Easter Sunday 2012

 My largest tomatoes yet.. on my miniature porch plant!

 Pookie the Maltapoo...I know he is looking forward to going home this evening!

Wow..What a start to the Summer of 2012! I was looking over some of my previous photographs of my small, but full of life and beauty garden.  It amazes me how everything grows! What were small tomato plants are now nearly 3 feet tall and taking over my small space.  This year we decided to do something different. We tilled up an area the length of my backyard fence.  We planted corn, mustard greens and cantaloupe from seeds.  I have watched as these seeds have turned into beautiful plants. It is amazing at what becomes of one little seed! My corn is now about a foot or so tall! 

Other happenings at  The McClain Family Zoo have included dog sitting for my mother while she and my son, Cole traveled to Hilton Head Island for the long weekend.   My son has never been this far away from me or for so long without me.  Apparently, I am the only one having issues with this, he has had a blast from what I hear!

 Stephen and I went to Buckhorn Lake on Sunday with my cousin Valerie and her husband Paul.  It was a very hot and enjoyable day! We basically had a cookout on the boat and lounged on floats in the lake.. Thinking back, I do believe this was the earliest I have ever been swimming in the lake.  I like the water temperature to be at least 85 degrees.. however, it was warmer than I anticipated!

Now, the excitement of my extra long weekend has come to an end and it is back to work tomorrow. If only I could stay and make money.. what a great thought! d!

Memorial Day Weekend 2012

Wow..What a start to the Summer of 2012! I was looking over some of my previous photographs of my small, but full of life and beauty garden.  It amazes me how everything grows! What were small tomato plants are now nearly 3 feet tall and taking over my small space.  This year we decided to do something different. We tilled up an area the length of my backyard fence.  We planted corn, mustard greens and cantaloupe from seeds.  I have watched as these seeds have turned into beautiful plants. It is amazing at what becomes of one little seed! My corn is now about a foot or so tall! 

Other happenings at  The McClain Family Zoo have included dog sitting for my mother while she and my son, Cole traveled to Hilton Head Island for the long weekend.   My son has never been this far away from me or for so long without me.  Apparently, I am the only one having issues with this, he has had a blast from what I hear!

 Stephen and I went to Buckhorn Lake on Sunday with my cousin Valerie and her husband Paul.  It was a very hot and enjoyable day! We basically had a cookout on the boat and lounged on floats in the lake.. Thinking back, I do believe this was the earliest I have ever been swimming in the lake.  I like the water temperature to be at least 85 degrees.. however, it was warmer than I anticipated!

Now, the excitement of my extra long weekend has come to an end and it is back to work tomorrow. If only I could stay and make money.. what a great thought! d!

The beginning of my 2012 gardening adventure!

 My porch tomato plant.. It is growing beautifully.  It already has several small tomatoes on it!

 These are my bell pepper plants.  They did suffer a little chill last week and the bugs are horrible.  I have already had to dust them.. I hate doing that.

 Beautiful Basil.. I love basil.. did I mention!

 These little guys will be awesome in a week or so.. It is so amazing how a seed grows into something so pretty and yummy!

 Yeah... finally time to plant my tomatoes.. I am so excited.. I even bought 12 more plants today!  I plan on canning many jars this year.. I am going to dice them and add some jalapenos!  Perfect for my famous salsa!

 Well, here it is my 8 by 8 bountiful garden.  Stephen built this for me two years ago.. Did I mention I have the greatest boyfriend a girl could ask for?!  He is incredible.. If I could only give back to him what he gives to us, life would be perfect.  Well, our lives are perfect.. but you know what I mean!

In the far corner I have a mound of garlic. I have never grown garlic.. A lady I work with brought me this huge bundle of garlic.. so I just stuck it in the ground!

 At this point in time, my greatest achievement around the garden.. My strawberries. The couple I have tasted have been so sweet and juicy.. Unfortunately.. due to our warm winter, the pests are in full motion.. I have been researching and talking with some elders regarding old time ways to keep the bugs away.. I have heard some dandy ideas, including laying a dead fish around the plants, putting ripe to rotten bananas in the dirt!  I suppose having "hillbilly" ties has advantages... Our people know how to garden, grow and can just about anything!

Since these photos were taken, we have tilled more ground and planted mustard greens, cantaloupe, and many more tomatoes... I also have potatoes and green onions peaking up through the ground!  Well till a few weeks of growing.... This is the last of the garden themes til then..Can't wait to post red ripe tomatoes...

Frosty morning in the mountains!

I knew Mother Nature wasn't finished with her wintry coverings yet!  I have had to cover my herbs and bring some into the house for the last two nights.  Stephen had a huge piece of plastic that we covered the garden with. I will be glad when these cold mornings go bye-bye! My herbs were growing beautifully, strawberries blooming, now again, this crazy weather.  I so enjoy having my small garden and herbs. Tonight is supposed to be even colder.  My son Cole has been digging holes in my yard.  I told him we would plant some potatoes if he would dig the area up.  Needless to say, the holes are not as they should be! What does one expect from an eight year old!.

The First Steps of My Herb Garden 2012!

 The weather has been so warm, I decided to get a head start on my herb garden.  The mint I planted last year in a planter is growing beautifully.  The others I purchased at different stores in my area. I am waiting til mid-April, even May to put them in the garden. I am afraid Mother Nature will decide a huge frost in in order before then.  I usually keep several containers on my porch as well. I love sitting on my back porch getting the wonderful aromas of the herbs.  Mint and Basil are my favorites!

