Strawberry Corn Cake - Surprisingly Tasty!

It has to be one of my favorite parts of Spring...biting into a juicy, red, ripened strawberry.  Believe me, I can, and will, devour them directly from the patch...no washing necessary!  Growing up, we lived right down the road from Brooks' Farm Strawberries.  Almost every year, my mom or grandmother would take us to pick our own.  I vividly remember my younger sister eating her weight in strawberries before ever even leaving the patch, covering herself in red juice from head to toe.  My grandmother always picked enough to put in her freezer so that we could have fresh strawberry shortcakes year round.  Mom always put sugar over them after they were sliced, and put them in the fridge for later.  Or, we would put them in our Frosted Flakes on Saturday mornings, back when good cartoons were still on TV on the weekends.

My grandmother, who's birthday happens to be right in the middle of strawberry season, turned 91 this year.  She is currently in the hospital, going through rehab for Neuropothy, which is a condition that affects the nerves in her arms and legs.  She was unable to enjoy her birthday at home, so we brought the birthday to her!  We made German Johnson tomato sandwiches (her favorite), and for dessert, we had strawberry short cakes.  My mom purchased some local fresh strawberries, tossed them with sugar, and put them over the little yellow cake cups that you get in the grocery store.  We topped them with whipped cream, and a candle, and voila!, birthday cake!  It really brightened her day! It's amazing what something as simple as food can do for the soul! 

It's Girl Scout Cookie Time!

It's that time of year again! Girls dressed in their Brownie and Junior uniforms, standing out in the freezing cold in front of the local grocery stores with their smiling faces, "Would you like to buy some Girl Scout Cookies?" Your initial thought is "I really can't afford it." But knowing that they are the most delicious cookies on the face of the earth, you buy 6 boxes (or more) anyway.

I did my fair share of cookie selling.  I remember specifically standing in front of the local Food Lion with my best friend and fellow Girl Scout, Claire Bolton, in the cool rain chanting "Girl Scout Cookies $2 a box" as customers entered the building.  (Yes, they were a lot cheaper then!)  I was enrolled in Girl Scouts in 1988 in Brownie Troop 632.  I later was bridged to Junior Troop 1415, both of which were in Council 364 Pines of Carolina.

I was proud of my award!

In 1988, I was the top cookie seller in Person County.  My mom taped multiple Girl Scout Cookie order forms to the windows of her mini van for a "little" advertising.  We would get stopped everywhere we went.  She carried quite a few boxes in the back, and whenever we got stopped, all she had to do was open the hatch, and sell, sell, sell.  I also did my part at cookie booths, selling to friends, family members, fire departments, and schools.  My grandmother took an order form to work for me and sold quite a few.  I sold 500+ boxes that year, and won a free week to Girl Scout Camp, along with a sleeping bag.  That same year I was also featured on the front page of The Courier=Times.  In 1989, I sold 600+ boxes, and once again was the top seller in the county. 

"Tis the Season

Norman Rockwell

'Tis the season to fill everyone's heart with something tasty to eat!  The best gift a cook could ever receive is the satisfaction on their guests' faces when they indulge in something you have prepared with your own two hands. The love that is shared during this process is priceless.  Whether it is friend to friend, family to family, friend to family, cook to cook, or cook to guest, there simply is no replacement for the joy it brings to one who loves to cook and share.  This my friends is the passion of food.

Cooking for Someone Special...

Out of all the people I have fed or prepared food for, the most intriguing has been my husband, Charles.  The poor guy is the guinea pig of my cooking and testing...but it turns out he likes more things than he thought he did!

Me and Charles

One day we had a conversation on the food that we grew up with, and he told me his fondest memories of his mother cooking homemade biscuits every night to go with the fried pork chops and pintos, or meatloaf with tomato topping and mashed potatoes.  So I felt like it was my calling to reproduce these meals that were obviously so near and dear to his heart.  Preparing meals for Charles in the same way his mother used to, who is now deceased, fulfills my passion to share my love for food with the ones I love.

