Wise Words

Go back to simple food, simple clothes, simple pleasures.
Pray hard, work hard, sleep hard and play hard.
Do it all courageously and cheerfully. – Herbert Hoover

Does it get any more simple than this?

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Fried Squash Blossoms

I’ve heard you could eat squash blossoms, however I’ve never eaten them. They are very common in Mexican cuisine.

I’m an adventurous cook and eater, so with an abundance of squash blossoms on my hands, I decided to give them a try. I picked 4 male squash blossoms (the females produce the fruit, the males just produce pollen).

I finally decide that for the first try, stuffing them with cheese and deep frying them couldn’t fail me. So I whipped up a simple batter of flour and water mixed until slightly runny (I also added a pinch of salt & some freshly ground black pepper). I stuffed the blossoms with some white cheddar cheese and dredged them in the batter. Then I dropped them in some hot oil and fried them for a few minutes on each side.

I must say, Mr. Chiots and I liked them. I will be trying them in different recipes in the near future! I think I will stuff them with green chiles, onions, and Monterrey jack cheese next – MMM squash blossoms poppers.

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Baby Blues

Yesterday evening we spotted a nest in a pine tree. Looks like little robins will be around soon! The color of robin eggs is amazing, a beautiful shade of Tiffany blue. We’ll be keeping our eye on this nest and taking photos of the little birds as they grow up.

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Gardening Books: Culinary Gardens

I have been trying to decide on a final design for my culinary garden, so I have been reading a lot of books on the subject looking for some inspiration.

I just finished reading Culinary Gardens: From Design to Palate. I wasn’t super impressed with this book. It has a lot of garden styles with plans for each one, but the plans are hard to decipher. She has plants labeled by color, but it’s hard to tell which green on the plan is for basil and which is for chives. Besides a few recommendations for specific types of vegetables to grow, I didn’t get much out of this book. I’m glad I borrowed it from the library and didn’t buy it!

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Berries, Berries & more Berries

While out for a stroll the other morning, I spotted a wild black raspberry bush at the edge of the woods in the back of our lot. There’s nothing better than sun-ripened berries.

I picked a handful of them, then I spotted another bush. There’s something supremely satisfying about finding a berry patch in the woods, I suppose it calls back to our roots as hunter gatherers.

The next day, Mr. Chiots and I walked along the roads by our home and found many more bushes (they don’t spray the ditches around here so they’re safe from herbicides & pesticides). We ended up with 2 1/2 lbs of wild black raspberries, and I’m sure we’ll be out to pick again before they’re all gone.

They’re all tucked away in the freezer waiting to brighten up our winter breakfasts. MMM, I can almost taste the muffins or jelly now.

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