sketches of my day May 2008 - Nov 2010

June 21, 2009

Summer and Caterpillars

 

 

It is a bit late, but I have it in my head to get an entry in on this first day of summer. I was in my little herb patch this morning to gather herbs for bruschetta and I noticed my parsley was about stripped to the “bone”. When I looked a little closer I saw this:

 

They are so beautiful and perfect, these creatures that will become swallowtail butterflies,  they do not seem real. My daughter and I snipped the stems they were hanging out on and brought them to the woods to finish their lives far away from my curly leaf parsley.

 I also spent this first day of summer putting up chow chow. This was my grandmother’s recipe, one she brought with her from the Texas plains to the bayous of Louisiana. I remember my grandpa having a tiny little garden every summer – just enough- and early in summer, about now, he would “sacrifice” some of his tomatoes and pick them green so my grandmother could make this chow chow. It was a big event in their lives, not something they did while they were doing something else. It was important, as our food should be. They chopped everything by hand; food processors had not been invented yet. What I especially like about this recipe, other than it makes me think of my grandparents, is the turmeric in it. I double the amount because I believe it is a super spice and it is not used very much. Hope you make this.

Chow Chow – Mae Farris’ recipe – 5 pints

1 small cabbage                                          2 cups chopped onion

2 cups chopped green tomato                 2 cups chopped bell pepper (about 4)

3 T salt

Chop and let stand 4 – 6 hours in a cool place.

Drain well.

Combine: 2 ½ cups vinegar, 1 ½ cups sugar, 2 tsp. dry mustard, 1 tsp. turmeric, ½ tsp. ground ginger, 2 tsp. celery seed, 1 tsp.mustard seed,

Simmer for 10 minutes. Add vegetables and simmer 10 minutes. Pack and process about 15 minutes.