September 12, 2021

It was a short week, beginning as it did with 3 day weekend. Then on Tuesday it was my birthday. That, with the cooler weather, was just about perfect.

Maggie got me this metal flower, which I was able to install right in front of the wonderful coleus.

It was cool for most of the week, actually requiring us get our jackets early in the morning. As if to remind us about the fickleness of September, it got rather hot yesterday. It was the kind of hot that made you want to stay inside after about noon.

The cool weather did last long enough to act as a trigger for certain plants.

All of a sudden the cactus plants have got many buds- well perhaps 6-8. 

The bougainvillea has put out the first flowers.

The lantana will do well until frost.

Several of my mother's hoyas are blooming.

That flower is  slightly different  from the one on the rope hoya which has been blooming most of the summer.

I am still waiting for the one to bloom that is suppose to have a black flower.

The first of the toad lilies have started to bloom. They will bloom well into October.

The third variety of Japanese anemone is blooming.

The seed head is now all red.

Continuing the seed theme

I did discover that the tree peony seeds were ready.

I harvested them and will try to see that they are planted right away.

Julia's recipe

Shrimp and grits

First of all, grits and polenta are the same thing - coarsely ground corn (white or yellow). I did not grown up with either one. Not Italian and not southern, unless we are talking about the Balkans and we aren't. Nonetheless, in the interests of Personal Growth, I have become interested in grits/polenta. It's kind of like cream of wheat or cream of rice, only corn. It becomes thick and creamy when cooked in water or milk (or probably any liquid including broths). I watched an episode of Simply Ming on one of the PBS channels, and he hosted Carla Hall, and she made shrimp and grits so I did too. 

The dish is fast and easy to make, not very spicy. Sort of comfort food from the Gulf Coast or so I imagine. 

The ingredients:

1 cup grits/polenta (white or yellow);

4 cups of water;

1 bay leaf;

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme;

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes;

1/2 teaspoon cajun spice (if you have it - not essential);

1 lb. thawed shrimp (mine were peeled, deveined and precooked - I'll explain);

3/4 cup chopped onion;

3/4 cup chopped green pepper (or any color - green is pretty in this dish);

                                                                                                        1 cup chopped tomato;

                                                                                                        1 teaspoon smushed garlic;

                                                                                                        2-3 tablespoons olive oil; and

                                                                                                        about 1 teaspoon of salt. 

I started with the grits. I put 4 cups of water with 1/2 teaspoon of salt on to boil in a saucier - good for stirring - no corners. 

When the water came to a boil, I whisked in the corn and dried thyme and dropped in the bay leaf. 

The grits needed to cook for about 25 minutes. Carla Hall cooked hers for 40-45 minutes. Of course, I am not of the people, but I did not think it took that long. When they came to a boil, I turned down the heat and continued to stir (having switched to a wooden spoon) from time to time.

While the grits were cooking, I prepped all the vegetables. 

The shrimp had come out of the freezer (into the refrigerator, still in their packaging, on a plate) to defrost. I put the shrimp on a paper-towel-lined plate. They were wet. I blotted them. Used up 3 or 4 paper towels. 

Here are the grits after only about 15 minutes: they thicken up fast.

Next I took the tails off the shrimp and patted them drier. 

I don't like to peel or devein shrimp. When the children lived at home, sometimes I could persuade them to do this, but alas, they grew up and left home. Philip is strictly a salad (and occasional dessert or vegetable) guy.

So I buy IQF (individual quick frozen - I think) shrimp in the 16-20 shrimp per pound range. 

If you don't mind peeling and deveining and de-tailing shrimp, go for it. 

I put 2 tablespoons of olive oil in the non-stick skillet over high heat and finagled all of the shrimp into the skillet.

Shrimp finagling. 

All the shrimp in the pan. I only cooked them for about 1 minute per side, flipping them over with a spoon. 

If you are using raw shrimp, peel and devein and de-tail and pat dry. Then cook until they turn from gray (or white) to pink. Then flip over and cook on the other side. This will take only about 5-6 minutes total. 

I took the shrimp out of the skillet (they can barely be seen in a bowl in this picture). I added the onion and peppers to the slightly shrimpy skillet and cooked them for about 5 minutes on medium-high heat.

After a couple of minutes, I added the garlic. I think I cooked for another 7-8 minutes or so. 

Next I added the red pepper flakes and cajun spice and about 1/2 teaspoon of additional salt. 

Next the tomatoes. More stirring and a little more olive oil. 

Lastly the shrimp and their bit of accumulated juices just to heat through. 

I removed the bay leaf from the grits. Bay leaves are not good eats.

I dished it up in the kitchen: a big dollop of grits topped with a smaller dollop and a half of shrimp and vegetables. 

If I had had any parsley on hand, I could have garnished. But I didn't. 

 

On the table. We served it with corn salad (a regular mid-week side during corn season) and tomato/cucumber/red onion/feta/ kalamata olive salad, also a summer regular, and raspberries with yogurt. All good. 

If you want spicier shrimp, add more red pepper flakes or more cajun spice. If you want jazzed-up grits, stir in a cup of cheddar cheese or other sharp cheese just before dishing them up. 

Leftovers are fine, warm or cold. 

Odds and Ends

It is time to play that game of identifying 

You know it is fall when....

Here are a few entries from our house:

The City send out the leaf sucking schedule.

You fall asleep at 8:30 since it has been dark for an hour.

You need a jacket one day and the air conditioner the next.

Off in Maine, Katie had her coaching debut yesterday. Christopher joined some other 4 year olds in a some sort of organized soccer group. Katie, as coach,  got some cones, and a whistle and a few other things. We are hoping for many pictures.

The back driveway plant sale continues. Mostly I like meeting people and talking plants. One nice young person actually this past week bought a little oak tree I had potted  at the beginning of the year. It cost $1.

I saw this story about a remarkable plant, which was an orchid,  found growing wild in NE Iowa.

https://vnps.org/wildflower-of-the-year-goodyera-pubescens-downy-rattlesnake-plantain/?fbclid=IwAR0M6h-3ykm56IsVZR4vDAH3ledxk-Q-CZWtXjRlsqVZXujoHxyAL7QaBP8

Stay safe. Find some kind thing to do every day.

And pull a few weeds.

Philip