September 22, 2019 Summer is still here

So where is Fall? Where are those cooler temperatures? Why is my air conditioner running?
I guess that means it is September. I remember that in September sometimes it is October. Sometimes it is August. This week it has been August, without as much daylight.

I had a busy week at work, again. There were two days of hearings on the road. I had been looking forward to Saturday (yesterday)  as a day to do many things in the garden.
But it rained most of the day. The ground is getting rather saturated.
It was also what we refer to as hotty coldy, all day. That meant it stayed right about 74 degrees, with 100% humidity, all day. Without air movement that felt warm. With some air movement, you were ready to turn off the fan.


What has been blooming?

There were real gems this week, as both varieties of the Night Blooming Cereus bloomed.
They were not particularly exclamation moments, since I had expected them to be blooming. It actually takes the buds 2-3 weeks to mature. You know they are coming for quite some time.

First there was this one.
I had known there would be these two flowers together for several weeks, as their buds matured.
They did not disappoint.




How about a closeup?




Unlike their more bulky cousin, this variety bloomed until about noon. It had opened about 10 pm.

A third flower had bloomed along with the two above. I was able to take its picture with a colorful croton background.










Here is the pair of flowers in the first pictures,  about noon.














The more traditional Night Blooming Cereus also bloomed this week. There were 6 flowers that bloomed over two nights. They were open by about 9:30 p.m. They were finished several hours after that, certainly by the time I got up which was at 5.
Both of those nights the plant bloomed it did not get much below 70.

The flowers are wonderful, but hardly anyone ever gets to see them.
Last year was the exception. See the explanation in the Odds and Ends section below.

 Here was Wednesday evening.
There were two flowers that bloomed, back to back. They almost made a complete ball of wonder.




Here, the third flower was a shadow, off to one side.




I liked this view, giving you some idea of how this flower just hung in all that black.






It was also tree peony seed time. All the pods on the four white ones I had grown from seed, popped open within 48 hours.

I now have plenty of fresh seed. I will send you some if you just ask.
It is recommended that you plant it almost immediately.

I was told, and I have no reason to doubt this, that the seed will germinate much faster if planted right away, rather than sitting around for weeks.






Here was the biggest pod, just opening.

I should add that germination is not great. But I did have one little new plant from the one planted last fall.















Here is that pod, inside, just ready to set the seeds aside for planting.

I will plant them when the ground dries out a bit.

At that point my advice is to forget about them for months.















                           Three regular cactus bloomed this week.
                           This is one of them.






















Here is the cattleya orchid, just back from a weekend orchid show.















The toad lilies are really blooming at the moment.















This is the air plant I have had for now 3 summers.
It blooms about now. The red parts are the start.


















Zinnias are good.

Julia's recipe

Spiced Pork Bits

Here is the link to all Julia's recipes that have appeared on the blog. Really- all of them since she started posting several years ago.
https://mearskitchen.wordpress.com/


We found this recipe in the Milk Street Cookbook. Those of you who watch public television's cooking shows will know about America's Test Kitchen, which is affiliated with Cook's Illustrated magazine. Christopher Kimball, now of Milk Street, was formerly of ATK/Cook's Illustrated, and there was apparently some kind of falling-out. I am not really entertained by or interested in cooking show politics. Or any other kind, at least at present. Both ATK/Cook's and Milk Street provide good recipes. This is a good (and fast) one from Milk Street.


The ingredients: 1 lb. (or so) of thick (an inch would be good) boneless loin pork chops (called American cut chops by Ms. Pavelka (our pork provider);boneless loin chops more generically); 1-1/2 teaspoon EACH of ground cumin, ground coriander, and smoked paprika (or regular sweet paprika if you don't have smoked); 3/4 teaspoon EACH kosher salt and black pepper (freshly ground if you are feeling energetic); and 2 tablespoons olive oil.

And for the sauce: 1 teaspoon smushed garlic; 1 tablespoon honey; and 1 tablespoon lemon juice.


First, I trimmed the fat from the chops and cut them into roughly 1" cubes. I put the meat cubes in a small stainless steel bowl. Any kind of work bowl is fine.



Next, I mixed the coriander, cumin, smoked paprika, salt and pepper together in a little bowl. Then I poured the spice mixture onto the meat and mixed it around with a fork and then with my hands. When all of the spice rub was on the meat (none at the bottom of the bowl), I set the meat aside on the counter for 30 minutes.

At that point, I turned my attention to the green beans (we eat a lot of green beans in farmer's market season) and the tomato-y rice which were also on the menu.


Near the end of the 30 minutes, I poured the little bit of honey and lemon juice and garlic into the little bowl that had held the spice rub and gave that a stir.



I heated the olive oil in a big non-stick skillet over medium-high heat, When the oil shimmered, I added all of the meat, arranging it in a single layer. I cooked it for about 3-4 minutes (using a spatter screen because there were spatters).

The cookbook said high heat, but I will confess to some timidity in re: frying on high heat. Go for it if you are bold. If so, you can probably reduce the cooking time on each side by about 1 minute.






Then I turned all of the pieces over and cooked for another 3-4 minutes (with the exhaust fan running and a few windows open). There was some smoke.














Here is a bunch of browned pork bits. I took the skillet off the heat, stirred up the honey/lemon juice/garlic mixture again and poured it over the meat.













Here it is on the table. Milk Street advises garnishing with some chopped up fresh oregano (they say 1 tablespoon). I did not have any quantity of oregano or any other fresh herbs for that matter. I think chopped up parsley or maybe basil would work as a garnish.

The pork was tender and flavorful, owing to using a tender cut or pork and seasoning it liberally. We served it with a tomato-y rice dish which will appear at some later date and green beans and salad.

There were left-overs (there were just the two of us and that's a lot of pork). We used the leftovers as the protein in grain bowls, a quick and easy kind of main course salad (if you have some cooked protein on hand). The grain bowls will also appear at a later date. In the meantime, I hope that your farmer's market has good green (or even better, yellow) beans. Fresh and local really is the way to eat.

Odds and Ends

Here is the screen shot of the extension service chart for temperatures this September.
There were lots of above normal temperature.













Here is last September. It was even warmer last year, until right about this time of the month when the temperatures dropped way down.


Please note the temperature for September 22, 2018.
It was down to 45 degrees with a high of 67.







On September 22, 2018 I took these pictures.




The NBC has bloomed for me every year since 2012.
This time in 2018 was the one time the flowers stayed open long enough to be seen in daylight.
The flowers lasted until about noon.













The NBC against the blue sky and green leaves was almost better than against the black background.
















Here is something odd.
I have noticed it before.

On my way to the Newton prison for court on Wednesday I passed these great giant windmills. They are over by Grinnell, on Interstate 80.
When I was passing them, I noticed that the ones on the right were going clockwise.
The ones on the left were going counter clock wise.


But they were going the same direction.
Think about it.
A clock goes counter clock wise when seen from the back.
If you bring a mirror into the picture you can give yourself a headache.
Philip