cooking – movingforwardslowly

Miscellaneous Thoughts and Information

I miss my water lilies. We had to totally clean out the pond this spring because the cattails had taken over. It was a mess to clean out, so I am skipping water plants this summer. Next summer I will probably put one in, and closely monitor cattail invasion. Without pond plants there have been very few dragonfly sightings.

Here are 3 pictures taken today of an Ironweed native plant named “Southern Cross”. It is just beginning to bloom. I purchased it out at the historic Abernathy & Spencer Green House & Garden Center in Lincoln, Virginia

My camera card is full of pictures, some I had never downloaded and really looked at. I chose one to highlight today. It is a picture of a North American Green Tree Frog that I took at Huntly Meadows Park in Fairfax County, Virginia. For more information about the frog look here: https://www.virginiaherpetologicalsociety.com/amphibians/frogsandtoads/green-frog/index.php

Since I am not an expert, I am just guessing that it is a North American Green Tree Frog. I provided a link so that you could make your own determination.

Since the full Buck Moon is today/tonight, I did a little research on historical events that have happened around the full buck moon in July. I was surprised to see that the Apollo 11 Moon Landing was close to the full moon (not exactly on the full moon). They listed other historical events, though none appeared to have happened exactly on the day/night of the full moon. I did not do extensive research.

This is one of my favorite t-shirts. I wore it yesterday

I saw the buck moon last night and it was so lovely, it looked full even though it was only almost full. I hope to see it again tonight.

Cranberry bean update– I picked my third full bowl of the beans this afternoon. I have made 2 soups so far…soon to be 3. 🙂

Update 7/30/2026 –5:26 PM-– I did see the moon last night! After I had cleaned up everything for the day and turned off all the lights, I had the thought to check to see if I could see the moon, and sure enough it was front and center skimming the tree line directly in line of my kitchen window. I went outside and right on the threshold between inside and outside I got a beautiful full view of the Buck Moon. Light wispy clouds were hugging it and some moved across its surface, though none could dim its brightness and its beauty.

Family Connections

I have been talking about cleaning projects around my house this summer. My biggest project was cleaning, organizing and updating a few things in my office and sitting area. This is the room I keep my cookbooks, garden books, other books, writing materials, and tech equipment. It also used to contain the old family recipe box I salvaged from our garage a few years back. The old box literally fell apart the other day. At first I was going to buy a new recipe box, however, it did not seem right for what I was going to put in it. I thought surely I must have an old box to transfer the old recipes into. I found this box in my bedroom. I don’t remember exactly how this came to me, though it is from relatives on either my mother or father’s side of the family.

It was very enjoyable going through all the old recipes. It started with an email from my sister asking me if I had grandmother’s cheesecake recipe that used milnot. This is its own story which I will not go into at this time. I did not find one labeled as my grandmother’s, however, I did find one that must be very similar, if not the exact recipe she used. I did find a recipe for a 4-square fudge cake that I had remembered making for my father’s birthday long ago. I have been looking for it now and then over the years and never could find it. Well, it was cut out from a magazine, and I had written at the top of it, Daddy’s birthday cake 1980. Many of the old recipes were not written neatly on index cards. They were cut out from various sources.

I found one old recipe card that I don’t ever remember, and it was very interesting in many ways. At first I thought it was from a local source since it had the name Fairfax in an address on top. I have a long history in Fairfax County, and Fairfax city in Virginia, so I tried to look it up. It turns out it is from an old historic Farmer’s Market in Los Angeles, CA. There is a Fairfax District which is a historic neighborhood in Central Los Angeles. My sister used to live very near to the Old Farmer’s Market, and I do remember her taking me there. I think this recipe card must have been picked up by either my mother or my father, and then made its way into the family recipe box.

Out of curiosity I looked up Marconda’s Meat Market and it is still there at stall 514, though my recipe card states stall 512. They have been open since 1941, so maybe stall numbers changed at some point.

I am making the beef stroganoff today. The recipe card is 2-sided. The veal birds in sour cream recipe made me ask – what are ‘veal birds’? I had to look it up. I will let you do the same if you are interested. I will have to try this recipe in the future. It does sound good.

It’s a small world!

Update 7/27/2026 — I found a picture of the recipe box before it fell apart. Look below.

I still have the pieces. It might be able to be glued back together.

