Roses are red, my love Violets are blue Sugar is sweet, my love But not as sweet as you So go the lyrics of “Roses are Red” by Bobby Vinton, circa 1962. I think of that song and slow dancing at Myrtle Beach when I drive through the hillsides of Virginia in early spring. That’s when the “Violets of Blue” are at their peak, often draping in splendid clusters along edges and … [Read more...]
Maw-Maw’s Liver and Onions
Liver and Onions? I expect half my readers are now saying, “Gag me with a spoon” while the other half says, “I want some.” Liver is one of those love/hate dishes, and for many, it takes an acquired taste. When I was young, I would hide in the closet if I saw Liver and Onions on the stove. That’s because Daddy made me try some. Eventually, I not only learned to eat it, but like it. My wife, … [Read more...]
Winning the Melon Lottery
I understand that somebody won over a billion dollars in the latest lottery. Big deal. I won a Melon Lottery last week. I bought a melon, and it was good. This is the season when melons show up in the grocery stores from Argentina or Mexico or wherever and you are tempted to buy one. You knew that the melons in the stores for the past 6months weren’t ripe nor edible, but now there’s … [Read more...]
Frog Update
We went into winter with 4 frogs in our little goldfish pond – one big one, one medium sized frog and two about the size of a large lima bean. As I have come to discover, when the air and water temperatures get cold enough, frogs just sink to the bottom and go semi-dormant. When that first warm spell hit in February, they came to life, then sunk out of sight when it got cold again. They are out … [Read more...]
The Irises Arise
We had a small bed of irises in our yard when we moved in over 50 years ago. They were planted on the side of the house and the only time I really saw them was when I mowed the lawn. They say you need to dig up the irises from time to time and re-plant them with more dirt on the roots, but I never did anything. About 20 times, I vowed I would transplant a few to a more visible spot, but I never … [Read more...]
Winds Starting to Wind Down
If you are a kite flyer, this has been a great spring. If you like to fish, not so much. But as the winds finally begin to calm, fishing is starting to take off. Big tautogs are all over the CBBT and blue crabs (their favorite meal) are now available in bait shops and fish markets The speckled trout have made appearances in various inlets, including Rudee Inlet, Little Creek Inlet near … [Read more...]
Sunday Dinners
I bought and cooked a Leg of Lamb on Easter Day and it brought back a flood of memories. When I was growing up, we had Sunday Dinners and those magnificent Dinners were served right after Church, not in the evening. Leg of Lamb was a staple for those Sunday Dinners. Daddy always made a thick brown gravy and served it with homemade Mashed Potatoes. Other regular entrees for our Sunday Dinners … [Read more...]
Jim and the Bean Stalks
Once upon a time, there was a guy named Jim who decided one day to put magic seeds in a Jiffy Pot and start his own squash and cucumbers. The magic seeds just sat there for about a week and moped. But then one day, they peeked out of the soil in the pots, decided that they should sprout and sprout they did… and sprout, and sprout and sprout some more. With a few days they were six inches tall … [Read more...]
Five Tips for Skillet Fried Chicken
There are probably as many ways to fry chicken as there are cooks. Most methods were passed from generation to generation from traditional family recipes and instructions. It’s pretty hard to mess up skillet fried chicken unless you serve it medium rare or burned, but here are a few tips to assure perfectly fried chicken. Tip 1. Cook chicken until the juices run clear when you pierce … [Read more...]
Buttercups
Another beautiful “weed” now growing in my back yard is the common buttercup. This variety, sometimes called the creeping buttercup, has stubborn roots and can be the devil to get rid of, but the flowers are certainly delicate and lovely. Buttercups are generally perennials, but unlike many wildflowers, they are poisonous. Livestock that grazes in a field overrun with buttercups can … [Read more...]