Post Card Sunday-That-Should-Be-Saturday

Keep your fingers crossed - the power is still working, but storms moving in. Tomorrow, pictures of the downed branches they cut to get to the wires.

But today... yes, today is Post Card Saturday! Though yes, it's happening on Sunday. If you missed the huge whine fest/pity party I had for myself yesterday, the post is just below this one, ha ha.

However, not only do I have an awesome postcard for you today, I have a special addition!

That's right - that picture up there is an album a friend of mine sent me to put postcards in! Here's the side view - isn't it pretty?

And the note that came with it. Yes, I wasn't sure how my friend would feel about all 4 of you who read this knowing her name, so I erased all but the first letter, haha.

Now to the postcard in question. There's another special something coming next week, as well. But here - ta da!

I think this is the oldest, or second oldest postcard out of all the ones I have. 1909, Baby! Take a look at that post mark:

As if that wasn't enough, here's the message:

April 13, 1909
New York
Father

I guess Father wasn't terribly verbose, unlike yours truly, ha ha. 

But again, here's the whole back. No zip code, though there is a number with the street. Amazing how stuff got where it was going. Assuming all of these did, anyway.

So there you go - another one! I totally dig these things. I can almost forget about the heat, lol. Okay, maybe not, but it's a fabulous distraction anyway.

:)

Miserable

In the big scheme of things, I know these are far more annoying and uncomfortable than true problems like much of the world has. But it's pretty much knocked me on my patoot. Prepare for a huge whine-fest, ha ha!

I live in South Florida. It's the middle of summer in South Florida. That means it is abominably hot and humid. Abominably. Thursday, the air conditioner went out. This came three days after they'd just been here to service it. And of course, no one can be here before Monday, late afternoon. 

So it's miserably hot. As if that wasn't enough, the power was out for *hours* today. So no light, no fans, no nada. The citronella candles only work so long against the mosquitoes, apparently, lol. 

The power is finally on, but now my phone (with my camera, of course) is dead from no power all day.

In other words - Post Card Saturday will once again be on Sunday. And there was even a cool development today! So look for it tomorrow. And in the meantime, thank you for indulging me in the big whine, lol. 

:)

Happy 4th! And More Runaways...

Happy Independence Day! Hope it was a good and safe one for everyone!

Also - another runaway to report. This time, more basil. That stuff... It's not as bad as the lettuce right now, but give it time. It tried to escape before, and here it is again.

This one - literally either out the bottom of a pot, or in a little crevice in the garden that has some dirt in it. 

And this is one that jumped on over into the catnip. I have pots full of basil, and more rooted that needs potted only I'm out of pots. Now it seems it's just intent on finding it's own place. This stuff is spreading faster than the lemon balm, lol. 

So there ya' go - a quickie. Some stuff may not be making it, but you see some of this stuff is just about to take over regardless.

Post Card Saturday tomorrow!

:)

Lettuce Runaway II

As promised, here are the pictures of the runaway lettuce. Just a quickie tonight, but there are more runaways that I'll post about tomorrow.

Here's the lettuce that's been tossed in the empty tub. It seems distressed, but given that it's escaped its original tub, I'm not too worried about it.

Here's one I missed yesterday, hiding out with the watermelon. It's still there as of now. Another heavy storm here just allowed me a few quick pics. I'll see about "moving" it tomorrow, ha ha!

So there ya' go - a quickie Thursday Lettuce update!

:)

Lettuce Runaway!

And old picture of the lettuce when it was still
contained, ha ha. Not all made it - just the green
stuff at the bottom of this picture. But yeah...
Everywhere.

Thanks to the heavy storm tonight, and a little bit of my own laziness, I don't have pictures to illustrate this phenomenon this evening, lol. I'll have some tomorrow, but for now, enjoy the picture here?

But this is getting out of hand, I think. What am I talking about?

Why, Lettuce, of course. 

