gahdnin'

It officially is the season for weddings and water ice and box fans and thunderstorms and sunshine and green. Praise the Lamb we have made it out of that brutal winter to experience all of this beautiful, sweaty newness. (If I sound a bit disgruntled, it's because it is stinkin' hot here. Spring is a fickle mistress.)

But one can truly rejoice when she lives with a green-thumbed sister. Where I turned my passions, time, energy and blog reader toward food, Kelsey turned hers toward plants. And I get to be a witness.

This is the first in a miniseries about our urban farm.

Exhibit A: The patio in early spring, when the resilient weeds and vines reigned supreme.

This is the point when I insist that I have helped Kelsey a little bit, gotten my hands dirty enough to claim participation, but I give all credit to her as Master Gardener of Brewerytown.

Day 1: We took an outing to a super-hip nursery for some starters -- cucumbers, yellow squash, tomatoes, sweet basil, bell peppers, romaine lettuce. 

And we weeded.

And we marveled that the strawberries and mint from last summer were surviving and thriving, despite their environment. (Is it a wonder why mice favor our area...)

Kelsey started the new plants inside until the overnight temperatures were not so frosty. And a couple Saturdays later, we transplanted.

She added a bit of fairy dust (coffee grounds).

And as the vine threatens to encase the patio, these babies are shooting up. I'll update on the little miracles again soon.

With love.

black bean burgers (and my mama)

FIRST of all: Happy Mother's Day to my beautiful, powerful, incredibly supportive mama. And to all the rest of you mothers (and daughters and sons).

Thank you for convincing me that reading and writing are important and worthwhile. Thank you for helping me love my sisters and friends better. Thank you for forgiving me and cherishing me and challenging me. Thank you for teaching me to cook. Oh, and thanks for coming to Ireland with me. Let's do that again.

If you were in Philly this weekend, I would take you across the street to the new, possibly legal, water ice stand and we'd join the throngs of people throwing block parties. (I'm not usually invited, but you would be our in.) We could set up a grill alongside the rest, or I could whip us up some of these black bean (oven-baked) burgers beforehand. They're almost as good.

When I made these last week, I did so because it was a great excuse to use the panko bread crumbs in the pantry. I had most of the ingredients already...isn't that great when that happens? Special thanks to Rybread for the day-old ciabatta. Yum.

I like to paint an honest picture of life in our kitchen.
Please note that bananas are not included in this recipe.

If I had a food processor, I would have missed the fun of laboriously dicing the pepper, onion and garlic. Just like motherhood, it's a labor of love.

Mash the black beans and mix everything together with seasoning and an egg. Just like a mother, the egg binds everything together.

Then add those panko crumbs for some lovely texture. (I think I've exhausted the mother parallels of this recipe.)

To make this meal extra-warm weathery, and because I also inherited a fierce love of sweet potatoes from my mother, I baked some fries for awhile then added the burgers for the last 20 minutes.

And because I have wonderful friends who invite me to visit her in Spain, then gift me with high-quality Spanish olive oil, we had a very simply dressed, very tasty salad too.

I like to dip those fries in a curry/mustard concoction. I'd probably like most things dipped in curry mustard, though.

These are hearty (as in they're good for your heart...I couldn't resist) and spicy as you want them to be. I think you'd like them too, Mama.

Since you weren't here for this dinner, we spent some time afterward watching Eve 6 music videos.

But I promise dessert will be more exciting when you visit again. The water ice joint is always hopping.

Black Bean Burgers

via Tasty Kitchen

Makes 4

1 can (16 oz.) black beans

1/2 medium onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped

1 red bell pepper, stem and seeds removed, chopped

1 egg

1 t. cumin

1 t. onion powder

1 t. chili powder

1 T. Sriracha (or your fave hot sauce)

1/2 c. finely chopped cilantro (to my great chagrin, I totally forgot this part)

3/4 c. panko bread crumbs

2 T. canola oil

4 burger buns, kaiser or ciabatta rolls

Drain and rinse the black beans and mash with a fork.

Use a food process (or not) to chop the onion, garlic and pepper until very fine. Stir into the beans. In a corner of the bowl, combine the egg, cumin, onion powder, chili powder, Sriracha and cilantro. Combine that with the bean mixture.

Drain off any excess liquid and add the bread crumbs. Using your hands, form the mixture into four burger patties and coat them with extra panko crumbs, if you'd like.

Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes, flipping the burgers after 10. Serve on rolls, topped with lots of mustard or your own favorite burger toppings.

With extra love, for my Mama.