a grey day is a great time to make a fancy breakfast - like puffy french toast with local maple syrup - yummeh! (Jane, Sandy - do either of you know the proper name for french toast? teehee...i like involving my readers!!!)
have a look below...can you believe it? that's our 3 Sisters huggie kultur and everything is coming up!!! i have never grown corn before so i am thrilled to see it all come up. woohoo - we'll have corn!!!
here is some hopi blue corn that my friend Beth sent me - it's coming up too! woohoo - i am like a corn-growing fool!!!
greyish kind of days are good for hilling potatoes! we need to add a third tire in about a week. i love potatoes!!!
last year we lost just about all of our lettuce to slugs. this year, i have been growing lettuce in pots on the porch and so far it is working out just great. but check out what jambaloney built for us - yep - that's a hill-billy lettuce stand made from a pallet - i love it!
he gets those pallets for free. if this works out - i am going to want a wall of those suckers!!!
hmmmmm - honey, lemon, salt, mint, clover and cucumber??? what on earth???
oh just about the most refreshing and delicious sorta' kinda' lemonade on the planet, no less!
cover it, put it in the fridge and let it steep overnight. tomorrow we'll be sipping it all day - so yummy!
last up - some salad that we had for lunch. most of the lettuce is ours but i did use some store-bought, local, organic spinach. there's some strawberries, lime chunks, hearts of palm, artichokes, mango, lemon and hemp hearts - so good for you!
no obligatory pic of the sky for my friend Helga today....jambaloney went fishing and took the camera before i had the chance to get a pic of the sky.
what do i plan on doing on this greyish afternoon while jambaloney is fishing? sipping tea and re-reading one of my favourite books - "In Praise of Tomatoes: Tasty Recipes, Garden Secrets, Legends & Lore", by Ronni Lundy. it is a fancy coffee-table style book filled with all kinds of very interesting information about tomatoes. it is the kind of book that i would drool over in a store but would not be able to buy due to not being able to justify the price. Helga sent me this book as a gift and she has no idea how much i love this book! oh maybe she does - teehee! and since i have already named all of my tomatoes "Little Helgas", i think that she will forgive me for not taking a sky pic for her.
i hope you all have a fantastic afternoon. i gotta run - the kettle is boiling and my tomatoe book is calling!
I know of two other names for french toast - 'pain perdu' (France) and eggy bread (England). Whatever it's called - with syrup or honey drizzled over it it's delicious. Or even tomato ketchup and freshly ground black pepper :)
ReplyDeleteYeah - my brief (late planting) sortie with potatoes in tyres yielded me a better harvest than I've had anywhere else.
Love the lettuce stand :)
Dani - good job on the names for french toast! however, i am looking for the exact, proper name and waiting to see if Jane or Sandy will get it - bahahahahahha! i can honestly say that i have never had french toast with ketchup - i'll get jambaloney to try it first - bahahahahah!
Deletei am so glad that the tyre method worked for you - i won't grow potatoes any other way for the rest of my life. we have been so successful using the tires for potatoes!!! i love the lettuce stand too - teehee!
good luck in your upcoming move, my friend!
Glad the Hopi corn is doing well for you. Ours is looking a bit sad between the drought and the winds from the other day. Predictions is that 53% of the corn crop will fail here in the Midwest. Prices will go up again.
ReplyDeleteBeth - i could kiss your whole face for sending me that corn!!! or maybe i can just get Bear to do it for me - bahahahah! i am praying that i can get it through to harvest and then save some for seed. i love corn but just never tried to grow it. we got a bunch of unused land here that we can mow down, build huggie kultures and plant corn - woohoo!
Deletei am terribly sad to hear that the corn is going to fail and that prices will go up....this is going to hurt a lot of people.
thank you again for sending the corn, my friend!
If they'd just quit falling for the biofuel scam and use all corn for food only we'd have plenty of corn.
DeleteYou do realize that the Hopi corn isn't eating corn right? It is left to dry on the stalk and then shelled off the cob (use thick gloves trust me on this, I did it barehands and got big blisters that were very deep) then ground for cornmeal for tortillas and other cornbread type breads.
DeleteBeth - no probs - i understand! and would love nothing more than to ground up my own cornmeal - thanks again, buddy!
DeleteBeth, I did not know that.... That's what I get for letting my mouth flap with out my brain engaged. Thanks
DeleteYeah unfortunately most of that corn you see in the midwest is unedible for humans. It's dent corn or feed corn. Most of it goes into your high fructose corn syrup and then the leftover matter goes for biodiesel along with your soy beans. I think "one second after" book that talks about how survivors of the pulse walked to the Midwest and found that they couldn't eat the corn. By the way, very good book well worth the read!
