Mountain Musings

Garden Trials and Cajun Okra

Hannah recently spent a week away and left the garden to me! She gave me instructions of what to pick and what to leave until she returned. There was actually very little for me to do!

This is our first year we've had deer damage in the garden. Up until now, for the 17 years we've been in this location, deer had not jumped the fences into the two raised bed gardens.

Unfortunately, this was their year to feast on all the strawberry plants, pumpkin plants, Swiss chard, tomatoes, asparagus, black-eye peas, winter squashes, raspberries, blackberries, sunflowers, hyacinth bean, roses...you name it, they munched the vegetables down to the ground!

All that work Hannah put in....and mostly everything was decimated! True sadness.

I did pick some yummy okra while Hannah was away...for Granny and me...the guys won't touch it.

I picked peppers, cucumbers, and okra. It was the first time I'd been outside to work in the garden since the tick bite/Lyme. I was a little paranoid...but it felt good to be back outside in my old stomping grounds:
Chop them up...

Put them in the frying pan with a little olive oil and sprinkle with Cajun Seasoning:

Cook for several minutes until they look toasted and cooked through. If you're thinking okra is slimy...it's not at all slimy cooked this way. So very fresh from the garden, and the flavor is delicious!

But no matter how much I rave over the taste, the guys still won't try even a tiny bite!

Hands up if you love okra...or would like to try it this way!

~Deb

Weekend Chef: Jonathan's Smash Burgers

Jonathan is our occasional weekend chef and has gradually been collecting a smattering of cookbooks including ones with Hispanic, Arabian, and Irish dishes.

Recently he volunteered to try out his Barbecue Sauces, Rubs, and Marinades cookbook on the family by making "Smash Burgers" and concocting Memphis-Style Barbecue Sauce from this cookbook to go along with the burgers.

The recipe is copyrighted so I can't post it here, but some of the ingredients include Coca-Cola, Tabasco, liquid smoke, cider vinegar, molasses, and chili powder. It was quite the concoction and quite tasty!

Jonathan says the Smash Burger recipe calls for using a cast iron skillet for best results...and here he is doing some "smashing!" We only have a very small cast iron pan, so a bigger one might be on his wish-list!

As you can see from the above photo, the burgers aren't formed as normal round patties but rather as meatballs...and then are smashed in a very hot skillet.

It's the action of the smashing that helps carmelize the burgers around the edges as they cook which gives them the amazing flavor.

Here's a You Tube link for a 6-minute video that shows a how-to of the Smash Burger (disclaimer of bad language at 2:26 that you can skip over and then proceed).

Jonathan also made the "Special Sauce" described in the video for us to try....very tasty also!

Hannah and I wanted to make Smashed Potatoes to go along with the Smashed Burgers...but when a man is cooking in the kitchen, that's more than enough action going on. We opted for chips.

Okay...I think I'm going to call on Chef Jonathan to perform his magic for us again on another weekend when he's in a cooking mood!

That was definitely delicious!

~Deb

How Much Wood Would a Woodworker Wield....

"How much wood would a woodworker wield
if a woodworker could wield wood?
He would wield, he would, as much as he could,
and wield as much wood as a woodworker would
if a woodworker could wield wood."

(Adapted from Woodchuck)

Tom has been wielding as much wood as a woodworker would...for sure! Retirement around here means work, work, and...more work! 

He's busily preparing for Dayton Days craft show held annually on the first Saturday in October, and he has an extensive list of items to build before that weekend...including two of this arched-top mirror frame below: Here's an assembly line of cutting boards made with domestic hardwoods and a little exotic hardwood (African Padauk) for accents:

And another assembly line below with the exotic stripe (Purpleheart in back and more African Padauk) off center on the boards...I like this design!

Here are the cutting boards all packaged up for protection and ready for transporting to Dayton Days for all the buying customers...we hope! While the oil/beeswax finish is drying on the mirrors today (in the living room...), he will be starting on:

• three quilt racks
• two cottage wall cabinets
• two Shaker end tables
• and adding a dozen more cutting boards to the original ten!

Can he do all that building by October 5 and still remain sane...and still have a life??

Remember when Tom made Sarah a bed for her future home a few years ago? You can read about it here. Well, for the past months he's been working on finishing up another queen bed he's making for Hannah. It's basically finished, but it's not assembled and in her room quite yet.

It's beautiful! And what a great treasure both girls will have of their Dad's woodworking:

 noun:  wood·work   /ˈwo͝odˌwərk/

 

 

the activity or skill of making objects, especially furniture from wood

 

synonyms:

carpentry, joinery

 

Related Words:

laborer, builder, worker, artisan, cabinetmaker, chips, joiner, mason, craftsperson

 

 

If you're local to our area of the Shenandoah Valley, mark your calendars for October 5th and come see us for Dayton Days Craft Show.

 

Tom is renting enough vendor space so Hannah can display her soaps, and Granny can display her baskets!  It's a family affair!

 

You can find Tom's woodworking site here at Pleasant View Woodworks.

 

 

~Deb