In my Garden.

It's getting really warm here and everything is growing nice. My balcony is greener everyday. I have a tour of my balcony and an update every week on my Instagram, follow me @simple.in.big.city

I have few flowers to add some colour:

Parsley from last year:

Carrots:

Beets:

Basil:

Peppers:

Oregano and lemon verbena:

Basil:

Herbs:

I took my spider plants outside:

Strawberries.

Yesterday I took out our last bag of frozen strawberries and we made a shake. I let the strawberries defrost a little because my blender is not strong enough for fully frozen fruits. Our favourite shake is very simple, just add some sugar and sour cream to the berries. And now that we are done with the frozen strawberries the new season is almost here and we can enjoy fresh ones for a while, of course I will be freezing some for next year.

I also had a box of semi fresh strawberries so I added to the shake.

Dandelions.

It's that time of the year again, dandelions are everywhere. This year I almost didn't pick them because the syrup needs to be kept in a fridge and I don't have much room. After few days of thinking and shifting things in the fridge I found little bit of space and grabbed my kids and ventured out with a big basket. We managed to pick a lot and then I started to prepare the flowers. First I had to wash them, I lay them on my table for about 12 hours or overnight, so they can dry and mostly so the bugs have a chance to crawl out, then I spend most of a day separating the green parts from the flowers. Then I cover the yellow fluff with water and boil, turn off the heat and cover it, and let it steep overnight in a cool place, I just put the pot on my balcony. The next day I separate the liquid from the flowers and start boiling the juice. I add some sugar and lots of honey and slowly boiled it down. It takes few hours. This year I used some of the liquid to make a jelly. The colour is so deep and the syrup tastes like pure honey, and the jelly... oh my, it's so good.

Mother's Day

Last Sunday my kids treated me to a delicious dinner for Mother's Day. There was a menu with few choices, I love pasta so that's what I chose and for desert we had chocolate covered strawberries. 

In my Garden.

There is a little bit of green in my garden, yesterday was a beautiful day, sunny and really warm so I replanted my basil. It was getting to big for the container it started in, so now they are in bigger ones. I still bring them indoor in the evenings because the nights are cold.

And that is kale in my window.

Simple dinner.

I love simple dinners, they are easy to make and so delicious. I usually use whatever I have on hand and just put it together. This time I roasted some sweet and regular potatoes, fried beans and zucchini and cooked brown rice. It was so good.