Texas Spring/Summer Thread

[jinman]

Is this not a pretty pretty picture?

 

[jinman]

Jim- I cook it in a skillet, butter one side of both pieces of bread. Then build the sandwich in the hot skillet-- Bread. Cheese, sliced tomatoes(the more the better), Cheese, & bread. Let cook till the bread is golden brown then turn and cook till the other side is done.

Disclaimer: What I'm about to post is NOT a heart-healthy style of cooking.

Charlie, when I was about 12 years old, I was mowing my grandmother's lawn and she made me a grilled cheese and bacon sandwich for lunch. After cooking the bacon in the pan, she left bacon grease and added two slices of bread, cheese, and bacon. Then, she flipped one slice of bread on top and kept cooking the sandwich until it was golden brown and the cheese had melted into the bacon.:licking: It was delicious. The toasty bacon flavor in the bread made an impression on me that I'll never forget. After that, any buttered bread just tasted plain.

 

[sseelhoff]

Is this not a pretty pretty picture?

View attachment 327589

Really pretty. We had .5 inches in the rain gauge yesterday. Light sprinkles this morning, but more expected. All Week. Hooray for Rain.

 

[foreman Etexas]

It has sprinkled or steady rained since noon yesterday,it has been really nice. I'll have to wait for actual numbers from neighbor cause I didn't replace my broken gauge,didn't think needed to get in any hurry...

 

[houstonscott]

3.2 measured in gauge this morning. This is great really needed it here. Goats are loving this, pasture may green some after this, and more predicted.


HS

 

[zene55]

We are getting a slow steady rain here in Dripping Springs.

 

[houstonscott]

Nice place!


HS

 

[farmgirl19]

We are getting a slow steady rain here in Dripping Springs.

That's where good vodka is made!

Slow steady rain here, right now too!

 

[jinman]

I'm up to 2.5" and a steady rain is falling. I'm happier than a sunblock salesman at a nudist colony. I went to my garden this morning, just because. I got a bucket full of squash, zucs, and cucumbers right away. I also found two more ****** melons that had turned completely yellow since Saturday. Then, I started looking and tomatoes and my spirits dropped a bit. Now, I don't expect anyone to feel sorry for me because I don't feel sorry for myself, but I have probably 50% of my tomatoes "blowin' up" from too much water. They have cracks radially and around the circumference. I picked two buckets of bigger tomatoes and over a gallon of cherry tomatoes. Lots of them are just starting to turn pink, so I'll let them ripen in the house and make another big batch of salsa. I'll continue my survey of the carnage after the rain is over. Given a choice between perfect tomatoes and rain, I'll take the rain every time, but you can't blame me for being a bit disappointed in these tomatoes as shown in the photos. Several of them are not cracked or not bad, just a bit green.

 

[farmgirl19]

I'm at 1.5", and it is still a steady light rain, off and on, so I ain't complaining! I picked the garden, this morning, and have already managed to freeze or cook most of it! Weather shut down a regular "paying" work day, but there is always plenty to do around here! And I LOVE this weather, so will take the $ hit.

 

[bindian]

We've received about 1/3 inch since this morning around 1:30. All afternoon, thunderstorms get near enough only to hear the thunder die off as it pivots pass me.
hugs, Brandi

 

[bindian]

Jim- I cook it in a skillet, butter one side of both pieces of bread. Then build the sandwich in the hot skillet-- Bread. Cheese, sliced tomatoes(the more the better), Cheese, & bread. Let cook till the bread is golden brown then turn and cook till the other side is done. You can use any of your favorite cheeses, but my favorites are Cheddar or Jalapeno Jack. Another favorite is Swiss and Rye Bread, but as we know it's the tomato that makes this a great meal.

If you don't want to use Butter or Margarine you can spread a thin coat of Mayonnaise on the bread and then grill it, that works just as well.

Great Rain! Started yesterday evening and seems to have rained softly all night long. Will check the rain gauge when it get's light out.

