Easter Revisited

I came across this picture this morning. I fully intended to include it in my Easter post but I had put it in a different folder for some reason.  I thought it was a cute idea, which I stole and simplified (from Martha Stewart). I took some pretty cupcake wrappers, shaped them with scissors and turned them inside out. Then I took half of a plastic egg, stuffed it with peanut butter-marshmallow cookies, and hot glued it to the wrapper.  Little flowers! I also filled some with Easter candy to hide with the eggs at our Church Easter egg hunt. I thought they were bright and eye catching. Easy and cute.

Photo Friday, a Feast for the Eyes, Mouth, and Soul

If you are ever in Castroville Texas.....eat here. We were 3 1/2 hours into our drive, on our way to visit my son Lee. We left our little dog home this time so we were actually able to go inside a restaurant to eat. It is always fun to leave the main road and look around the town square when you travel. We found a gorgeous restaurant on the edge of the block.

My meal: a grilled pork chop, green beans with garlic, sweet carrots, roasted potatoes, brown gravy and a homemade roll with real butter.

 We didn't see the restaurant at first because it looked more like an antique store in a restored house. Isn't it pretty?

 Here's a clue!

 We were seated and a beautiful cat came to sit outside our window.

 The view was wonderful through the other window too.

 Each room in the house contained small, private tables. Little lap blankets were placed on each chair. We sat by this fireplace.

The entrance hallway is in the center of the house. The door leads to the kitchen.

We were hungry and a bit tired. This wonderful food, served in such an inviting atmosphere refreshed us....and nourished us in more ways than one. It was an unexpected experience in this small town, almost in the middle of nowhere.

"Waste not...."

This pretty pumpkin has lasted all through October..November..December..and had no signs of deteriorating. All through December, it even sat out on my porch. I asked my Mom what she thought I should do with it. She told me that's why people always used to grow pumpkins-because they last and store very well for winter. She said that I could eat it or put it in the compost pile in the garden to let nature take its course. I actually did a little of each.

I cut it up and scraped it out. That left the seeds, the top and the bottom to go in the garden.

I roasted the pieces with salt and olive oil. I removed the peeling and cut the flesh into chunks. Then I put one package in the fridge for later and cooked half of the pumpkin with bacon and one clove of garlic.

It tasted really good. I think I'll blend up the other package and use it for muffins.

I was proud of using this pumpkin for its real purpose.

Southern roots, Southern food traditions

Being from the South, New Year's Day celebrations include making this meal for dinner. And by dinner, I mean lunch. If I say supper, I mean dinner. Yep, that's the way it goes here in Texas. I did a little research to find out what each item represents. It seems that it all started during the Civil War:

 The green part of the meal is for money. The hope was that you would have a few "greenbacks" in your pocket during the coming year. I usually make collard greens but this year I baked cabbage with slices of bacon.

 The cornbread  represents something humble. The old saying is "Eat poor the first of the year, eat richly the rest of the year".

 The salted pork is for prosperity. Having a little meat preserved in salt left for winter was definitely a sign of prosperity.

Black eyed peas show humility and good luck. Peas and cornbread are "soul food", probably something the poor people and slaves were likely to have. This meal would be welcome by any family during those terrible times.


During the Civil War (which is when most of these traditions were started) it was lucky to have enough staples this time of year. One theory is that Northern soldiers weren't familiar with the dried peas or with the collards growing in the fields. They may not have recognized these as food sources. Therefore, the soldiers didn't confiscate these items. That meant that Southerners who had these left to eat were "lucky".

Today, for my family, it means a hearty, extremely tasty meal. Fried pork fat,  two vegetables seasoned with bacon, and a pan of hot cornbread can't be topped. Try it!

More New Zealand Apples

Yesterday, at the local grocery store in my small town, I found another really good apple from New Zealand. They are called Jazz apples and look very much like the Tentations below. They are not quite as tart, which makes me very happy. I don't really know why it is such a big deal, but I want to EAT APPLES this time of year....and I want them to be good. Now if the store would only carry actual, ripe, locally grown peaches. Even the ones at the Farmer's Market were hard as a rock! I'm fruit challenged.

Try these apples!

Good apples are hard to find this time of year. I noticed these unusual yellow and red apples from New Zealand the other day. I bought 4 to try and now I wish I had bought 24.

They are slightly tart but sweet. They have lots of flavor, which is rare for apples this late in summer. I hope you try them. If you have a variety you'd like to recommend, let me know!

Our new Saturday morning routine

Two or three Saturdays a month, we make the short trip to Bryan/College Station. We take our recycling, shop a little and eat out. The main reason we actually go is Casa Rodriguez in Bryan. We like to eat early-around 11:00, because we love ordering from the breakfast menu.

It's pretty inside.

Can you tell where our daughter goes to school? We probably embarrassed her by wearing "matching" shirts.

Mike orders his usual breakfast, huevos rancheros.    With bacon.    And beer.

Migas, potatoes, and refried beans.

Salsa and chips.

A lot of Mexican food restaurants automatically bring green and red salsa, but here you have to order the green sauce. The first time we did, we found out why. If you just dip your chip and eat-you die. It's the hottest thing I've ever tried. But, the taste! I think it is made from roasted jalapenos and tomatillos, but they won't tell me (it's a family secret). We learned to order sour cream on the side. Mix the green sauce and sour cream and it's amazing.

I usually order a pancake and a breakfast taco, but this time I ordered sopapillos and coffee. When they arrived, the four "pillows" of hot fried dough covered with powdered sugar and honey on the side, I forgot to take a picture. So I owe you one!

We have a restaurant in town that has started making their own fries. Mega fries, I would say. We brought my daughter a plate home for lunch and she found this-the longest curly fry we've ever seen. We thought it was worthy of taking a picture and sharing it....with all of you. It is good for a smile today, don't you agree?






We will also celebrate today because it is Palm Sunday, the celebration of Jesus' entry into Jerusalem.