Big Little Meals

Lagniappe: Far Out, First In, Ever Ready, or…RHUBARB?

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Since Andy wrote about his “horse” named Sugar in last week’s Andy’s Corner, I thought I should write about our real horse named “Rhubarb” for today’s lagniappe blog.

Back in about 1974 we had a Name-That-Colt contest for a Quarter Horse foal that was born on our South Shields Street property in Fort Collins, Colorado. Our daughter, Sara, and niece JoDee helped compile the list of names from the family’s suggestions. Cute names were proposed. I especially liked “HillWin” (since Hill is my maiden name and we were living on the Hill property). But the winner was (ta da!): RHUBARB!

I’m sorry, but I’m a horse-lover from way back, and I don’t think “Rhubarb” is the kind of name a horse should have. But, of course, that name was chosen.

Sara and Rhubarb

Why Rhubarb? All I can think of is that rhubarb has long been a family favorite. And now that spring is here and nice (non-horsey) rhubarb is (briefly) in the markets, I want to share the easiest, most delicious recipe for homemade jam you can ever make.

My pathetic attempt at growing rhubarb in Glen Ellen

Rhubarb Jam

Servings: Depends
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Choose the thinnest rhubarb stalks you can find. Personally, I love the jam without strawberries. I think the strawberries overwhelm the delicate rhubarb flavor.

6 c (about 2 lbs w/o the leaves) of thinly sliced – 1/4″ – rhubarb (or substitute 1 c of sliced strawberries and 5 c of sliced rhubarb)
2-3 c sugar (we prefer the less sweet approach so use only 2 c)
1/3 c orange juice or lemon juice
1/2 tsp Diamond kosher salt
1 tsp grated orange zest (optional)
1/2 tsp vanilla (optional)
2 tsp finely grated fresh ginger (optional)
1/2 tsp ground cardamon (optional)

Combine all of the ingredients – except the vanilla -in a medium saucepan, stir well, and let sit for about 1 hour. Then put the pan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Reduce the heat to low (a little above a simmer) and cook at least 20 minutes (it may take as long as 40 minutes), stirring often, until the mixture thickens – before the “sheeting stage” (see diagram below). Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla.

Scoop up some liquid (w/o pieces of rhubarb) and take the sauce off the heat when two drops at a time are coming from the spoon. (middle photo)

Let cool completely; then spoon into jars and refrigerate or freeze (note: I never learned to can things – plus, it’s too much effort for me, so my jam gets refrigerated – or frozen, if we’re not going to use it in the next few weeks).

Recipe brought to you by BigLittleMeals.com and Andy and Ann.

Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony

There are only 15 people who have managed to win each of these awards – the Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony…and only 4 of the 15 have been women – Helen Hayes, Audrey Hepburn, Whoopi Goldberg, and Rita Moreno.

Rita Moreno – Emmy (The Muppet Show), Grammy (The Electric Company), Oscar (West Side Story), Tony (The Ritz)

Can I say it upfront? I want to be Rita Moreno in my next life! Who manages to get to her late 80’s and act so marvelously, look so gorgeous – and be so incredibly funny? She’s on my mind because Andy and I are slightly addicted to watching the remake of One Day at a Time – with Rita Moreno as the abuelita in this Cuban/American household headed up by a single mother – portrayed by the fabulous Justina Machado.

The series, which we watch on Netflix, isn’t perfect. Having a live audience is a little odd – but you get used to it. A nineteen-year-old playing a 15-year-old sometimes feels off. Nonetheless, a review from NPR seems spot on: “…the show feels contemporary and smart (its explorations of sexual and gender identity feel particularly profoundly needed), and Rita Moreno can still crack your heart right open.”

Obviously, a Cuban-American family makes me think about Cuban food. So we got in touch with an old colleague from LSU, Lisandro Pérez, for some input. Lisandro was born in Cuba, arriving in the U.S. with his parents in 1960 – when he was 11. Lisandro, who is now on the faculty at The John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York, recently wrote the well-received book Sugar, Cigars, and Revolution: The Making of Cuban New York. That made Andy in today’s Andy’s Corner think about our current food shortages and sugar rationing during WWII.