It's *everywhere*. I mean... *everywhere*. Sure some of it was planted deliberately, but I keep finding it all over the place. I pulled out as much of it as I found - today. (Got my hands dirty before I thought to take pictures.)

It is in its own tub, of course, sharing that tub with the bee balm (not sure what that really is, but that's what the tag said it is. It's growing really well, too, lol). So I pulled a chunk out of Jorge the lime tree today, four really big chunks out of one of the watermelon tubs, a piece out of two different tomato pots. And that's not even counting the stuff I've pulled out previously. It's made it into the beans, and some of the basil.

I'm surprised it's not in the yard yet, but give it time, I guess, lol. 

For now I've been tossing it all into one of the empty watermelon tubs. If it all takes hold, I'm guessing it's nothing but salads for the rest of the summer? ha ha.

Updates as they become available. And pictures tomorrow, lol.

:)

Mango Madness!

(Forgive me - last night slipped away from me again, between the AC repairmen and the huge storm we had her in South Florida. Gotta love hurricane season, right?)

But you guessed it! The awesome neighbors were again generous with their mangoes, and I did some experimenting.

Here's the first experiment - Mango Muffins.
Results - Mixed

As you can see from this first batch they were... way over moist. They fell almost as soon as I took them out of the oven, and that was even after cooking them way over the time. I cut into one, it was not done *at all* (despite the clean toothpick) and put them back in even longer. 

They taste good, of course. But they are still too moist, with an odd texture.

Here is the second batch! They turned out much better. I added more flour, made sure I really drained the mango well. They are really good, too, and more muffin-like. They are still kind of a little too moist, in that it affects the texture. I may or may not make these again, or look for another recipe. 

In the meantime, they are still yummy! And I'm going to experiment with freezing them.

And the second experiment - Peach Mango Salsa
Results - Good!

This is one of those where I read about 6 different recipes and then put it together after that, lol. I'd say it's really good, bordering on great. Next time I make it, I'll tweak a few things, but overall, I'm happy with this. I ate some plain, some on chips, and some on roast chicken (which is what most of the recipes say to do with it). It was really excellent on the chicken! It's good to just eat, too. 

I gave some muffins and salsa to the Mango neighbors. I don't think my walking buddy cared for it all that much, but she was going to try cooking it with chicken, instead of serving it over top. I'm anxious to hear how that goes,, as I might try it myself.

So - today the rest of it goes in the freezer. It's only supposed to keep for 2-3 days in the fridge, but freeze well. That limit has been reached, as well as the number of things that it could go on without repeating, lol. So into the freezer it goes!

And hey, if the neighbors continue to be generous with the mangoes, I will continue to experiment. Not a bad thing, right?

:)

Apologies Again

Isn't this pretty? I liked it.

Yesterday... flew by. Like, really, I did not notice time passing *at all*. Next thing I know, it's after midnight, I'm starting to get sleepy and well... here we are. No Post Card Saturday.

And today I had more mango adventures. I'll go into more detail tomorrow. Suffice it to say that I am plum wore out, lol. 

So apologies, but I think I'm just going to skip Post Card Saturday this week. Otherwise, it's just right on the heels of the next one by the time I get to it, and well... you know.

Look for Mango Madness tomorrow, if you dare, ha ha! And an awesome postcard thing starting on Saturday. Something I've been sort of saving for a while, but I'll start it then.

Thanks!

:)

Farmer's Market Needed

One part of this gardening experiment of mine was to get better quality food. After all, I don't think anyone can argue that fresher food, grown without pesticides and the like, is better for you. And hey, growing it should be cheaper than buying it.

However, my gardening efforts aren't paying off they way I want them to. I'll give them all another shot in the fall (which is actually the start of the "real" growing season here in South Florida) and hope to have learned a few things.

In the meantime, though, I still want better veggies and stuff. And that means - Farmer's Market. There is supposed to be one sort of near where I live, but it's one day a week. I've heard mixed reviews at best about it. I'd love to find some more, but so many of them are soooo far away, I'd burn as much gas as would be saved buying locally. 