 I have never grown boxwood basil before.  However, once I saw these cute plants I had to buy a couple. They are a beautiful herb!

 Basil, lot and lots of Basil! My small garden was so full of basil last year I could have marketed it! Hey there's a thought.. Unfortunately, I don't know of many people in my area that cook with fresh herbs! Such a sad concept, they are missing out!  I am a believer that fresh herbs help your immune system stay healthy! 

 This is my first year for orange mint! It smells captivating! I can't wait to use it in some freshly brewed tea!  I use the mint to make a raspberry mint tea! It is delish! I will have to use some orange zest and make a simple syrup to go in the tea! 

I love Mexican dishes, so cilantro is a must!

 This will also be the first time I have a porch tomato plant!  I love any dish with tomatoes in it. Funny thing, I don't like eating just a simple tomato! I know, makes absolutely no sense at all.   I am planning on canning tomatoes this year.  I am going to plant probably around 10 plants.. That should be plenty for just the three of us!  I will keep posting updates on my little garden as the season rolls on!  
As an added note.. The Kentucky Wildcats play the Louisville Cards tonight... So GO BIG BLUE! 

My Herb Garden!

Well.. I have many herbs purchased and placed in planters.  I love the smell of fresh herbs growing.  I was so excited today when I called True Value and they told me they had Basil.. I couldn't wait to go buy a few plants. I made cute tags and laminated them to place in each planter. Most people, at least where I live, think I am a little nuts! However, I love herbs, cooking with herbs, smelling fresh herbs, so I really could care less what others may think!  It is rather early in Kentucky to be planting anything cold sensitive.  However, our extremely warm winter/spring has one itching to get started in the garden. I also bought some porch tomatoes.  If by some chance we were to have a frost/freeze I can easily place them indoors! So far I have orange mint, sweet basil, cilantro, parsley, thyme, oregano, mint, chives , rosemary and a porch tomato plant.. !  I have a row of strawberries planted and some garlic a  friend of mine dug up at her home! I plan on planting at least 10 to 15 tomato plants. I have many ideas for their use.. I love any fresh tomato dish, especially salsa  ( my specialty!).  I spent this past weekend digging and cleaning out my flower garden. My hostas are coming up and are beautiful! Did I mention I love spring! PS.. these are last years pics.. wait til tomorrow and I will photograph the new ones...

My Kentucky vs. Baylor Buffalo Wings

 The prep work!

 The soaking in the buffalo sauce!  HOT

 My attempt at creative plating..


The big UK game was yesterday. They make me so nervous, I decided to cook and do yard work to take my mind off of it! I had never made wings before. It was simply because I never cared for them.  We were in the grocery and for some reason I got the urge to try them! I made a homemade marinade and coating. I thought it was quite hot, however, Stephen didn't agree.  I am certain the next time I make wings I am going to deep fry them.  I tried baking them this time.
On a spring garden note, I planted flowers yesterday! I planted strawberries on Friday! I love this weather.  I am anxious for the basil plants to be shipped to Lowes.   I plan on a huge herb and tomato garden this year! I had so much basil last year!  Did I mention I love fresh herbs?

My Cast Enamel Dutch Oven... no.. not the expensive one I wanted either!

It is hard to believe as long as I have been cooking and baking I have never owned a cast iron dutch oven! Yeah.. I was really missing out! There is one specific brand I really wanted..you know the one, the over 150 buck and plus for each piece..  As fortune would have it, a co-worker and I were talking about food and cooking (no shocker there)! He loves any type of cookware that is cast iron. In his eyes, no other will do! Being the nice guy he is, he finds me an oven.. a beautiful red Lodge Cast Iron Dutch Oven for 50 bucks. There were several other colors but red matched my kitchen color scheme !Needless to say, that offer was not refused! He was more concerned than I was regarding the first dish cooked!
I wanted to make a dish that I had not tried.  I am not sure why stuffed green bell peppers came to mind, but they did. I mixed together a hot, robust mixture of ground pork, ground chuck and chorizo sausage, cooked rice and a tomato sauce.  Those beautiful peppers were stuffed and baked.  Wow! is the word.. they had a kick to them!  Since that fateful day, I have tossed around several other ideas for the stuffed peppers.  The perfect pepper is my goal!

Spring Fever 2012

The weather we Kentuckians have had this winter has been so abnormal! It is mid-March and we had temperatures in the low to mid-eighties today! Normally, the snow is falling and the temps, well much colder than 80 degrees! Spring fever has been setting in for many weeks. I am ready to plant my tomatoes and herbs! I do, however,  believe Mother Nature is  fooling us so I will put that project on hold. In the mean time, I decided to look through my pictures and I founds photos from Stephen's family reunion we attended two years ago near Rogersville, Tennessee.  Hard to believe these pictures were actually taken around Labor Day, 2010. Pictures with my son, Cole (6) and Stephen, by themselves, always bring a smile to my face. Stephen has been the father figure in Cole's life for over three years. I love the shots where they are busy trying to fish, or working on some other project! Cole won the prize for the largest bass (or fish of any kind) caught during the competition at the reunion.  I am not exactly sure of the exact size. He was so proud and so was I! This was the first time Cole had gotten to fish and with a little help from Melissa Williams, reeled the fellow in! Note, I will not get near nor touch a fish! They give me the creeps! I enjoy the art/act of fishing, however, I will not touch! Funny, I know! Well it has been a very long Monday, so time for homework and nite time.  Till later...Mary C.