A Lentil Education

I like to spend some vacation time exploring new foods and recipes. This summer is no exception. I have had lentils on my mind since I posted about tasting sea urchin in southern France when I was in my early twenties. The reason lentils have been on my mind is because I have a strong memory about lentils I ate in France when I was on vacation with my sister and her boyfriend. I decided I wanted to try and make them the same way. I have only ever cooked lentils by adding them to soups or stews. The cooked lentils I ate in France were not soft nor were they hard. They were served cold with what I think was olive oil and fresh lemon juice. When I tried to research French recipes for lentils, I was in for a lentil education.

It turns out there is a special lentil called French lentils. They are smaller and rounder and darker than the regular lentils I have cooked with in the past. I think this must be the type of lentils I remembered from long ago in France. I also discovered there are more varieties of lentils than I realized. I added the sushi rice because this was also a new discovery for me. I read an article recently that stated scientists tested different types of rice for arsenic. They mentioned sushi rice (which I had no idea there was such a thing.) They stated it had the lowest levels of arsenic.

I looked up where I could buy French lentils and it turns out that Mom’s Organic Market not far from where I live carries French lentils in bulk. I went there today and was able to find them. I also saw golden lentils and wanted to try them. My eyes surveyed their wide selection of dried bulk items and I found sushi rice! I had to buy some of it. How to make it is another lesson I learned today. I love the internet for looking up foods and recipes even though I have numerous cookbooks.

On another subject— I saw my first hummingbird in our garden late this afternoon. My husband saw it first and called my attention to it. It was in clear view of our kitchen window. I purposely planted two new cardinal flowers to attract the hummingbirds to a location where we could easily see them from inside. The spaceship rose cardinal flower is pictured below. The other cardinal flower is just beginning to bloom in the past couple of days.

This is not a great picture but you can see that this variety of cardinal flower is more pink than red. The other cardinal flower that is just beginning to bloom is a true red. In any case, our hummingbird visitor went to both of them.

Let the Celebrations Begin!

I was planning on an indoor dinner celebration before the extreme heat arrived. I went outside early this morning to give water to areas in my garden. Already it was hot! I am so glad that I am not cooking outdoors today or tomorrow. All food will be prepared inside. I already have cooked a big pot of hearty seafood stew using a variety of vegetables with jumbo shrimp and catfish. I will be making a big fresh salad with lots of red including: radishes, red cabbage, red pepper, and tomatoes. Of course their will be green such as red leaf lettuce, cucumbers, and avocado on the side. My favorite salad dressing will be made using a Good Seasons Italian packet. I am getting ready to make for the first time Anthony Bourdain’s Rouille to spread on toasted organic sourdough bread.

The table is partially set. I put out the big pot with the seafood stew in it for this picture. More preparations will be done today.

We are a small family of three. It will be a small party. 🙂

I included a flower spotlight for today- Rudbeckia hirta -- Lion's Cub.

Closest flower to fireworks that I have blooming right now.

I hope anyone that might read this has a fantastic Independence Weekend!

JULY 4th Update: a couple food pictures.

Food for Father – Summer Solstice 2026

Before this weekend I had not used my Big Green Egg outdoor cooker in 2026. I have been too busy cleaning and organizing inside and outside, trying to make this summer as enjoyable as possible.

The duo of Father’s Day and Summer Solstice occurring on the same day seemed like the perfect time to start my outdoor cooking adventures.

At Food Lion the other day I was looking for some type of beef to cook. I was amazed to see Beef Ribs! The meat department worker was right there putting out meat, and I exclaimed to him, “I can’t believe you have beef ribs. I have never been able to find them before now. I remember my parents preferring to cook beef ribs instead of pork ribs.” The meat department worker responded, “we occasionally get 1 or 2 boxes of them. I put out 6 packages this morning and now we are down to 2. Sometimes one person will see them and buy all of them. Next time you shop here, if you don’t see any, ask the butcher to look in back.”

I decided to also pick up 3 yuca roots (also known as cassava or manioc.) My mother used to make it frequently since her husband was from Paraguay. She would boil it. I have never made it until this weekend. Peeling it and cutting it up is a chore. Then I just covered it with water and boiled it, and drained it. It turned out just like my mother’s. I chose yuca over potatoes or bread because the glycemic index for it is very low, and as a matter of fact, all this food has a fairly low glycemic index. My husband was diagnosed with adult onset diabetes several years ago. He has been very good about eating the right food ever since then. He thought the beef ribs were a little too fatty. I loved them! They were slow cooked at low heat, so the meat was very tender. I used a dry rub for seasoning.

