Have you planted anything this spring? I have two rows of vegetables and eight rows of staggered plantings of zinnias, sunflowers and cosmos.
I love this time of year. It’s hard work, but so rewarding.
Blessings
Garden Time
Mom and Popping It and Mayhaw Ice Cream
There are joys of small town life not capable of being found in bigger cities. Unique shops and country stores way out in the middle of nowhere give you just what you need and want.
I got up early this Saturday morning and was out the door at 7am. A mile down the road got me 2 gallons of lawn mower gas: non-ethanol. The lady at the counter at Dexter Grocery knew what I wanted before I could tell her.
A few more hilly and winding miles to Tylertown and I stopped in at The Blue Store. It’s another mom and pop country convenience store and has a bakery counter. Beautiful baked goods. I picked up a dozen oatmeal cookies to go with homemade Mayhaw Ice Cream tomorrow.
I had to go to the co-op. Does your county have one? Stop in if they do. Ant poison and cotton seed meal was added to my shopping finds.
Coming back through T-town, I hung a right at the post office and stopped at the Lagniappe Cafe for coffee and strawberry muffins. So good!
All those errands run in less than an hour. Try that in a bigger city.
While we ate breakfast, I made the mayhaw syrup. About two cups of juice and 1 1/2 cups of sugar slowly reduced.
After working in the garden and planting more flowers, I made up my recipe for Mayhaw Ice Cream. Try These Two Together I swirled in a few tablespoons of cooled mayhaw syrup, then wrapped the dish in plastic wrap and placed it in the freezer. Such a pretty color and will be great with the oatmeal cookies.
I had friendly service at every mom and pop.
Small-town life; there’s nothing like it.
Blessings from the Exile’s Kitchen.
Blue Tarp Season
When I was in junior high, one very cold P.E. class, we were told to dress out anyway. 35° wasn’t freezing, after all, was the coach’s reasoning. So, we dressed out and headed to the grassy field for kickball. Yeah, you guessed it. I got the bright red ball right up side my head and the nearly freezing temperature magnified the pain. I hated P.E.
The mayhaws hit me in the head yesterday, as I gathered them from the blue tarps. I like mayhaw season a whole lot better. Two gallons of berries netted juice in the freezer. Mayhaw jelly, mayhaw syrup for tea or homemade soda or mayhaw ice cream. Yes, yes, way better. Peh-tunt, peh-tunt….
Blessings from the Exile’s Kitchen
Strawberry Easy
I cannot let strawberry season go without contributing to the list of recipes.
Easy Strawberry Cinnamon Rolls
Take a can of crescent rolls and roll it out. Mix together 1/4 cup of sugar and a 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon and sprinkle over rolled out dough. Layer fresh sliced strawberries over cinnamon sugar. At long end, roll up dough and strawberries. Cut into 8 to 10 individual strawberry cinnamon rolls. Place in a casserol dish spritzed with vegetable spray. Bake at 350° till golden and no longer doughy. The strawberries will cook down, almost like jam. Yum! While the rolls bake, in a small bowl, mix a 1/4 cup confectioner’s sugar and one Land-o-Lakes Mini Moo for a glaze. When rolls are baked up and cooled slightly, drizzle glaze all over the top. Oh, boy!
Blessings from the Exile’s Kitchen.
theexileskitchen 