Play in the Yard Weekend, May 2015

Last Saturday morning dawned clear and cool; the perfect beginning to our official "play in the yard weekend".  I stepped out the house with my cup of coffee and a big pan of marinated chicken hindquarters that had been parked in the fridge overnight, marinating.

I filled the charcoal chimney with charcoal then tore strips off the bag to light it with.  My  tip for this post is that the thick bag that the charcoal comes in is great starter to put under the chimney. 

  You will note that our beloved water pitcher BBQ mascot, "Pourky the Pig" was forced into retirement when his belly rusted out and he could no longer hold his water. He has been retired from the 'playing field' and has become 'the coaching staff', residing on the far end of our BBQ table, where he's turned facing da pit so he can watch the whole proceedings. So sad; gone, but not....gone.
  Our new mascot was given to us by a friend of ours, Susan, from Texas.  This Robin water pitcher, that we call "Smokey Robin-son" brings an accurate stream of water from his beak when the fire in the pit gets too hot. It's not the wide spray that Pourky's snout used to contribute.  This makes for more accurate flame dousing. (Those of you who know us will 'get' the name.)
  While the charcoal was getting lit, I wandered out to Peggy's new shade garden.  So new it aint very shady yet, but a fun work in progress.  I noticed the crowd had already gathered under the yum-yum tree.

 

 

Often folks will ask us, "With all the cool li'l critters yall have, why haven't yall got any Gnomes??"  The answer is easy.  The gators or watch frogs eat em.

While wandering around, I noticed the charcoal was lit, so I poured them in our ol' pit over on the side where the air intake is.

I added a few more coals from the bag, and while they 'took', I continued walking around this new shade garden bed.  One pleasant surprise was the butternut squash vines that sprung up unexpectedly and almost took over her whole new garden.  I guess the seeds were hiding in our compost pile when I transferred a couple wheelbarrow loads of the dark rich compost soil over to the shade garden.  We noticed them growing and decided if they wanted to volunteer, we would let them; what the heck.  We love butternut squash, and though we have never formally planted any, we have harvested several "volunteers" over the years.  They are very easy to grow, that's for sure; they just spring up and dang near take over. Last year, two of these surprise volunteers crawled up and over the top of our grape arbor and presented us with a couple of very fine suppers.

 

 

The new "squashy and not too shady yet shade garden" just kinda fits right in to the jungle that is our backyard play area and we can't wait to see what new surprises and treats it has in store for us. (A few times it brought us cats and kittens.)

In this picture you can see our new hummingbird feeder.  This year we went with the cheap dollar store version and decided to make our own sugar water mixture for it.  We use 1 part sugar and 4 parts warm water from the tap.  Shake it up to mix it and once it has cooled a bit hang it up.  The hummers seem to like it. In years past we invested a lot of money for fancy feeders and expensive food, but for some reason they were total failures, not letting the birds get the nectar. Who knew cheaper would be better?

 

 

 

By this time I wandered back to the patio, the charcoal was all lit, so I parked the chicken on the grill.

Al E.Gator and Smokey Robinson stood guard over da pit, 

protecting it from several pets who might be watching for accidental snacking opportunities:

 

 

Beaux da Brat seemed more interested in the goings on by the fire pit.

As you can see, looking back at our house, over by the BBQ pit the gardenia is in full bloom with the jasmine vining above it adding its scent. The combination of all these scents, the bbq pit, the firepit, the florals made for a wonderful chubby Cajun aroma therapy.

 

 

 

You can also see in this smelly corner a canna lilly being the first of its kind to bloom.  After about an hour of reflection and relaxation, I stopped, went and mopped and flopped and mopped the chicken again. Not too daunting a task.

This is not BBQ sauce; it is a basting sauce made from the marinade the chicken spent the night with in the fridge, then we added a stick of butter and a cup of wine in this little pot.  We always bring this to a simmer because the raw chicken had been sitting in this marinade for quite some time before we put it on the stove. This basting sauce ensures good juicy pieces of chicken. 

 So, while the chicken in da pit continued roasting, I wandered around some more and spotted a lady bug eating aphids that were munching away on one of our volunteer squash leaves.  "Good girl!  I wish ya had brought a couple hundred sisters with ya." Not fond of aphids. (Peg said I did not "spot" the lady bug...never mind)

 I also noticed that our lacy flowery ligustrum shrub was buzzing with bees.  Honey bees,

as well as some big bumble bees!

The yard was  also full of dragonflies by the hundreds!  Us Cajuns call them mosquito hawks.  When Peggy first moved down here she was, and still is fascinated by them, loves them and enjoys watching them up close.  I used to grin when she forgot that we called them "skeeter hawks", but she excitedly referred to them as mosquito jets.  I picked at her about it, but now we both call them ' mosquito jets' as an inside joke.

