sparrowgrass

We have a shrimp producer right here in Iron County MO. He has varied success--as I understand it, they are very temperature sensitive, and we are right on the edge of their tolerance limit for cool water.

It may be more pleasant if you strain the sumac-ade after you steep the berries. The berries are kind of hairy. Not to mention that critters live in the clusters.

Here is the USDA official website for home canning. There is a whole section on canning meat, poultry, etc. I have never canned meat or poultry, but I used to dig razor clams when I lived in Washington state, and I canned the clam necks for chowder. Seems like it took an hour or more. (I was pregnant when I did that, and cleaning the clams bothered me not at all. But the smell of those canned clams when I opened the canner just about did me in. )

Another bowlful, silly. And then strawberry shortcake, made with rich, crunchy, buttery pie crust instead of biscuits or (godforbid) those yellow cake things you buy in the grocery store. Wanta get fancy schmancy with the shortcake? Roll out the pie dough. sprinkle it with coarse sugar and roll it again, lightly, to press the sugar in. Cut out with cookie cutters--big stars and crescent moons look very pretty. Top it off with whipped cream.

I feel your pain, Steve. You may know that I lived in Ely for five long gardenless years, and every March, my heart would fly south without me, looking for dirt and warm breezes. Ah, well. I will envy you in August, when the humidity and the temperature here both hover in the high nineties.

I bought a mixed packet of seed from Burpee. Oak leaf and deer tongue were two of the varieties, but I believe there were 5 all together. One looks like buttercrunch, one looks like plain old green leaf lettuce, one is red. I think I threw in some iceberg seeds, too, which doesn't make a head here, but I can get some nice green leaves off it before it bolts. I also picked a little spinach, and something that might be arugula--another mixed packet called Niche Salad. I won't buy that one again--it has some parsley, some very bitter mustard, and carrots. Who puts carrots in salad mix? I mean, I like carrots in my salad, but the carrots will not be ready to eat til weeks after the lettuce is gone. I learned to make wilted lettuce salad from my mom, and she learned from her mom.

And it has nothing to do with outdoor shagging--though, somewhere behind the cobwebs in my mind, I do have some vague memories. . . No. I love May because the world is green, new sprouts are coming up in the garden, asparagus graces my table, the lightning bugs are lighting up the pasture across from the house, and whippoorwills are sounding off about poor Will's trip to the woodshed all night long. And tonight I had a wilted lettuce salad. Here is the recipe. Walk out to the garden, and take a big bowl with you. Pick your lettuce--if you pick it clean now, leaving out the wilty leaves and stray weeds and ladybugs and feathers blown over from the chicken yard, it will be much easier to wash later. Fill your bowl full of water from the hose, and rinse the worst of the mud off the leaves. Then, go inside, and fill the sparkling clean sink with water. Wash that lettuce just like you used to wash your doll clothes--swish it back and forth in the water. No soap, please. (Just realized that not all of you will have that childhood image--you guys, wash your lettuce like you used to wash your socks in the dorm sink. Again, no soap.) Lift it out of the water, into your salad spinner. No salad spinner!?!?--run out and get one. Invaluable tool for garden grown leaf lettuce. But for now, use a big colander. Let the water out of the sink, rinse all the grit out, and repeat. If it is really dirty, do it again. Your fingers will be all shrinkly from having them in the water so long, but that's ok. Spin your lettuce dry in the spinner, or wrap it in a clean towel, take it outside, and spin it around in circles till it is dry. Sit down till you quit being dizzy, and write a note to post on the fridge, "Buy a Salad Spinner." Put more of that lettuce in your serving bowl than you think you will need, because it shrinks as it wilts. Slice up the sweet heart of a stalk of celery. Dice 3 or 4 slices of nice bacon, and fry them til just brown in a pan. Add a quarter cup of cider vinegar and a tablespoon of sugar to the hot bacon grease. Toss in about a half cup of diced Vidalia just at the last moment. Pour that hot mixture over the leaf lettuce, stir it up, and set a plate over it for a minute, while you grab some salad bowls and forks. Wear a bib, or you will get bacon grease spots on your shirt. The bitter lettuce loves the slightly sweet dressing, the bits of bacon add a salty chew, and the celery and onion crunch between your teeth. I can't believe I ate the whole bowl.

Dang, I am never calling ANY of you to come feed the chickens for me while I am out of town! They would have you pecked to death and eaten before you ever got the laying pellets open. And don't think for a minute that they wouldn't.

I was a good kid. I will be eating whatever my mom fixes for me on Mother's day.