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We fondly remember faculty parties at LSU where Lisandro would bring a delicious Cuban dish to share. When we asked him a few weeks ago to help us with some memories and a Cuban recipe or two, here’s what he wrote:

I learned this recipe from my mother, Nancy Fonts, during the years I would help her prepare the traditional Nochebuena (Christmas Eve) dinner. She had learned it from her father, who in turn learned it from his father, Colonel Ernesto Fonts y Sterling, who fought in the Cuban War of Independence and eventually became the Treasury Secretary of the Cuban Republic.

There are two fundamental styles in cooking black beans. One is the style in which the sauce is watery and lighter in color than the beans themselves. This is how they are usually prepared in Cuban homes and restaurants. Then there is the style that produces beans with a thicker and uniform texture, in which bean and sauce appear as one. The Colonel’s beans are in this latter style, beans that are often referred to as cuajados (thickened) or dormidos (asleep). They are purposely thickened with a reduced or dehydrated sofrito and by putting the beans to sleep overnight in the refrigerator the day before they are to be served.

Lisandro’s Great-Grandfather, Colonel Ernesto Fonts y Sterling

We’ve got that delicious recipe posted below; now that y’all have more time than normal, it’s the perfect 3-day adventure; and, trust me, it may require 3 days, but the amount of time spent on each day is minimal (especially compared to baking sourdough bread – the current rage across the country), so don’t let that stop you.

Andy and I suggest you pair the beans with rice and with an El Presidente cocktail and a Cuban-style pork roast. I want them all RIGHT NOW! Could someone please have them delivered?

El Presidente Cocktail

Colonel Fonts’s Black Beans – with rice and Cuban-style Pork

Colonel Fonts’s Black Beans

Servings: 10
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Note from Ann: I tend to start with 8 c of water for 1 pound of beans, and gradually add more water if necessary during the cooking process. Thanks to Colonel Fonts’ great-grandson, Lisandro Pérez, for this heirloom Cuban recipe

1 lb. organic black beans
2 large sweet onions, peeled
2 large green bell peppers, stems and seeds removed
2 bay leaves
2 cloves of garlic
1 cup olive oil
1 cup sherry cooking wine
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 8 oz. can of tomato sauce, preferably unsalted
1 12 oz. can of whole red pimientos (or 3 4-oz jars, if you can’t find the canned)
1/3 cup white refined sugar
1 tsp. dried oregano
Salt to taste, and very little, if any, pepper

The beans are to be served on day three, with preparations starting on day one (e.g., for
Christmas eve dinner, on the 24th of December, day one is December 22nd ).
Afternoon of day 1: soak the beans
Place the beans in small batches in a colander, rinse them, and pick through them to make sure there are no small stones, soil clumps, or other earthen matter. Place all the beans in a heavy stock pot and pour enough cold water into the pot so that the beans are covered by about four inches of water. The pot should be large enough so that the water and the beans do not exceed two-thirds of the capacity of the pot (I use the 8 qt. All-Clad Stainless-Steel Stock Pot). Slice one of the onions into rings one-quarter inch thick and one of the green peppers into half-inch wide strips and mix in with the beans and water.

Place the covered pot on the kitchen counter (or in the refrigerator) to soak overnight. (I usually check in on the pot before I go to sleep to make sure the beans have not expanded to the point that they need more water to stay covered).

Morning of day 2: cook the beans

Making sure that there are at least two inches of water left covering the beans, place the pot on the stove and bring to a near boil before quickly turning down the heat to a healthy simmer. Add the bay leaves and an initial pinch or two of salt and cover the pot. Simmer for at least three hours. Stir periodically to make sure there is enough water so that the beans are not at risk of sticking to the bottom. If so, add more water.

After the three hours, sample a few of the beans to make sure they have no firmness; they should pretty much dissolve in your mouth. If still firm, continue cooking. There is little danger of overcooking the beans if they have enough water.

While the beans are cooking, prepare the sofrito by peeling the remaining onion, and cut it and the remaining green pepper into large chunks. Place the onion and pepper, the cloves of garlic, and the cup of olive oil into a blender. Blend until the ingredients liquefy into a smooth mixture. Pour the sofrito mixture into a 12-inch wide skillet at medium-low heat. When the sofrito starts to heat, stir it frequently, uncovered. The purpose is to cook the sofrito while reducing its liquid. If the mixture is splattering too vigorously, reduce the heat a bit. After about 45 minutes most of the natural liquid from the onion and pepper will have evaporated and the result will be a thicker sofrito that will want to stick to the pan in a burnt brownish film. This is when the stirring needs to be constant and aggressive to prevent that (a stiff rubber spatula works best), continuing until
the sofrito is close to having a thick puree consistency.

