Friday, July 13, 2007

My Friday Supper

Thursday morning my mother in law brought over some purple hull peas fresh from the garden. Of course I had Emmy all day Thursday and she was awake and needing my attention most of the day, so I didn't get around to shelling my peas until Friday afternoon. A longtime friend and neighbor also blesses us with fresh garden vegetables several times a week and his latest contribution was garden ripe tomatoes, okra, yellow summer squash and cucumbers. We had fried okra for supper on Thursday night, along with au gratin potatoes and baked chicken breasts.

The garden produce that our family and friends share with us really helps stretch our food budget in the summer time. Tonight for instance, we had some of those purple hull peas, fresh ripe tomatoes, fried potatoes and cornbread.

Today as I prepared to shell my peas, I thought I'd take pictures as I went along for the blog. Then I thought, why not take pictures as I cooked supper and just give you all a thrill. I know you can barely contain your excitement, but do try. ;o)

Fresh purple hull peas, ready to shell.
Shelled peas, rinsing off before I cook them.Frying potatoes, browned and tasty. Almost done...
The peas, cooked and ready to eat. See the steam?MY BUTTERMILK SOUTHERN CORNBREAD,
baked in my Grandma's cast iron skillet.
Click on the bold link for the recipe.
Love that crispy browned crust!Sliced into wedges, hot and ready to eat with
butter or those fresh peas. Mmmmmm....
(Sorry it's so blurry.)
Sliced garden ripe 'maters can't be beat.
They're the best!

I had a 5 quart Dutch oven almost full of peas when I got them all shelled. After we ate what we wanted for supper I still have enough for several meals. I'll either save them for my Sunday Dinner or freeze them in several quart freezer bags for later meals. Those garden fresh peas and other produce sure do taste good in the winter time when fresh veggies are scarce.

Speaking of Sunday Dinner, I'm not sure yet what will be on the menu. I still have that ham we didn't have this past Sunday so that's a possibility, and there's always the chance we'll be eating out somewhere. I'll try to narrow down the possibilities and post the verdict sometime Saturday evening.
I didn't have Emmy today and I won't have her again until Monday morning. Jessica and Jason are going to Lake Norfork for the weekend and Jason's Mom is keeping Emmy this weekend. As much as I love watching Emmy I'm grateful for the little break. This babysitting takes a toll on Grandma's body. It's a lot different at 43 with Emmy than it was at 23 with Jessica.

I'll be happy to see Jessica and Emmy bright and early Monday morning, though. Seeing those bright eyes and that happy, smiling face makes all the fatigue, aches and pains worthwhile. And then there's Emmy, too! Ha! ;o)
I hooked up my old HP printer and fired it up. The bad news is that it's not printing very well. I don't know if it's because the cartridges have partially dried up or what's going on. I don't think I want to spend over $40 on new cartridges to find out if that's the problem. If the cartridges aren't the problem I'll have spent $40 and still not be any better off.

As much as I hate to do it, I think I'm just going to buy a new all in one printer, but you can bet I'm going to try to avoid buying another Lexmark. I don't have any problems with the new Lexmark all in one except that it won't print on the good quality glossy photo paper. It does every other function as advertised, so I suppose I'll store it in the closet as a last resort just in case the new printer develops problems later.

I bought the Lexmark online because it was unavailable in stores and it seemed to be a good bargain. But since it was strictly available only online I couldn't return it to the local store. I would've had to mail it back to them and the postage would have been outrageous, plus there's no guarantee it would be fixed when I got it back. I think I'm better off just cutting my losses now before I put any more money in this lemon.

I'll definitely buy my new printer at a store and not online. I want a warm body to complain to and a receipt to wave in their face if the new printer ends up throwing a rod or develops an allergy to glossy photo paper. Can you tell I'm pert near't disgusted with technology right about now?A dear blogging friend sent me some worship and praise CD's in the mail and I received them today. I'm listening to one of them right now, "Glory Revealed", and I love it! My blogging friend prefers to remain anonymous but I want to acknowledge the lovely and very much appreciated gift and express my thanks, not only for the CD's but also for their friendship and their generous, giving spirit towards me.

I can't wait to hear the rest of the songs on these 3 CD's! Thank you, dear friend. You know who you are. :-)
Mountain Mama has tagged me for a meme and I'll try to get that done in the next few days, possibly on Saturday when I do my Sunday Dinner post.

In the meantime, y'all have a great and blessed weekend.

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi!! I'm new to your blog and just wanted to say hi. Your dinner looked yummy. I love to fix pineapple upside-down cake in my iron skillet!!

Paulette said...

Oh sweet mercy, it is 12:30 am and after coming to your blog I am now starving!!! That corn bread made my mouth water...
This is what I get for not being in bed when I should be.
I am glad you will get a rest, but it is good to get a break.
I almost have my post ready on my bloggy award you gave me, I am so slow... actually I am savoring it lol.
Thankyou for your precious words to me in my comments. You are such an encourager and I am so thankful that you are a presence in my life.
I have to take my hunger pangs and go to bed! Night friend

Jean-Luc Picard said...

How sumptuous! That post would make anyone hungry!

moreofhim said...

