Tomato Wilt

The heartbreak of growing summer vegetables in the South is the stress heat and lack of/too much water place on plants. Tomatoes are particulary vulnerable. Old timers being creative made use of the fruit of wilting tomatoes. Made famous by a movie about women who kill, cut up, and cook a bad man into BBQ, fried green tomatoes are one good use for those not yet ripe tomatoes that must be pulled prematurely.

Stuffed Squash

We have a neighbor who reliably accepts surplus vegetables. This wonderful woman, though widowed, living alone with no one else to cook for, cooks for herself. She entertains and always cooks for family when they visit. Rarely does she eat out. She suggested stuffed squash and gave me this informal recipe when I waddled over under the weight of too many squash to deal with at once. It is beyond gourmet. There is no restaurant I know of that would serve such a meal. Too bad, America. Homage to Betsy, lady, neighbbor and good friend.

Betsy's Stuffed Squash

2 yellow summer squash, halved
1 small onion, chopped
garlic,chopped
small amount of leftover meat
1 cup of cheese
small amount of leftover cooked rice,stale bread, breadcrumbs or crackers
Salt and pepper to taste.
Fresh herbs (I used oregano, parley, and thyme.)

Cook the squash for about 5 minutes in a large pot of simmering water. Remove. Cool enough to handle, then scoop out the center. Saute the onion and garlic. Mix with scooped squash, add bread crumbs, meat and half the cheese, salt and pepper. Stir in chopped herbs. Stuff the squash shells and cook for 15 minutes at 350. Top with the remaining cheese return to oven to melt.

Four Letter Words

I have an alternate collection. Collecting words is a good thing. Putting them in categories aids retrieval. Okra, for some just another four letter word. OKRA! instead of *&%$! Cooked into a southern stew it's good. Let me explain.

Stewed Tomatoes and Okra

One small to medium onion
Two cloves garlic
Three tomatoes
Four banana peppers
Five okra pods

Peel and chop onion, garlic and tomatoes. Seed peppers. Slice okra.
Sautee onions, peppers and garlic until soft.
Add okra, it will immediately develop a mucilaginous goo when sliced. Don't panic. It washes off with water and makes the stew stewy.
Add the tomatoes.
Stew over low heat until tomatoes have released their juices and veggies are soft.
Cooks note: The French would add some white wine to deglaze the pan and loosen the stew. Beer works fine or water. Just a splash.
Serve over rice for a vegetarian dinner for two.

...think shade.

To think Southern is to think shade. It really is all about the heat of the subtropical sun these days. Temps in the mid 90s with high humidity and it feels like a 'saw-nah' out there. I walk in the early morning choosing shady streets, water my garden standing under the shade of a now mature pin oak that I saved 30 years ago and walk the puppy at night. What puppy?!? The puppy that showed up under the shade of the oak tree on my birthday. She comes when I whistle and hasn't dug in my garden yet. I use water therapy as a teaching tool. She isn't a water dog. And I am having to water lots lately. No more on that for now. I get too upset.
Back to the shady garden, darkened and secluded from the world. All are lush green. Many have magnolia, live oaks, pines or pin oaks giving perpetual shade and shelter though my hands-down favorite is shaded by a large Japanese maple. River birches provide natural umbrellas of shade draping around their trunks creating a green garden room. Every yard, church and some businesses in my neighborhood have a spot of shade to ease the heat and please the eye. All give peace and shelter.

Summer

My eyes tear
A small bunch of onions
Pulled and drying on my porch
On an old door screen

Ya win some, ya lose some.

We've had a cool, rainy spring, perfect for planting, harvesting and digging so that's what we've been doing. The peas and broccoli have come and gone, lettuce is no more, garlic is curing on the porch, swiss chard is up and at 'em, squash has been coming off for weeks and our first tomato will be eaten in a day or two! I planted potatoes this year and have been sneaking a few from under the straw for the past few days-way fun. Carrots are the biggest hit this year. I planted lots. It's great fun to pop them out of the ground, it just makes the most wonderful sound. Potatoes, carrots, onions and garlic roasted with olive oil, salt and pepper fresh out of the garden have been on the menu this week and squash casserole is bubbling away in the crockpot for dinner.
True confessions: the beets were a bust, twice. Turnips weren't much better.Tomatoes are wilting daily. Neem oil is good but cool, very wet days are a curse on tomatoes.

Walked She Did

That's Yoda for She walked across the stage at Emory's graduation but hasn't quite graduated yet but it was still fun and we are proud. The Quad looked like this the night before...

and the next morning...

a crush of people, all happy.
Arnold was the speaker, as in Swartzneger. His message: Work hard. Believe in yourself. Give through volunteerism.