Once the beans are cooked, pour the sofrito slowly into the beans, stirring the beans as you do so to ensure an even mix. The beans will now have a thicker texture, so the heat\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\needs to be reduced to a low simmer, and attention needs to be paid to prevent any sticking to the pot, stirring occasionally. The beans are always cooked covered. After about 20 minutes, to allow the sofrito and the beans to coalesce, add the vinegar, tomato sauce, ½ cup of the sherry cooking wine, the oregano, and the pimientos, diced coarsely, along with the water with which they were packed. Adjust the salt and add ground black pepper, if desired. After allowing enough time for the beans to return to a simmer, add the sugar, stirring it in slowly. Simmer slowly for another 30 minutes and then turn off the heat. Wait until the pot cools down a bit before putting the beans to sleep,
covered, in the refrigerator for the night.

Day 3: heat and serve
About a couple of hours before they are to be served, take the beans out of the refrigerator and wake them up by stirring them a couple of times and splashing on the other ½ cup of the sherry. They are cold, of course, and considerably thicker than they were the day before, so place them on the stove over low heat, stirring them every few minutes to prevent sticking. The beans must be reheated slowly: burnt beans on the bottom will give the entire batch an unpleasant taste.
Serve on individual plates by laying a bed of white non-sticky long-grain rice and ladling a generous serving of the beans on top.

Recipe brought to you by Lisandro Pérez and BigLittleMeals.com.

El Presidente Cocktail

Servings: 1
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There are tons of variations on these basic ingredients – but we go for the less sweet. If you want sweeter, cut the vermouth back to 3/4 oz and double the curacao and grenadine

1 1/2 oz white rum
1 oz dry vermouth
1 tsp curacao
1/2 tsp grenadine (or, if you must, syrup from the cherry jar)
cherry and orange peel to garnish (optional)

Add all the ingredients to a shaker and fill with ice. Shake, and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a cherry and an orange peel.

Recipe brought to you by BigLittleMeals.com and Andy and Ann.

Cuban-style Pork Roast

Servings: 4
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Note: our Cuban authority, Lisandro Pérez, says a Cuban cook would use way way more than 4 cloves of garlic with pork…maybe even whole heads! Recipe adapted from J. Kenji López-Alt and Serious Eats

For the Mojo:
4 cloves garlic, minced (at least!)
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp ground oregano – or about 1 T of minced fresh oregano leaves
1/4 c fresh orange juice
2 T fresh lime juice
2 T olive oil
For the Pork and to Finish:
About a 3 lb boneless pork shoulder roast
2 T finely chopped fresh mint leaves
2 T finely chopped fresh oregano leaves
Lime wedges, for serving
Steamed rice and black beans for serving

For the Mojo: Combine garlic, cumin, pepper, oregano, orange juice, lime juice, and olive oil in a large bowl and whisk. Season to taste generously with salt.

Use half of mojo to marinate the pork and the other half for serving. The pork should marinate, covered, in the mojo for at least 2 hours in the fridge – or overnight, if you wish.

For the Pork and to Finish: Preheat oven to 275°F. Place the pork and its marinade in a dutch oven, cover, and roast for 3 hours. Turn the oven to 425 degrees, remove the lid, and roast the pork for about another 1/2 hour, turning after 15 minutes so both top and bottom get crispy brown.

Add 1/2 cup of the pork juices to the reserved mojo, along with fresh chopped mint and oregano. Whisk together and season to taste with salt.

Serve pork by slicing or shredding, passing mint mojo and lime wedges on the side. Serve with rice on the side – and with Colonel Fonts’s Black Beans. Reserve any leftovers for sandwiches – or tacos.

Recipe brought to you by BigLittleMeals.com and Andy and Ann.

Flowers or Flours?

Our Brooklyn son called a few weeks ago and thanked me for the flowers. I was relatively sure I had not sent them flowers (though Farmgirl Flowers is an online favorite of the family and for a minute I thought I had unintentionally clicked SEND on their site). When I confessed that the flowers had not come from me, he said “FLOURS, mom, not flowers!”

