The Lonely Watermelon and The Four Year Old

This year I planted an abundance of watermelon seeds. They grew feverishly and took over half of my garden. I regretted it but didn't have the heart to pull up and throw away the healthy plants. When they were about half the size they needed to be they started rotting on the ends. Being an amateur gardener I had no idea what was happening. We were having a major drought in Tennessee this year and read that I did not water the plants enough while the melons were maturing. I guess I’ll try again next year.

Sunday morning I was working in the garden and was totally disgusted with the melons and pulled up all of the plants. There was one lonely watermelon left that had not split or rot and I put it aside to check later when I had the time.

My grandson came over later in the day and decided that he just had to visit the garden. He spotted the lonely watermelon in the corner and immediately ran over to pick it up. Of course, being only four, he dropped it within the first minute of holding it. It obediently split but I wasn't too concerned because I thought that it couldn't possibly be ripe on the inside. I picked it up and pulled it apart the rest of the way and gazed upon a red, ripe and sweet melon.

I am sure that my grandson broke the record for the fastest time of opening and devouring a watermelon. He began slurping and eating and dripping all over his clean clothes. I am so glad my daughter had her camera in hand (actually I think the camera has become permanently attached to her body) to take some great photos of my sweet pea.

Next year things will be different. I will plant my watermelons on a sunny hillside and water them so they will grow to become big and strong. I will then invite my grandson over and we will designate a “watermelon day” and slurp watermelon till our tummies bust. Maybe we will have a towel or two laying around for messy faces.

Creating The Perfect Wrap With Leftovers

Leftovers seem to multiply in my refrigerator. When there are only two people in the family leftover food seems to get forgotten. I always buy too much and I always cook too much. I am forcing myself lately to use all leftovers the very next day before I cook anything new.

This bad habit stems from growing up in a large family. I have 4 brothers and 1 sister. I always had to help mom with the cooking. I can't say that I was a very good cook considering we ate a lot of hamburgers, spaghetti, pinto beans and cornbread.

Things have changed drastically. My taste buds have matured and I will basically eat (or try to eat) anything. I love to experiment with new dishes and explore new tastes, textures and colors. I must confess that I do not like liver, but my husband T. says that I just haven't had the right person cook it for me.

Lately, My husband T. has gotten up every morning and fixed himself something for breakfast or has asked me to prepare breakfast. Since I am usually groggy and barely had my first cup of coffee I am thinking “fast and quick”. I have been buying “Tomato Basil Wraps” that are made with extra virgin olive oil from Walmart. These, or course, are not organic but trying to find the time to drive 20 minutes to the organic food store and 20 minutes back gets to be somewhat difficult at times. When I am short of time I can be at the Walmart in 3 minutes.

I begin building the wrap by scanning which protein needs to be used immediately. Next, find any cooked, steamed or jarred veggies. These must be held together by some type of binder like mayo, mustard, garlic salt, cream cheese or maybe even some ricotta cheese.

One thing that I have learned from experience. Mix your binder together in a separate bowl and then add it to your protein and veggies or you will have mush. Lightly toss together and place in your wrap. Fold over and cut on the diagonal for a pretty presentation.

We Did It! - Hickory Smoked Salmon

I am going to try to make a long story very short. My husband T. travels alot. His friends took him to a restaurant in Tulsa, Oklahoma that served the best hickory grilled steak that he had ever tasted. All of his friends said that they had tried to duplicate this flavor but had no luck.

When he got home last weekend that is all I heard for days was how good the steaks were and he was going to succeed in getting this smoked flavor in his meats. He started with buying a bag of hickory smoke chips and they laid around the house for a few days. He had eaten at this restaurant two times the week before and had exceeded his red meat limit. He decided he couldn't wait a few days so we went the the next best thing Sockeye Salmon.

He insisted that he needed a little black cast iron box to layer his hickory chips in the bottom. I always use cast iron cookware so I suggested that he stack them in the cast iron skillet. Now...we needed something to place over the skillet to cook the salmon. We had recently purchased a stainless steel basket for grilling so that food would not fall through the grate.

T. soaked the chips in water for about 30 minutes and then drained the water off. He put the chips in the cast iron pan and laid the grill pan on top, lit the grill and let it get very very hot. The hickory chips began to smoke and turn black. He then cooked the salmon for about 5 minutes on each side. I had covered the salmon with olive oil, salt and pepper.

When T. took the first bite I knew that he had succeeded with his hickory grill experiment. I took one bite, but had already made myself a salad and baked potato. I would savor the salmon the next day for lunch. I have a gut feeling that we are going to have an abundance of hickory smoked foods for the next couple of months. Now...how do I get my pan back?

Breakfast: plain yogurt, blueberries

Lunch: small steak & cheese sandwich

Dinner: salad, baked potato w/sour cream, chives

Things that I am thankful for: husbands who like to grill my dinner.

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Chocolate Flourless Cake for Lunch and Star Wars

Today was a day for chocolate. Not just a square of chocolate, but something rich and sinful. I had a small dish of pasta for lunch and was not completely full.

I walked to the kitchen and decided on a chocolate flourless cake. It only took a few minutes to make and even less to cook.

While I was waiting on the cake I began working on my grandson's Star Wars Legos together...all 232 pieces. It was a project I had dreaded, but my 4 year old grandson could not play with it unless it was glued together. I had already put it together once while my grandson patiently watched and waited (a 2 hour project). Now I was going to disassemble all pieces and start again gluing each piece together. He is so Star Wars crazy and knows most of the characters by name. This is the second Lego Set that I have glued together and it is definitely my last. I do not want to see General Grievous or LEGO® AT-ST™ ever again. Time to actually get busy and work on my website Shoppingtosave.com. Maybe I will even have time to work out and watch "Little House on the Prairie".

Breakfast: 1/4 of large spelt bagel w/butter and jelly, 1/2 c. blueberries, coffee

Lunch: 1 small serving pasta w/ basil pesto, 1 pc chocolate flourless cake, green tea

Dinner: guacamole salad, 3 hot wings, glass of red wine

Until tomorrow,

Lonna

My First Organic Garden

Oh how a longed for an organic garden! To go right outside your door and pick the freshest vegetables and fruit.

This year I went for it! I planted tomatoes, cucumbers, red peppers, jalapeno peppers, pumpkins, watermelons, zucchini, squash, butternut squash, lettuces, basil and dill.

The jalapeno peppers are doing better than any of the other plants. Mostly because what bug in their right mind would eat a hot pepper. Worms are getting my collard greens and the birds and deer are getting my tomatoes. I won't mention the hourds of rabbits that descend upon the garden at dusk eating everything in sight. You would not be able to count them as they all skip away with full stomachs.

I never knew this was going to be so hard. I thought that I would plant a few seeds and out of the ground would sprout a bountiful garden that I would pick the freshest veggies and have them for dinner. I am starting a winter garden in the next two weeks. I have added a fence around the garden and mixed a rich organic compost with the dirt. I have also added a compost bin so that I could recycle my veggie scraps.

We shall see what will become of this organic garden. I hope things will get better.

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