My wife Nancy has become quite the “canner”. We have more Mason jars in our basement than Wal-Mart. Regularly, Nancy cans jalapeno peppers, tomatoes, pickles, doorknob peppers, pickled okra, beets and whatever our gardens produce. She is also into jams and jellies and put up 9 pints of peach preserves that were simply delicious. She calls it her “Liquid Gold”. Really yummy. I recently gave her an … [Read more...]
Chopsticks Express
About once a month we do take out for Chinese. Our go-to place used to be Flaming Wok – great food, good prices and super quick turn-around, but The Wok is no more. Some brilliant real estate agent decided he could sell that entire strip of property on 29 north as a site for a hotel, so they didn’t renew the lease for the established Chinese restaurant. That was about nine years ago, and the … [Read more...]
Mason Wasps and Mountain Mint
Recently, Nancy observed a striking bee-like creature feeding on our patch of aromatic Mountain Mint. The black and white bee with purple wings is actually a wasp – a Mason Wasp. They are found in the Eastern part of the United States in mid- to late summer, a frequent visitor to nectar producing plants such as goldenrods, snakeroots, and mountain mint. The striped wasps are solitary … [Read more...]
Great Fishing For Labor Day
Black sea bass enthusiasts have found the ocean wrecks to be fruitful grounds, with lots of nice fish available for those heading offshore. Flounder fishing has been particularly rewarding, with the lower bay areas such as the HTRB and the CBBT yielding impressive catches. These locations, along with the ocean wrecks, have become hotspots for those targeting flatfish. Cobia fishing hit … [Read more...]
Catching a Virginia Bass Slam
By Dr. Peter Brookes I’m always up for a challenge and decided to try for a Virginia Bass Slam. The Bass Slam requires the angler to net three species of Virginia bass in a year. The eligible fish include the largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, striped bass, and/or a hybrid striped bass. While a full year is allotted for completing the Virginia Bass Slam Challenge, netting three bass … [Read more...]
Eating TV Dinners!
By the mid-50s, some of the novelty had worn off for televisions, but with rumors of color televisions and vastly improved programming, TVs were still an important part of family life. Gathering around the set for a family meal featuring genuine TV dinners was a highlight. In 1954, the Swanson Food Company changed the way Americans ate their meals. Prior to that date, families ate at the … [Read more...]
Scare(y) Crows
All birds molt, meaning they grow new feathers, sort of like we are always growing new skin. Some birds lose a few feathers at a time, and you hardly notice. Then, there are the cardinals that lose big chunks of feathers around their heads and look like something out of a Spielberg movie. But recently, I noticed that my small group of crows, usually three, also have feather … [Read more...]
Some Like it Hot
I have found that there are two vegetables that like hot weather – okra and peppers. If you plant either one in early May, they often sit there and sulk, biding their time, waiting for hot weather, then they take off if you give them a bit of water. Nancy had several pepper plants in her above-ground garden and one plant grew like a weed, but no blooms and no peppers. It was four feet high, … [Read more...]
Signs of Our Times
The Wing Thing
I believe I’ve got the “wing thing” down pat – wings as in chicken wings baked in the oven, not fried. I’ve tried probably a dozen recipes and the one below is tried and true – a keeper. I enjoy wings, even though they are probably more expensive – pound for pound – than a rib eye steak. They sell for just under $4 a pound, and you probably only get a third of that in meat. But they are tasty, … [Read more...]
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