Besse Bulgur Salad

I have a new post up at The City Farmgirl Blog at http://www.maryjanesfarm.com/. Visit me there! I'm talking about a woman who lives in Georgia who turned 115 last week. Besse Brown Cooper is the oldest person in the world. In reading about her life from various articles and sources, I complied a list of how she has lived her life. Take a look!

Now.
I want you to make this.

Big ole chunks of feta!

Yellow tomatoes from the garden!

Cucumbers!

Fresh basil!

and, and, and

something healthy called

Bulgur....

I especially want you to make this if you like junk food.

I want you to make this particularly if you've never had bulgur.
I want you to make this particularly if you've never even heard of bulgur.

I want you to make this if you are in a hurry, because it requires very little hands on time.

Did you say "bulgur--bleh!" Or "bulgur is vulgar"?
Just wait. This dish will SO surprise you!

Besse Bulgur Salad

1 cup Bulgur
2 TBSP. fresh lemon juice
1 tsp. olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
Salt and Pepper
2 cups Cherry tomatoes, halved
1 cucumber, peeled and seeded, chopped
½ cup to 1 cup Feta cheese
¼ cup fresh basil or mint

1. Bring 3 cups water to a boil.

2. Place bulgur in a bowl, and pour boiling water over bulgur. Set it aside until the bulgur is soft, about 20 minutes.

3. Drain bulgur in a fine mesh sieve and return to bowl.

4. Add lemon juice, oil, garlic, ½ tsp. salt, and ¼ tsp pepper. Stir well, but gently.

5. Add in the basil or mint, tomatoes, cucumbers, and feta.

 
SUPER Healthy, SUPER delicious, SUPER easy!

The Lost Art of Tomato Peeling

Loving FRESH from the garden tomatoes like I do,

And I do.

When I would read recipes that directed me to BOIL them in order to PEEL them,

Well, I just couldn't do it.

Is seemed like sacrilege to me.

No, siree-bob.

I will not put this beautiful red globe into hot, boiling water

in order to "gently slide off the peel."

Until this year.

The year I've had tomatoes growing up,

down,

all around,

and

out of my ears.

And I have been doing anything and everything with my delicious bounty.

So I did it.

I tried "sacrilege."

(a/k/a "blanching.")

I figured---hey, I was going to cook them anyway---right?

So, I brought a big pot of water to a boil ON the stove.

And put a big bowl of ice water right BESIDE the stove.

And I dropped in a few of my precious, delicious tomatoes into boiling water.

And I stood there

and

I watched the pot

for exactly ONE minute.

And the watched pot did boil.

Unlike what they say.

And as I watched, I wondered,

Is this what it is like for those people who cook live lobsters?

You drop those babies in the hot water

and then stand and stare.

For 60 seconds.

Yes,

You just stare in the pot

and

think about what you've done.

Like a tomato time-out.

The minute finally over,

I carefully took them out,

one by one

and dropped them in the nice cool soothing

bowl of ice water.

And once those wrinkley skins cooled off enough to handle

they did indeed "gently slide"

off.

Yes, it works like a charm

This blanching of the garden tomatoes.

I shall do it

often.

And I urge you too as well.

Now to be very extremely clear on this topic of ridding tomatoes of their outward covering,

which is filled with vitamins, yes I know. But still.

I shall always peel tomatoes in the traditional fashion

when I am about to pop them into my mouth.

Peeler round and round.

So you see

the art of tomato peeling is actually not lost.

The title of this post is clearly wrong.

And someone should change it.

Cease and Desist Letter

To: The Hawk that sits in the top of trees in my immediate backyard

Dear Sir,

You are hereby notified to Cease and Desist from terrorizing and/or eating the birds in my backyard.

You must immediately vacate the premises as described below.

Such premises are: any and all trees, including all parts thereof,

including the tops and the branches,

above and/or around the bird feeder in my backyard.

Further, demand is hereby specifically made for you to remove yourself from the air space above and/or around my bird feeder.

Any violations will be considered actionable tresspass.

You are hereby instructed to 

not now nor ever

stalk, chase, and/or eat the birds located in or around my bird feeder or my yard.

For real,

Sir,

you must stop.

Or face the consequences.

Which consequences might include a trip for me to Wal-Mart

to the gun counter

to buy a BB gun

for my husband.

But, then again, which consequences might not.

As it is true that I admire you too.

And acknowledge that nature is nature.

And harsh.

And hard.

Listen, Sir.

No more legalese.

No more hereby's or herewith's.

Just you and me.

Please.

Just.

 Stop.

Eating.

MY.

Birds.

And make it easier on us both.

'K?

p.s. but, have you noticed the snakes?

(no, no, no. just kidding, I feel terrible having mentioned them to you. don't eat them either, 'k?)

Cooper's Hawk?

I previously asuume he was a Red-Tailed Hawk.

But when my father, who knows about these things, saw him,

didn't think so.

The Cooper's Hawk is smaller and has a narrower tail than its Red-Tailed Hawk cousin.

It also lacks the rufous of the upper side of the tail.

