Frito Pie / Cast Iron Restaurant recipe
METHOD cook thru 2 lb grnd venison in 3 oz rendered bacon fat, add/sweat tsp minced garlic, oz diced onion, tsp chili powder.
Then add 7 oz diced tomato, 3 oz ea diced tomatillo, beef stock, and demiglaze; reduce by 1/4; s/p.
ASSEMBLY Layer in cast iron skillet 8 oz venison chili, 1/4 c ea Fritos, grated cheddar. Broil a min--cheese is bubbly.
SERVE hot.
In the meanwhile, I ordered a small wire rack for making jelly in a smaller pot on the stove and got it a couple of days ago. Yesterday, I made 3 batches of Jalapeno Pepper Jelly using the smaller rack/pot. The recipe calls for pureeing (food processor - into small bits, not smooth) the jalapenos with one cup of vinegar. I then put the puree/vinegar in quart Ball jars & stored them in the fridge until I had enough jars to process a couple of batches at a time - worked just great.
I wait until I have red jalapenos - the color is just gorgeous - never made a batch with green jalapenos, but I might do it this year just to see how it turns out.
My neighbor has some beautiful ripe tomatoes on the vine. I warned her that we have lots of critters in the area...and sure enough there was a bunny in the yard this morning.
I suspect at this date they're still selling seeds from last year (which isn't necessary bad. I have successfully used seeds that are a decade old).
Is there are a prime window to order seeds?
Who is your favorite seed provider?
Also, does anyone have experience growing asparagus from seeds?
A detailed primer would be appreciated.
Another also.
Has anyone ever tried to grow ginseng? Again, details appreciated.
For people like me, who can’t eat many peaches w/o getting an allergic reaction, there are still other choices.
I just discovered what many have likely known for years.
Nectarines can often be tolerated more easily than peaches.
Both fruits are looking good right now, on sale and about the size of a Baseball. Very tempting!
I tolerate the Nectarines b/c they don’t have that fuzzy texture to the skin. I still have to ration how many and how often I eat the Nectarines, or the insides of my mouth will start getting sore. I can eat two today, then I must wait a day or more before eating them again. If you have fruit sensitivity, you know what I’m talking about.
Some of the ‘newer’ fruits to mainstream America must also be handled with care. Mangoes, Kiwi and Papaya are “forbidden’ and out of the question. You just have to peer through the Candy Store window, and watch others enjoy those things, not you. Hah.
Plants that can be planted or used fresh to repel pests include:
| Plant | Pests |
|---|---|
| artemisias | repels insects,[2] including ants, cabbage looper, cabbage maggot, carrot fly, codling moth, flea beetles, whiteflies, the Cabbage White, and the Small White, as well as mice[3] |
| basil | repels flies, including mosquitoes[2][4] the carrot fly, asparagus beetles and whiteflies[3] |
| borage | repels tomato hornworm and cabbage worms[2] |
| castor bean | repels moles[3] |
| catnip | repels ants, flea beetles, aphids, the Japanese beetle, squash bugs, weevils,[2] the Colorado potato beetle, the cabbage looper,[3] and cockroaches.[4] May attract cats. |
| chamomile | repels flying insects[4] |
| chives | repels carrot fly, Japanese beetle,[2] and aphids[3] |
| chrysanthemums | repel roaches, ants, the Japanese beetle, ticks, silverfish, lice, fleas, bedbugs, and root-knot nematodes[2] |
| citronella grass | repels insects, may deter cats[5] |
| proven not to repel mosquitoes[6] | |
| clovers | repel aphids and wireworms[3] |
| common lantana | repels mosquitoes[1] |
| coriander | repels aphids, Colorado potato beetle, and spider mites[3] |
| cosmos | repel the corn earworm |
| crown imperial | repel rabbits, mice, moles, voles and ground squirrels[7] |
