Choice Morsels

The First Day of Autumn was Sept 22---the Autumn Equinox. As dusk approaches, I see the sun's last rays slanting in low now, sweeping over the garden, touching flowers and plants with it's receding glow. Today's Garden Pics are shots of those late day rays highlighting things in my garden: An old Hydrangea blossom given a second chance at beauty: Glowing threads of Pampas Grass: Sun-kissed pink Vinca's:  

 I tried this recipe for Slow Cooker Taco Chili (or Soup if you like it thinner) last weekend. It was the best Taco Chili recipe I've tried. It came from my MeWe food group I participate in. (MeWe is a social media much nicer & safer then Facebook.) Just add canned tomatoes, beans and corn, then brown some meat with onions, add a couple seasoning packets and cook on Low 5- 6 hours.  I prefer a thick chili to soup, so added 2 to 3 Tablespoons of cornstarch. That's it. Make & serve with cornbread. Yum! This recipe fills a 6 quart slow cooker, so definitely you want to fix this for 6 to 8 people!  (Photo is my own bowl full) Easy Slow Cooker Taco Chili 3 (15oz) cans fire roasted diced tomatoes,undrained 2 (15oz) cans low-sodium black beans, undrained 2 (15oz) cans low-sodium red kidney beans, undrained 2 (15oz) cans corn, undrained 1 lb. lean ground beef 1/2 cup diced onion 1 clove garlic, minced  1 packet taco seasoning 1 packet dry ranch dressing Directions: Prep slow

First. is a teacup filled with Hens & Chicks and Chinese Stonecrop. You might wonder about the marbles & pink stones. Well, I was walking one day down the neighboring street and found a someone was discarding an old fish tank full of rocks and marbles still. It was by the side of the road. So I scooped a couple handfuls and took them home, depositing some in all my little cups and pots to give them a bit of pizazz. I like the Chicks and Stonecrop because they can tolerate freezing weather here in Florida. I've seen them freeze solid in ice and thaw out, then keep going like nothing happened.   Next: a Yellow Rain Lily with a Honey Bee These are planted in my rain garden in the back yard. Enough rain water causes them to bloom, though they seem to be more a fall bloomer. This shot is from about a month ago maybe. This past week Hurricane Sally generously filled that rain garden (which did it's job perfectly I made add) and should prompt fresh blooming. I walked out to ch

 We live on the Gulf Coast and yes, we're feeling a little wetish and blustery today. Sally's eye crossed over roughly 100 miles from us to the West. Even so, these things are wide. Pensacola is 67 miles away and they're suffering too much water. It's astonishing the difference 67 miles can make. Also the most important thing around here is drainage for large amounts of rain water. Older developments & sub-divisions frequently were built without much attention to adequate drainage, so two neighborhoods in the same area came suffer differently if one has better drainage planning then another. Roadways through town were reworked over the past 10 years for that very reason--- better drainage. Today's Garden Pic photos: I saw this Purple Shamrock with a blossom perfectly centered in the leaf and took this photo. Garden Flower Arrangement: Next, I had this Lavender color Glad randomly decide to bloom this week, so I snipped it and put it in this vase with  lavender t

 I tried this recipe this week. Frankly, a good chuck roast generally comes out pretty tender in a slow cooker regardless of how you season it. This recipe calls for Pepperoncini Peppers, which are mildly spicy. They do give the roast a tad of spiciness. I actually forgot the dry Ranch dressing when I made it and just used the onion soup mix. It also calls for one stick of butter just put in there with the roast. A whole stick. I've decided it's a real waste of expensive butter to use a whole stick.  Also Hubby isn't keen on the spicy after-taste the Pepperoncini's gave the meat. So, if you like slightly spicy, fairly buttery flavored pot roast, you might like the recipe  I did get use out of the that pot roast: I used it for 3 other meals: hash, ginger beef & cabbage & a cabbage beef stir fry over noodles.  One thing I notice about Word Press Blogs that I go to from Pinterest for recipe details, just inundate me with pop-up videos and banner ads that I have to

"Things I try to avoid," is today's Mama Kat prompt: #1) We Prefer to Avoid Places Where a Mask is Mandatory When Possible.   Luckily, where we live is so small town-countrified, it's not a thing for most places we normally go, like Lowe's or local dine-in restaurants.  #2: I Prefer to Avoid Crowded Places In General I've always felt this way and it has nothing to do with current events. I just prefer not to be rubbing shoulders with others. I don't even like thick car traffic on the roadway.  I like lots of space between me and anybody else. #3) I Absolutely Avoid Being the Last to Arrive at a Seated Event Trying to find an open seat in a room full of tables where everyone wants to save seats for people they "know" so they can sit in a bunch is a scary feeling situation to me. I despise someone telling me "no, you can't sit here."  It reminds me too much of my school bus riding years when bus kids refused to let me share a sit down

Today's task was trimming up the Pink Pampas grass beside my parking spot. Just on that side. I trimmed out about 15 bloom fronds and all the grass heaping along the parking spot. The Pampas blooms were thick around my Skypencil tree, so needed thinning out.  Today's Garden Pic is a side by side picture comparison between the single flower blooms common to most Basil contrasted against the heavy full heads of Cardinal Basil.  Bees love both.  

 "Something I recently fixed," is today's Mama Kat option. It's a good topic because I do minor amazing things from time to time. Last fix was actually in 2018. It was a extension cord--but not the one in this picture. That one is only 50 foot and I use it just for Christmas lights and electric Jack O' Lanterns.  The one I had to fix was a 100 foot cord I used for the electric mower and electric hedger. So, one day, I decided to do some trimming on the Lantana in the back yard with my handy electric hedger.   I was plugged in and whirring away on the project when the hedger just suddenly stopped. The hedger has  a 3 inch tall gray plastic safety shield separating the handle grip from the blades and it's tipped forward toward the blades to prevent back-spatter. I discovered the cord had gotten looped over the blades right against that shield, but was hidden from sight and the blades had hacked the cord up enough to cut through some of the wires inside it. So I

I had a big gardening project this week! My order of  new daylilies arrived! Five new colors for $20 from a nursery I use often. (Normally they're around $15 apiece.) Spent a couple hours planting them Tuesday.  T oday's Pic,  a nice sun high-lighted Spider Lily! Just took it this morning. I was keeping an eye on it, watching how the sun touched it. This is a type of "magic" lily common to the South that bloom on the cusp of August & September.  I know I have many bulbs in the bed, but, so far, only 2 have bloomed. I think perhaps some of the bulbs might still be too young.   

I love baked potato wedges. Grew up eating them. Before microwaves, it was a great way to use left-over baked potatoes. Russets work best. I have used Gold potatoes, but they're softer and don't work quite as well. When I was kid, Mother would try to make efficient use of any cooking in the oven because we used propane gas. A pair of 5 foot tall, large silver-colored tanks stood right next to the house, just outside the kitchen wall. Periodically, the gas man would wheel a new one in and replace a tank. So, if she was baking chicken or meatloaf, she'd bake a bunch of russet potatoes, enough for leftovers for wedges, and often a baked dessert, like bread pudding or chocolate pudding cake.  (We didn't have dessert every night, so this was a treat!) The next day, we'd have the leftover meat with baked potato wedges. Yum. Giant home fries you can eat with your fingers. I made some myself recently. I baked 6 russets just for the purpose of having baked potato wedges. (Pi