Oh, your dinner looks so delicious! I've never seen purple hulled peas. Do they taste the same as regular peas or more like black eyed peas? Your corn bread looks so good. I cook in cast iron skillets, too. They are THE best! Glad you're going to get a little break - that's always good.

Thanks for visiting me! God bless you!

Meow (aka Connie) said...

Your food photos look awesome, but I can't say I've ever seen, or heard of, purple hull peas ... maybe they are not available here in Australia.
Glad things are going well for you, and you continue to enjoy Emmy ... she is soooo cute.
I will be re-installing MSN in a few days, now that I have repaired all the nasties on my computer, so hope to catch you on there again soon.
Take care, hugs, Meow xx

Diane Viere said...

Purple hulled peas???? YOu mean peas come in other colors than green! I'm gonna have to check my pantry and see what I have in those cans! ;)

Beautiful, beautiful dinner! And the best part...made with such love.

Diane

Linda aka yellowroseli said...

Oh my gosh, yum yum o. Your meal looks great. So whats for dinner today, Saturday and what time. lol

Granny said...

Yum!!

Can it be that you and I are the only two people in the blogosphere that recognize a purple hull?

And speaking of, we can get already shelled purple hulls here (we don't have the fresh in the pod or if we do I can't find them) but I can't find lady cremes which I really prefer.

I've seen a few in cans but they're yucky.

Do you still have them back there?

I'm doing chicken again tonight I think. Don't have a clue about tomorrow.

Sister said...

Diane,

Everything looks scrumpdillyishous!

And, believe it or not (drumroll, please), I can make a mean skillet of cornbread myself.

xo.

Barb said...

I don't know one single person around here who has a garden so I need to find some produce stands. Those peas look wonderful. My goodness, the hours I spent shelling those things for my mom when I was a kid.

And I printed out your recipe for cornbread. I'm determined to get myself a cast iron skillet and I don't know how I could have forgotten what a difference buttermilk makes in cornbread.

The whole thing with your printer is just rotten. How awful that you have to get a new one. I think I'd avoid Lexmark too if I were you.

Dick said...

I am real partial to Epson printers and suggest you look into one of their photo ones. Mine does great glossies but I have learned it does best printing on Epson Premium Glossy paper. I also like the fact that the ink cartridges are separate so when one runs out I can replace just it. It isn't a 3-in-1 but if your Lexmark is working fine in scan & copy mode then you can use it that way and use the Epson primarily just to print photos.

Rachel said...

Now there you went and did it again, MAKING ME HUNGRY!!! That meal makes my mouth water. The cornbread reminded me of my Mother's cornbread. She always fixed it in the skillet like that.

I'm telling you Diane!! I'm going to have to park my feet under your table sometime!!

Nothing tastes like fresh goodies from the garden. I'm glad you are getting to enjoy them!

Dawn said...

Lake Norfork - now that took me back!!

Add me to the list of those who did not know purple hull peas existed.

Glad you're having the week-end off from child care, even though you love her to bits. We need that down time!

We planted tomatoes for the first time in years - they get ripe so late here that sometimes the first freeze hits before we get any. And we're not too in to fried green tomatoes. Bet you fix them great!

Yummy supper, but didn't you get hot??

Talk to ya later --

MightyMom said...

OH wow, I forget how reginal things are. purple hulls. ummm, Grandmother (from Shreveport) had those (some) and sugar snap peas and tons and tons of pecans to shell. I'd sit and hull, snap or shell for hours on end. For those who don't know. They're the same as black-eyed peas..only different. ;-) heeheehee. That buttermilk cornbread looks delicious...bet you make some mean grits too huh?? You just mosey on down here and we can do some serious cookin!! :-)

Susie said...

I have heard of purple hull beans, but can't recall having eaten them. This all sounds so fresh and good. Nothing like yummy produce that's fresh picked.
That printer issue is a dilemma for sure. I'm going to be shopping for a new one with our office redo. You can bet it won't be a Lexmark!
xoxo

Anonymous said...

isnt a blessing when people give food to you

I hope you relaxed over the weekend
your wise to have a break

believe me even 10 years makes a big difference

mer@lifeat7000feet said...

My most favorite summer meal is purple hull peas and sliced tomatoes and cornbread. A taste of heaven! My grandma used to have a garden and my "job" was to hull the peas. My thumbs and thumbnails would be purple for days! And it sure did look like you peeled your tomatoes...that is certainly THE BEST way to enjoy them!

Oh...and Lake Norfork is a place I know well. Spent lots of days water skiing on that great lake!

If I come visit you next time I'm in town, will you make some cornbread and peas for me?? Pretty please!

Tammy said...

Hello, Miz Diane!
This post made me drool!!
:)

Judith said...

Almost Heaven, purplehull peas or butterbeans, and fried okra, of course, and wonderful fresh tomatoes, and Grand Ma's cornbread!

Thanks for taking me back to when meals were like that.

DustyDoodles said...

Hi Diane --

I found your blog through another. I've never seen purple hulled peas!! They look yummy!!! My, everything you cook, looks yummy!! And your granddaughter is beautiful!!

Peg