M is for Melons

 Quick. What's the first thing that comes to mind when I say melons? For me it was watermelon, but I've come to find out that technically it's not a melon at all. Before I go down this hole, first let me have the disclaimer that I am not a botanist and the only botany I have ever studied was paleobotany and most of those plants were extinct.

Watermelon is a melon in practical terms. But biologically speaking, it's not. Melons are in the a different genus from melons but are cousins so to speak as they are in the same order/family? Getting a little mixed up on my taxonomy here.

Yellow watermelon grown by Uncle Billy.

Well, this post is going nowhere. Other activities have kept me from having much time to sit down at the computer and work on a post. I was ahead with posts, but now I'm behind. I was going to finish up this morning before I went to work, but Ward has been in loud meetings all morning and I can't seem to gather my thoughts among the ones that are being discussed with Ward and his colleagues.

So here's what I might have talked about.

M is for melons.

Watermelon, botanically, is not a melon.

Frozen watermelon to use in drinks
or just a cool snack.

Confusion abounds among the terms of fruit, vegetable, melon, gourd, berry, etc.

Explorers used watermelon as canteens.

Wally, who will eat almost anything does not like cantaloupe, a true melon. I love it.

Watermelons originated in Africa.

Hieroglyphics depict watermelon harvest.

Times up. Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work I go.

L is for Look

 or  Look at the Fruits and Vegetables Growing in My Yard

This time of year is magical and so full of hope as fresh growth emerges from trees, plants, and seeds. It is before the heat, drought (or too much rain), and insects of summer.  It's this time of year, that people like to share this emergence and I'm no different, as you may have noticed. So here's the latest update on the fruits and vegetables growing in my yard.

We have a large patch of violets growing behind our forsythia hedge. Violets are a good source of Vitamin C and A, but shouldn't be eaten in large amounts. 

This is one of our older apple trees and if look closely you will see it is blooming from the top down. So far, this has not been a good producer. One complication is that the lower limbs have been trimmed over the years, so it is hard to reach the tree to do many of the treatments that apples need. We have another older apple tree that has the same problems.

We planted this apple tree last year hoping it will take the place of the older apple trees.
The leaves emerged a few days ago. It will be interesting to see if it blooms this year.

There are also two crabapples blooming. These help with the apple tree pollination

The peas are up as well as the beets and radishes. However, I'm still waiting on the carrots and lettuce. While, I was taking these pictures, I realized that I hadn't planted the onion seeds I had. Gonna have to go back and check on that.

I have transplanted the cabbage I cold started in the milk jugs. They are not vigorous yet, but seemed to have survived the transplant. The jury is still out whether the broccoli is going to survive its transfer. I still have cauliflower in a jug waiting to be moved to the garden.

Ward and Wally built fences around the garden last weekend. Hopefully this will cut down on some of the digging and eating that smaller critters do. They already dug up the lettuce. This is a clever design with each side being a panel that can be easily removed for tending the plants.

The pear trees are also in bloom now. Last year, we had a bumper crop,
so we're not expecting as many this year since production is often cyclic.

The sour cherry is also in bloom. Last year, the cherries got some kind of mildew before we could harvest them. We're hoping for better luck this year because these make great pies.

Here's the flowering quince. The first blossoms were killed by a frost,
but more have emerged since then. I have read that the quince from this kind of bush
is very tart, but can be used for jams and jellies. We have not tried it yet.

Borrowing a fruit name, the grape hyacinths are out.
They are neither grapes or hyacinths, but they are pretty.

K is for Key Lime Pie

Key limes are originally from Asia
not from the FL Keys as I once thought.
However, the FL Keys are famous
 for their Key Lime Pie.

 We celebrated Wally's birthday last weekend. He requested a key lime pie that he wanted to make with me. I wasn't sure if I had ever made one before, but knew that I had had some tasty ones that Aunt Martha had made. She shared that she used this King Arthur recipe which was the one that we followed and is copied below.

Wally and I simplified the recipe by using a ready made graham cracker crust and by not making any garnishes for the top. Wally's not a big cook, but he enjoyed the simple steps to make this delicious pie. He was actually excited by how simple it was and commented that this is something he might make when he needs to take a dish somewhere. 

