Choice Morsels

We were in Indiana recently and I got some good shots of flowers from my Mother's garden! So today's Garden picks are some "Hoosier" flowers from her garden!  Tulips, which I can't grow in Florida, and something purple I have no idea what it is! Happy Tulips: Pretty red and yellow tulips tip their faces up, enjoying the sunshine! This is what tulips look like in full bloom.  Since they're shown so often in photos closed, I think people assume that's how they look all the time, but that's like assuming a rose bud stays a bud.  Even cut in a vase, tulip stems will continue to grow and take on all sorts of curved and twisted dimensions, their blooms seeking sunlight like a sunflower. This second picture I don't know what it is, except it's a very pretty purple.  It was in my Mother's garden bed near the air conditioner.

We were out of town, so I had a little posting break for a week, but back now! Today's Good Eating recipe is a Pinterest recipe I tried for Quick Wonton Soup! What makes it "quick" is you use a bag of frozen pot stickers for the "wontons" instead of making your own! I think this recipe works best if you make and heat the broth a day ahead, then refrigerate it, then reheat it and finish it about 20 minutes before you want to serve it by adding the frozen pot stickers, rice noodles, fresh sliced mushrooms and spinach leaves & heating it up! It was fabulous as a leftover--if there's any left. Make enough for about 4 bowls. Quick Wonton Soup: 6 cups low-sodium chicken broth 1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce 3 Tablespoons rice vinegar 1 Tablespoon minced or grated fresh ginger 1 Tablespoon sesame oil 1 bag frozen pot stickers/chinese dumplings, any kind (16 to 20 pieces) 2 cups sliced mushrooms, fresh 4 cups of baby spinach 8 oz of...

Today's Mama Kat topic is to share, "A Mistake I Made in the Kitchen." I had to ask Hubby to help me remember a cooking mistake. I actually haven't made that many. He recalled a mistake I'll call the "The Fennel Seed Caper." It was 1983, the first year of our marriage. We were living in Maryland in our first apartment. Hubby was still in the Air Force. One of our wedding gifts had been a nice wood spice rack that included a dozen bottles of various spices. Most of them were common ones like Basil, Oregano, Celery Seed, Thyme and so on, that I knew what to do with. But there was one I had no idea what to do with: Fennel seed. I wanted to try using it, so one day, I searched my Joy of Cooking cookbook to see if I could find a recipe that called for Fennel seed.. I found just one. It was called "Romanian Noodle & Pork Casserole." It called for 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of Fennel seed. So I made it. It was the worst tasting thing either o...

Yesterday I was working on adding edging between the house foundation & the Hosta bed on the North side of the house, since it was the only dry day between rainy days.  Today's Garden Pic features some new Blue Salvia I added to my front bed this spring! It's a different kind then the one I already had. This one folds out petals with a white spots that look like little  hearts. Fancier then my other which is plain dark blue. Salvia, in general, is a member of the mint family along with Bee Balm & Thyme. This Blue Salvia is shown next to Shamrocks & my strawberry pot of Hens & Chicks!