Charlie

Charlie,
So it is a basic grill cheese sandwich with lots of tomatoes added?
hugs, Brandi

 

[Lou66]

Here is a picture of my tomato sandwich with peppers.:licking:. Lou

View attachment 327650

 

[sseelhoff]

The dome is in full effect. Radar shows rain right over us. Nary a drop hitting my dirt. Dag nab it.

 

[jinman]

Here is a picture of my tomato sandwich with peppers.:licking:. Lou

View attachment 327650

Lou, you better tie on a big bib before eatin' those sandwiches. Otherwise you'll get tomato stains on your overalls.

 

[sseelhoff]

Lou, you better tie on a big bib before eatin' those sandwiches. Otherwise you'll get tomato stains on your overalls.

Isn't that why they're called BIB overalls?:laughing:

 

[NativeSon]

Disclaimer: What I'm about to post is NOT a heart-healthy style of cooking.

Charlie, when I was about 12 years old, I was mowing my grandmother's lawn and she made me a grilled cheese and bacon sandwich for lunch. After cooking the bacon in the pan, she left bacon grease and added two slices of bread, cheese, and bacon. Then, she flipped one slice of bread on top and kept cooking the sandwich until it was golden brown and the cheese had melted into the bacon.:licking: It was delicious. The toasty bacon flavor in the bread made an impression on me that I'll never forget. After that, any buttered bread just tasted plain.

Jim-- My grandmother cooked the same way (Bacon grease in almost everything). She was definitley the best "Home-Cook" I've ever seen. She lived to be 95.

Charlie

 

[Bird]

I don't remember how old I was when I first heard of "vegetable oil". I think all my family saved the bacon grease to use for cooking, or used lard. I can only barely remember my parents rendering lard in a big cast iron pot on a wood fire. Then our "cracklings" were a bit different from those pig skins you buy in the grocery store now. And cracklin' bread (cornbread with the crackings in it) was pretty good.

 

[jinman]

Glad to hear you folks are beginning to get rain again.
Also glad the 18 days of rain have finally stopped up here.
At least we have a full pond/tank again and the deer are enjoying doing what they do best.:male::female:
Ron

Ron, your grass and pond are gorgeous. Any place with grass that green and no sprinklers is definitely not in Texas. I don't even think they keep golf course fairways that green around here. That's a lotta grass to mow, but it sure looks appealing.:thumbsup:

We got another .3" overnight, so my total for this storm is up to 2.8". The only way I could be happier is if you folks in central and southeast Texas were getting some of this rain too. All my dry brown grass is starting to have a green hue. Native grasses sure don't take long to green up.

 

[pacerron]

Ron, your grass and pond are gorgeous. Any place with grass that green and no sprinklers is definitely not in Texas. I don't even think they keep golf course fairways that green around here. That's a lotta grass to mow, but it sure looks appealing.:thumbsup:

We got another .3" overnight, so my total for this storm is up to 2.8". The only way I could be happier is if you folks in central and southeast Texas were getting some of this rain too. All my dry brown grass is starting to have a green hue. Native grasses sure don't take long to green up.

Jim,
We had 8" of rain in 18 days and no sunshine in between. I was beginning to think we were in Washington state.
Now we are suddenly in the 90's for the next week so things will dry up fast.
The garden didn't like all that rain. We normally have bushels of green beans from a couple rows. Probably not worth picking this year. Cucumbers are blooming some but we should be making pickles by now. Tomatoes are small and just beginning to ripen. Squash leaves are turning yellow and we have only had a few to eat. Corn is just beginning to tassle.
The black sunflower seeds we planted from the TSC bag are really doing great though. Normally they are about 3' high and this year they are over 6' and just starting to head. We may have to tie them like we do the tomatoes to keep the wind from breaking them off when the heads form.
We actually had a much better garden last year with no rain all summer, just a lot of hose watering.

We were enjoying the reflections in the pond last evening and one of the many 4 legged fertilizer spreaders stopped for a drink. By the looks of his ears his own reflection must have scared him a bit. Kinda like some of us old guys when we look in the mirror to shave once in a while.