November 17, 2024- fall moves right along

 

It has stayed above freezing. Someone said that we, in Iowa, were now in a warmer gardening zone. I suppose I should investigate those plants I could not grow a few years ago that were in zone 6.

Some perennials on the back driveway are sending up new growth. They had looked dead in September.

This is sneezeweed. It is a sunny perennial which means it should go to some other garden. I will winter it over and sell it in the spring.

There is lots of new growth on the iris. I sometimes wonder if I should worry about that growth.

We actually saw some reblooming iris up the street,...blooming.

With warm falls I suppose reblooming iris should become a regular member of the fall plant show.

There is not much green left in the garden. The pulonaria are very happy.

There are little lupine everywhere. They are something to anticipate in the spring.

The kale gets better. I read  somewhere that the color gets better when the plant freezes.

Julia's recipe

Corn Cakes

Earlier this summer, I posted a recipe corn bread that included corn kernels. In response, I got an email from our old friend David who said he liked corn cakes. New to me. I looked for a recipe; found one and ran into my first problem - the recipe called for corn flour. Not grits, not corn meal, not masa, not cornstarch. Corn flour. I could not find it in local stores, but I did find it online. It was Bob's Red Mill brand, which I am familiar with, and we bought it online from an outfit called iHerb. I used the corn flour to make a batch of corn cakes from a recipe from the internet. Not so good. Then I noticed that the Bob's Red Mill people had their own recipe for corn cakes, printed on the back of the bag. Bingo. Here's their recipe.

The ingredients:

1-1/2 cups corn flour;

1 tablespoon white sugar;

2 teaspoons baking powder;

1 tablespoon chili powder;

1 teaspoon salt (I used kosher);

1/4 teaspoon baking soda;

1 cup buttermilk (I used 1/2 cup yogurt and 1/2 cup regular milk);

2 eggs;

6 tablespoons melted butter;

2 cups thawed and patted dry OR fresh corn kernels;

1/4 cup diced onion;

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (or 2 tablespoons finely chopped jalapeno);

1/4 cup vegetable oil; and

plain yogurt or sour cream to serve.

When I was gathering the ingredients, I forgot the chili powder. It's not a pronounced flavor, but use it. I did; I just forgot to get it into the picture.  Use a little more red pepper flake if you like spicy. Or leave it out altogether if you don't. I had corn that we had frozen this summer. I thawed it and then put it in a paper-towel lined sieve over a bowl. I didn't want watery corn. Not a problem as it turned out, but I do recommend patting the corn to remove excess moisture. 

I put all the dry ingredients (corn flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, chili powder, and salt into a bowl. 

Then I melted the butter - I wanted it a bit cool when I mixed it with the eggs.

I put the wet ingredients (except the corn, onion and red pepper flakes) in a bigger bowl - that's the yogurt/milk mixture, eggs, and melted butter. I whisked them up.

Then I chopped up the onion. 

The butter cooling. 

After the butter cooled, and the wet ingredients were whisked, I added the dry ingredients and whisked them in. 

The little bowl is the corn, onion and red pepper flakes. 

Whisking.

Then I added the contents of the corn bowl to the batter. 

I stirred the corn into the batter with a spatula. No more whisking. 

I heated 1/4 cup oil in a big skillet over medium-high heat.  

When the oil began to shimmer, it was time to cook.

I used a 1/3 cup measuring cup as a scoop, and I got three little cakes at a time. 

It's always a bit challenging to fry cakes. Corn cakes or for that matter pancakes. 

I ended up jiggling the temperature up and down. 

I put all the corn cakes into a paper-towel line plate to absorb any surface oil. 

The recipe made 9 or 10 corn cakes. Maybe 11. 

We served the cakes warm, as a side to a tomato-based fish soup.

We ate our soup first, and then had our corn cakes with salad. 

The corn cakes are eaten (at least when warm) with a fork. And topped with plain yogurt or sour cream. 

Corn cakes are a nice change from biscuits or corn bread, more savory than either one. 

We did not them all. The leftovers can be eaten out of hand cold or reheated in a skillet. 

Odds and ends

Julia's off to Maine today for a week. It is to be 60 degrees for several days here in Iowa this coming week. 

Last week was a very busy week at work. I need to spend more time in the garden.  Maybe I will plant some lettuce. Not outside.

Look at this lettuce from the farmer's market yesterday,

I do not know if any of you know Nadia Bolz-Weber. She is a Lutheran minister in the Denver area who helps up through difficult times. Here was sonething she wrote last week. It is sort of a variant on the Micah quote.

"Dear God, There’s so much to fear right now that I’m sort of losing track of what to worry about most. So I’m gonna need some help focusing.

Show me what is MINE to do. Then grant me the strength to do it, and the humility to rest knowing it is enough.Help me remember that even if there is more to worry about in life right now, it does not mean that there is less to love in life right now.  

So protect every inch of our joy, Lord.

And if you could help me stop reading shit on the internet, that might really help too. Amen."

Be safe.

Refuel.

Resist.

Garden

Philip