Farmgirl Flowers

Ah, yes, I do remember resupplying his sourdough baking needs after much online searching had resulted in finding some King Arthur Unbleached Flour. Who could have envisioned the day when we were all desperate to find yeast or flour? And bread-baking became a national past time? And someone was delighted to receive a delivery of 10 pounds of various flours (with only a $6 shipping fee!)?

And could I have ever imagined my son and husband competing to see who could make the best sourdough bread? I am the family bread-baker. Or at least I was.

Failed! Both as a Bread Baker and as a Kitchen Cleaner but a Winner! – at finding and buying every imaginable flour online and having it shipped!

I guess I’m the sweet bread maker. I’m great at Stollen, and my grandmother’s Cinnamon Bread, and even Sticky Buns. But I’ve failed miserably these past few weeks at each attempt to make any kind of a rustic bread.

I started by conducting a lengthy online search for a seeded sourdough bread recipe. When I thought I’d found the perfect one (123 great reviews!!!!), I used some of Andy’s sour dough starter and forged ahead. You can see the result below.

Not wanting to be a quitter, I found another perfect recipe – this time using packaged yeast. Obviously, that had been my problem. This time the seeds wouldn’t stick, the loaves wouldn’t hold their shape before baking, and the acrid smell I got 5 minutes after I put them in the oven was from one of the loaves which had expanded so much that it was embedded in the side oven rack holders where it was not only still swelling but was now burning. Using a knife to jab at the bread like a crazy woman, I finally separated the scorched piece from the loaf and retrieved it from the 425 degree oven. It wasn’t pretty. And I found myself in serious disagreement with the bread-making-love from the still-fascinating MFK Fisher, who wrote this in 1942:

“Perhaps this war will make it simpler for us to go back to some of the old ways we knew before we came over to this land and made the Big Money. Perhaps, even, we will remember how to make good bread again.

It does not cost much. It is pleasant: one of those almost hypnotic businesses, like a dance from some ancient ceremony. It leaves you filled with peace, and the house filled with one of the world’s sweetest smells. But it takes a lot of time. If you can find that, the rest is easy. And if you cannot rightly find it, make it, for probably there is no chiropractic treatment, no Yoga exercise, no hour of meditation in a music-throbbing chapel, that will leave you emptier of bad thoughts than this homely ceremony of making bread.”

― M.F.K. Fisher, How to Cook a Wolf (and do check out this recent piece from “Vox” about how Fisher’s writing can help us through this pandemic)

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Note: the burnt-to-a-crisp end had been cut off by the time this photo was taken.

So I’m going back to the basics. When our daughter, Sara, was at Peter Kump’s Cooking School in NYC in 1997, Nick Malgieri taught them some Italian basics. This recipe has long been one of our go-to’s. It may not “leave me filled with peace,” but at least I don’t need follow-up therapy. Plus, it’s simple and quickly put-together.

Nick Malgieri’s Focaccia (Note #2: I ripped off a corner piece for a quick taste)

Nick Malgieri's Focaccia

Servings: depends
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I’ve adapted this a little from Malgieri’s published recipe.

3 1/4 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
1 T Diamond kosher salt
1 envelope active dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp)
6 tablespoons olive oil, divided
a little Diamond kosher salt to sprinkle on top

Suggested variations and toppings – to add before baking: Rosemary, 2-3 Tablespoons, either stemmed or chopped, can be sprinkled on top or incorporated into the dough. A handful of pitted black or green olives can be tossed on the top. A cup of grated parmesan cheese and 1 tsp of ground black pepper can be mixed into the dough. Or spread very-thin slices of a red onion on top. If you happen to have bagel seasoning, sprinkle some of it on top!

Oil one 9×13 baking pan with 1 1/2 T of the olive oil.

Measure flour and salt into a mixing bowl and stir well to combine.

Measure 1 1/3 cups warm tap water into a bowl (the bowl of a stand mixer, if you have one) and whisk in the yeast, then 3 tablespoons of the oil. With a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, stir the yeast mixture into the flour mixture until all the flour is evenly moistened, then mix for 5 minutes using the dough attachment on the stand mixer, or knead the dough by hand for 3 or 4 minutes, if not using the mixer.

