My Top 3 Favorite Recipes from Last Week

As a sort of review, and an easy digest, I have decided to share my favorite recipes that I try each week. This blog shares two recipes I have not yet shared: broiled tilapia parmesan and Indian eggplant. And points to one that I have already shared.

It's been a good week for food. So without further ado, here are three recipes I would recommend trying out:

1. Broiled Tilapia Parmesan

My Top 3 Challenges in My First Year of Gardening

Given that I had no experience gardening, it should come as no surprise that I ran into my share of challenges in my first year in a garden.

Thank goodness for Google and Facebook. Both were great resources.

Here are the biggest challenges I had last year in the garden:

1. Not knowing whether a bug was “beneficial” or “harmful.”
There are entire books on insects and their effect on the garden. I haven’t read any of them – yet. I didn’t even know there was an entire science behind what to plant and locating certain flowers and herbs to attract or ward off insects.

Two Mexican Recipes I Loved: Enchiladas and Lasagna

It’s been a good week for food. That’s according to my husband, when I asked him which of two Mexican dishes he liked best out of the two I’ve made in the seven days: green chili enchiladas or Mexican lasagna.

Zucchini Galore: My Favorite Zucchini Recipes

2012 was the year I discovered vegetable gardening. And one of my more successful plants (it grows whether you want it to or not!) was zucchini - that is, until it took over the garden and I had to remove it. It was the main culprit in overcrowding my garden, resulting in a fungus on the zucchini plant’s leaves. (I treated it with neem oil, a surprisingly versatile substance.)

Note to self: Only plant one zucchini plant next year, and give it plenty of space!

Until my zucchini got a little crazy, I fully enjoyed the rewards of my harvest. What to do with all that zucchini? Fresh sliced zucchini, sautéed, salted and served with something grilled, it is always great.

Learning to Love Learning New Things

One of the most humbling things you can do as an adult is to try new things.

That was the impetus of this blog. I was going to finally take the time to do all the things I always thought I would learn to do.

The bad news is that I let this blog go for a long time. It was great right after I finished my master’s degree and didn’t know what to do with myself. But as soon as I got busy doing all the things the blog motivated me to do, I stopped feeling the desire to, well, blog.

Welcome Back to My Blog

Welcome back to my blog, long idle.

My goal with restarting my blog is to continue writing as I did before, but with a focus on what I'm learning in the kitchen and in my garden.

That's why I have renamed this The Gnome Knows Best, in homage to my wonderful garden gnome, who watches over my fledgling vegetables. It seems apt.

Enjoy!