| dahlias | repel nematodes[2] |
| dill | repels aphids, squash bugs, spider mites,[2] the cabbage looper, and the Small White[3] |
| eucalyptus | repels aphids, the cabbage looper, and the Colorado potato beetle[3] |
| fennel | repels aphids, slugs, and snails[3] |
| fever tea | repels mosquitoes[1] |
| four o'clocks | attract and poison the Japanese beetle[2] |
| French marigold | repels whiteflies, kills nematodes[2] |
| garlic | repels root maggots,[2] cabbage looper, Mexican bean beetle, and peach tree borer. |
| geraniums | repel leafhoppers, the corn earworm, and the Small White[3] |
| hyssop | repels the cabbage looper and the Small White[3] |
| larkspurs | repel aphids[3] |
| lavender | repels moths, scorpions, water scorpions, fleas, and flies, including mosquitoes[4] |
| leek | repels carrot fly[3] |
| lemongrass | repels mosquitoes[8] |
| lemon balm | repels mosquitoes[4] |
| lemon thyme | repels mosquitoes[4] |
| lettuce | repels carrot fly[3] |
| lime basil | repels mosquitoes[1] |
| Mexican marigold | repels insects and rabbits[2] |
| myrrh | repels insects[5] |
| narcissus | repel moles[3] |
| nasturtiums | repel squash bugs,[2] aphids (though there is conflicting information with some sources stating it attracts aphids),[9] many beetles, and the cabbage looper[3] |
| onion | repels rabbits, the cabbage looper, and the Small White[3] |
| oregano | repellent to many pests[3] |
| parsley | repels asparagus beetles[3] |
| peppermint | repels aphids, cabbage looper, flea beetles, squash bugs, whiteflies, and the Small White[3] |
| petunias | repel aphids, tomato hornworm, asparagus beetles, leafhoppers,[2] and squash bugs[3] |
| pitcher plants | traps and ingests insects |
| radish | repels cabbage maggot and cucumber beetles[3] |
| rosemary | repels cabbage looper, carrot fly, cockroaches and mosquitoes[10], slugs, snails, as well as the Mexican bean beetle[3] |
| rue | repels cucumber and flea beetles |
| Sarracenia pitcher plants | are especially proficient at trapping yellowjacket wasps |
| spearmint | repels fleas, moths, ants, beetles, rodents,[4] aphids, squash bugs, and the cabbage looper[3] |
| spiny amaranth | repels cutworms |
| stone root | repels mosquitoes[5] |
| summer savory | repels bean beetles[3] |
| tansy | repels ants, many beetles and flies, squash bugs, cutworms, Small White, and Cabbage White[3] |
| thyme | repels cabbage looper, cabbage maggot, corn earworm, whiteflies, tomato hornworm, and Small White |
| tobacco | repels carrot fly, flea beetles and worms.[3] |
| tomato | repels asparagus beetles[3] |
| venus flytrap | ingests insects[4] |
There's a few for Japanese Beetles which is the only problem I've had with my peach tree, other than it flowering in mid-April when there's still a good chance for frost around here. Got it from walmart on a whim but I don't imagine they really care of they're selling a plent for the wrong zone.
I planted some peas that matured and dried out before I got a chance to pick/eat them.
I’ve now picked them, dried and brown, with the intention of planting them again next year.
The question, then, is “Do I need to leave them in the freezer over the winter or outside in the garage to scarify them to get them to sprout next year?”.
@#$%^^&**((^#$@!#$The report from Central Missouri is much the same as last week - hot and dry with some rainfall over the weekend.
Tomatoes continue to improve, cukes are hanging in there.
One of my Ayers pear trees is so heavy with fruit the lower limbs are literally laying on the ground. It won’t be long before they are ready to pick.
We have had another round of serious thunderstorms. It was very intense as there was a tornado warning too! Looked outside after it was all over. tomatoes all over the ground and the plants had broken stems. So I guess that is the end of my tomatoes this year. . :(