I ate the two beets from the garden

last night and they were the best I've ever eaten. I say that every time I eat a new beet from my garden and every time I say it, I mean it. There's something so fresh, so savory, so... healing about eating something you've grown yourself. It's a remarkable experience each and every time.

I had boiled the beets earlier in the day and put them in a bowl on top of the stove. Last night I stood on the porch with a salt shaker and ate them like one would eat a fresh tomato. I didn't peel them (I never do) and I didn't use a fork. I simply took a bite, added a little salt, took another bite, added a dash of salt until both beets were gone.

This morning I watered the garden and marveled at the increase in size of the green beans, bell peppers and corn in just two days. Unfortunately, the fire ants have discovered the plants, also, so it's time to put out diatomaceous earth and that should tend to the little plant killers. Tonight I'll cut some of the stems from the onions and put that in our beet green, kale, and chard salad. Soon we'll have tomatoes to add to it. Yum!

Counting recipes is almost as good as counting sheep..

When I can't sleep, I count recipes. Or rather I add more of them to my collection, counting as I go. I use Cookware to keep track of recipes and I have 1,381 recipes in it right now, most of which I've tried. I've another several hundred on my drive that need to be transferred and I do that a little at a time. On nights like tonight when sleep is elusive I hit my favorite recipe spots and wander around, peeking here and there to see what I can find that sounds good to me. I copy and paste the information into Cookware knowing that at some point I'll get around to trying it. I find perusing the recipes to be calming and soothing and after awhile downright exhausting. If I do it long enough I get past the relaxment (Is that a word? Naaw, but I like it and will start using it!) stage and head right into the sleepy stage. I'm heading there now, as a matter of fact. But my stomach is growling and I'm wondering what I can have for a quick snack. Oh, I know what sounds good. A little cream cheese, warmed in a bowl in the microwave, with a tad of Splenda and a splash of vanilla added. It's not Creme Brulee but it's quick, it's low in carbs, and it's tasty. Give it a try sometime and let me know what you think.

My kind of chili

Chili is one of my favorite foods but I don't like the thick, dark, gravy type chili often served in Texas. I prefer my chili soupier and not very spicy. I know..it's heresy! But that's how I like it and that's how I make it. Tonight's dinner was, of all things, chili. I thought I'd made enough but I just went into the kitchen to get mine and whooops, there's none left! I guess it was pretty good. I don't use a particular recipe for chili and although it varies a little each time it's usually something close to the Chili Con Carne recipe from my mother's 1950s era BH&G cookbook. That was the chili she raised us on and that's how I learned to make it. As the years have passed, I've forgotten that exact recipe so I just throw something together that is similar and here's how I made tonight's nect...err..chili.

Brown 1/2 lb ground beef or turkey with about 1/4 of an onion, chopped, and drain any fat left after browning. Add 1 or 2 cans of stewed tomatoes (home canned or store bought, even mexican style like I used tonight), some chili powder, some garlic, and any other spices you like. I like to put a whole clove in and sometimes add a little celery seed. I also prefer it with bell pepper but my other half gets indigestion from the pepper so I usually leave it out. Most of the time I add beans, often Ranch Style Beans, but some nights, like tonight, I don't put beans in. Let it all cook together for awhile and voila, easy but tasty chili. It's good with saltines, bread and butter, or hot water cornbread.

So, since there wasn't any chili I just had a slice of whole wheat bread and a little peanut butter. That won't hold me for long and I'll probably make an omelet later.

Tomatoes and squash and peppers, oh my!

We ran errands this morning and I just got around to checking the garden a few minutes ago. The Roma tomatoes are really coming on as are the Sweet 100s. The Mr Stripey plants looked the best of all the varieties for awhile but now they don't look so hot and there's not a tomato one on either of the plants. But time will tell on that one. Anyway, here are a few glances at what's growing in my garden this day...



Roma tomatoes



Sweet 100 tomatoes



More Sweet 100 tomatoes



Yellow squash



And more yellow squash



And finally, our first green pepper of the year

The first beets from the garden!

I just went outside a bit ago to check the garden and my other half pulled two beets for me. They aren't huge but they aren't tiny, either. I brought them inside, washed them, cut off the leaves and put them in my 'salad bag' in the fridge and trimmed the ends of the roots. I'll have them tomorrow for lunch, just boiled with butter, salt, and a dash of pepper.



The picture isn't the best but I imagine the beets will be very tasty.

Plain Ol' Food and Me

I love food. I especially love plain ol' food. Not the fancy schmancy gourmet food, though that's okay at times. But plain ol' good cookin'. Chicken Fried Steak, mashed potatoes with a little gravy, green beans or field peas, and a little cornbread. Or Swiss Steak with a baked potato and a salad.

Yep, food and I get along well - too well. I love to eat and have as long as I can remember. Many of my childhood memories center around food and food-related events or are somehow associated with food. You know, holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas when gluttony was the order of the day. Birthdays with cake and ice cream and other screaming sugared up kids. Parents trying to make hurt feelings or a scratched knee better with a cookie. "Ohh, you hurt your knee. Let me wash it off and we'll go have a cookie!" (Bless you, Mom, I love you and your cookies!)

So yeah, I really do love food. I love the sight of it, the scent of it. I love the way it feels in my mouth and in my stomach. Yep, I do love food! But food and I have a love/hate thing going, too. I'm a Type II Diabetic, diagnosed in 2000. The day of diagnosis changed my relationship with food forever. Oh, I still enjoy eating but what I eat has changed. Umm, for the most part. I still indulge in a little cake or a cookie or some corn on the cob now and then but those things aren't a part of my regular diet these days. Nope, now it's salad, spinach, green beans, cauliflower, cream and cottage cheeses, lean meats, wild rice, sweet potatoes, etc. But those things are worthy of my attention so they get it. Yep, I do love food!

I not only love to eat but I love to cook. Cooking is one of my passions. Time in the kitchen is special and I thoroughly enjoy it. Making bread is an almost spiritual experience. Okay, so that isn't quite accurate but I really get a kick out of it! I like the kneading process, the rolling and pushing and pulling and tugging, the placing it in the greased pan, the smell of a baking loaf... it's a great joy for me and it's something I feel blessed to do and I'm going to use this blog to share some of my cooking and baking experiences with whoever reads it.

I hope you enjoy it!