The Stylish Gardener

Americans may be in love with tomatoes today, but history shows us that the relationship got off to a rocky start.

During Colonial Times, we wouldn’t put a tomato near our mouths, let alone try to eat one. Folklore had it that if you ate a tomato, its poison would turn your blood into acid. Instead, the colonists grew tomatoes purely for decoration.

Great history of the tomato here, it’s a lot!!

History of Tomatoes

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My brother and I just had a long conversation about…what else..Tomatoes!!

Today I celebrated the first tomato to ripen in the Sage Hill garden…this year..

That may not be exciting to some, but I’ve had a love affair with these “fruits” since I was a wee lass of 8/9 years old…my mother would save biscuits from breakfast, after school I would take one and head for the tomato patch..( we had a big tomato patch! Sitting in the sun, in the dirt, that was my after school snack!
So now you understand what this sandwich did for me today…brought back a flood of memories and helped we welcome the first day of the Summer Solstice,

It’s going to be a fabulous one!!! Lots more tomatoes to come…
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In case you would like to duplicate…

Choice of bread…I like an organic multi grain ( sourdough is good also)
(1) slice of Pepper-jack cheese ( place under broiler and slightly melt
Sliced spring onions-blades too
Thick slice the tomato
A sprinkling of fresh dill weed
Layer, a little sea salt and fresh ground black pepper

I add lettuce and sweet pickles to the side…you may layer them on the sandwich if you like.
You may also add Mayo…I use the cheese to replace the mayo.

Michael Pink…you were in my thoughts while happily consuming every bite!!

Bon Appetite ~

PS: Be aware, every part of the tomato plant except the fruit is toxic to humans and animals.

 

 

Freezer Cole Slaw???   Yep, that was my thought also…

One might think when one has been farming and cooking for a lifetime, nothing new can possible come their way…that would be me….never, have I heard of Freezer Cole Slaw.

I wish to give thanks to my friend Paulette Williams , for turning me on to and sharing her recipe…I’m totally liking this and so…I’m sharing…thanks for your interest and do give us feedback on your degree of liking…..or not!
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Freezer (Friendship) Cole Slaw…

Paulette’s recipe is for 2 pounds of cabbage (green or red or mixed)
I chose the green, but will mix it in the next batch.

Enjoy and thank Paulette for being a good food and friendship steward!
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2 lbs. cabbage, 1 large green pepper, 3 large carrots and 3/4 cup chopped onion. Shred everything and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt. Let stand 1 hour and drain.

Combine 1 teaspoon dry mustard, 1 teaspoon celery see, 1 cup vinegar, 5% acidity, 2 cups sugar and 1/2 cup water. Bring to a boil and boil 3 minutes. Cool and ladle over cabbage mixture. Let stand 5 minutes.

Stir and pack in containers or freezer bags. Pretty simple. I usually double or triple
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(BK) Let me assure you, this is very good!!  Will be amazingly delicious after it blends for a few weeks or until winter!

 

I love special little stories about family members.

This is the story of my niece, Janet Lynn Woodruff-Gresham….now the mother of two grown daughters , one of whom will be a married woman as of June 11th-2017.
But…back to our Cookie Monster….for years, we all knew not to ask what she was having for breakfast, regardless what was on the menu…yep, you guessed it…Janet had a cookie! Most of the time they were fresh from the oven…and I do recall that wonderful aroma of chocolate chip, hot and gooey and calorie laden…and our family has always been known for skinny women…..some skinnier than others!!

I have mastered some really great healthy cookie challenges…this is one…
It is not Janet’s Chocolate Chip Cookie, however it is delicious and so very healthy…for a cookie!

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Black Beauties…

Eggs… fresh, straight from the hen-house is my preference…

If that isn’t an option for you…please consider organic…the negatives in grain today makes for unhappy chickens and the result are inferior eggs. If you’ve ever compared the two…then you know…the nutritional difference is deep and wide!
Spring/early summer is also the most productive time for healthy/happy chickens…so, it makes perfect sense that eggs are a staple in the spring/early summer In Season options.
A plethora of ideas from the egg, one can cook for weeks and never repeat a recipe.

I have been making Egg bread all my life…I just recently saw a demonstration of the same recipe called Cloud bread…..

Regardless what we call it, I think we can all agree it is simple, healthy, and oh so very tasty!

