Winter citrus

While most of the eastern seaboard has been getting pounded with snowstorms, I have been enjoying beautiful 65 degree F days with clear sunny skies. Last week was a little glum with excessive rain and coastal flooding...but I'll take that over icy roads any day!

This past Sunday I took a 10-mile bike ride across the island. My ears got a little cold but it was fun, and I got to pay a visit to my local fruit stand. The people at the Spanish Wells Produce Market have lived on the island for many years and are of Gullah heritage. They have provided me with local produce all summer and fall, and they are closing for the holidays and for the winter. I luckily made it by in time to buy citrus, turnip greens and local honey.
My Aunt Susan has beautiful Meyer lemon and ruby red grapefruit trees in her backyard in Florida and I had given me more lemons than I know what do do with. After making copious amounts of lemoncello, I decided to barter for some oranges growing in the parking lot at the fruit stand.
I was entranced by these bright orange Christmas baubles tucked into lush dark green foliage. All this festive citrus tree needed was a star on top! The owners were happy to trade with me, the Meyer lemons are now tucked into a holiday lemon pie! I got the best of the deal....I traded 6 Meyer lemons for 15 Valencia oranges. I did do the labor of picking, and did not fall off the ladder.

For the next few weeks I will have delicious fresh-squeezed Hilton Head Island Valencia orange juice. I cannot wait to make mimosas with it Christmas morning. Is there a better way to celebrate the birth of a baby?

On another note about things that can be ingested this holiday season:

My Christmas week will be full of fun animal holiday antics and problems. Here are some of the things I have seen already this week:
1. my dog ate 2 pounds of chocolate
2. my dog broke into the presents and ate unidentified objects
3. my dog ate a poinsettia
4. my dog ate a starter-log
5. my dog ate the bone out of a spiral ham

What is next? I definitely know that I will be eating better things than the aforementioned items!

Tonight's project: honey-sorghum pecan pie experiment, more lemoncello making and valencia orange-squeezing

Foraging...'tis the season

I would just like to comment that I am blessed to live near quite a few large, old pecan trees in my neighborhood. While walking Danger I can take an old paper bag and fill it up with all shapes and sizes of pecans. I don't know enough about the trees to be able to comment on why some are round like little musket balls and others are more football shaped. They are all delicious nonetheless.

Picking around the yard for pecans could be considered a type of foraging, kind of like cattle or goats would do. Its amazing what you can forage for even in your backyard. Many types of nuts may be available in the fall, muscadines could rain down on your trampoline in late summer, or delicious tiny wild strawberries may poke their way between the blades of grass in an abandoned pasture. It may take a little more work than buying the mainstream varieties in the grocery store, but being outdoors and getting a little more exercise is definitely worthwhile.

Any Southerner knows that a Thanksgiving or Christmas table isn't complete without a pecan pie or sweet potato pie/casserole topped with praline pecans. We won't even get into talking about Claxton Fruitcakes....I'll save that for my Christmas blog.

I have been busy today helping my Mom make pecan pies from some delicious south Georgia pecans. I'm also researching some of the older recipes that call for honey or sorghum or cane syrup instead of corn syrup. I'll have to try one soon and have a more "local" pie.

My Grandmother Summerour's pecan pie recipe:
1/2 cup sugar

3 eggs

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 cup dark Karo syrup (corn)

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 tablespoon butter

1 cup chopped pecans

1 deep dish crust (we like Publix brand from the refrigerated section)

Combine sugar, eggs, flour, Karo and vanilla--mix well. Cut up butter into small pieces and distribute along the bottom of the pie shell. Place the chopped pecans into the pie shell and pour sugar mixture over pecans. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes to "let the bubbles out"......then bake in a 375 degree F oven for 20 minutes, then you lower the temperature to 325 for 30 minutes. This baking method prevents the pies from drying out too much. Cool a little bit and enjoy!

Georgia and South Carolina pecan sources:

We're nuts! (Ellis Pecan Company) Vienna, GA http://www.werenuts.com/

Orangeburg Pecan Company. Orangeburg, SC http://www.uspecans.com/

Wade Plantation Pecans. Screven County, GA http://www.wadepecans.com/

If you've never made or tasted a pecan pie, give my grandmother's recipe a try. I think the first thing Doug wants to eat when he gets home is a pecan pie....and maybe some ice cream.

Happy Thanksgiving y'all

Another Thanksgiving has come and gone, and there are many things to be thankful for. It was nice being with my Georgia family for this wonderful day of overindulgence, but I was missing something....Doug was stuck in Japan

For the past few years we have been spending Thanksgiving Day with both sides of the family. It is amazing how similar the recipes are between my mother and father's family. It seems that across America there is a different dressing or "stuffing" recipe for every cook. Both sides of my family do a Southern-style cornbread stuffing, never cooked in the bird. Both include buttermilk cornbread, pieces of turkey giblets, celery, Vidalia onion (that has been hidden in the bottom drawer of the fridge since the end of the Georgia onion season and is somehow still good), poultry seasoning, and occasionally oysters or bacon grease. Sugar is NEVER added to the cornbread. This dressing is always made after the turkey is cooked so you can have the best "drippins" available. Who needs that canned broth stuff right?

Thanksgiving will be very different if Doug and I ever host it in our home. I believe he is from the world of "bread stuffing"....but I think he's open to adding oysters to it. :)

Now that the weekend is past, I must return to healthier cooking and enjoying the bounty this countryside has to offer. I am cautiously using fresh green onions from the garden instead of devouring my remaining 5 Vidalia onions hidden in the bottom drawer of the fridge. Doug deserves to eat them himself when he gets home. Only 7 more months until the next Georgia onion season. I'd rather eat green onions than buy sweet onions from Peru!

Tonight's sandwich included:
Homemade whole wheat flatbread (wheat grown and milled in South Carolina!) with melted herbed goat cheese from the Sweetgrass Dairy, roasted pimento and garlic from my garden (they're still going!!!!) and grilled fresh free-range pork sausage from south Georgia. The side consisted of boiled new potatoes I helped my Mother dig up this weekend in her garden, covered in homegrown parsley and green onion. The salt unfortunatley came from France.

I will note to my veterinary friends in food safety that the pork sausage was cooked to WELL DONE...no toxo here!

Mmmmm dessert: Roasted Georgia pecans with local honey "praline-style", butter and roasted Virginia winesap apple rounded out the evening.

It is super easy to make these "local version" praline pecans. Take 2 cups of shelled, halved pecans and place in a large bowl. Toss until coated with 2 tablespoons of melted butter, 2 tablespoons of honey and a dash of cinnamon. Bake at 350 degrees on a parchment paper lined baking sheet for 10 minutes. mmmm!

More local resources in South Carolina and south Georgia:

Anson Mills. South Carolina heirloom grains. www.ansonmills.com

Thompson Farms Smokehouse. Dixie, Georgia All-natural pork. www.thompsonfarms.com

Savannah Bee Company. Local honey and specialty honey. www.savannahbee.com