Beets, Corn and Shell Beans

Gainesville

It's early summer here again. Yesterday it was so nice I decided to ride along with Bill to Ocala after all. We had lunch at Crisper's-- Bill had not realized it was a franchise and we have one in Gainesville, but we both enjoyed the food as well as the drive. Even had the moon roof up part of the time.

Today was the picnic. I was dressed to kill (my role for the day being the still lookin' good retiree) but it was so late by the time we got there, very few potential victims presented themselves. Bill had long meetings in the early morning, and had to come back to pick me up. Traffic was horrendous. The usual snafu.

Spent the rest of the afternoon at play with the comics. OF COURSE as soon as I finished off what I thought was the dregs, I discovered one more gigantic box tucked away-- filled with a zillion issues of a single British sci fi/fantasy magazine: 2000 AD. I'm pretty sure that once I've got the holdings for that in order, I'll have completed this phase of the project. Knock. Knock knock. And knock again.

Mom, two missives from you arrived in today's mail, one postmarked April 7, one April 10, both from St. Paul. I can't imagine what took the first one so long. Do they only pick up mail between here and there by donkey cart once a week?? Anyway, thanks for both clippings. It was nice to see a write-up of the Bruce tribute concert with a picture. The article about Army@Love was a hoot. I'd not seen it discussed on the lists or sites I follow, but it looks really interesting. Thanks!

I had not followed the Imus thing closely enough to note there was a Soares variant involved. The name seems to be turning up a lot recently. Or maybe it's just the result of the information glut we now take for granted and the law of averages.

The pussy willows scanned beautifully! What a gift you have.

Always nice to hear from you, Sandy. The Austen Mystery I just finished was ...the Wandering Eye. I'm now out, and need to hie me to B&N to pick up more. Almost finished with the illustrated letters. Yesterday when we drove to Ocala, I took the only Austen I could readily lay my hands on: Emma. I was looking for Mansfield Park, which I'm pretty sure I own, but have not yet read.

Keeping track of what I read is a prime reason why I blog, of course. That and what I cook. Memory Assistance, as they call it now. And...

Yes, I know we've been through the tiller thing before. I guess I keep hoping there is new info on the Perfect Tool. I'm sure the yard crew that comes once a week could arrange to plow up my miniscule plot. I just have this control-freak desire to be able to do it myself. Silly. I do so envy your organized start to this year's garden season.

Loved the evocative image of Julia's corn label. Sez it all about the end of the garden season.

Beets: Lee mentioned that Fresh Market had good looking beets. I asked him what he did with them. He gave me instructions for roasting them wrapped in foil. I bought a bunch, roasted as directed, put them in the fridge. Only to hear from Bill at dinner that he only likes pickled beets, and them only because they provide the juice for pickled eggs. I will figure out what to do with them for just me. I LIKE beets!

I'm not sure what made me suddenly need to check the Free Range Librarian blog just now, but I'm glad I did. She included this gem in her latest:

"Like sentences, shell beans are a great deal more trouble to produce than anyone who isn’t producing them knows. You have to shell the beans, slipping open the pods with your thumbnail and then tugging the beautiful little prismatic buttons from their moorings--a process that, like writing, always takes much longer than you think it will. And then even the best shell beans, cleaned and simmered, are like sentences in that nobody actually appreciates them as much as they deserve to be appreciated. Shell beans are several steps more delicious, lighter and finer, than dried beans, much less canned beans; but the sad truth is that nobody really cares beans about beans, and not many eaters can tell the fresh kind from the dried, or even the canned."

(See the link above for the source of the quote.) This is the essence of blogging, of course: quoting or pointing to other blogs. Thanks, Karen.