Cover bowl with plastic wrap and allow to rise at room temperature until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

Put the dough on the baking pan and pat and press the dough to fill the pan almost completely. If the dough resists, wait a few minutes and continue. (note from Ann: I actually like to treat the dough like a pizza dough here and lift it up out of the pan, and let it dangle and stretch out).With a fingertip, make impressions in the dough at 2-inch intervals. Use a pastry brush to spread the remaining 1 1/2 T of oil. on top of the dough. Sprinkle with the kosher salt.

Cover the dough with a piece of plastic wrap and allow the dough to rise again until doubled in bulk, about 45 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 450 degrees.

When dough has risen, bake until deep golden, about 25 minutes.

Place the pan on a rack to cool. Or carefully loosen the focaccia and remove from the pan to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature in narrow slices, or cut into squares and split horizontally for sandwiches. Freeze whatever is not used up the first or second day.

Recipe brought to you by BigLittleMeals.com and Andy and Ann.

The Raggedy Awards – Year Three

What else can one say?

Welcome to our third annual BigLIttleMeals Raggedy Awards. Each year at this time Ann and I select our favorites from each other’s posts from the past year (see the entire list here). This is never easy because we both have fragile egos, and to pass over a favorite post can cause hurt feelings. But we are living in tough times and tough decisions are needed. So here it goes.

And now to the Presentation of Awards:

Andy’s Picks

Andy’s pick for Ann’s BEST BLOG goes to: This Bowl So Dear

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Ann opens this blog with the above wonderful poem by Australia’s Michael Leunig. Her blog is more than just about the comfort food we eat out of bowls; it is about social class and who we are (which is a plus to my sociological imagination).

The Runner up for Ann’s BEST BLOG is Revisiting Jerusalem

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This blog is so Ann. It combines cultural and culinary issues with music. If you haven’t already picked it up, music is to Ann what water is to fish (I know, corny). In fact, she is in the other room singing to herself as I type this. Also, some of my favorite recipes are in this blog.

Ann’s Picks.

Ann’s pick for THE BEST ANDY’S CORNER goes to: Thomas the Tank Engine Goes to College .

Silas in our basement playing Thomas the Tank Engine with me.

Silas culling through college applications. He ended up at Cal.

Little did I suspect that my hours of playing Thomas the Tank Engine with our grandson Silas would some day pay off with his acceptance to UC Berkeley. That’s stretching it a bit but both the little tank engine and Silas have unexpected strengths beneath their playful veneers.

The Runner up for THE BEST ANDY’S CORNER goes to: Spotted WHAT?.

A canal boat trip in England with four grandparent-aged and two teen-aged passengers was spiced up with the discovery of a rather roguishly named dessert in a canal-side pub. This Andy’s Corner was an especially appropriate companion piece to Ann’s blog Keep Your Pecker Up, a post that could easily have been selected as best in spite of its R rating.

The Raggedy for BEST VIDEO goes to:

Oakley’s Secret: A Tailless Dog’s Tale

One of the more enjoyable things I do for the blog is produce an occasional video presentation. To assure complete transparency and objectivity in the selection of the best video, understand that Ann makes this selection.

In this exposé I dig deep into the psyche and quirky world of our beloved Australian Shepherd, Oakley. This is not her first starring role in one of my videos, but after this you will never quite see her in the same light.

The Runner-up for BEST VIDEO goes to: Air B&B for Birds

My interest in wildlife is well known in the documentary film world (see Where the Wild Things Are). Air B&B is my first foray into filming the aquatic lives of non-aquatic birds. Mainly, I did this to have some excuse to play Bob Marley’s Three Little Birds.

The Raggedy for BEST RECIPE (according to Andy) goes to: Sopa de Lima with Corn Salsa with Ginger Scones being a VERY close runner-up.

Sopa de Lima with Corn Salsa, Andy’s top recipe pick

Picking out a favorite recipe is nearly impossible for me. Each one we publish is a work of love which involves much testing, tasting, and at times, rejecting. In this case we plundered the recipe from our daughter Sara. It was published in The Best of Food and Wine, Vol 18, 2015.

The Raggedy for BEST RECIPE (according to Ann) goes to: Shakshuka – with Indian Butter Chicken being a VERY close runner-up.