Deleteloved that book!
Deleteheh, please post more of your "boring sky pics"
ReplyDeleteMatt - you may receive death threats from other readers who are sick to death of my boring sky pics - but buddy - you just showed what a real friend you are - bahahahahah! thanks buddy, i appreciate the sentiment! more boring sky pics coming soon!
Deletethat's me... always stirring things up.
Deletebahahahahahahahahahah!
Deletekymber ... That salad looks divine and I love the lettuce stand too.
ReplyDeletethanks for that DFW! we love our salads around here! if that lettuce stand works - i am getting jambaloney to build a hundred of them - bahahahah! no really, i am serious!
DeleteKymber, Was it Pan Dulcis ? My mother was the brilliant cook. I only throw together what looks nice sometimes, and what I would like to eat !
ReplyDeleteI am with Matt. I would even like to see some "boring" overcast sky pics !
Jane - i hate to say it - but nope! keep thinking, sweetheart! i am glad that you like the boring sky pics too! thanks hon!
DeleteI want some of the lemonade...your garden looks great too.
ReplyDeletedear sweet one - there is always a glass of lemonade ready with your name on it....you just have to come for a visit to get it!
DeleteStephen its a trap, you'll have to go fishing early in the morning on Jam's lake, then do gardening possibly in the buff..... Then you'll have to sit in a chair and stare at their boring blue sky and take photos of it for Kymber to post and get complaints about.
DeleteSweet Kymber,
ReplyDeleteIs it called lost bread?
The french toast (pain perdu) looks amazing. We have french toast at least twice a week here. I don't stuff the bread though :-(
We make a similar type of lemonade but we leave out the clove and honey. I so love how the water tastes when left in the frig over night. I can't wait to see your lettuce in the new hillbilly stand. Time for me to go, I need to get cooking dinner.
Your Friend, Sandy
P.S. Give Jambaloney a hug.
P.S.S. I miss the sky pictures,lol
hey Sandy - nope - that's not the term i was looking for - neither is pain perdu....teeheehee. i will have to edit the post and put in the term i was looking for. we love french toast too. mine isn't stuffed...does it look stuffed? hmmm....now you got me thinking - what do you stuff it with? ya i love that cucumber water as well and after it sits in the fridge all night - oh yummy! oh Sandy - i hope that lettuce stand turns out! i don't mind the lettuces on the porch but they take up so much room! i gave jambaloney his regular Sandy hug and he says thank you. oh and thanks for missing the sky pics too...i'll have to go and take another thousand or so - bahahahahahah! xoxox
DeleteHey sis - I have to say your kinda lemonade looks great ! I'm going to make a pitcher of that too - never had it with cucumber slices though. I'm happy that you love the book - It's a sweet one for sure ! How many more would you like !?!? Your shelf has now become the closet !!! xoxoxo
ReplyDeleteOkay hon - I'm over the no sky pics - you're forgiven - but as Matt said - bring em !
Everything looks great as usual ! We had french toast this morning too - I love that stuff. Here's what I know - In Germany it's also called - Poor Knights Bread. In Belgium - Lost Bread. - Now get this - in England they also call it - Gypsy Bread.
Can you believe that - gypsy bread !!!! I'm waking up at night a lot now - and we're both on the farm - back with the gypsies. I'm usually writing the story late at night - then I dream about it.
I think that each country calls french toast by a different name - so maybe there is no universal proper type name for it. You should create one - you're so good at inventing words !
Have a great evening my dear one - and hugs to Jam !
Love you always and forever - Helga xoxoxo
hey there sis - sorry about the no sky pics, i promise to get a few for you today! (probably a few thousand - bahahahah!)!! as for the cucumber water, there is a proper name for it somewhere...i just don't remember it. it is surprisingly refreshing, especially on a hot day! and super tasty!!! i can't believe that you guys had french toast this morning too - just our weird synchronicity i guess!
Deletegypsy bread?!?!?!? oh my goodness - more weird synchronicity - holy moly!!! i am loving the story - and i am glad to be there on the farm with you and our gypsy friends - how cool!
the term for "french toast" that i was looking for is "pain doré" - or golden bread. anyway, i'll be finishing up an email to you when i finish these comments and send it off to you later! jam says thanks for the hug and sends one back! love you always and forever too, hon - xoxoxoxox
Love the hillbilly lettuce stands! If there ever is a book written about the 101 uses for pallets, that should definitely be one of them.
