First flakes!

[altivo]

Away out here they have a name for rain and wind and fire.
The rain is Tess, the fire's Joe and they call the wind Mariah.

Ack! So Tess was getting antsy due to not having been out of the arena for a couple of days. I debated, because the forecast was gale force winds and possible thundershowers, and the wind was sure blowing. She doesn't much care for high winds, but I decided to risk it anyway. The signs were bad, she was pacing indoors and whinnying, but I figured a bellyful of grass would help, so I took her out. She was a bit spooky going out, especially through the woodlot where the wind was making a lot of noise. Not howls, but rushing and rattling the remaining leaves something fierce. After a couple of time-outs, we got to the pasture and I let her go. The grass distracted her and I figured "Fine," turned on the fence, and went to muck stalls. Half an hour later, with one barn done and one to go, the telephone rang. I had an idea what it was, and I was right. Gary was out in the garden bringing in the remaining tomatoes and beans because a hard frost is predicted tonight or tomorrow. He called on his cell phone to tell me: "It's snowing. You'd better come get Tess." So I went.

Outside the barn it was just a light, splattering rain. The sun was shining through it. However, sure enough, an eighth of a mile north Gary met me at the pasture gate. The snow, or sleet, or slush or whatever it was had pretty much stopped, but an occasional cold pellet of slush was still falling. Nothing on the ground or anywhere visible, but it had apparently been snowing. Tess was already headed for the gate to meet me there, but then the sun came out and she lost interest part way, distracted by the grass again. I made her come in anyway, and by the time we were into the woodlot the wind picked up and she got all spooked again, so it was just as well.

I think Gary brought in at least 20 pounds of green or slightly pink tomatoes. Dunno what we're going to do with all of those. I've not had the best of luck getting them to ripen. Guess I'd better make green tomato pie. There's enough okra for our favorite okra dish, a sort of creole with rice, tomatoes, okra, and spicy sausage in it. Still haven't dug up turnips or beets, but they'll survive a frost OK.

Mariah blows the stars around and sets the clouds a-flyin'.
Mariah makes the mountains sound like folks was out there dyin'.

Mariah! Mariah! They call the wind... Mariah!

Comments

[flamekist.livejournal.com]

Fried green tomatoes with crumbled feta cheese and roasted red pepper sauce sounds like a great way of using up those green ones.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I'm making a green tomato pie right now. Gary loves them. I dunno why, I'd rather have apple or rhubarb myself. But it's easy enough so into the oven with it.

My mom used to make fried green tomatoes. No feta, just dip the slices in breadcrumbs and fry. Then sprinkle with brown sugar and eat. They weren't bad, as I recall.

I also have a recipe for mincemeat that you make from green tomatoes and put up in jars. That one isn't bad either, but needs some fresh lemon peel so I'll have to get a couple of lemons first.

[marzolan.livejournal.com]

I have to agree, though I'm not that fond of Feta. Fried Green Tomatoes are just awesome though.

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

Can you wrap them in newspaper and leave them in a cool dark place? That seems to ripen a few things. Is that Jumbalaya you were making? *sits at the table with a napkin around his neck*

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I've never had luck with the newspaper method. What does seem to work up to a point is just spreading them out on a table at room temperature and waiting.

I'm not sure what the technical differences might be between jambalaya, creole, and risotto. This has rice, tomatoes, green pepper, onion, lots of okra, and cayenne pepper, with slices of smoked sausage cooked in it. The sausage probably should be andouille but that's hard to find around here.

[marzolan.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure that only causes the natural byproduct gasses to increase in concentration which results in a change in color but does nothing to accelerate the actual ripening of the fruit itself.

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

Really? That's what we do with mangoes, it seems to work well :)

[altivo.livejournal.com]

But would the mango do the same without the newspaper? I think they ripen anyway, even in the refrigerator.

People often say to put green bananas into a paper bag so they will ripen, which is the same idea. But I find they ripen anyway, bag or no.

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

I've tried without and in the fridge slows down the process even more.
Perhaps its due to the humidity here but fruit goes off here in summer real quick if left out.

[marzolan.livejournal.com]

The banana one is false. I've seen too many food scientists and chefs denounce it to believe otherwise and tasted too many unripe "ripe" bananas. I can only assume it's the same principle for other lumps of plant matter.

[marzolan.livejournal.com]

Geesh... I'm absolutely jealous... If we were getting snow, even that little bit, the whole area would be in awe... and possibly at a standstill

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Well, it was so little and so brief that probably most people here didn't even notice. Air and ground were too warm for it to last. We apparently got down only to 35F last night, but the real cold is predicted for overnight tonight.

Just in time for fursuit shenanigans. XD

[marzolan.livejournal.com]

Heh heh. Cool weather certainly has its advantages.

[flamekist.livejournal.com]

Yeah, here in Atlanta the entire city shuts down whenever anything frozen falls from the sky. It doesn't seem to matter how little is coming down, just suddenly everyone goes into panic mode.

[marzolan.livejournal.com]

Yep, that's the southeast for you...