picture and oh so much more at Simply Recipes.)