 I got a picture of this one sitting on the antenna of my Jeep.

The lemon tree is full of baby lemons.

Below, except for very fragrant flowers, you can see a history of this years crop of our grapefruit. A new batch of baby fruit is coming along,  there's the heavy cluster of mature fruit, which is at it's sweetest and juiciest right now. Below under the tree are the fallen and decomposing, which are adding nutrients back into the soil under the tree.  We have learned that if you pick the outer hanging fruit first, the ones in the shady cool central area of the tree will stay good, on into Summer.  This is a wonderful tip for you citrus growers.  The oranges were devoured in the Fall, but the grapefruits, taking longer to ripen, hang in there longer...literally.

After two hours, the chicken got mopped and flopped and mopped again. I took up several of the smaller pieces that were done, and that made room for some of our Cajun-style burgers.

While they all introduced themselves in da pit, I sat and enjoyed the view across our yard. The round 'fella' there is the fig tree, which has a lot of little green figs. Made my mouth water while I was sitting there making plans for the dark sweet ripened crop that should be coming along soon.

Our garden boxes in the late afternoon sun. 

As the shadows lengthened and the evening wore on, it sure was nice looking out at our li'l piece of paradise.

The chicken was amazing and the burgers passed the Cappy taste test with flying juices.....er colors.

As the sun set, Peggy and I sat hand in hand by the dying fire giving thanks to the Lord for the amazing 'play in the yard' day we had.

It was truly a prayer come true, this wonderful relaxing 'stay vacation' play day. We had enjoyed the day to the fullest, then sat and listened to the fire crackle as the sun went down and the first stars showed up, followed by a huge orange full moon peeking over the grape arbor between the large banana palms. We were enveloped in the hush of the darkness, and as the morning had dawned bright and cool, so began the glorious moon-bathed evening.

Our First Pickin' of Green Beans 2015

Every year we plant our Contender bush beans in our little square foot garden. Here is our first picking of this year's crop.

Here is a short two minute video of how to make them delicious: Cajun Smothered Green Beans.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FE-OnaQU3w

 

Give this a try; you will NOT be disappointed.

Cajun-Style Gluten-Free DELICIOUS Southern Fried Chicken

There I stood in the kitchen staring at a bowl of highly seasoned chicken legs and thighs wondering what I was gonna do with them.  As I looked around for inspiration I spied in the cabinet a box of "Zatarain's Wonderful Fish-Fri".  Since it was sitting next to a jug of vegetable oil, I dragged them both out of the cabinet, a plan already in mind.  Every once in awhile I like treating my beloved "Celiac" to some good ol' traditional Cajun southern fried  chicken.  Lucky for Peggy, us Cajuns have been frying stuff in cornflour and cornmeal forever.  The fine folks at Zatarain's have been making a naturally gluten free fish fry for like 150 years or so.  Many country folks use it to fry everything.
  As the oil heated in one of our black iron pots, I beat up 3 eggs in a bowl with a splash of milk and a squirt of yellow mustard.  The chicken got drenched in this egg wash, then dropped into a bag of the Zatarain's mixed with some of our own Cajun spice, to coat it.  As the oil began to heat, I threw in a raw onion ring. Some folks use a potato wedge. We do that to judge how hot the oil is, so we know when it's ready to put the chicken in. When the onion is frying nicely, the grease it hot enough.
   I fried a couple of batches of chicken, keeping them at a steady fry. 

I fry the chicken for about 10 minutes then flip for another 10 minutes; depends on whether it's a thicker piece, like a breast piece or a drumstick.  All ya gotta do is watch the chicken fryin'; if it fries slower than what is shown here, turn the fire up.  If it fries much faster or begins to smoke, turn the fire down or even off 'til it slows down a little.  As long as it is bubbling kinda hard, but not burning, it will not be greasy.  If it just sits there slowly warming, it will be greasy, that's why I use the onion to tell when the oil is at a good frying temp.  Thicker things like chicken breast and some thick fish fillets need to fry longer, to make sure it's cooked in the center.  A thicker piece therefore, needs to fry at a lower temperature so the outside doesn't burn before the inside is fully cooked.

One thing I need to emphasize...do NOT pack the pan with too many pieces at a time because if you do, it will lower the temperature of the oil, and the chicken won't cook as quickly, and when it does finally, it will be soggy with oil and not be crispy...which is what ya want. 

 Thin things like shellfish or thin cut fish can fry at much hotter temp. for only a few minutes, but that's another post.  I do not use a thermometer when frying chicken, but I can tell you that it was fried at 325 to 350 F  (the onion told me so)  If it had dropped below 300 for a few minutes, the chicken would have been greasy,  and it wasn't, so it didn't.  300F is the magic number at which steam escapes from the meat fast enough to keep the oil out. 

