Watermelon mojito

This afternoon I made a drink I've been wanted to try for a while now. Since I have mint in my herb garden I've been drinking mojitos lately. I wanted to watermelon mojito. So glad I did. It's fairly easy and delicious.

First make mint syrup.
1/4 cup water, several large sprigs of mint and 1/4 cup of sugar. On the stove top bring to a simmer so all the sugar is dissolved and the liquid turns a greenish hue. Should smell like sweet mint :).

Then in a food processor or blender blend 3 cups of cubed watermelon and the segments from 3 limes. Until you have a smooth purée.
Combine this with the cooled mint syrup and 3 shots of white rum.

If you like you can strain this ( I do but I'm picky). Serve over ice with a couple mint sprigs for garnish.

My first seedlings

My parents came down to visit while I was on march break and my mom helped me get some seedlings started. I had purchased a mckenzie grow easy. This has a heating pad underneath to give the seed pods heat. I planted fennel, carrots, cucumber, jalepenos, sweet peppers, snow peas, beefsteak tomatoes, romain lettuce and Swiss chard. After only a couple days the cucumber has already sprouted and the snow peas and broccoli have started.

Welcome

This is my first blog.  I am a teacher in southern ontario.  At the end of last summer I bought my first house after living in an apartment for years. The best part about owning a house for me is having a yard to spend the days in.  Many of my fondest memories are from gatherings in a backyard.  Whether it be as simple as a family dinner outside, or as fancy as a beautiful backyard wedding and everything in between.  When I lived in the apartment i was lucky to have a large beautiful park right next door and I would have regular BBQ's in the park with friends (but lugging my camping grill down to the park was not so much fun).  As the weather is getting nicer outside I am excited to enjoy my own backyard.  Some of the projects I have in mind for this summer is growing my first vegetable garden, making a cob oven, and sewing bench cushions for the large built-in benches on my deck. In this blog I will post updates on the garden, the oven, and recipes.  I hope you enjoy and get some ideas for your yard.  I also look forward to all the suggestions and comments from you.

Last Fall

When I moved in at the end of last summer I didn't have a lot of time to do any major work.  I did however take on a couple of jobs.  The previous owners had a fire pit made out of red fire bricks placed haphazardly in a circle.  My partner and I really enjoy camp fires and decided that we needed to replace these ugly bricks and create a nice laid out pit for us to enjoy.  We went out and bought coventry stones to replace the fire bricks.  Now we have an eye pleasing fire pit to enjoy night after night.  We had several fires over the fall and some during the winter.  S'mores, grill-a-snacks, and spider dogs were cooked over the fire. 

The Old Fire Pit

Our New Fire Pit

I also inherited some money and decided to put it towards a new BBQ.  Since living in the apartment for so long I had been unable to BBQ (other than lugging the camping grill down to the park - which I did once a month).  When I moved into the new house my parents brought me my old BBQ that I had when I was in school that they had been storing for me in their garage for years.  I was excited to have a BBQ again but at the same time felt like I needed a larger grill.  This became increasing apparent when I tried to do a beer can chicken on the old grill but could not close the lid because it was too high.  When I inherited the money I immediately went out and bought a Napoleon Prestige Series I Grill with an infrared side searer.  It is by far my favourite appliance I own.   Some of the things I have made on the grill so far include rotisserie turkey for thanksgiving, rotisserie prime rib roast with roasted root veg, beef dip with roasted garlic and onions, steaks, and much more.  

The Old BBQ

Our New BBQ

I can't wait to see what I get up to this year!