October 20, 2019 Holding on

I am not going to talk for long about the weather.
I am not going to talk for long about plants coming inside.
I am tired of both.

Let me talk about how the garden persists.
That seems like a nice word for the season.

We had light frosts last weekend and again during the week. A few annuals were toasted but mostly the garden is hanging on.

Friday was one of those days that makes Fall wonderful.
70 degrees. Sunny. Quiet with maybe the sound of a marching band somewhere.
In a different world I would have found something to do outside.
But I had a conference to attend.
It was good conference. One that helped recharge some of work energy.

I was able to slip home mid afternoon to catch this wonderful surprise.
It was almost one of those "exclamation" moments I sometimes experience in the garden.
There was a clump of fall crocuses.
They had not been there the day before.
They bloom by the walnut tree in the front yard.
They bloom at this time of year.
I have pictures going back to at least 2007
We had been watching for them and finally they arrived.



Do you recognize the leaves  around the crocuses? Do you know the speckled plant?
The answer is in the Odds and Ends section.


Maybe this is the saffron crocus. I am not entirely sure. The saffron crocus is crocus sativus.
This is certainly similar to that crocus.
You would harvest that orange parts for the spice. It takes many thousand flowers to make an ounce of spice. That is why it is so expensive.






Notice the second pair on the right.
It was their time, in that glorious sunshine on this lovely day.




I should add that these blue fall crocuses are not that expensive. Some places were 25 for about $10 when I checked this morning.


The garden continues to hang in there. The backyard in particular has not been affected by a mild frost since there is the leaf cover.




The Sycamore tree in the backyard keeps its leaves for a long time. They have not even begun to change color.


This picture taken Friday is not any different from the picture taken a month ago.


The Elephant Ears are like sentinels, standing tall at their posts, not in any way affected by the mild frosts this past week.
I will let the frost eventually know them down. I then will cut off the spent foliage and bring them inside.
With enough time that would include taking the big bulbs out of the pots and drying them for a few days before storage.




Geraniums do not mind a little cold either. These came from a friend who died. I see them and remember pleasant days with her on her sunny porch.
That is the nice things about plants from friends.








These straw flowers, which are annuals, are still intact and in fact are going strong.















The zinnias hang in there, still attracting the butterflies who have not gone south.











The first inside  hibiscus flower bloomed this week.
With three plants in the living room there was almost a flower each day.

Julia's Recipe

Spicy tomato rice

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/

I have several rice recipes - curried rice, Spanish rice, rice salad. I am a big fan of rice, among the starches. This rice dish is from the Milk Street cookbook - Milk Street being the new incarnation of Christopher Kimball, late of Cook's Illustrated and America's Test Kitchen.



Here are the ingredients: 1 cup basmati rice (more about rice below); 1 tablespoon tomato paste; 1-1/2 cups of water; 2 tablespoons of regular oil; 1 teaspoon EACH cumin seeds, coriander seeds and mustard seeds; 1/2 teaspoon smushed garlic; 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger; 1 tablespoon chili/garlic paste; 2 cups cherry tomatoes (assorted colors are nice); and 1-1/2 teaspoon kosher salt.

The recipe advised to soak the rice for 15 minutes, and I did. Not going to do it again. Also, I think it would be fine to use another kind of long grain white rice. Or medium grain white rice (what we call regular rice), in which case increase the water to 2 cups. Otherwise the cooking process is just the same as described below.



I whisked the tomato paste and garlic/chili into the water.

Then I smushed the garlic, grated the ginger and measured the spices (and salt) into a small bowl to which I added the garlic and ginger.

I cut the tomatoes in half.

And I drained the rice in a mesh sieve.







I heated the oil in my trusty old yellow cast iron Dutch oven and added the spices. I stirred the spices for about 1 minute and then added the rice and stirred for another minute.

Then I gave the water/tomato/garlic/chili paste mixture another stir and poured it in.

I brought the mixture to a boil, turned the heat down to low and covered the pot. After about 10-12 minutes, I turned the heat off and let the rice coast to the finish.

When the rice was cooked, I added the tomatoes and put the cover back on the pot for about 5 minutes so the tomatoes would break down.




The recipe called for stirring in cilantro. Cilantro is controversial in my house. I expect parsley would add the requisite green. I used red, yellow and sort of purplish cherry tomatoes and we did not miss the green.

We served this with pita pockets; that is, pitas warmed and cut in half and filled with cooked ground lamb (seasoned with salt and pepper and a little oregano) and cucumber/yogurt sauce.


This side would also work with baked fish or baked chicken or roast pork. Leftovers are good reheated. Not so much cold, as basmati rice is weird when cold. Another reason (no soaking being reason #1) to use medium grain rice instead of basmati. Medium grain rice is just fine cold. 

Odds and Ends

Here is the kitchen windowsill.
The zinnia has lasted as a cut flower for a week.
Say hello to the new air plant in the middle. It just arrived from Florida and comes with the welcome anticipation of a great bloom in the near future.
Thank you Pat.
The bloom will be right in front of us when that happens.






Those are orchid roots hanging down from above. There are also cuttings from the favorite coleus and the Persian Shield. This weekend might be the last weekend to take cuttings.

The leaves in the crocus picture are from the pulmonaria plant.

We are off this week for our trip to Chincoteague.
We will try that posting from the road next Sunday.

The date countdown continues.
So today, October 20, what are some landmark dates, and how far away are they?

December 21, 2019- 62 days- the winter solstice- the days will start getting longer-

February 3, 2020- 106 days- the Iowa caucuses

March 21, 2020- 153 days- by some calculations this is the first day of Spring 160 days

November 3, 2020- 381 days- election day

Find some sunshine.
Philip