Passion Flower

I have a plant growing up one of my blueberry bushes.

A vine.

It looks so exotic,

like it would be treasured and rare.

But it isn't either.

It grows wild here in Georgia

and

spreads profusely.

It is considered a weed by many.

This beautiful flower was named "Passion Flower" because it

somehow

reminded someone,

who happened to be the official namer of such things,

of Jesus' death and resurrection

(which is called The Passion).

Looking at the flower,

I don't see the connection.

Do you?

Growing up, I never knew this plant as anything other than a MayPop.

Until I became a gardener and started a library of gardening books.

And there it was.

My MayPop was a Passiflora Incarnata.

Each of the flowers lasts about one day.

One.

That's not many.

And after that one day,

the exquisite flower wilts

and

begins the process of becoming fruit.

Some people harvest the fruit of the Passion Flower to eat.

As a kid, I didn't know that.

I only knew that when I stomped on one of those green balls,

I'd hear a loud

"POP!"

Another thing I didn't know about the MayPop when I was a kid.

The Passion Flower, a/k/a MayPop, is considered a medicinal herb.

You can find it in vitamin bottles in Health Food Stores.

It is used to treat anxiety and sleeplessness.

As it turns out, I could us some help with that.

Yes, the MayPop is staying.

Honey Bee

Coming in for a landing....

on my mystery herb plant.

Oh.

How I wish I could remember what it is,

that herb.

What in the world did I plant?

Note to self:

buy plant markers and use them!

Anyone recognize the flower?

Or the leaves?

I can't figure it out from the taste.

I wonder if the bees can?

Southern Pasta Salad

I've got another delicious and easy Summer Salad today.
I've always called it Southern Pasta Salad. I guess southerners aren't really known for their pasta dishes;  maybe I should rename it?
It does taste "southern," however. It has a mayo-based dressing.
This one is a great last minute potluck or picnic dish. Look in your garden or veggie crisper and use whatever you can find. Same with the pasta in your pantry: any will do!
So yummy!

Rebekah's Southern Pasta Salad

16 oz your favorite pasta (elbows, penne, bow ties, twists, wagon wheels, etc.)
1 cup chopped crunchy vegetables (celery, banana peppers, cucumbers, red peppers, etc.)
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup mayonnaise
3/4 tsp. dry mustard
1 1/2 tsp. sugar
1 1/2 TBSP. cider vinegar
3 TBSP. sour cream
1/2 tsp. salt

Cook the pasta al dente, drain, rinse and cool.
Add chopped veggies and tomatoes to pasta.
In small bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients.
Pour over pasta/veggie blend. Mix well.
Cover and chill in the refrigerator several hours.

Summer Lentils

Summer Salad week continues at Catching Pearls Blog!

But first.

Check these out.

Summer Chicory growing wild in the meadow at our Mountain Farm

Lentils are so good.

And very simple to make.

They make a delicous and hearty substitue for meat.

Lentils were never in  my vocabulary until a few years back.

(Well, now that I think about it, it's been 15 years or so.

Guess that doesn't qualify as "few.")

Since then, I put them in my vocabulary,

but only in fall and winter.

Until my friend turned me on to this recipe.

The lemon brings a refreshing and summery taste to this delicious and healthy side.

It can also be a nice main dish for lunch or a light dinner.

Yes, I see it now.

Invite a good friend over for a backyard lunch.

Serve this with a garden salad, some tiny muffins, and iced tea.

Or take it to your next potluck or the neighborhood summer social,

but only if you one of those people who can take adoration and rave reviews.

And like my Momma taught me: when you receive your compliments, just say "thank you."



Summer Lentils

Ingredients

1/2 lb lentils, picked over and rinsed

4 garlic cloves, chopped fine

1/2 - 1 tsp. salt

1/3 cup olive oil

Zest of 1 lemon

Juice of 1 lemon

1/3 cup chopped carrots

Pepper

Directions

Put lentils in medium pot and cover with 1and 1/2 inches water.

Add garlic and salt.

Bring to a boil.

Reduce heat, cover with tipped lid, and simmer about 20 minutes. 

Turn off heat and let lentils sit covered for about 10 minutes before draining off excess liquid.

Put lentils in serving dish and add remaining ingredients.

Serve warm or room temperature.

(Take leftovers for lunch the next day. Yum! Good cold too.)

Brown food is never pretty in a picture, but I assure you---you'll enjoy this particular brown food!

Corn Salad

"Summer's Here, I'm for that...."

~JT~

Well, me. Not so much. Summer has always been dead last on my favorite seasons list.

My Favorite Seasons List:
1.  Autumn
2.  Spring
3.  Winter*
and
lagging
far
far
behind
the
others
is
4.  Summer.

I suffer Summer.
Oh, I like that. That's exactly what I do, I suffer Summer.
How about you? Are you a fan of summer?