We both agreed that I will never be able to reproduce these meals exactly the way she did...her hands were so different from mine, and I don't own the wooden "biscuit bowl" that she used to make those lovely, rounded top biscuits.

But I sure was going to try...

The smells and sounds in my warm kitchen while I cooked the fried porkchops reminded Charles of times when he himself would prepare this meal down at the old white house he was raised in.  He pointed to a burn scar on his hand where the grease popped and burned him.  To him, and I guess to just about every home cook, a "fried" pork chop is dusted in flour and seasoned with "just salt and pepper,"  and then fried in a cast iron frying pan.  The smile on his face reminded me of why I love to touch someone's heart through food.

Delights from My Garden--Part 2

As the summer continues, my cupboard continues to fill with lots of tasty things, some with a childhood memory attached, and others left open to start new beginnings.  I will begin with the grapes.

"I heard it through the grapevine.."

Their twisty, curly vines wrap around the man- built frame, supporting tiny bunches of premature grapes; accompanied by the sweet smell and honeysuckle.  The grapes are a new and exciting venture for me, I can't wait to see how these tiny bundles of joy grow!

Honeysuckle contains a sweet, edible nectar. 

 Next up are the famous wild blackberries.  To me, summer just isn't summer without them.  I spent many summers picking blackberries in the dark until my fingertips turned purple...now that's love!

Looks like the critters enjoy them too!

I enjoy eating them just as they are, right off the vine, or, rinsed and chilled (if they make it back to the house). But, my all-time favorite would still have to be homemade blackberry cobbler (right out of the oven), topped with a scoop of homemade vanilla ice cream.  Summertime lovin'...lovin in the summertime!

The blackberry "bush"

Delights from My Garden--Part 1

German Johnsons are going to be here soon!

Wow! I have quite a few delightful treats in my garden this year!

First and foremost, the German Johnson tomatoes...I can't wait...and the Marion heirlooms right beside them.  I can't wait to fight for that tangy juice from the bottom of the bowl, to be able to make a sloppy sammich with just salt and pepper, or to simply eat one like an apple...dirt and all.

 There's also quite a few different varieties and colors of summer apples-red, green, and yellow.  It is such a joy to watch them grow and mature into a tasty morsel...whether eaten raw, in a cobbler, cooked to perfection in a cast iron frying pan, or pureed into homemade applesauce.  Nothing better than shaking the tree to have them fall from up above...like pennies from heaven.

Apples in the morning dew

Apples from 1 of about 8 trees in my yard

 Last year I had all of 1 peach from my tree.  I distinctly remember my mom trying to tell me that there was a ripe peach on my tree.  I didn't believe her...it had been very dry, and none of the trees had produced anything all year. But sure enough, there it was, a beautiful piece of art. I carefully plucked the single peach off the tree.  As I bit into it, I realized it was the freshest,  sweetest, juiciest, peach I have ever put in my mouth...too bad it was the only one :(.

...gonna eat alota peaches." 

"Movin to the country...

So this year I have 2 trees hanging full of 'lil peaches, and I am hoping that we are granted with enough sky juice to once again produce these flavorful, ripe, fuzzy  peaches.

 ...yes Juli, I remember the 6 hour tour...with all the peaches!

Blackberries...Take Me Back To The Good 'ol Days

Sitting here eating blackberries...soft yet crunchy, sweet yet tart...takes me directly back to my childhood. I vividly remember picking wild blackberries in the edge of the woods on a hot, humid summer night. Most of the time it was a treat after a long day of hauling corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans, squash, potatoes and butter beans to the house from Gingi's garden. The sound of tree frogs and crickets in the background, the setting sun (if it wasn't already dark), sweat dripping down from Gingi's sweat band ,and the smell of honeysuckle. There was nothing better than sticking your already dirty hand into a prickly bush, and finding that big fat juicy berry. The end result...purple stained fingertips and seeds in your teeth...yummy, yummy, yummy, I got love in my tummy!


I will also never forget the red bike tire tracks I received while picking blackberries...;)