The Yearling Begins Again

I always taught The Yearling in April because all of the vegetation MKR mentions is just outside the classroom window. Now, many years past my time as a teacher, I am reminded of tar bush, fetter bush and loblolly bay. Outside the B&B window is a huge magnolia spreading it shiny leaves over a Cherokee Rose bush. The rose is beautiful but deadly with its massive thorns. Sometimes I get Jody's " sharp pleasure" just from looking at the wild forest in my yard.

Lemon Delight

MKR's recipe for Greek Lemon Soup ( page 10 of CCC)requires a lemon. I wonder if she ever grew Ponderosas. This one came from the kitchen garden and actually has only about the juice of one lemon because its rind is so immense.

Sweet Potato Biscuits

Leftover sweet potatoes mixed into regular drop biscuit batter served with Black Forest Ham. The potatoes had some orange juice in them which gave the batter a slightly citrus flavor.Yum.

Valentine's Day

Wonder what Marjorie cooked for Charles on Valentine's Day before he left? Probably some wonderful Dora cream dessert or the yummy Baba au Rhum on page 172 of CCC.

Blueberries

I always imagine MKR walking in her garden at dawn. I don't know if she grew blueberries, but I suspect she did given that they grow well in the acid Fla. soil. Ranger Kate Morrison's Blueberry Pecan Cobbler(pg 26 Cross Creek Kitchens)is a huge favorite of mine because it provides the wonder of blueberries and pecans without the twelve tons of sugar most pecan pies require. Kate gives the choice of a yogurt or whipped cream topping. We know which one MKR would have chosen.Don't we?

Oranges, Sour and Sweet

My citrus tree are bearing. The limequats have lots of fruit. The kumquats won't be outdone.The amber sweets served sushi cut style are beautiful and tasty. Northerners gasp after the first bite. So this is a real orange, they say.Reading Kate Morrison's accounts of the revival of the Cross Creek Groves brings tears to my eyes. I,too, have a sour orange tree after one of mine froze back to the graft. I am about to make the sour orange pie Kate talks about in her Cross Creek Kitchens.

Rabbits' Eye Blueberry Toast

Yum. This morning was a big hit. I used some of the berries I had frozen from the bushes out front, tore up yesterday's fine pecan bread, made a layer of blueberries, cream cheese on the pecan bread, sprinkled some pecan halves and covered the entire mix with a standard French toast egg mixture. Put it in the fridge overnight. Popped it in the 350 oven for an hour. It was so completely wonderful. The aroma had the guests dancing down to breakfast.I can't wait for the blueberry bushes to bear fruit this year. Technically, only two of them are true rabbit's eye. The others are Bonnie Blue. Marjorie could have had some bushes just like mine.