I'm not a fan of sweltering sun, sweat, stickiness, humidity.
But, this year I'm working through it. This year I'm changing my attitude.
This year, I'm going to have a Summer Theme. You know, like a party theme.

Come over to my latest post at The City Farmgirl Blog at http://www.maryjanesfarm.com/ where we're talking summer themes, summer music, summer flowers, summer everything.
This week at Catching Pearls Blog it's Summer Salads Week in honor of the coming of Summer.
Because.
While I don't like summer weather in the least,
I do LOVE AND ADORE summer food.
Like yummy corn salad.

So here's the recipe.

Rebekah's Summer Sensational Corn Salad

8 ears fresh yellow corn
1 red pepper, chopped
1 yellow pepper, chopped
1 onion, chopped fine
1/4 cup lime juice
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup cilantro leaves, chopped
salt and pepper to taste




This recipe has two cooking secrets in it.
Let's start with Secret Number One: microwaving corn on the cob. What a great method to cook corn. If you've never tried it, you've got to. The corn is always cooked just right, never tough. And the  easy part is that you just leave the cobs in the husks. Put them in the microwave (I do no more than 4 at a time because my microwave is small). Cook on high TWO MINUTES PER EAR. You won't believe how easy it is to "shuck." The husk peels right off; I snap it off once it is at the bottom of the cob. And those pesky silks? They just fall away. No kidding.
So, using Secret Number One, cook the corn. Then husk it.
Okay, now you need to cut the corn from the cob.
Here's Secret Number Two. Use the sharpest knife you can get. A sharp knife makes this easy. A not-so-sharp knife makes this a bear.
I used the Sharp Select Knife my mother-in-law recently gave me. (She is so thoughtful; whenever she comes to visit, she has her arms full with food and gifts and goodies. So sweet!) And wow. This knife is terrific. Perfect for the corn job!

(Using a VERY sharp knife this too is a breeze.)

Put in bowl and add the peppers and onion, salt and pepper.
Pour on both lime juice and olive oil. Mix well.
Add the cilantro and mix a bit more.
Serves about 10.

This saves for days in an air-tight container, so it's a great make ahead dish. It also travels well--great for summer picnics!


*Winter is 3rd because I live in Georgia; if I lived in real Winter**, it would move up to numbero uno on my list.

**IHEARTSNOW
      

Rat Tail Radishes

The radishes are in. We plant radishes in the fall and in the spring because they offer as close as you can get to instant gratification in the garden. We all need a little encouragement along the way. Radishes are quick to sprout, within days of planting. Then the next thing you know, you see those beautiful little colorful radish tops popping out of the ground ever so slightly. I crowned my daughter the "radish garden princess" because radishes are her special responsibility. She picks out the seeds. She plants the seeds. She waters the seeds. She harvests the radishes. This year she planted several varieties, including "Easter Egg" and "Rat Tail." The "Rat Tail" isn't ready quite yet for harvest, but she can't wait to see what it looks like.

Our only issue with radishes is this: now what? What to do with them? I need to discover some recipes. All  I know to do is slice them and put them in salad. ha!

So, the other evening we are out in the garden, and as she's pulling up radishes,

she turns to me with this very serious face,

"What do I do if my husband doesn't like to garden?"

What indeed. I wonder what the right answer was to that one...

My Truck

One day

I'll have enough money to restore this baby.

It was my Grandfather's.

Then it was my father's.

And now it is mine.

As a kid

I loved and admired this truck.

I still do.

Way back then

when I was knee-high to a grasshopper

I developed a

"vision."

Yes, some people dream of being famous, or a doctor, or rich.

Not me.

In my "vision,"

I'm driving this beauty.

And there's a Christmas tree flung in the back.

And I'm headed home.

One day, one day....

Happiness Is...

I'm talking about HAPPINESS on my latest blog post at http://www.maryjanesfarm.com/.
Here's the link.
Pop over and visit!

And here are lots of happiness quotes.
It makes me feel happy to read them.
I hope it does you too.

Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.Abraham Lincoln

You can never get enough of what you don't need to make you happy.Eric Hoffer

We have no more right to consume happiness without producing it than to consume wealth without producing it.George Bernard Shaw

Happiness is a function of accepting what is.Werner Erhard

The essentials to happiness are something to love, something to do, and something to hope for. William Blake

Happiness is not something you postpone for the future; it is something you design for the present.Jim Rohn

Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.Aristotle

You have everything you need for complete peace and total happiness right now.Wayne Dyer

Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude.Denis Waitley

It makes no difference where you go, there you are. And it makes no difference what you have, there's always more to want. Until you are happy with who you are, you will never be happy because of what you have.Zig Ziglar

Happiness comes of the capacity to feel deeply, to enjoy simply, to think freely, to risk life, to be needed.Storm Jameson

