3 in 1 mint plants

I've been tidying up one spot in the yard this summer. My progress has been slooooooow. But yesterday I tackled one more little area -- the potted mints. I have pineapple mint, spearmint and peppermint.

I like to keep my mint plants in pots. In the past, I've sunk terra cotta pots into the ground, holding individual plants. They do a good job of corralling the mints, while keeping the roots well-watered. However, as you can see, the pots fall apart after a while, in our climate. And it just doesn't look so nice after a full season or two.

So, time to see what I can do with this area.

I bought a larger pot, one of those all-weather, concrete-looking pots. In it, I placed 3 tall-ish plastic pots (they look like 1-gallons).

I filled the outer pot with plenty of soil, then moved the mint plants into each of these smaller inside pots. I did have to root-prune one of the plants, and cut the whole thing in half, as it wouldn't likely do well, simply transplanted. But I do like how this project turned out.

In summer, I grow the mint in the shade of a blueberry bush. Our yard can really bake. But now I have the option to bring the mint plants up to the deck come fall, which I might find quite handy.

When we first moved into this house, the previous owners had mint growing in the front garden, only it was allowed to "roam". I spent the better part of every morning, for one entire summer, eradicating that mint from the yard. My aim is to never go through that, again!

I made the fried fish last Friday -- first time for me, making fried fish!

not pretty, but sure was tasty!

And I was surprised by how delicious it turned out. I am not a fish lover, by the way. It's the rest of my family that loves fish. So, for me to say that this turned out delicious, that is pretty amazing. I kept eating waiting for that bite which would say to me, "yeah, this is why I don't like fish". But that never happened. It does make me wonder about the handling of fish in our local fish fast food joints, as it always tastes very fishy to me, at places like Ivar's.

This was my first attempt at making battered-dipped, fried fish. I went with a basic flour/vinegar/baking soda/salt/water batter. The recipe called for baking powder, but what I had was a combo of vinegar and baking soda. And although the recipe didn't mention dredging the fish in flour, before the batter, I did anyways, as that's how I fry most battered foods, to help the batter adhere better.

As usual when frying, I made a huge oily mess in the kitchen. I can't seem to fry without getting oil all over the place. I went through a couple of paper bags, as draining paper. And even with a lot of draining of oil, I put the fish in the oven to "hold" while frying the potatoes. There was still more oil in the pan that held the cooked fish. So, I drained on more paper, when I took that fish out of the low-temp oven.

With the leftover oil, it was about 1 cup, I put it into a plastic container and have it in the freezer for our next fish fry of the summer. I'll add some fresh oil to it, and use a blend of old and new oil. This will be the reserved "fish oil", only for cooking fish, as it likely picked up strong odors and flavors.

The box of cod fillets that I bought at Cash & Carry contains enough fillets for 4 nights of fish dinners for the summer. That should satisfy the fish lovers in my family!

Sometimes "free shipping" isn't the best deal, (and I have to remind myself of that)

I sometimes fall into the trap of thinking along these lines -- "woo hoo! free shipping! That must be a good deal!" Then I have to remind myself to do all of the calculations, to see if it really is the best deal.

You've probably seen this on Amazon: you can buy the same product in different amounts and from different sellers, and at different price points, some with minimal shipping costs, some with hefty shipping fees.

A supplement that I use can be bought 1 container at a time, under the "spend $35, and get free shipping" fulfilled by Amazon. Or, it can be bought in a 2-pack, from an authorized seller, for less per bottle, but with a small shipping charge. That shipping charge was a stumbling block for me, this past week. I kept thinking, "oooh I want to get that free shipping". However, overall, including shipping, it was cheaper per bottle than buying it, fulfilled by Amazon, with the free shipping bonus.

It took me most of the week to finally get it through my head that the second method would make the most dollars-and-cents sense. I was still able to take advantage of Amazon's free shipping, but on a different order, altogether.

And another reminder for myself (and maybe you, too), the biggest package is not always the cheapest. When looking at buying unflavored gelatin in food service containers, it was cheapest per unit to buy gelatin 2 containers at a time, and not 3 or 4 at a time.

I also discovered this to be true when ordering replacement filters for our refrigerator. Buying a 3-pack was less expensive per filter than a 6-pack. Go figure! But I'm glad to not have to commit to (and store) more than a 3-pack for the time being.

Gotta remind myself to always do the math!