Cooper's Hawk is classified as an "Accipiter," or bird hawk.

The Red-Tail is a "Buteo," or buzzard hawk.

So there ya go.

More hawk information than you probably ever wanted.

And in an effort to bore you no more on the topic of hawks.

I shall MYSELF

cease and desist.

From saying anything further on this  hawkish matter.

(Today, anyway....)

High School Is a State of Mind

My 30th high school reunion is coming up,
and I'm talking to myself all about it over at The City Farmgirl Blog.
You'll see what I mean when you stop by www.maryjanesfarm.com to visit with me there.

My daughter just walked by and said, "Ugh. Is that you? The hair is....so....so.....not good."


And I responded, "Yep, that's me. I was 18. And that's the way we wore our hair."

And that little doll, my perfect child whom I love more than words can say, looked at the picture again and replied,

"Well, you're way prettier now."

Did I mention how much I love her?

School Daze

First day of school!
I'm one of the moms who laments school starting again.
I'm one of the moms who wishes summer vacation could last all year.
Alas, it must.
Alas, it cannot....

One of my favorite quotes:

"Education is not filling a bucket, but lighting a fire."

William Butler Yeats

Ain't that the truth!

Rustic Garden Tomato Soup

I know I promised yummy TOMATO recipes and haven't delivered yet. Ta-da. Here's one! Delicious Rustic Garden Tomato Soup.

As I've mentioned, this year in my garden is TOMATO YEAR. Yay. I have 4 red tomato plants that are producing more than enough for us. I've also got 2 yellow "jelly bean" tomato plants that are producing, oh I'd say enough for the whole city.

I actually can't keep up with the eating of the RED tomatoes. That's new, because I love home grown RED tomatoes. Building a fence around the garden (thanks again for the inspiration, Brenda!) was the key. Now, instead of the deer and bunnies and turtles and whatever else eating my tomatoes, WE ARE!

Now, my very favorite way to eat a RED tomato is peeled, sliced (but not too thinly), with some salt on top.

This year, because I have so many, I've been looking for a little something more to do with them. I mean, one for breakfast, one for lunch, and one for dinner is just about all you can eat, right?

So, when my daughter began her orthodontic journey a few weeks ago, I started thinking SOUP. I looked at my basket full of tomatoes and decided on Tomato Soup. Now, I don't eat beef or anything associated with beef. It actually grosses me out to think about it. Cow lover is why. Not that you asked.

But because my daughter hadn't eaten in several days, I picked up beef broth for this soup. Somewhere in my mind I was thinking "iron, she's need iron."

I'd never made this soup before using beef broth. And I'd never made it using tomatoes from my very own garden. I'm telling you, it was delicious. It's wonderful with chicken broth and vegetable broth also. So take your pick!

 
Rustic Garden Tomato Soup


1 onion, peeled and chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
2 T olive oil
2 cups chicken broth (or vegetable broth or beef broth)
6-7 tomatoes, peeled and coarsely chopped
2 cups fresh basil leaves, chopped
½ tsp dried thyme (if you have fresh, use 1 tsp fresh)
1 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper

1. Heat olive oil over medium heat.
2. Add onion and celery, sauté until onions are translucent.
3. Add garlic and sauté a few minutes more.
4. Add the tomatoes, leaving 1 for later if you want some texture to your soup. If you want it perfectly smooth, add all the tomatoes now.
5. Add ½ cup chopped fresh basil (you’ll add the other fresh basil later in the process.)
6. Pour broth into soup and bring to a boil.
7. Add thyme, salt and pepper.
8. Cover with tipped lid and simmer for 20 minutes.
9. Pour into blender, food processor, VitaMix and blend until almost smooth.
10. After blending, pour back into pan and add 1 ½ cups basil and 1 coarsely chopped tomato.

Serve with Parmesan cheese and a basil sprig.

Oh my goodness!

I Apologize Profusely

I apologize profusely.
For sharing this.

But, how could I not?
Hubby sent it to me.
Me, snake phobic that I am.
Oh lawdy-may.
And for some reason
I can't quit watching it.
Morbid. Weird. Enchanted. Whatever.

But believe me.
Next time I have a hard day at work.
I won't complain.
'Cos.
IT COULD BE WORSE.
Way worse.
So, sorry.
But I just had to share this strange thing with you.....

Summer Inventory

Summer is almost over.
Did you "claim" it like we talked about when it was just starting?

It's almost time to do an inventory of our summer. Yep, we've got one more week until school starts here, which marks summer's unofficial end.

While summer doesn't officially end until Sept. 21st, the Autumnal Equinox, for those of us with school-aged kiddos, summer is quite over when school begins.

Remember the essay you had to write when you returned to school every year: What I Did This Summer.

What did you do this summer?

Me? I've had a TOMATO SUMMER. Lots and lots of tomatoes.

So many in fact that I hereby declare it TOMATO WEEK. Want to join me?  Okay, tomorrow TOMATO WEEK will begin. All things tomato!

Visit me at www.maryjanesfarm.com where I'm The City Farmgirl. Hop over and read about 'Mater War.