The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature.Anne Frank

If you want to be happy, be.Leo Tolstoy

What a wonderful life I've had! I only wish I'd realized it sooner. Colette

The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance; the wise grows it under his feet. James Openheim

"Well," said Pooh, "what I like best," and then he had to stop and think. Because although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn't know what it was called. A.A. Milne

Indeed, man wishes to be happy even when he so lives as to make happiness impossible.St. Augustine

Can anything be so elegant as to have few wants, and to serve them one's self?Ralph Waldo Emerson

Happiness is like a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you. Nathaniel Hawthorne

Happiness is a form of courage. Holbrook Jackson

We tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have. Frederick Keonig

It's never too late to have a happy childhood. Berke Breathed

Happiness is the soundtrack of my life.Grey Livingston

Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product. Eleanor Roosevelt

Happiness is a direction, not a place.
Sydney J. Harris

A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery while on a detour.Unknown

If you want others to be happy, practice compassion.
If you want to be happy, practice compassion. Dalai Lama

The best vitamin to be a happy person is B1. Unknown

Happiness is not an ideal of reason, but of imagination.Immanuel Kant

The search for happiness is one of the chief sources of unhappiness.Eric Hoffer

What I'm looking for is a blessing that's not in disguise.Kitty O'Neill Collins

Isn't it cool when the days that are supposed to feel good, actually do?Jim Carrey

You cannot always have happiness, but you can always give happiness.Unknown

If you are not happy here and now, you never will be. Taisen Deshimaru

On the whole, the happiest people seem to be those who have no particular cause for being happy except that they are so. William R. Inge

To be happy, we must not be too concerned with others.
Albert Camus

Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.Mahatma Gandhi

I am a kind of paranoiac in reverse. I suspect people of plotting to make me happy.J.D. Salinger

And the Charlie Brown Happiness Is Song

Charlie Brown: Happiness is finding a pencil.
Snoopy: Pizza with sausage.
Linus: Telling the time.
Schroeder: Happiness is learning to whistle.
Linus: Tying your shoe for the very first time.
Sally: Happiness is playing the drum in your own school band.
Charlie Brown: And happiness is walking hand in hand.
Happiness is two kinds of ice cream.
Lucy: Knowing a secret.
Schroeder: Climbing a tree.
Charlie Brown: Happiness is five different crayons.
Schroeder: Catching a firefly.
Setting him free.
Charlie Brown: Happiness is being alone every now and then.
All: And happiness is coming home again.
Charlie Brown: Happiness is morning and evening,
Daytime and night-time too.
For happiness is anyone and anything at all that's loved by you.
Linus: Happiness is having a sister.
Lucy: Sharing a sandwich.
Lucy and Linus: Getting along.
Happiness is singing together when day is through.
All: And happiness is those who sing with you.Thanks for singing with me...Y'all are great, and make me so very happy!

The Avett Brothers

Have you discovered these guys yet?
Just wait.
This is about to shake your bearings, rock your world.

Discover...

Discover...

Discover...

And check this out. It's when they performed on NPR.

Speechless?
"Yeah, I know, right."

Geeze Louise...

Holy Moly...
Good Golly Molly...

And all that...

There's only one thing to do.

Well two.

Buy a CD and go to a concert.

Springtime New Potatoes and Peas

The days here feel more like summer than spring.
Upper '90s and sticky.

The heat and humidity hit you as soon as you step outside.

Yes, you can forget about hair, makeup, and crispness in days like these.

(Have I mentioned lately how much I love cool weather?)

So this weather wilts me.

And it is also wilting my Sugar Snaps and my lettuces.

The tomatoes, however, are loving it.

So that's a good thing.

But never-the-huh,

I'm cooking springtime fare around here.

Delicious New Potatoes are showing up in Farmer's Markets.

And I go out to my Sugar Snap garden patch every afternoon; those babies are fading fast.

So......

 

To celebrate what's officially left of spring,

Here's a recipe for

Springtime New Potatoes and Peas.
The peas are totally optional, by the way.
If you have them, put them in.
If you don't, don't worry about it.

I think attending Food Blogher 2011 the other weekend fired me up for posting about FOOD and COOKIN'!

SPRINGTIME NEW POTATOES AND PEAS

Ingredients:

New potatoes, quartered
Sugar Snaps or English Peas, if you have them

Fresh chopped chives
1/2 stick butter

Salt and Pepper

Boil potatoes in plenty of water until tender.

It takes about 15-20 minutes.

Add peas if you have them and boil 3 minutes more.

Drain.

Sprinkle with salt to taste.

Put in serving bowl.

Melt 1/2 stick butter
(I use the same pot I used for the potatoes)
Add chopped chives and pepper to taste.

Pour butter mixture over the potatoes and peas.

This is so good.
Tastes just like home.