Archive for the 'Of Interest' Category

Homemade Shrimp Gumbo with home grown Okra

Published on August 30, 2010 in Of Interest. 0 Comments

This was my first attempt to make a homemade gumbo. I have wanted to try for the longest time and finally did it. I must say, It turned out better than I ever imagined. My inspiration for making the gumbo was to use the okra from my garden. After getting some basic tips from friend Lisa in Santa Monica, this was originally going to be more of a etouffee recipe. Then everything changed……

Okra on the vine…..

A little Jalapeno Pepper from the garden too….

Making the gumbo rue was a bit challenging ….but it turned out great! My goal was to make a Gluten Free rue. Never making gumbo before, I knew this was risky; then adding a Gluten Free rue to the mix?

I have never seen it done before,  am I nuts for trying this? Oh! What the heck?

Well….I used Bob’s Brown Rice Flour (Stone Ground) and a good quality Extra virgin olive oil.

Using my large (and I mean large) soup pot, I added a near inch thick base of olive oil. So when my friend suggested only a table spoon of flour. I think she thought I was using a tiny little 4-5″ dia. size pot.

So here we go….whisking a way…..whisk and whisk and whisking away……Okay! Why won’t this rue thicken ? I kept asking myself.

This is getting ridiculous! So I added more flour….and more flour…and whisking till my arm felt like it was gonna fall off. Then finally! This rue went from a golden brown to a very dark, almost chocolate brown right before my eyes.

Beautiful!  And it was much thicker by this time. So I added the sliced Purple onion, Garlic and Cherry Tomatoes.  The rue immediately turned into a paste type substance. There was so much rue paste, I was able to fill two large, more than a pint size containers and stuck them in the freezer for a later day.

I used approximately 1 and 1/2 cup of rue paste to make my gumbo. Stirring frequently, I poured a little bit of water at a time, and continued stirring and adding water until the paste had totally dissolved. Let it simmer for about 20 minutes, then I added my veggies and seasoned to taste. Sea salt, Cayenne pepper, a large bay leaf, Thyme from my garden, and a little “Old Bay Seasoning” (suggested for any seafood recipe) and a lot of garlic (at least 2 cloves)

A dab of red wine to finish it off, then added the fresh or thawed frozen shrimp (with the shell and tail), very important for adding flavor.

I Turned the stove to a lower heat and simmered another 10-15 minutes

Instead of making brown rice, I decided to make creamy mashed red skin potatoes. I spiced them up by adding 1 teaspoon of horseradish.

Something about a slight flavor of horseradish with a shrimp gumbo.

Just out of this world!

Bon appetit! Truly the best thing I have ever tasted.

You try it!  If I can do it ….so can you :)

Propagating a Pachira Aquatica-Money tree.

Published on August 8, 2010 in Of Interest. 0 Comments

Pachira Aquatica- also known as Money Tree, Guiana Chestnut, Water Chestnut, Malabar Chestnut.

Family: Bombacacea

This plant is well known in Feng Shui and brings good luck, representing the 5 fundamental elements.

Earth – Wood – Water – Fire – Metal

Even though I do believe in Fend Shui, I am a huge believer  in the Law of Attraction. In either case, this plant brings a positive aspect to any space. After much research, I could not find a successful attempt at propagating this plant from a simple cutting.  There were many people growing one from seed, there were people trying a complicated method called Air Layering, which involves several steps that include a partial cut, adding a sliver of wood and sphagnum moss, twine, then add plastic wrap and electrical tape. Then you would have to wait anywhere from 60 days to several months to see roots develop. YIKES!

I said …”Forget That”! I bet I can propagate this plant through a simple clean cutting and a good soil mix.

6-8 weeks ago, I took a small terracotta herb pot and filled it with a combination of Rose soil (for drainage) and Sphagnum peat moss. Good for developing root systems.

I used a very sharp pruning knife, cut a piece at a slant and dipped the cutting in a bit of local honey. Organic honey makes for good root hormone solution. No need for synthetic powders.

