I have to admit, even though Tomato Pie is a deeply traditional Southern dish, it just wasn’t one that I grew up eating. We regularly had fresh tomatoes and ate them freshly sliced on sandwiches, in salads, or alone as a treat. If we had extra they were typically cooked with okra and onions, or […]
Simply Southern Tomato Pie Read More »
Today’s post is a book review of “One Small Step Can Change Your Life – The Kaizen Way” a 2004 self improvement book by Robert Maurer, PhD. Kaizen is a Japanese word that translates variously to improvement, amelioration, refinement, and betterment. It is a technique of continuous improvement based on the idea that SMALL ONGOING
A Path To Small Continual Improvement Read More »
This week presented an unexpected and welcome acquisition, a large stack of rustic bricks (shown above,) I plan to use for garden paving. A neighbor removed them in a re-landscaping project and offered them along with some other landscaping materials he anticipates removing. I accepted and he graciously helped load them and then unload them
Vines and Compost and Bricks, Oh My! Read More »
Pictured above: Oakmoss Lichen – Evernia Prunastri, and Common Greenshield Lichen – Flavoparmelia Caperata. Oakmoss has the tree branch appearance, and Greenshield is the smoother one with cup formations and little black hairs. Lichens… Those in the picture above are only two of many I remember discovering, collecting, and studying as a child. I was
A Childhood Infatuation – Lichens Read More »
I call this version of Banana Pudding “Fast-n-Fancy.” Fast because it only takes about 15 minutes to assemble. It’s Fancy due to the trifle bowl presentation of carefully arranged vanilla wafers and evenly sliced bananas, immersed in instant pudding. An added benefit, it’s easy because it’s ‘no cook’ made from sliced firm ripe bananas, store
“Fast-n-Fancy” Easy Banana Pudding. Read More »
In this first Raves and Faves post I’d like to give a little time to one of my favorite stylistic periods, the much loved and often reviled style that became a movement, introduced in Paris at the 1925, “Le Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes,” in English, “The International Exhibition of Modern Decorative
A Style For The 20’s Read More »
July is probably the second most consistently hot and dry month in the southeast Texas growing season. August being the first, with September running a close third. Like the old saying goes, “It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity,” or in our case, often a LACK of humidity, or to be more accurate, rain. While
July – Things To Do Read More »
Photographed on June 24, 2020 at 8pm in Montgomery County, Texas. The erebid moth Ascalapha odorata, commonly known as the black witch moth, is a large bat-shaped, dark-colored nocturnal moth, ranging from Brazil to the southern United States. It is the largest noctuid moth in the continental United States. This one measured about 6″ from
The Black Witch Moth Read More »
Here’s an explanation of how I set up this blog and how to navigate within it. Besides the “Next Post” and “Previous Post” buttons, every entry has a tag like this example: “Blog Goals” [tag], so if you ever want to find something in particular you can search by topic. I’ll publish up to four
The Blog – How It Works Read More »
This recipe is a little out of season, since dewberries are a spring event, but I’m posting it in commemoration of the discovery of Dewberry vines at Overleaf and the inspiration they gave me. If you don’t have dewberries, frozen commercial blackberries will do just as well. From what I’ve read about cobblers, they seem
Dewberry Cobbler – A Recipe Read More »