I wanna grow tomatoes on the front steps. Sunflowers, bean sprouts, sweet corn and radishes. This is what Courtney Barnett is planning in her song Avant Gardener before her day takes a bad turn. I imagine that things got better and she was able to plant that garden eventually so the neighbors would stop thinking that they have a meth lab in the house. Then one day after the garden grew, she made this sweet salad with the harvest.

The last time I went to the Somerville Winter Market (FYI – there are 2 more Saturdays before it’s over for the year!) I was lucky enough to find Pork Jowl at the Austin Brothers Farm stand. I have a history with Austin Brothers, I actually drove out to their farm in Belchertown, MA to buy pork belly when I made my own panchetta. I knew I had to buy the jowl and figure out what to do with it later. Don’t you love impulse buys? A craving for pork buns a few days later was all I needed to get going with this recipe.

The sandwich dips series returns! Banh mi dip has been in my head since the series began, but I was having a really hard time trying to find an appropriate situation where it would go over well. For most occasions I attend, it isn’t exactly ideal to show up with a plate of chicken livers. I was so glad to finally find some people who were interested in trying out the banh mi dip because it came out better than I had even imagined.