ReplyDeleteEd - isn't it true?!?!? pallets are one of the greatest inventions ever - bahahahah! we love them!
DeleteSince it is the Summer Solstice, and your are about 2 degrees or so from the North Pole, aren't you getting about 22 hours of sunlight a day? Gray sunlight or otherwise.
ReplyDeletebahahahahah! we're a few more degrees away from the North Pole so we are only getting about 15 hours!!! but it's awesome!
DeleteMy brother had to present a "how to" for a class in 8th grade and he made french toast. My mom called it "nun's toast" and I think he got like "C" or something and mom was not happy!
ReplyDeleteLove the lemonade, will have to give it a go.
Rose - i had never heard it called nun's toast before...cool. sad for your brother tho - bahahahahaha! ya try the lemonade - it's really deelish!
Deletewhat no french in french toast?
ReplyDeleteargh...
Wildflower
Wildflower - that's what i was looking for - the proper french which is "pain doré"!!!
Deleteas for corn; it can be made into a good relish for all sorts of meats
Deleteas for future reference; hole dug down two feet, one or two shad was placed at bottom, covered with foot of soil, and then a few kernnels added before covering with soil
as the corn grew, eventually the roots would reach this "fish fertlizer"
Wildflower
Wildfower - we lined all of our tires, raised beds and huggie cultures with fresh, delicious seaweed! it works wonders! and i am sure that my corn is enjoying it - woohoo! thanks for the tip on the corn relish - do you have any recipes that you can share?
DeleteThat lemonade does look yummy! Thanks for sharing the secret!
ReplyDeleteI hope the corn and lettuce work out for you! The lettuce stand looks interesting!
Wendy - the lemonade is really deelish - give it a try and let me know what you think! i got my fingers crossed for both the corn and the lettuce - i love the lettuce stand!!!
DeleteI have never heard "pain dore" (I don't even think I can put the accent over the e on this keyboard !) Thank you for educating all of us. You are our cooking and cooking history tutor !
ReplyDeleteJane - it's the original term that peasants used to call "french toast". golden bread was actually made by peasants and considered peasant food - they took pieces of stale bread, soaked it in eggs and voila - golden bread was made! it then eventually made it's way into restaurants and the like and was considered as rich food.
Deletesushi is the same thing. it was originally eaten by the poor of Japan and Korea. neat, eh?
hey Girlie...that french toast looks to die for! This weekend Senior is building me some raised garden beds..I can't wait..now I am thinking what to plant!! Def. will be a blogging material...
ReplyDeleteJUGM - gurl i am so glad that you are getting some raised beds - woohoo for you - that is just awesome! have you figured out what you are going to plant yet? i can't wait to read about it on your blog!
DeleteVery nice! I'll be up for breakfast...give me about 6 hours or so :)
ReplyDeleteDonna - you can show up whenever you like and i will make you breakfast, dinner or supper - no matter! but you'll have to hold on to your plate pretty tightly if Helga is here - bahahahahahah!
DeleteLooks yummy.
ReplyDeletegurl - it waaas yummy! huzzah!
DeleteI guess I'm the only newbie gardener who reads your blog. I can't figure out the lettuce/pallet thingie, and I wanna know how it works! lol
ReplyDeleteThe photo of your lemonaide is beautiful. I love the pitcher you made it in too. Love clear glass dishes ... and white ... I love white, but the clear glass really shows off the lemon and cucumber slices. Yum! (Did I use the word love enough? Hahaha!)
Did you measure how much your garden grew today? I'm serious. It was so warm here that my kale and spinach grew a couple of inches, and the 2 sprouted squash seeds that I counted this morning was 5 by this evening! Yowsers!
Can't wait to see your gardens in person ... soon! :-)
hey sweet Sue - the pallet is used so that the slugs can't get to the lettuce! the pallet is made from scratchy wood and if the slugs try to climb it - they learn real fast that they can't make it up and go somewhere else - or at least - that's what we have read from other people who grow lettuce in pallets!
Deletei love the lemonade too! and i love to be able to see what's in it. thanks hon!
i am so glad to hear that your garden is growing well - it's much better weather this year, eh? last year really sucked with all of the rain during may, june and july. i am praying for bumper crops of everything during this harvest!
oh yes. soon buddy. real soon! i am looking forward to your visit! i am looking forward to our visit. it's gonna be awesome! xoxox