Seasonal Foods - It's Needs Definition

A friend of mine made Chicken and Dumplins ( Yes, dumplins. I'm a southerner and it's a prerequisite to only pronounce it this way) this week and tagged me in a post about it on Facebook.  I make a bad-ass chicken and dumplins. Bad-ass.  I was taught as a young kid to make it, and it was a staple for us growing up.  It was the one dish that was requested on every year on my birthday.  When I married my first husband, I had to learn how his mother made it. Now my current husband thinks his is better than mine.  He and I both love to cook, that's no secret.  Ahh, comradeship in the kitchen!

Growing up I had no idea there were so many ways to make a dumplin. Some make it with canned biscuits. *gag*  Some roll out their dough flat and cut it.  My mom rolled out her dough and actually put yellow food coloring in the mix to make the who dish seem 'chickeny yellow'....if that makes sense. Some make fluffy dough and drop it by the spoonful into the boiling broth. Some use chicken pieces, some used fully cooked chicken and some use a whole uncooked chicken...like me.  I make a fluffy dumplin, make my own broth and cook a whole chicken. In case you can't guess, this is one of my favorite dishes.

My friend made the crack that she just may have outdone me on her chicken and dumplins.  Don't ever make the mistake of saying that. Ever.

The topic then turned to seasonal foods - like why is she cooking a cauldron of thick hot chicken and dumplins when the heat index is 115 out?   I'll have to copy and paste the direct comments so you can get a feel.


My Friend : just cause it is HOT out doesn't mean i can't make it....... ummm all my food I make is HOT......... do you eat your's cold ....... 


Me : Kimmy...there are winter foods and summer foods. You made a winter food. It's ok. Don't get mad, just accept you made a culinary faux pas. I don't have time to teach you all that I know so we'll start small. This was your first lesson. 


My Husband : No we just try to eat cooler more SEASONAL foods....ya makin' chili tomorrow??? LOL


My Friend : how did you know smart azzzz... and dawn........ why dont you BLOG about summer/winter foods for peeps like me...... and btw i signed up for your blog... he he he


I'll digress from pointing out the multitude of spelling and grammar errors my friend makes.  Most of the time it's natural for her, the rest of the time (when I'm involved) it's to piss off the Spelling and Grammar Nazi inside of me. I've had a few mini-strokes over time reading her posts. Since my friend is confused as to just what seasonal foods are (and not meaning eating cold food in the summer and hot food in the winter), this is for her....at her request.

AHEM...

Seasonality of food refers to the times of year when a given type food is at its peak, either in terms of harvest or its flavor. This is usually the time when the item is the cheapest and the freshest on the market. The food's peak time in terms of harvest usually coincides with when its flavour is at its best. There are some exceptions; an example being sweet potatoes which are best eaten quite a while after harvest.

Here's a chart just to help out visually.
Kim, I suggest you print this out and post it in your pantry for reference.

Seasonal cooking generally refers to vegetables and harvesting of them.  For instance in summer we eat watermelon, but you don't find a lot of watermelon in the winters here.  Just like in the Winter, you don't see a ton of BBQ pits filling the yards with the smell of cooking chicken. Seasonal cooking also pertains to holiday cooking : turkey at Thanksgiving and so on. Chicken and Dumplings is a winter dish given it's thick and heavy texture, not to mention (if you cook it like I do) a pot boiling on the stove top for a very long time.  This is what I try to keep from doing in the Summer.  A boiling pot of anything in our kitchen in the Summer for any extended period of time is a No-No. We don't need any extra heat, thank you!

A soup to cook in summer usually showcases all the vegetables that are in season!  Squash, tomatoes, zucchini....and the wonderful broth those vegetables make. Gazpacho is another summer soup.
This classic cool and spicy soup is full of garden-fresh vegetables. Yes, Kimmie, some summer soups are served chilled.

Winter soups are usually heavy like stews and dumplings. Some are butternut squash soups and heavy creamed soups that serve as a very hearty meal to warm the bones and stick to your gut.

Click HERE to see my Chicken and Dumplin recipe.  Last night, my husband said he and I need a Chicken and Dumplin Cook Off this winter between he and I.  It's on!

Moody How-To : Crackle Nails

**I apologize up-front for these sucky photos. My Canon Rebel EOS is under the weather.  Hopefully will be 'well' soon.**

I'm addicted.  I'll admit it.  Anything new with fingernail art and I get sucked in like a Hoover!

In the early '90s I was crackling furniture. You'd paint a base color and then apply a crackle paint that crackled as it dried.  And was very cool to watch as it crackled.  I crackled stools, tables, chairs, mantles...yeah, I went  little overboard.

Flash to 2011, I discovered crackle nail polish.  Lord, help me.

It's China Glaze Crackle Glaze.  Click HERE to see examples.

China Glaze isn't the only brand.  Click HERE to see Mia Secret colors.

There are so many color combinations you can do with the crackle, since you use two colors on each nail.  Besides it being really cool, it does all the work for you! If you can paint a nail, you can crackle!

I'll mention the base I used, Rimmel London Lasting Finish Pro nail polish. It features professional polished perfection for flawless up to ten-day color and shine.  It has a flat-ish wide brush and I only needed to apply one coat.  I really love it.

China Glaze, Top Coat, Base Coat

This is one coat of Rimmel London Lasting Finish Pro

Base Coat Down

And Applying the China Glaze Crackle Glaze

Voila!

The only CON on this polish, is the drying time.  It takes a while, and even then it's 'sticky' to the touch.  I applied a few coats of clear top coat to assist in the hardening.   I will try different crackle polishes to see if this is the norm of the type of polish, or a manufacturing/brand issue.

Day Trippin' to Galveston

We woke up and wanted to take a day trip to Galveston on Saturday.  Just us girls.  I feel they're growing up so fast and any opportunity I get to have them to myself I grab it!

We got dressed and headed out the door, to rain.  Boo!  But, like I told them, 60 miles to the South it can't be raining!  So off we went!

Our first stop was the cemetery, Galveston's Old City Cematery.  I know, I know.  But I'm morbid like that. I love old cemeteries. Reading the headstones and plots and admiring the creepy statues and mausoleums.  The oldest kid stayed behind, while myself and my little nugget crept around snapping photos.

The history in that cemetery, on Broadway in Galveston, is astounding.  There are war heros, mothers, sons, babies, fathers....  I could have stayed there all day, but the faint call of the kid "I'm hot and it's creepy! Can we go!" cut the visit short.

Off to lunch!  We ate at Fish Tales, as we usually do.  It's always crowded but we don't mind.  As our appetizer came (Fried Calamari) I snapped my kids emolating me....taking photos of food.

Girls after my own heart! :)  As we sat in Fish Tales, I grew sad for a second.  The Flagship Hotel has been around since 1965, built as a show of confidence after Hurricane Carla.  Since 1965, the hotel has served as a sort of dividing point for the Galveston seawall sidewalk, the longest continuous sidewalk in the world. I spent my prom night there in 1989 and as long as I can remember it's been there.  Right there on the Seawall, until Ike that is.

The Flagship Hotel in 1980.

Ike destroyed the hotel and there it sat.

Crews demolish the storm-damaged driveway to the Flagship Hotel in Galveston in June 2010. Landry’s Restaurants is abandoning plans to rebuild the iconic hotel. If the city approves Landry’s plans, an amusement park will be built on the pier. Yay.  Can you taste my enthusiasm?  Maybe it's good for Galveston and revenue and tourism, but it just makes me sad.  I'm the girl that saves the broken earring because it was one that my grandmother wore a few times.  It's memories. I'm a sap.

So after we stared out of the window of Fish Tales to a blank pier where the Flagship used to sit, we ate.  One had catfish hogie, another had fried catfish and I had a cup of gumbo.  All were excellent.

With full bellies we headed out to the Strand.  Another of my favorite places, the Peanut Butter Warehouse, which used to house and sell antiques is no more.  BOO!  It's being rebuilt into condos. It was built in 1895 and was used at one time to store candy and peanut butter. It was 25,000 square feet of shopping paradise that had an assortment of furniture, Depression glass, unusual gifts, Circle E candles, homemade confections, furnishings and antiques. The Warehouse, as the name implied, also sold fresh ground peanut butter.  So, I wipe my pitiful face and move on.

We parked the car and jumped out and made a mad dash to one of the many gift shops - because my littlest nugget saw Hello Kitty in the window.  So we made our way in, got some Hello Kitty items and fooled around.

Then our next stop was our favorite candy/ice cream shop - La Kings Confectionery!

In 1927, Jimmy King began making candy in Houston while learning the trade from 'Old World' candy makers. In 1976, Jimmy's oldest son, Jack, moved his family to the historic Strand, in Galveston, to recreate an old fashioned confectionery. He used the 19th century formulas and methods, handed down to him, using traditional equipment and procedures to make confections.  La King's features a working 1920's soda fountain serving malts, shakes, ice cream sodas, sundaes, splits, floats and your favorite fountain treats.

I love watching the 'soda jerks' in uniform whip up rootbeer floats and old fashioned sodas!  Which is what we had.  My little one and I shared a rootbeer float and the oldest got a good old fashioned Coke.

And by her face you can tell she loved her Coke.  Her exact words were, "THE best Coke in the world!"

And we shared some chocolate dipped honeycomb...

We did some In-And-Out shopping...being goofy and laughing entirely too loud.  But, that's who we are. :)

Then back to the car - but not before I noticed it was my favorite alley way!  I love to photograph in this alley.  Here's some over the years..

Then we drove around the Historical District and gazed at the beautiful and quirky homes.  I was really wishing I could just walk door to door and read all the historical markers.  The idea that someone would open their front door as I'm standing there gawking on their front porch curbed my appetite to do so. Hahaha.

We drove around for quite a while...then we got thirsty. Grabbed a smoothie and drove off to East Beach.  Now, I am not a beach person.  I hate sand and grit and the water with all it's animals you can't see.  Mind you, as a kid I was a mermaid. I lived at the beach and in the water.  We spent every Summer in Bolivar.  However, when an undertoe pulled me down and I was rescued by my brother, I never again set foot in the ocean.  Fear.  It's an asshole.

But I did make it as far as the sand.  And snapped some pics.

Although I've practically grown up out here, I don't get out here as much as I want. Life gets in the way.  I've promised to put a stop to life getting in the way.