Camellias and Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches

Posted on by theexileskitchen by Amanda Ellison Anglin

A walk to the mailbox had me enthralled with the blooming camellias, dotting the landscape. Their colors really brighten up the late winter garden. I picked a big handful and arranged them in a favorite vase.

Earlier in the day, I cleaned house, did a mountain of laundry while listening to albums I found last weekend at TBones in Hattiesburg.

After housework, I got in the kitchen and used up part of a cake mix to make cookie ice cream sandwiches.

If the egg is left out of the cake mix recipe, you can have cookies instead. Here’s what I did:

In a medium bowl,  I dumped in the cake mix ( I had about 3/4 of a box mix). I added about a 1/2 cup chocolate chips and a generous dash of cinnamon and ginger. Then I added 1/4 cup of brown sugar and stirred all the dry ingenious together to coat the chocolate chips well. Next, I stirred in half a stick of butter, melted, and enough water to bring everything together. I pressed the cookie dough into a 10 × 12 cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  Then I baked it in a 350° oven till the top was golden – 15 minutes or so.

Then I took a round cutter and, well, cut out rounds. I figured this method would be the most consistent. 

I put a dollop of my favorite ice cream on one cookie and topped it with another. Repeating till I ran out of cookies, I then put them on a plate and placed them in the freezer to harden up. Each cookie sandwich was then stored in its own baggy and back into the freezer for individual snack time.

Note: Cool cookie completely before adding ice cream. I didn’t wait long enough, and the ice cream began to melt. Learn from my mistake.

Blessings from the Exile’s Kitchen. 

Green Was the Color for 2023

Posted on by theexileskitchen by Amanda Ellison Anglin

Each year, I look back at the media I’ve posted to see which color was predominantly displayed. From young seedlings, unplowed green space between flower swaths, a child’s t-ball jersey, an antique glass juicer, pretty potted mums, fresh from the garden vegetables and delicious turnip green soup- green showed up a lot, well, until the drought hit in late June.

The pots are still planted. I’m looking forward to the grandkids being in ball games this coming spring.  Plans to move the flower/vegetable patch closer to the house for easier watering are being worked out. The new year is around the corner. I can see it. And I’m praying it will be a gentler year than 2023.

Happy New Year Blessings from the Exile’s Kitchen.

Mum’s the Word

Posted on by theexileskitchen by Amanda Ellison Anglin

It’s that time of year and mum’s the word. Chrysanthemums are flooding garden centers and pouring out of nearly everyone’s front porches. Mine included.

There’s a garden center in Wesson, MS, near Brookhaven, called Buds and Blooms.

I love that place. And boy, did they have the pumpkins and chrysanthemums. Their garden cat Ramona hopped onto my cart and helped me pick out my potted plants. You can find them at the link below.

https://www.facebook.com/budsandbloomsnursery?mibextid=ZbWKwL

I brought my selections home and did the pot in a pot trick. The mums probably won’t make it beyond the fall season, so I cleaned up a few empty garden pots and slipped them inside of those. Voila! No fuss, no muss.

Last spring, we planted the little sugar pumpkins, and I mixed them in with the pretty decorative pumpkins I bought at Buds and Blooms. A 1970’s planter (my mother’s) was a special add and held two of the little pumpkins.

During the eclipse yesterday, I took an update photo. The chrysanthemums have started to open. The sun was casting some interesting shadows on Saturday. 










Happy Autumn from the Exile’s Kitchen.  

	


	



					
						


	

		
Butterfly Approved

				

			Posted on  by theexileskitchen by Amanda Ellison Anglin		

			


	
	
			


	

		

The perfect butterfly approved landing spot.





Nine out of ten butterflies will say they prefer zinnias… Oh, who am I kidding? Ten out of ten butterflies prefer zinnias over any other flower in the garden. Here’s proof.





  • I promise there had been a butterfly on these zinnias, but it shied away just as I snapped the pic.
Wait! Is that a bumblebee? They don’t care; they are indiscriminate in their flower tastes and will party wherever their fanciful flights may take them.





Swallowtails,  both yellow and black, Gulf Fritilaries, those greenish/yellow Sulfur (no pic, as they are too quick) have been the big tourists this summer to the cutting garden. Still waiting to see the Monarchs parade through. Summer isn’t over by a long shot, so I’m certain they will arrive.





Butterfly Blessings from the garden at Flowers Proper. 









	


	



					
						


	

		
It’s Friday

				

			Posted on  by theexileskitchen by Amanda Ellison Anglin		

			


	
	
			


	

		
Good morning, sunshine. It is Friday, y’all. https://www.instagram.com/p/CBVX6XPBWmBQZ-9v9eNbU69lXsYgZIXLj5rN1o0/?igshid=1etlmevt6q62t



I can’t not talk about the weather. It takes hold of everyday life and changes my plans. A tropical storm started out on one side of the country Amanda, crossed the Ucitan and became Cristobol, bringing with it rain and high winds.



The storm knocked down most of my flower patch. Roots are exposed. Plants, still living, are growing crooked. The stems travel along the ground, but the bloom at the end turns upward, trying to face the sun. I will endeavor this weekend to righten the storms battering. Wooden stakes, jute twine, hammer and elbow grease should do the trick.



This is a picture of what our nation is going through. We are battered by a storm whose name keeps changing. We’re knocked down. Running low. But at the end, we need to look upward.



Blessings for a safe weekend from the Exile’s Kitchen.