I then installed the end of the cutting in the prepared soil, strategically placed a couple of small pebbles to stabilize the cutting, gently watered it and cross my fingers.

Look! it worked!

A new entity of life has begun, what a good feeling of accomplishment.

It is Hurricane season…be prepared.

Published on July 6, 2010 in Of Interest. 0 Comments

Be Prepared
“Preventing the loss of life and minimizing the damage to property from hurricanes are responsibilities that are shared by all.”

Hurricane Season: Are You Prepared? Now is the time to research and gain information on what actions you can take based on specific hurricane hazards. The most important thing that you can do is to be informed and prepared. Disaster prevention includes both being prepared as well as reducing damages.

One of the most important actions a home owner can take now is to trim or prune surrounding trees. After Hurricane Ike, many of our trees in Houston suffered tremendously. Ike created such stress that we are still seeing the effects today, making our trees vulnerable to disease and weakness. The best thing right now before the next major storm is to prune or trim off any dead or weak branches. Make sure there are no weak or brittle branches that could fall on top of a roof, yours or a neighbors, creating severe damage.

Disaster Prevention should include:

If you need expert advise on your landscape, need tree work done or just need a general clean up or maintenance, please contact Leyendecker Landscape at: 713-426-0649

Be safe !

Propagate your own Pineapple

Published on May 29, 2010 in Of Interest. 2 Comments

Have you ever wanted to try growing your own pineapple ? This took some time but it was not hard.

After your next pineapple purchase, Cut off the top and give yourself a good 1 and 1/2″ to 2 ” from the top down.

Use a sharp pruning knife to carve all the excess pineapple off. Get to the stem and root of the plant.

It is a dense mass. Just make sure there is no fruit left on the mass, this will cause fermentation and rot.

Cut about 3 layers of foliage off to give plenty of room for the roots to develop.

Then use a mason jar and fill it with clean water. Allow for the root mass only to submerge in the water.

To prevent rotting of the stem,  consider the area just above the main mass, where the foliage was that you pulled away. Remember, you just want the root mass to be in water.

Look at all those roots! Strong, Clean and Off  White in color.

Use a mixture of Rose soil and Sphagnum Moss. 75% Rose soil and 25%

I like to add a little Micro-Life fertilizer to the soil mix. It comes in a granular form, so it is slow release.

I encourage you to give this a try. It is a bit of a process but it is not a hard thing to do.  Pineapples make great indoor plants near a window or outside. Let me know how it goes :)

Container Gardening with some new goodies for Easter

Published on April 3, 2010 in Of Interest. 1 Comment

Today is a good day for container gardening. I am very excited to share two new plant varieties that I recently discovered. The first one I shall introduce is called “Drimiopsis Maculata” or “Little White Soldiers”.

A deciduous bulb from South Africa and in the Hyacinthaceae family. Likes to be planted in well drained soil in a light shade to partial sunny place. Another name for this bulb is “African Hosta” even though it is not in the Hosta family, it grows well in the South and through out Texas (Zones 8-10) and does not get devoured by snails like the Hostas.

This little gem prefers to be a bit dry and can take very cold temperatures. It makes for a great container plant or try it in a rock garden, just remember to divide it every few years.  A spring bloomer and 1 plant will reach 1 foot tall by 1 foot wide.

Next….

We have the Yellow Butterfly Amaryllis.

We know this as a Hippeastrum genus. The species, we are not exactly sure.

“Hippeastrum” is greek for “Horsemans Star” or also know as “Knight Star”. The Dutch were the first to commercially grow this lovely bulb back in the 18th century. It also makes a great container plant or try it in the garden.

Again, I am not sure of the genus but I will challenge anyone to correct me.  I am going out on a limb by calling this a “Miniature Papilio”  I am betting this beauty has been crossed with both Cybister and Single flower.

Looking forward to any input on this one.

Happy Easter everyone!

All the photography was done by Debora Smail at Reality Photography.

www.realityphotography.net

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