When the chicken was done we took it out and parked it in a warm 200 degree oven for a few minutes.

We always put fried food on brown paper bags.  Do not use paper towels, as they trap moisture and take the crunch out of what you just took the trouble to fry to a crispy, crunchy goodness.

Peggy took the leftover egg wash, dumped in the unused spicy cornflour, added a pinch of baking powder and a splash more milk and made a batter in which we dipped onion rings that our friend Sam had given us from his garden. (The onions, not the rings...but you already knew that) That's where my "test onion" came from.  They fried up in a short few minutes and were wonderful! We like them best when they retain a lil crunch, and with our Cajun spices, oh Mommy!

 The finished product, coupled with some 'smothered' yellow squash from last year's garden and a few fresh things from the yard this year, it was a feast indeed.

Whether you are gluten free or not, you really should try frying chicken in "Zatarain's Wonderful Fish-Fri"; it truly is wonderful.  This is one thing the whole family can enjoy and will ask for again.

What we like about doing it ourselves, is that it's not briny salty and overly MSG'd like ya get at fast food chicken places. This way you can make it as salty as ya like.

Peggy loves the experience of sitting down to a big meal with friends and being able to eat anything with no worries about getting 'glutened' and sick, and have everyone else not even know that what they are eating is a "special" gluten free meal.  At the risk of bragging, my fried chicken is often requested and very popular with my friends I don't even tell them it's gluten free; I just tell 'em its fried in Zatairan's Wonderful Fish-Fri.

  Now, if all this wasn't good enough, after it was already all on the plate and the production shut down, my now spoiled 'Celiac' had the audacity to ask , "Where's the fried pickles?"

 

Easter Sunday 2015

  Easter dawned sunny and warm and just wonderful in our little camper sitting in our driveway.  When our older snowbirds from western NY visit us, we let them have our room and we take it as an opportunity for Peg and me to "camp out".  (We sleep so well in our camper, that sometimes we just up and go take an afternoon nap in it.)
   Peggy and I crept into the house to start making coffee and preparing for our day with our friends, "Mr. Ed", "Miss Jean", and Sam and Louise, who were coming for dinner. 
  We took time to enjoy breakfast visiting with our "Yankee" friends, knowing that they were heading back home to the Rochester, New York area the next morning. On their circuitous route from their winter place in Florida, to their regular home, they stopped by to spend Easter weekend with us.  As we paraded around in the house in our jammies, sipping coffee out on the patio, the kitties were doing their morning stretching exercises on Peg's ab lounger.  

I agree with the kitties; that thing is great for "lounging".

After breakfast, Miss Jean and Peggy got busy in the kitchen and our good friends from here in town, Sam and Louise came by. Below is Miss Jean working on her asparagus.

Louise and the girls worked on the dinner and got everything ready. Miss Jean, below, working her magic, making everything look beautiful.

 Us guys sat out by the firepit and visited, whilst unbeknown to us, at the time, BeauxBear was enjoying the kitty bowls. We've been feeding the kittens and their Mom on the little table, to help keep the birds from consuming the baby grapes. And so far, it's working. Apparently keeping the dawgs from consuming the kitty's food is not working.

Once it was all ready, us fellas wandered into the kitchen and loaded up some Fine Chinets for the fest.

The gals had really done a bangup job creating the wonderful meal.  Miss Jean used her catering skills to pretty everything up nice and "Easterly looking".

I made my Cajun "angel eggs" (Peg calls 'em). Mr. Ed and Miss Jean brought a couple of hams, one for most of us, and a small gluten-free one for Peggy. For these hams, she made two sauces. A cherry sauce and a pineapple sauce. They both were great slathered over slices of the ham. She also did amazing oven roasted asparagus, a fruit salad, sliced cuke salad. Peg made "her grandmother and mom's" creamy scalloped potatoes. Sam and Louise brought the most delicious smoked chicken with his own Cajun spices, which was then finished in the oven with apple juice. Peg about made herself sick on this chicken; she couldn't get enough of it. Everything was wonderful.

It sure made for a beautiful plate. Somehow the tiramisu that Peg made for dessert didn't make the photo op. (Neither did Peg, because she was behind the camera) She made a healthy key lime pie with Sam and me in mind because it was sweetened with raw dates and a little raw honey. The crust was a pecan date sweetened concoction. She only put a little Cool Whip to top it.  I have to say that for being healthy, it was pretty darned good. It's gone.

Everyone had a wonderful time laughing, eating and enjoying the very good company.

 Even the boys, MarkyBear and BeauxBear, got a good meal outa da deal. This Resurrection Day celebration made for one very happy Cappy and friends. God Bless, and we hope yours was as wonderful, as well.