I went out to check on our tomatoes after neglecting them for a few days, and found we have baby tomatoes! Wheeee! It seems my first tomato experiment is coming along! In that vein, here’s today’s book review: How to store your garden produce, by Piers Warren. Great resource!

Totally unrelated, but read this post over at Stainless Steel Droppings about an art scholarship set up in memory of a young artist who passed away, and see if you can donate a dollar or two. If not, at least go and look at the amazing artwork and read about this young lady, and/or pass along the link on your own blog.

Since I don’t have any review cookbooks in hand at the moment (not that I need any more books to occupy my time!), we’re cooking from older cookbooks that we never got around to reviewing, and planning to review those. The lentil & hot dog soup from The Bean Bible was absolutely amazing, particularly made with a package of uncured, all-natural hot dogs that have SO much flavor! Next will be a recipe of lentil cakes with a date & tamarind chutney, and, from a different cookbook, a crustless cheesecake (yum!).

Today’s review is of Margaret M. Wittenberg’s marvelous New Good Food. It’s a fantastic reference work for folks who want to know more about and make use of whole foods of all kinds.

Speaking of healthy cooking, it looks like I’ll be getting my next scan next Monday to see if my gallbladder has deteriorated enough to remove yet. Hopefully so. That won’t necessarily cure all ills, but it should at least get rid of that nagging soreness and the tendency to sometimes hurt when I laugh.

We’re finally going to get to grow some tomatoes in the garden this year, so I also finally picked up a tumbling composter. I LOVE getting to compost. There are just so many good things about it. Your waste produce and excess fallen leaves don’t go to waste as trash—instead they feed your bushes, your trees, your flowers, and most delightfully, your edible produce. You also don’t have to spend as much money on soil amendments and fertilizer if you’re making your own. It’s a long-term money-saver AND a waste reducer. Hard to beat that. I can’t wait until we’re picking home-grown tomatoes.

In homage to the well-dressed vampire we’ve managed to become enemies with in our D&D campaign:

I’M DEAD
I just wear it well