Note: I cut and pasted this recipe from the King Arthur site and it has some formatting problems. If you are really interested, I suggest you follow the link.

   Extra Creamy Key Lime Pie

PREP

25 mins

BAKE

20 to 22 mins

TOTAL

2 hrs 45 mins 

     Ingredients

     Crust

• 1 1/2 cups (128g) vanilla cookie crumbs (sugar, vanilla wafers, or cream-filled)
• 1 1/2 cups (64g) fresh bread crumbs
• 6 tablespoons (85g) melted butter

     Filling

• one 8-ounce package (227g) cream cheese, softened
• 1 1/4 cup (397g) sweetened condensed milk
• 1/3 cup (74g) Key lime juice
• 1/8 teaspoon lime oil, optional, but good
• 1 cup (227g) sour cream

     Garnishes

• 2 tablespoons (25g) sugar
• 1 cup (227g) heavy cream
• 1/2 fresh lime, sliced

Instructions:

    Preheat the oven to 350°F.

To make the crust: Combine the ingredients in the bowl of your 

mixer or a food processor 

 — a few pulses will do it — then press the mixture into a 9" pie pan.

Bake for 20 to 22 minutes, until the crust is golden brown. 

Set aside to cool while making the filling.

To make the filling: In a medium-sized bowl, beat the cream cheese until soft. 

Add the condensed milk and beat until well-blended.

Stir in the Key lime juice and the lime oil (if you're using it). 

Add the sour cream, mixing until smooth.

Pour the filling into the cooled crust and 

refrigerate the pie for at least 2 hours before serving.

To make the topping: In a medium sized bowl, whip the cream 

with the sugar until soft peaks form. 

Serve a spoonful on each piece and top with a thin slice of lime.

Store the pie in the refrigerator for 5 days. 

J is for Joost Elffers

And who or what is Joost Elffers you may ask. Joost Elffers is co-author with Saxton Freymann of series of picture books that are illustrated entirely with photographs of fruits and vegetables. They are very clever and imaginative with great pictures.

Joost was born and raised in the Netherlands and later moved to the US. He was a book packager who put together books getting them ready to publish. He worked on several notable books including Tangrams, Secrect Language of Birthdays, and The Power of 48 as well as the food books.

If you haven't seen one of these books before, I recommend you check your local library to find one. They are definitely worth a look.

One of the pages from Fast Food.

One of the pages from How Are You Peeling?

I is for Iceberg Lettuce

Oh, iceberg lettuce-the much maligned and much loved leafy green.

Iceberg lettuce, a variety of crisphead lettuce, has been an American favorite for almost 100 years. It was developed by the Burpee Seed company in 1894 and was grown commercially in California starting in the 1920's. In the early shipping days, the lettuce heads were packed in ice and looked like icebergs, thus the name. With its firm head, it was the only lettuce that could be shipped easily and was widely distributed over the US by the 1940's.  Usually it was the only kind of lettuce that could be found at most grocery stores. 

However, in the last few years, more lettuce varieties have become available and iceberg is being disparaged as nutritional wasteland compared to its darker green cousins. And there is truth to that with iceberg lettuce containing about 1/20 the amount of vitamins of other varieties. Probably because of this knowledge, romaine has outpaced iceberg lettuce in sales to become number one. However, iceberg is still a strong second. Iceberg lettuce may be the guilty pleasure of the lettuce world with its crisp, mild tasting leaves. Nothing holds its crispness better on a sandwich or works better with a big dollop of Bleu cheese dressing.

If truth be told, I prefer iceberg lettuce to the healthier (but more bitter tasting to me) varieties, and it is my guilty pleasure. I was happy that I had an excuse to buy it for this post. :)

Did you grow up eating iceberg lettuce? Do you eat it now?

Sources:

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/tip-of-the-iceberg-our-love-hate-relationship-with-the-nations-blandest-vegetable-9074175/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lettuce

https://www.verywellfit.com/does-iceberg-lettuce-have-any-nutritional-value-2506266

https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2007-07-04-0706290893-story.html