Ready to Garden in the South!

It has been beautiful and warm with suddenly chilly early evenings and early mornings. The garden is tilled and waiting for the veggies to go in. My husband wants to run the rows so I'm now waiting on him to find the time. Looks like maybe Saturday.  I have corn, beans, okra, peppers, squash, cucumbers, watermelon and cantaloupe to plant. Oh yeah.... the tomatoes!!! I have German Johnson tomatoes. If you have never tried this variety, please do. They make very large, gnarly kidney shaped fruit that one slice overlaps the bread by a mile and the taste will win you over FOREVER! When I think of that juicy, fresh tomato sandwich of summer... this is the ONLY tomato I eat! My mouth is watering with anticipation even now! Try to find this variety and give it a try. You will not be sorry, I promise.

I am going to give potato sets a try in a very large, deep container on the deck. This is an experiment for you small patio gardeners to see how much it will produce. Pics to come and will keep you posted.

These are a few squash plants in waiting for the garden to be ready!






With these warm days and cool, wet nights our grass is growing at an alarming rate. I finally got my new lawnmower with the bagger attachment on the back. I can't believe how much grass I get for my compost now. The yard is so nice and finished when I look back and the compost heap is growing and growing and growing! Should be wonderful to till into the garden for the fall. Planning ahead for a bountiful garden has never been easier!

Enjoy this beautiful climate and don't forget the southern traditions it instills: sit on your front porch and just relax with a tall glass of iced tea. Watch the hummingbirds around your feeders and take in the smell of Carolina Jasmine creeping up the side rails.

Yall enjoy!

A Southern Cook's Food Challenge

This is a shout out to the movie "Julie/Julia". I have watched it a couple of times this week and I have so enjoyed it!   I find myself comparing my life to the two women and we indeed DO have much in common. I am a foodie and one of my biggest weakness to date is a cooking section of a book store! It's funny, because I had considered writing about cooking in a similar way this movie was based on. Well, too late to claim that idea!  Blogging about food for me is like breathing.  My friends joke, but know it is true, that I am on a two hour feeding schedule.  No matter where we go, I want to eat something every two hours.  What can I say?  I LOVE to EAT!

I do love to cook, and my downfall, as our expanding waistlines attest to, is southern cooking. There are many regional varieties no matter where you live, but I like the twist I have on mine. My husband loves to eat as much as I do and that makes for a wonderful paring except when we try to diet! Like now. Crimenie... how are we supposed to survive on rabbit food? We wake up with the thought of gravy biscuits, french toast, blueberry pancakes in syrup, sausage, bacon, bacon , oh and did I mention bacon?

How can you expect a southern cook with a love for butter, bread and meat to cook in a way that doesn't sustain Paul Bunyan? It's ridiculous!

I'm not trying to promote anyone or any book here but today I spent a few hours in Barnes and Noble. What? I had a gift card! So I was looking through the, you guessed it, cookbook section and found one that actually had some recipes in it that made my mouth water. Its The Perfect Recipe for losing Weight and Eating Great by Pam Anderson. I'm going to give it a try and see if we can enjoy some healthy meals along with our Southern regimen. Sausage, Cilantro, and Creamy Salsa Verde Omelet, Wine Biscuits with Cracked Black Pepper, Sear-and-Sauce Chicken Cutlets with Mushroom-Thyme Cream Sauce... must I go on???? This looks and sounds luscious and I can't wait to try them!

So this is a food challenge of my own. A Southern Life Cook is attempting to cook healthier and loose weight but not compromise taste!!!
Our weight goal is for me to loose 25lbs, and my husband to loose 50lbs in one year. There! I've officially said it so it is on! The count down begins. We will post a monthly weigh-in on the 15th of each month for one year and see if we meet or exceed our goals!

In the meantime, SOS is coming up at Myrtle Beach and as you all know, we are ... YES... Shaggers! We will be indulging in food, drinks and lots of dancing next week so it will be a great time to be serious when we return.
 
Plus, gardening season is approaching fast.  I have small plants under their bell jars growing as we speak/read!  Fresh veggies will make all the difference in the cooking and man-o-man in the eating!!!
 
Bon Apatite fellow foodies!

Garden Time

 Just Smell That Fresh Dirt!

I'm like a little kid watching the tiller breaking ground for my new garden.  Think of all the possibilities.  I see the perfect garden in my mind.  I taste the fresh beans, corn and whoa Nellie, the watermelons and cantaloupes!

It is a time of planning.  I have my gardening books around me with the notepad at the ready.  The rows are drawn out and ready to be assigned.  I have my plastic bottles saved from winter to make the bell jar covers to protect young plants from the occasional frosts that can pop up and my gloves are washed and hanging by the door!  My excitement builds as I pick this plant and then another.  I can already taste the veggies and I am soooo ready for that home grown tomato sandwich!  There is nothing better than that!

It's been a tradition in my family to garden.  I remember watching my Grandfather break ground, lovingly till week after week, string lattice, hoe, weed by hand and water, water, water the garden.    My husband loves it as much as I do and now our daughters are carrying out the tradition as well.

 It's a miracle to watch those tiny seeds you punch in with your fingers grow into plants that produce such wonderful tasting food on your table!

It is almost a competition to see who has the best garden in the south.  You want it to be perfect and weed free, organic and still pest free with the biggest and most flavorful delights you can imagine!

Keeping the deer out is a primary concern and there are as many strategies for this as there are gardens!  Last year, I hung the plastic grocery bags around the perimeter of the garden.  This worked until the very end and I let the bags get wet during the rains.  I think if I keep them changed out with that fresh crinkle you hear in the air... it just might work!

I'll keep you posted with pics as things grow.

Happy Gardening!

Southern Comfort at It's Finest: Sweet Tea

There are many things I love about the South. 

It is a comfortable place to grow up in and raise your own family.  I have a bountiful garden each year, beautiful flowers, lush green lawn and all the wildlife I care to see!  

But today, it's Southern comfort foods on my mind. 

Growing up in the South, food is steeped in tradition and goodness.  When you are sick, tired, happy, or just plain old hungry there is a list of foods that go through your mind that you just have to have.  A few of mine consist of a hot biscuit from the oven with homemade butter,  maybe that biscuit crumbled and smothered in delicious sausage gravy (from the fresh sausage we just made).   Warm cornbread straight from the skillet with a bowl of pinto beans and diced onions.. Pork shoulder slow cooked in the oven overnight, stringy and juicy..., creamed potatoes and gravy, green beans and crowder peas fresh from the garden.  Rib-eye steak seared on the grill just until medium rare with a grilled sweet corn.  A tomato sandwich with that big, beautiful German Johnson at it's peak on fresh bread with Duke's mayo!   Slow cooked pork BBQ with slaw and hush puppies.  Sometimes you just want to sit down to a big bowl of greens. My dessert menu is vast and delicious: homemade ice cream, pecan pie, apple pie, pumpkin pie, chocolate chess, chocolate or lemon pie with meringue piled miles high, ice cold watermelon and home made wine!  

But always, always, my favorite drink of all times... there is nothing finer than:

a Southern tradition, total comfort, 

 

 

Sweet Tea!

Garden pics compliments of Elizabeth Dunlap photography.

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