CREOLE TOMATOES-- FRENCH MARKET

 I bought a box of these at the French Market. My client says he thinks I got bamboozled that the only thing that  makes it Creole is that is was grown in Louisiana. I will not fall prey to his cynicism...lol

 I prefer to allow Creole Tomatoes to mystify me with their lore.

 I even bought both varieties of Killer Tomato Seasoning to use on my beautiful red creole tomatoes.

 

 

 

LIFE IS LIVED IN THE DETAILS

 I took this photo in the St.Josephs Catholic Cemetery in Paulina, La.

 

Perhaps its because I spend so much time with older folks, I have started taking life at their pace. One of my clients told me that I was special because "I lived life in the details. "

"LIFE IS LIVED IN THE DETAILS"

SHIRLEY ROUSE

EVIL EYE REMEDY

I am not generally a superstitious person, But every day for 6 months something bad was happening to me. Not a day went by that everything I tried to do wasn't 3 times as difficult to get done because some unforeseen, uncontrollable problem came up. For instance in two different vehicles a truck in a different lane from me threw a rock that broke my windshields, if I had a deadline my Internet would go out, if my husband was going to call my phone would go dead zone, if I washed my bed linens the cat would barf on the freshly remade bed, nothing was going right and it was nothing I could control.

 

Apparently I don't quite have the patience of Job, 6 months is my breaking point. So, I looked on line for ojos and evil eye cures etc. Finally I called my neighbor and friend. She is of Hispanic background and I figured she would know what the ritual was all about.

 

She came over with her brother. She brought artificial flowers, olive oil and the biggest eggs I have ever seen. She made me lay on the floor, she told me to take 2 eggs , putting one in each hand and rub the eggs all over my body to draw out the curse, then she dipped the flowers into the olive oil and started swatting me hard with them, after a few minutes she brought a glass of water and had me break the eggs into it.

 

Then she and her brother started laughing. I was like what are ya'll laughing at. They said there is no such thing as evil eye, just know you are surrounded by friends that love you and you wont have anymore bad luck.

 

Well say what you will, the broken eggs did have odd white stuff in them and I haven't had anymore bad luck since then.

 

From what I read that after you do the egg thing, the evil eye returns to the person who put it on you. With in days I heard that this woman who was jealous and hated me for absolutely no reason was fired from her job and now bad stuff is happening to her. So maybe there is something to it, and maybe my friends are assholes...lol

KINKY KIM CHEE and BACON KIM CHEE GRILLED CHEESE RECIPE

 I lived in Asia for many years and I got used to very spicy flavorful Kim Chee. I wasn't finding anything comparable to it at my Asian Market or grocery store so I decided to try and make it myself. I ordered The Kim Chee cookbook from Amazon.com and thus begins my journey.

 

Here are my ingredients. I made 3 types of Kim Chee, Eggplant and red pepper, Daikon and Spicy Cabbage.

 

 

This is the eggplant Kim Chee

 

 

This post is called Kinky Kim Chee, just look at that Daikon, and tell me your mind doesn't make that leap...smiles

 

 

 This is my napa cabbage diced and soaking in salt water. I think I may not have soaked my cabbage long enough. I soaked it for 1 hr 15 minutes but it wasn't as wilty as maybe it should have been.

 

Spicy cabbage Kim chee, Eggplant Kim Chee and Daikon Kim Chee made with rice porridge.

 

Here is where I am perfectly honest. All of it sucked. Its terrible. I am letting it stew in the fridge a little more hoping it gets a flavor.

 

I had better luck unjarring bought kim cheese and adding more Korean Red pepper powder and fish sauce to get the flavor I was looking for.

 

While I was doing all this I came across a recipe for A Kim Chee Grilled Cheese Sandwich well what could possible be better on it than Bacon.... So here is my recipe for :

 

Bacon Kim Chee Grilled Cheese

 

2 SLICES FIRM BREAD ( I used an artisan rosemary bread)

SHARP CHEDDAR (sliced evenly, use as much or as little as you'd like)

3 SLICES COOKED BACON

KIM CHEE

BUTTER

 

Basically I buttered only the outside of the bread. I layered my cheddar, bacon and kim chee between the slices of bread, added more butter to the frying pan and cooked it on medium high til the cheese got gooey and the bread toasted golden. It is excellent.

CLEAN GALVESTON BACKYARD GARDEN TOUR 2013- SUSTAINABILITY

( I will almost always take a picture of a Buddha in a garden, I cant help myself..smiles)

 

These are just random photos of things I saw on this years garden tour that struck my interest. This years theme was sustainability, although it was not very emphasized.

 

 

 A beautiful fountain in the Oleander Garden behind the Moody Mansion. I never knew this garden was here.

 

 

 I love the varying shades of this hybrid oleander

 Plumeria

 Dutchman's Pipe although people were calling it something different at a few gardens

 Lotus blossoms in a water feature

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 This is a nice cistern, the wood siding was added to make it more pleasing to the eye, the other ones on the property were just the black plastic cylinders.

 

 I thought this was pretty cute

 I definitely want to bead my hanging baskets, this was very pretty

 An old pallet made into a planter ( Rehab Center for Brain Injured)

 This is a table top garden , what make it unique is that this is for Wheelchair bound patients in therapy to be able to garden

 These are neat made from pallets as well and livened up with bright paint.

 

 What a great coop at the rehab center, no chickens yet. I have a rooster that I'd be happy to give to them.

 A volunteer at San Jacinto Garden brought these shopping totes back from France. She donated them to the community garden with proceeds benefiting the garden. Since I am a definite bag lady and all you have to say is France and I am smitten, I bought 2.

 

I love the poppies at San Jacinto Garden. I bought some seeds from their plants and hope they will grow as well for me in my garden.

LADIES OF SAN GIOVANNI ITALIAN AMERICANS HAT LUNCHEON

 We all attended Mass at Sacred Heart Basilica on Galveston Island Texas after Mass we said the Memorare together and met for lunch at Sapori's a new Sicilian restaurant on the island. The food was absolutely wonderful. Below are photos of our lovely ladies and their hats.