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Ann wrote about Shakshuka just days after last year’s Raggedy Awards and claimed it was her current favorite recipe, “hands down.” She even requested (and had) Shakshuka for her Mothers’ Day celebration which was just around the corner. And now that Mother’s Day is upon us again, it is more than appropriate that she has officially named this as her favorite.

The Raggedy for OUR FAVORITE FOOD ITEM OF THE YEAR goes to: Goya Canned Beans

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These are from our pantry

We hesitate to contradict the well-known food-writer, Mark Bittman, but we think there’s a distinct difference in the quality of Goya canned beans and all other brands. And we like Goya far better. The brand can be hard to find (we make special trips to get ours at the local Safeway), though Whole Foods claims it’s available in some stores.

If you want to know more about Goya, here’s a 2013 article from the WaPo: How Goya brought ethnic food to white America. A little further research indicates the Hispanic-family-owned Goya is now struggling with whether to be bought out. Kind of hope they don’t sell. “Big” seldom means “better” for consumers.

Our last award is the Raggedy for BEST LAGNIAPPE BLOG. This is a new category for our awards presentations. This past year Ann wrote six Lagniappe Blogs. These are short pieces offering just a little something extra as the spirit moves her. In my opinion, her latest one was one of the most clever, and as far as we can tell, least understood of her efforts. So I am awarding the Raggedy for the BEST LAGNIAPPE BLOG to Is There a Perfect Choice?

Bidens ‘Blazing Glory’ – just what’s needed?

Although this piece is about flowers on one level, there is a deeper and more nuanced message lurking under the surface. Once you begin to see the theme, the names of the various flowers she mentions make more sense. I recommend you reread this piece with an eye for the theme and see how many veiled references you can find.

Stay well and safe.

Lagniappe: Is There a Perfect Choice?

FINALLY – some good weather has arrived in Glen Ellen and we’re able to get out in the yard and do some planting. A lot of you know that we used to have a little flower business we called “MiniBlooms” (I know…we have a bit of an obsession with small things…mini blooms and little meals! But we do like big cats and medium-sized dogs).

For this lagniappe (something extra) edition of BigLittleMeals I just want to talk about small little flowers. We’ve had enough of food!

There are so many choices to make when you’re replenishing or starting a flower bed – and today’s news is filled with stories about the reblooming of people’s interest in gardening during this stay-at-home time.

Bidens ‘Bidy Boom Bonfire’

The flower I’m focused on at the moment is Bidens. I’ve never been crazy about them before, but I’m totally into them this spring. Let me share a few descriptive phrases I found on all those gardening websites which describe these hybrid Bidens:

They’re low maintenance and high-performing
Strong and sturdy (we hope!)
They’re sterile so they don’t waste energy on seed production
They’re considered more of a filler than a thriller
Bloom till fall (I do wish they bloomed longer…at least through November!)
Very vibrant (well…that one is up for debate! 🙂 )

Admittedly, they’re also short-lived, but that can be dealt with. I’ll have some impressive back-up blooms in the bed. I’ve read good things about several daylily varieties: ‘Elizabeth’s Magic’ is lovely. ‘Gretchen My Darling’ is pretty fine too. The daylily ‘Michelle My Belle’ – so bright and bold – would be fabulous – the color blends amazingly well with the Bidens I’ve chosen, but it’s not readily available.

Daylily (Hemerocallis ‘Elizabeth’s Magic’)

Daylily (Hemerocallis ‘Gretchen My Darling’)

Just so you know – my current favorite Bidens variety is ‘Bidy Boom Bonfire’. Who in god’s name came up with that name? I definitely like the BOOM! part and BONFIRE! might be good too, though flaming orange isn’t necessarily a color I’m enamored with at the moment (wink, wink).

From Swede’s Feeds via Emerisa Gardens

Yes, our choice is Bidens. It’s ready to go. Boom! (into our garden, that is).

And – because I have to constantly remind myself that we’re a food-oriented blog, here’s our choice for an orange-y kind of food: it’s Orange ~~Crud~~ I mean – Curd, not crud! A Freudian slip.

Thanks to Katie, our dear 90-year-old Baton Rouge friend, for recommending this old Orange Curd recipe. It is SO good. Try it with the fresh strawberries that are just now hitting the market….or adorn your next cake with it.

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