Breakfast at my Missouri grandmother's house was the full meal deal--always a big platter of fried eggs, always her home cured country ham and thick sliced bacon. Add a big glass pitcher of real milk from the Jerseys and Holsteins, an enamel pot of coffee, preserves and jellies and jams. Other options might include pork chops, pie, or a pile of sugar cookies. Grandpa sometimes had "straw and hay" along with his eggs and such--a pile of All-Bran, with a shredded wheat biscuit crumbled on top. Me--definitely a savory breakfast, not sweet. Leftovers from dinner are perfectly fine, or eggs and toast. In general, anything I would eat for breakfast I would eat for lunch or dinner, and vice versa. If I come into work and tell my coworker that I had pizza or a grilled cheese sandwich for breakfast, he practically gags. Breakfast to him is breakfast food--cereal, eggs, pancakes. Anything else is just. . . .wrong.

Shoot him and bury him in the herb garden. The added nutrients will make them grow, and you can eat the new growth. I am a Master Gardener, BTW, so I know this will work.

I, too, have been canning for 30 years (dang, that makes me feel old) and highly recommend the whole experience. Nothing warms my heart like that "ping" as the jars seal. I keep my canned goods in a china cabinet in the corner of the kitchen, almost as much for decoration as for eating.

We have lost our fruit crops in Missouri as well. Grapes also were affected, maybe to the point of several years to recover from damage to the vines. A hard blow to Missouri's wine producers.

If you want to make sure you live thru your canning experiences, get the Ball Blue Book. Presented by the same folks who make the canning jars. Costs about $6, and is full of basic recipes for canning and freezing. This is especially important if you are planning on canning low acid or low sugar recipes. (And tomatoes count as low acid, these days.) Botulism is no walk in the park, my friends. Be safe. USDA has an online canning site with up-to-date information. Please, watch out for the out of date cookbooks and canning books. I am not ordinarily a member of the food police--you will even find chicken thawing on my countertops--but canning is a different story. Death can be the very first symptom of botulism, I think. Not to mention the fact that prepping everything for canning is lots of work and expense, and it is a real bummer to have lovely jars of things unseal or go moldy.

You mean "possum on the half shell"? Never tasted it. But would, if the opportunity arose.

Tyler, I don't know if I can really advise you on asparagus culture away up there. But your Washington State Extension office can. Here is a site that will help you locate your county office. Washington State Extension guide to asparagus. Here in Missouri, it dies off after a hard freeze, and then you mow the old stalks off. (Excuse me if I am telling you things you already know.) After you are finished cutting asparagus, the plant will send up stalks that will leaf out, with loads of pretty filmy foliage. Let these grow all summer. I tried a straw mulch, with mixed results. I had some growth way too early, into the straw, and then the sprouts froze off.

Crouching Tyler, when your asparagus starts to grow, the sprouts will look like tiny asparagus stalks--no mistaking them for anything else. As they grow, they will get feathery. Let them grow this year, so the roots get strong. Next year, you can eat just a little--don't cut any spears that are smaller than a pencil. Year after that--go to town. I have two rows--one I planted 5 years ago when I first moved here, and one that is on its 3rd spring. I picked enough out of that row last night to satisfy even me, and I will continue to pick until it gets hot enough that the spears get bitter. The old row was planted too close to a young maple tree, and has not done well--too much shade and not enough moisture.

Carrot Top, I am a 4-H Youth Specialist for University of Missouri Extension. I am sorely afraid that you are (I am so sorry to have to say it) too advanced in years to become a 4-H'er. If, however, you were between the ages of 5 and 19, you could work on a rabbit project. The first year's book is called "What's Hoppening?" Second year is "Making Tracks" and the third book is "All Ears." Unlike beef and pork projects, you don't have to sell your animals at the end of the fair, so they wouldn't have to end up on someone's plate. They could go on to live long and happy lives. (Though most 4-H'ers with rabbit projects are well aware of the culinary delights of their project. Farm kids, ya know.) When my kids were little, their dad used to hunt rabbits. My youngest told my mom that "Daddy killed the rabbit, and Mommy turned it into chicken, and I ate it!"

Cube the bread before you toast it. (Don't use the toaster, silly. Put it on a tray in the oven.) I think that way is easier than trying to cut up toasted bread.

Just a warning. Even after you cut the head off, the frog remains very. . . . . .lively. We cut the head off a big bullfrog and set him down to go find a bowl. As soon as he hit the ground, he hopped off into the night and it was only with great difficulty that we retrieved him. Be prepared.

Asparagus, of course.

I had an old fashioned stay at home mama til I was 12, and there were often cookies in the oven for an afternoon snack. Peanut butter, oatmeal, chocolate chip. Or sometimes homemade bread with lots of margarine.

Aw, thanks.

Conjoined Peeps sucessfully separated.

I grow my own, so store bought usually just doesn't make it into my shopping bag. Another 3 or 4 weeks and I should have all I can eat. And I am SO trying this: