I know you know it, but I have to revel in it: It's very beautiful this time of year!
I don't melt when I go outside and swarms of bugs don't attack me and plants are still blooming, lemons are ready to be harvested, the hens have all started laying eggs again...I could go on and on!
The Japanese have a term referring to the bittersweet transience of life and beauty. I don't speak Japanese so I don't know how to pronounce it, but I know what it means: very soon our Florida weather will turn cold and we will have to wear socks with our flip flops for a week.
Enjoy it while it lasts!
The holiday season also heralds the arrival of Bacon Jam. I originally found the recipe in a Martha Stewart recipe pamphlet and have converted some of my friends into Super Fans. One friend bought me a tiny Crock Pot so I could make it the first time because she loved the sound of the recipe; she always gets a jar. Now that I have Mike hanging around the house, I own a proper, man-size Crock Pot, capable of stewing 5 gallons of chili OR cooking down a large batch of bacon jam.
A couple of potential problems with bacon jam: bacon is expensive and the MS recipe calls, disconcertingly, for a cup of strong brewed coffee to be added to the mix. This year, one of my bacon jam fans turned me on to a local meat packing establishment (I NEVER would have found it on my own) where I was able to buy beautiful bacon ends for under $2/lb. Awesome! And this year, I also added a half portion of the coffee. I didn't notice a difference; the bacon jam is still the same delicious treat!
I was flipping through Martha's Christmas issue recently and she has updated her bacon jam recipe by adding bourbon. Wha-WHAT?! I'll be testing that recipe in 2014!
So now I'm speed-knitting to try and get a couple more Christmas presents in the mail. I wanted to make a scarf with large stitches but I didn't have a circular needle that was big enough so I brought out the traditional straight needles that Mike's mom gave me a while back, and started knitting. I don't think I've ever really knitted on straight needles. It was ok but the size and weight of the whole thing meant I had to finish it while sitting on the sofa wearing a carpal tunnel brace; this project won't travel.
"Clearance tofu" seemed like a good idea when I saw it in the store. I know...I know...
There wasn't anything wrong with the tofu but the concept worked on my mind until I couldn't bear the thought of eating it. Thank goodness the chickens loved it!
"Clearance tofu" becomes fresh eggs...ta-da!
I had to post a pic of the calabaza that grew in the middle of my tangelo tree. It seems secure so I'll leave it there until it's time to harvest it. Btw, this tangelo has never done well and last year's tangelos were bitter and dry, so it was with a heavy heart that I picked one of the fruits yesterday and brought it inside. It was delicious! It was the tangelo I have been craving for years. Too bad the citrus greening will kill my tree soon. :-(
And I've got the papaya thing DOWN: I pick them and ripen them off the tree. Now I have smoothies for days!
And more good news! I was about to pull the plug on the pigeon pea experiment; heading into year 3 with these bean trees and STILL, no beans! But even as I took this photo, something glinted at the top of the 12 foot tall "shrubs" and I realized my bean trees were finally in bloom.
I can be patient. I've been told that gandule/pigeon pea shrubs are perennial (btw, after 2 gin and tonics and 7 guesses at the spelling of that word, I Googled it. Shame!) so I am going to prune them HARD...soon, and see what happens.
So bring on the blizzards and sub-zero temps!!!!!!!!!!!! (I can say that coz it ain't gonna happen)
Vive le Florida!!!!
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