If you have a garden, gather whatever is growing, tomatoes, asparagus, peppers, parsley, spring onions and a few sprigs of your favorite flavor herb…basil, oregano, or thyme are my favorites.

Slice, dice, chop…whatever the item calls for…place in small bowl and drizzle no more than a teaspoon of grape-seed oil or real butter.

Sprinkle with a small amount of cayenne pepper or your favorite blend…I use the Sage Hill Cajun blend for almost everything!!
www.sagehillgardens.com

Heat a flat griddle pan, lightly cook all the ingredients you have chosen….break 2 to 4 eggs into the mix, flip a few times until desired doneness is achieved…
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For my Egg bread…separate 3 eggs, beat the whites until fluffy, add 1/4 teaspoon- cream of tarter and whip into the whites, add the beaten yolk to the whites and fold in until blended…add a dash of sea salt and drop by scoops onto the hot griddle pan and cook until light browning begins…flipping once or twice. ( or bake in oven on parchment paper at 300 degrees until lightly brown.) You can also add 3 Tbsp of cream cheese if you want a little smoother texture.

Add your favorite beverage and small amount of honey blended into some real butter for the bread….

Breakfast, brunch or dinner….in style!

Understand I’m not complaining…actually very grateful to see the movement taking on more steam…However…I was doing the Farm To Table extravaganzas before they were so….”the thing.” 

I hope you will enjoy this new addition to The Stylish Gardener blog….check in often, new photo’s, tips, table-scapes,recipes, garden lore…basically all things “food” will be shared at least twice a week…the new addition will post on Facebook only as a link to the blog…

If you enjoy my website/blogs…please bookmark them and visit often…you’ll find a plethora of information on many topics, history, alternative options for better health, gardening tips, and recipes!!
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We really don’t have to give up tasty food to eat healthy….

Fresh, whole and safe foods are as gourmet as it comes…

Welcome to the Table at Sage Hill~

www.sagehillgardens.com

Life today is and must be a mix of modern convenience and old
fashioned simplicity…for me!
My goal is to live stylishly in the midst of all this….
A simple life, with simple style, simple pleasures, simple comfort.

Because I’m a seasoned ‘Southern Woman,’ we know it’s OK to wear roses in our hair when we garden!!
To have dirt on our feet at the end of the day…and a smile on our face
to know we did it our way~

Will you find happy hour devoted to ‘pie!

Well, in Hutto,Texas that is a fact….

Here at Sage Hill ‘Happy Hour” is devoted to Bliss!

Today’s lifestyle, regardless what that might be…is stressful…outside forces creep in regardless how isolated we try to be.
Whatever your cutoff time happens to be…really cut-off, unplug, dial down, check out…except for those things that bring you peace, calm, contentment… or…those things that feed your passion, ignite your thoughts and sparks your energy.
Bliss is not defined by perfect solutions….rather by solutions that leave us feeling accomplished, pleased, satisfied, and connected…either to self, another, or our creator….bliss unleashed is all three of those.

Sinking your head into a soft pillow at the crack of dawn…hoping they will all go away….the males of the bird kingdom who gather around the windows and sing those good morning tunes.
This refrain may start at different times depending on light, but the species enter the chorus in the same order every morning.

A birds voice box is a double-membraned organ called a syrinx. He can alternate exhaling between the two lungs and harmonize with himself.

Now that is an impressive feat bound to attract attention from the opposite sex, and that my friend is the main purpose and goal of all those wake-up bird songs so early in the morning…

International Dawn Chorus Day is the first Sunday in May….

Tune in….

Rituals Of The Common Kind~

Come spring, we feel the urge to brighten every corner, as to prepare for a favorite guest. Roll up our sleeve, polish and dust…just as generations have done before us….our personal “welcome back” to the sun, the song of the birds, ring of the chimes…..

And this is the sun’s birthday; this is the birth day of life and love and wings…”  … C.C.Cummings

“The Passionate Observer” written by the 19th-century entomologist Jean-Henri Fabre. His lyrical writings on insects is filled with delightful words and tender watercolors….It was republished at some point by Chronicle Books…if you can find it, it’s a must have.

“The Italian cricket, he notes, “makes music everywhere among the rosemary-bushes, while the Glow-worms light up their blue lamps to complete the revels.”