I did find one that isn't close, but not so far as to be out of reach. I found a really nice one back in February, but I haven't returned. There's a possibility of going tomorrow with my awesome neighbor. Wouldn't that be awesome!

What are your thoughts on Farmer's Markets? Any good ones you know of? I will keep looking, because there has to be something closer. But so far... I'm heading north, lol.

:)

Mango Jam Take 2

Look at it! Isn't it amazing?

Okay, I'm still totally jazzed about the jam. And yes, that's not yesterday's batch, it's from the first day. The stuff made last night looks amazingly similar, so I didn't figure I needed another picture, haha!

I will say that yesterday's batches yielded slightly less, only 8 jars in total. I think that was because the mangoes were riper and so juicier, less pulpy. And there were a few bad spots to cut away, etc. So it all cooked down a bit more, too. Still, 8 pint jars of awesome mango jam ain't bad for an afternoon  :D

Overall, the jam has been mighty well received! And generated some questions, too. So here are some more observations on my two time jam making experience, lol.

1. Nope, I did not do this "intuitively".
Well... maybe. I approached it like I approach most new recipes for something I want to try. I read a lot of websites and kind of composite all the information into my own brain. 

If you want the main site I used, go here.  And this here is one of the sites I got the lime juice idea from. Almost every site said to use lemon juice, so I don't believe it's for a bit of "zing". I used limes because I had them on my tree (now several of them are in my jam, lol), and a couple places used lime for mango jam.

2. I put in some butter - forgot that part yesterday. Just a chunk of it. One site claimed it would cut down on these bubbles you're supposed to skim off before you put the stuff in jars. Since I didn't have any bubbles to skim off, I guess it worked?

3. Boiling mango glop is *Hot*. You would think that's not something to have to say, but you know, I didn't always pay as much attention as I should have to that, lol. Take a look at my mango jam injury:


Now, since I always sustain at least a minor injury when I cook, I figure I probably got off easy this time, given it was my first jam making experience.

4. Boiling mango glop is *insidious*! I mean - it gets *everywhere*. I've cleaned and wiped and washed, but it might be a year before I find it all. Okay, maybe not that bad, but I still keep finding little orange splotches in the oddest places...

So there are my thoughts post jam making two. Feel free to ask questions if you're brave enough to venture along this path. You will find it surprisingly easy!

Now, if my neighbor continues to be kind, I might try some mango salsa... 

:)

Look What I Did!

Heck yeah, it is. That's just what you think it is - Mango Jam!! And not just Mango Jam - my first batch of jam I've ever made, Ever!

I'm so excited about it I don't even know where to start! Lol. But be forewarned - this is gonna be a much longer post than usual.

So - if you recall, there was some serious Mango Envy going on between me and the neighbor (Go Here for the post about that). Well, I sucked it up, went over, and offered to trade basil plants for mangoes. The woman (yes, I got her name even, ha ha!) was as nice as she could be, and I won't say she begged me to take as many mangoes as I wanted, but not far off. So I took a few and said I'd be back on the weekend.

And then one of my brilliant students suggested mango jam, I went back on Saturday (and ended up chatting for over 2 1/2 hours - they are super nice people!), and this is what I ended up coming back with.


Oh yeah. But that's because who knew how many mangoes it would take to make jam, you know? Apparently half of this pile will make two batches. But... more on that below.

Sunday dawned and mango jam fever was upon me! So I began assembling the necessary supplies:

Stock pot (the small one). Apparently I didn't need even something this big, but oh well. Dream big, right?

Washed jars

New lids and pectin


Sugar (sorry, no picture, but I think everyone knows what sugar looks like, right? lol)

And the fruit. Mangoes (of course), but if you notice there are a couple of green ones from one of the trees here. Unripe mangoes are supposed to have more pectin in them. And also some limes (from my tree, of course!). More on why limes below.

To read more about the process, click "Read More"