Choice Morsels

The Mama Kat prompt I chose today was to share a photo that best represents your August so far: This,  because Florida has been hot, hot, hot. So we all want what this Box Turtle found: a dip in the pool to cool off! Thanks for Visiting!

Today's yard task was trimming up my other Gardenia shrub. It's in the center of my front yard. I keep it trimmed in a large globe shape. It's as old as the house, but still healthy as a horse. Has large 3 inch flowers. I cut off about 16 inches around it, then clipped off a good number of joints to encourage fresh growth this year. I only do that every other year. Hopefully, I got to it earlier enough this year, it will have plenty of time to set for a good show of flowers next May. Today's Garden Pic is my Oakland Holly:  It's Had a Growth Spurt! It's been growing about 5 inches a year up to now---this year it shot this 2 foot spire! I was quite surprised. The nice thing about Oakland Holly's is they generally maintain a Christmas tree shape on their own, so I expect it will spend a little time filling in the difference. Bred for the South, they're classed as a small tree, topping out at around 15 ft. Also they're self-pollinating.  You can

Today's Good Eating recipe is a quick easy skillet stir fry dish: Beef & Broccoli Ramen ! I like recipes that use Ramen. The Sauce in this is really the star and I think it would benefit greatly from an additional clove of minced garlic, so I've put that recommendation in the sauce ingredients. Garlic and Ginger enhance one another. Sliced green onions is another garnish option. (photo is my own) Beef & Broccoli Ramen Main Ingredients 2 Tablespoons oil, divided 1 lb top sirloin or other cut you like, thinly sliced against grain 1 Tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce 1 Tablespoon Rice Vinegar 3 cups of fresh broccoli, cut up  4 cloves garlic, minced 2 to 3 packets of Ramen noodles, seasoning packets discarded (2 packs will make about 4 servings; 3 packs will serve about 6) Sauce Ingredients: 1/4 cup water 3/4 cup low sodium beef broth 1 Tablespoon ginger, minced 2 teaspoons sesame oil 2 Tablespoons cornstarch 6 Tablespoons oyste

 There's a lady around the corner from us with a beautiful yard heavily landscaped with flower beds AND a rain garden. I've thought for a long time that I wanted to stop by to say hello and an unexpected opportunity to do so came up this week when I was out for my morning walk. She was out mowing and weed-eating, so I introduced myself. Her name is Sally. She's a little older then me. It was a great opportunity to talk gardening. Like me, she wants to replace grass with flower beds. She showed me her yard, then we walked down to my house and looked at mine. We traded numbers and she's going to contact me to give me some of her purple asters later in the autumn. So that was neat.  I have two photos today: Purple Shamrocks: The camera really doesn't do justice to the depth of their dark burgundy color, but it does reveal the lighter fushia pattern on the leaves that's less noticeable to the naked eye. They bloom light pink flowers all the time. 

Today's Mama Kat prompt option is "Share Your Favorite Summer Recipe!" My favorite is Pineapple Fluff! It's easy and everyone loves it. It's classed as a salad, but can be enjoyed as a dessert!  Our friends rate it as tastier then Watergate Salad (green fluff) and I it's great anytime of year; not just summer, but goes really well with summer grilled meals! (photo is my own) Pineapple Fluff Ingredients: 1 small (3.4 oz) box Instant Coconut Creme pudding 1 20oz can of Crushed Pineapple 1 8oz tub of Whipped Topping 2 cups Mini-Marshmallows 1/4 to 1/2 cup chopped pecans  1 cup shredded sweet coconut Directions: In  a large bowl: add Crushed Pineapple with the juice and stir in the instant pudding. Now add pecans & coconut, stir in. Finally fold in the whipped topping and mini-marshmallows and fold-in until everything is thoroughly combined and the pudding is completely mixed in with the whipped topping. Cover & refrigerate a minimum of

Several pictures for today: One of My Black Swallowtail Guests: The late day sun was shining on him so pretty! They've got a very handsome coloration. Of course, they're all off somewhere turning into butterflies now and my parsley, bare stems.  Here's a nice shot of my Purple Bell Peppers. They are very eye-catching in the garden! And my Lady Planter, looking stylish in her succulent hat!

Today's Good Eating is a family favorite I grew up with and still often make as it's Hubby's favorite, too:  Golden Meatballs! It's  originally a Velveeta box recipe from the 60's and that classic recipe included directions for making meatballs as well as bar-boiling your carrot chunks. This updated version uses frozen frozen meatballs, matchstick carrots and even frozen bell pepper strips if you want. Also Velveeta has more variety options now and I usually use the 2% milk Velveeta. I had fresh garden bell peppers when I made the batch in the photo and used about 5 small bell peppers and we thought it was the best tasting batch of Golden Meatballs I'd ever made! ( about equivalent to 2 medium size store bought green bell peppers) It's a recipe you can really raise the veggie level by increasing the quantity of carrots, onions & bell peppers. This is a skillet meal and a bag of 20 meatballs will accommodate 4 servings. (photo my own)