Food Frenzy!

We are in the middle of a wonderful food overload in my house.  I have lucked into things like a halved pig head, soft shell crab, and lobster! I have been so busy playing with my food that I have not gotten to share everything! Just to keep you up to date (sorta):

The Potlicker has started a garden, hopefully we will see tomatoes and peppers! My first veggie crop. I have always stuck to herbs. As much as I wish that I had an acre devoted to gardens, my planting has been container gardens wherever my current dwelling may be. My old friends from the mint family have been planted as well as new comers, comfrey, chamomile and bergamot.  This is my tea garden. Hopefully I will see hot peppers and heirloom tomatoes, too! They are not much larger than seedlings and temporarily planted in milk cartons until an appropriate home can be made.

Earlier this week, A friend brought half-dozen lobsters from Maine and we feasted for lunch! All the shells from the smorgasboard have been turned to lobster broth and the leftover meat (that’s how much lobster there was! we couldn’t eat it all!) will be turned into ravioli with a tarragon lobster cream sauce. This picture is the shells of the lobsters, plus seasonings, into a roasting pan set to bake and reduce into broth yumminess.

I have also acquired 1 dozen softshell crab which just beg to be fried and put onto tender rolls with tartar sauce, or maybe into a green curry sauce, hopefully more on those soon, too….

Next on my schedule is cheesemaking at a local off-the-grid farm. Butter and yogurt and cheese, Oh My! I will take lots of pictures and we will make cheese together.

Kitchen Tip:

Save old coffee tins for planting.  Rinse the cans, but do not soap. The cans might contain plant loving residue like coffee or tomato.  Using a ‘church key’ type can opener that punches triangular holes, punch holes around the bottom of the can for drainage. Punch a hole toward the top (open end) of the can if you wish to hang on a fence, or two holes if you wan to suspend the can.  Plant herbs, and flowers or anything that is not expected to get huge.  By the end of the growing season the containers will have likely reached their life span. One year I had great success with shade and water-loving plants like Coleus. I painted and decorated the tins, hung on the fence around my deck and they continued to grow until the tin practically rotted around it.