Happy Father’s Day and celebrate summer!

Happy Thanksgiving !

Miss Piggy and her friends give thanks for all their blessings. They will pray at the dinner table. (This is an IA generated image.)

My family and I are having a non-traditional Thanksgiving dinner. I cooked a turkey breast and all the traditional fixings about two weeks ago. I did not want to repeat it so soon. Today we are having Beef Bourguignon with Sopa Paraguaya (which is a hearty cornbread), and a few other dishes. The other day when I was shopping for a red wine to use for cooking the beef I was surprised to run across a cabernet with the name “Katherine”. I stopped with a strange feeling of serendipity. I was currently reading Dan Brown’s latest book, The Secret of Secrets. One of the main characters in this book is named Katherine. Also, the picture featured on the front of the wine bottle reminded me of a black cutout profile picture of me when I was very young that had been artistically framed. My black profile picture has a ponytail much like the one on the wine bottle. The resemblance ends there, though my name is Katherine also. I bought the wine on a whim. I bought another bottle of a different wine to use in my cooking.

This is the picture from the bottle I purchased.

You might be asking why I used a picture of Miss Piggy at the top of this post. I thought it was funny since “piggy” , possibly a relative of Miss Piggy, has been in the news recently. Of course, I was instantly reminded of Miss Piggy whom my daughter grew up with and whom we all love. She had a Miss Piggy doll that was so loved and played with so frequently that eventually I had to throw it out. I was able to find one book, which we still miraculously possess, featuring Miss Piggy.

Here is the book we own. The dirt in the bottom right must be from a pulled off price sticker.

Another interesting side note about Miss Piggy is that she has been featured several times at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. I read that in 2016 she saved Tony Bennett from falling off the float they were standing on.

I hope anyone that might happen to read this has a fun and happy day.
I am thankful for many things. Too many things to elaborate here.

A Growing Appreciation of Okra

Another reason I love the fall is that I enjoy cooking soups and stews this time of year. It is getting cool enough to really enjoy a nice warm bowl of homemade soup. I have been experimenting with a variety of vegetables and cuts of meat with different combinations of broth.

I ate okra for the first time when I was in college. I attended a university in North Carolina, and I ate frequently in the university cafeteria. I first sampled fried okra there, and then became aware of it being put into soups that I would also eat there. After college I went for a long time without eating it because I did not see it in the grocery stores where I shopped. I noticed it years later in the canned vegetable aisle labeled hot pickled okra and it was packaged in a jar. I ate it crisp out of the jar and loved it. I could also find it in the frozen vegetable section in some stores.

In recent years I began to occasionally see it fresh at various farmer’s markets. Within the past year or two I have begun to shop at international grocery stores. I live within an ethnically diverse area, and I am fortunate to be able to choose between a selection of grocery stores that cater to these diverse populations. Two weeks ago I found a grocery store that had the longest freshest best looking okra I have ever seen. I bought a bunch of it and sliced it up and cooked it with a little oil and salt. Later I added some to a vegetable beef soup that I was making. It was delicious both ways. Today I went back to that same store and bought more of it. This time I took a picture with my cell phone.

Okra has an interesting history in the United States, and the reason I first became aware of it in the southern U.S. is because it has a long history there. I read that slaves brought seeds with them from west Africa. I read that the seeds were hidden within the black braids of the slaves. I will show you a picture of the seeds, and you can imagine how this might have been possible.

Recently I saw a picture of home grown okra from a garden blog newsletter. I also discovered that I can buy seeds from a variety of sources. Now, I have another incentive for trying my hand at vegetable gardening again next spring. The okra flower is beautiful which is another inspiration for me to grow it. I read that it is a member of the mallow or Malvaceae plant family. There is green and purple okra you can grow. I don’t think I have ever eaten the purple okra. Now I am curious.

As a side note that goes off the topic of okra, I will post a picture of lychee fruit that I tried for the first time today. I saw a display of exotic fruits and saw a man picking through the lychee fruit putting many into a bag to buy. I asked him about it, and he said that it grew in his backyard in Hawaii. I asked him what it tasted like, and he said sweet, and then he encouraged me to try one. I have never eaten anything without buying it first. However, I did not want to buy any without tasting it. He told me how to pick out the good ones. I tasted one for the first time with his encouragement. I ended up buying a small bag full. Here is a picture