Skip to main content

Featured

September Surprises

It is always a thrill to stumble across a plant that I may have forgotten about or one that does something unexpected. That has happened several times over the past weeks.  First, the vine pictured above is the Eastern Prince Schisandra vine ( Schinensis chinensis ), also known as "Magnolia Vine".  I purchased it in May of 2023 from One Green World in Portland. I don't know what attracted me to it, other than the fact that I'd never heard of it before and the description sounded nice.  I didn't forget about this plant; in fact, it has grown quite vigorously up an archway at the entrance to our woodland path. It shares space alongside the rose 'Lamarque'.  I did forget that it produces berries, so I was surprised when I looked up and saw them dangling over the top of the arbor.  The berries are used in Chinese medicine. They are called the "Five Flavor Berry" and said to have five flavors in one - sweet, salty, bitter, tangy and sour.  Chinese le...

Michael's Southern Home Cooking


I'm surprised that I've never written a post about Michael's delicious Southern cooking. He is an excellent cook. His mamma taught him well! While I consider myself a good baker, I'm not that great at regular cooking and unlike him, I have to have an exact recipe to go by. We went to the Farmer's Market Saturday morning and bought fresh okra. We had okra, peas, fried green tomatoes, corn and of course, cornbread. We only eat like this about once a week, otherwise we would both be the size of the house.

Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy

Comments

  1. Phillip, not only looks wonderful but sounds delicious. Love okra but have not grown it in our vegetable garden... brings back many fond memories of living back east. Tell Michael he can whip some up for us anytime. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. He did learn to cook...just like my granny used to make! Yumm....good stuff!

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a beautiful plate of food and I know it tasted even better than it looks, somehow.

    I love all your fiesta dishes. So pretty. Are they new?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Now I know why you love Michael so much, it is his cooking. YUMMMMMM I can't bake much of anything but I can make a mean dinner. :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Does that look fabulous!! I just had 'Southern' today, LOVE IT!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. That looks like the sort of stuff my Grandma in Arkansas used to make! My family roots are Southern on both sides, and I do love the cookin' down yonder.

    ReplyDelete
  7. This plate envies Paula Deen's and I know...I ate at her restaurant. Now all you need is a glass of sweet tea. I put a sprig of mint in mine..have you tried that? I also stole that idea from PD. Looks dee-licious!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Mmmmmmmmm mmmm! That looks delicious, but I'm not surprised. He always cooked delcious food when I was there.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Fresh mint tea and fresh lemonade mixed half and half. Mary

    ReplyDelete
  10. Looks like a heart attack on a plate, but what a wonderful way to go!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Oh wow..that looks So Delicious!!

    You are a Lucky Man!!

    You are both so talented!

    Hugs to you and hugs to Michael!

    gerri XXXX

    ReplyDelete
  12. It does not get much better than that. I love southern cooking.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment