More Spring Flowers - Guess! - Revealed

Flower 1 - Thyme
Flower 2 - Sage


Some more Spring Flowers for your viewing pleasure. You are welcome to take a guess as to what plant the flowers belong to.

Beautiful aren't they? These pretty tiny light purple flowers? Flower 1:

How about these? Flower 2:

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Guess! - Revealed

The flowers are beautiful aren't they? They are splashing their color among all the spring green colors. The kale and collard survived the cold and snowy winter and came back bright and green in Spring. I am planning to harvest the seeds and let's see how that goes.

Collard flowers - Flower 1

Kale flowers - Flower 2

Guess what plants these 2 flowers belong to?

Flower 1

Flower 2

The flowers are from two different plants.




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Guess Revealed - Snake Gourd Seeds!

Guess what these are!

Snake Gourds!
The color is pretty amazing right? Though they look very similar to Bitter Gourd Seeds they are Snake Gourd Seeds.

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Guess! - Revealed!

Guess the Vegetable!

Hint: The vegetable has something to do with swimming.

The vegetable is indeed Bottle Gourd. This is the kind that has skin that is really thick. The bottle gourd that is usually available here in the US is the one where the skin is really thin. These thick skinned bottle gourds once dry are used as floatation device using which is how I learned swimming.

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Blueberry Ice cream for breakfast? Guess the ingredients!

Who doesn't like to eat ice cream for breakfast? I certainly do. No freezing, no cooking. Simple and Easy. Can you guess the ingredients that went into making this breakfast item what looks deceptively like ice cream?

Case of mistaken identity - Guess this vegetable? Revealed and a Curry

OK! I had these creepers growing all over the garden. I weeded out quite a few of them. The seeds I am guessing came from the compost pile.

I thought it was one vegetable turned out to be quite another one altogether. The sad part it is not the first time it has happened to me.

Can you guess what the vegetable was mistaken and what it really is?

You know what?

Update:
Most of you guessed it to be squash or bottle gourd which is exactly what happened to me though the thought of squash did not enter my mind.

I thought that the vegetable was a bottle gourd. The reason why I harvested it way before it was ready :( I realized it was a butternut squash only after I cut it in half. It still had the characteristics of a butternut squash, creamy and slightly sweet and it went into making a simple curry with some black eyed peas.

Case of mistaken identity - Guess this vegetable

OK! I had these creepers growing all over the garden. I weeded out quite a few of them. The seeds I am guessing came from the compost pile.

I thought it was one vegetable turned out to be quite another one altogether. The sad part it is not the first time it has happened to me.

Can you guess what the vegetable was mistaken and what it really is?

I made...

Not very original I know,

Some readers of this blog correctly guessed that I made tomato thokku pickle. The trick to make tomato pickle last for a while without refrigeration provided you don't finish it off for that long is to really cook the tomatoes till they are almost roasted. Bright red to almost maroon color.

Once you have the tomato pickle, they can be used as a spread for toast or sandwich, mix for steamed rice, used to make fried rice and as a dip when mixed with yogurt.

If you have an abundance of tomatoes go ahead and give it a try. Set aside about 1 - 1 1/2 hours and that is how long it takes to get some totally tasty pickle.

Use any of the recipes listed here,

1. Tomato Pickle

2. Green Tomatoes Pickle

What did I make....

with these beautiful tomatoes from my local Lancaster Dutch Market?

What do you think ...

of this picture?

Courtesy: The Washington Post

The picture was taken during the floods in Thailand. What is the first thing that strikes you when you see this picture?

Think a little deeper more in the angle of renunciation, possession.

Guess and a Commentary

If you watch any kind of news you could not have escaped the spectacle that was taking place in Iowa. It was a display of all that is ugly and wrong with the Republican Party and by extension America. Why do a few places like Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and the very few who vote in these primaries have so much power in electing the candidate for President?

While the President was taking a mid-west tour on his Darth Vader mobile the Republican candidates for President were out mouthing each other. Mitt Romney equates corporations with people, Bachmann says submission means respect and the God who asked her to run for Congress only knows. Seriously woman you got to be kidding. Read this article on Bachmann if you have the patience. As for Rick Perry who has problems with evolution and would rather secede from the Union, and write laws that support his friends in the industry as governor of the great state of Texas now wants to take that logic National. Remind me again how on earth did America become a technological leader with people like this who are supposed to be leaders?

I don't have the patience and pity all of us who have to take this nonsense for the next 15 months. The sad thing is we have no choice. We have the current president to blame for people like Bachamann and Sarah Palin for thinking they could be Presidents. If he who spent his time in the Illinois senate and the US senate doing nothing and with no leadership experience whatsoever can become the President by the simple fact he was at the right place at the right time. Why can't Bachmann or Palin dream?

America is in a serious fiscal crisis and none of these fools look like they can set the country on the right track while we have another year of the current President's term to deal with. Wall street and business just need to sneeze an he will be running to set their problems straight. You can get his ear too, if you can afford the $35,000 for a plate of food at one of his fundraisers. Or you could be rich enough to be wining and dining at Martha's Vineyard his favorite vacation place.

How does the political drama make you feel? Or you'd rather guess what plant this flower belongs to?

Quick and easy snack - Popping Corn and a Guess?

Guess

What flowers are these?

Popcorn was once a snack available only in the movie theater. Some smart entrepreneur packaged it to be sold on the street just like pori(puffed rice) and roasted peanuts.

Here in the US the ubiquitous Oriville Redenbacher just did not cut it in the taste or the pleasure department. This was the only option until DH's friend popped some tasty spicy popcorn in his kitchen. To this day that is the only kind of popcorn that is worth eating for me.

It is a very easy process and dare I say a lot better without the added sodium and butter that is a feature of most packaged popping corn. I like the smaller kernels which are far more tastier IMO.

Popcorn
Ingredients
1. a little more than 1/4 cup popping corn (about 3 quarts of popped corn)
2. 3 tsp oil
3. 1 tsp chili powder
4. 1/4 tsp turmeric powder (optional)
5. a sprinkling of salt

Method
1. In a heavy bottomed pan with a lid big enough to hold all the popped corn, heat the oil and when it is warm add the salt and chili powder. (Do not overheat the oil)
2. Quickly add the corn and spread it around so it is in a single layer. Do not overcrowd.
3. Place the lid and set the heat on medium
4. Takes about 6-8 minutes for all the corn to pop. The popping sound is frequent and when it becomes lower in frequency switch off the heat. Remove the lid and let it cool.

Enjoy with a matinee movie :)

Guess this fruit?

I had to beg DD a soccer player herself is bitten with this World Cup Soccer fever to take some pictures. She finally obliged! We don't have cable TV but no worries espn3.com to the rescue with live streaming of matches which are not on ABC. Connect the computer to the TV and there is absolutely no difference.

What fruit am I?

What am I going to be cooked into?

Where did the fruits come from?

Guess the fruit ?

What fruit am I?

What is it going to be made into?

Thanks to my wonderful neighbor!

Guess Revealed! Finally!

I got impatient with the cantaloupe plant and harvested the fruit before it was time. But the tender fruit tasted crisp and sweet with the texture of a cucumber.

So a Cantaloupe it is!

Kudos to all of you who got it right.

Guess!

Does TLC help the garden grow better? I certainly think so. I am not sure if it was the weather or my absence that made the garden suffer! (I sure have high confidence in my abilities as a gardener don't you'll think?) The yeild has been much lower than usual and I have chalked it up to DH not giving the plants the TLC they deserved.

the flower

This plant is one that had started flowering early June but the bunnies that have multiplied exponentially kept chopping them off before they could turn into fruit. But surprise I notice a fruit hidden among the leaves of the eggplant plant.
Can you guess what vegetable or fruit this is?

the fruit

While you guess I am off getting a delicious seafood recipe ready.

Guess!

What Place?

What Flower?

It has been fun while it lasted but now it is time to get back to the daily grind. Meet you soon from the other side of the world.