Pre Wedding Cook Out

I had the privilege of making all the food for my brother’s rehearsal dinner. Actually it really wasn’t a rehearsal dinner, it was a meet and greet, pool side cook out. We had over 30 family and friends come to mingle and enjoy some good southern food. My husband was in charge of grilling the burgers and I was in charge of the rest of the food. The menu consisted of Hamburgers, Veggie Burgers, Baked Beans, Vegetarian Baked Beans, Potato Salad, Coleslaw, Garden Salad, Pasta Salad, Fruit, Spicy Cowboy Salsa, Mild Salsa, Corn Chips, and dessert. Dessert consisted of some Flourless Cupcakes and a fantastic Groom’s Cake that Josh and his girlfriend Donea made.
As you can tell from the menu we had some vegetarians (my parents), but we also had some people observing Lent and Passover. We wanted to make sure we had plenty of food for everyone.
We all had a wonderful time and it was great meeting Tara’s side of the family. I am sorry I do not remember everyone’s names but it was a pleasure to meet everyone. Thank you to everyone who traveled so far to come!

Happy Easter!

Mulberry Jelly

As you can see I decided to make the jelly instead of the pie. But I still have a lot of berries left on the tree, so who knows, my kids may still get a mulberry pie.

I have made plenty of jam, but I have never made a jelly before, so I was excited to try something new. My hubby laughs at what I sometimes consider exciting, he is a Policeman, so his stories are much more entertaining than mine.

Making the jelly wasn't hard, it just took a little more time because I had to squeeze and and strain all the juice and berries so that I wouldn't have any seeds. That was just a personal preference on my part. I could have made jam and not worried about the seeds but, I wanted to try something different. I must say that it was worth the little extra effort. I think my hubby agrees. After he had tasted the jelly, he told me that he was taking a few jars to his office to share with his coworkers. Knowing that my hubby loved it enough to want to share with his friends made me happy. I got the recipe from the National Center for Home Food Preservation. They have tons of other recipes if you would like to check them out.

Mulberry Jelly with powdered pectin

3½ cups mulberry juice Use 2 qts. mulberries* (¾ ripe, ¼ red)

1 box powdered pectin

5 cups sugar

* If all berries are ripe, add ¼ cup lemon juice to fruit juice

Yield: About 6-7 half-pint jars

Wash and rinse jars; keep warm until ready to fill. Prepare lids according to manufacturer's directions.

Sort and wash berries; remove stems. Crush berries thoroughly; heat slowly until juice starts to flow. (Caution: Berries will stain items and hands easily.) Cover; simmer 10 minutes.

Place in jelly bag (I used a strainer and pressed with the back of a spoon) and squeeze out juice. Measure juice, mix with powdered pectin in saucepan.

Bring quickly to a hard boil, stirring constantly. Add sugar all at once. Bring to a full rolling boil, (a boil that cannot be stirred down); boil hard 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; skim off foam with a metal spoon.

Pour at once into clean, hot jars, leaving only ¼ inch headspace. Wipe rims of jars with a dampened clean paper towel; adjust two-piece metal canning lids. Process in a Boiling Water Canner.

Here we go round the mulberry bush…

My favorite tree or plant is usually whatever is blooming or fruiting.
So right now, one of my favorite trees is my “Tice” Mulberry tree. One of the things I love of about that tree is that my kids and all their friends love to go pick fresh berries and eat them straight from the tree. How cool is that. No worries about pesticides, the only thing they have to worry about is someone picking the berries before they can get them or not being tall enough to get that perfect berry. I love that my kids know that we can grow some of our own fruit, not just buy them from the grocery store.


I know many of you are wondering, what is a Mulberry? Well, it looks like a black berry, and it taste yummy. It has its own flavor but it reminds me a lot of grapes. And to tempt you even more, it’s good for you. Mulberries are high in antioxidants. They are also high in Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Iron, Fiber, Riboflavin, Magnesium and Potassium.
I purchased my tree about 5 years ago, and every spring I would get some berries, but never enough to make anything. This year is different. Even with my kids, all their friend’s, some squirrels, and the birds snacking on the tree, I still have enough to try and make something. I decided I would try and make some Mulberry jam. I will let you know how it turns out. My kids really wanted me to make Mulberry Pie, so who knows? Maybe I will enough to try both!

Insecticidal Soap

Southern gardeners have been using a soap and water spray for over a hundred years. One to three tablespoons of 'Kirk's Castile' soap is collected from a cheese grater and then dissolved in a gallon of water—it may take a day or two to dissolve completely. Once it is dissolved, shake the contents and pour it into a spray bottle. You must spray generous amounts. You might need to repeat this process every week because of newly hatched bugs. I have found this to be very affective on aphids and other soft bodied insects.
The only place I have found Kirks Castile Soap is at Publix.
If this process is too much for you new just go and buy some commercial insecticidal soap, which would be available at most big chain stores.

The best type of soap for killing insects is debatable; some recommend pure castile soap like me, but others endorse various name brand liquid dish liquids (most often Dawn and Ivory). Detergents are good choices because they are not affected by minerals in hard water, unlike non-detergent soaps. However, detergents have been known to be more damaging to plants if used excessively. If you choose to use a dish detergent, make sure to rinse your plants within an hour of applying the insecticide. Also, do not spray plants on very hot or humid days, as the plant will be more prone to burning. Always test a small area of the plant that is not too visible before applying and insecticide.

Neem Oil

One of the great things about growing your own fruits and vegetables, is that you control what pesticides (if any) that you want to use. I am not much of a pesticide person but if the bugs get really bad there are a few things I will do.

My first choice is removing them by hand and dropping them in a bucket of water. This is best done in the morning because the bugs are wet from the dew and can’t fly away. If you don’t want to touch the bugs you can try shaking the branch over the bucket or bribing your kids. My kids are usually willing to go on a bug hunt.

Another option is Neem oil. Neem oil is extracted from the nut of the neem tree. I starting using neem oil because it came recommended from other gardeners. I also use it because it is organic and safe if my kids touch it. I got the following information for you at livingwithbugs.com they can it better than I can.

Neem oil insecticide solutions are made by mixing an oil concentrate (usually 3-4.5% azadirachtin) with water. The oil is sometimes combined with insecticidal soap to enhance the activity of both .
Always check the product label carefully but most neem oil insecticides can be effectively used for aphids, armyworms, many leaf-feeding insects such as root weevil adults, leafminers, thrips and whiteflies. Sprays can be used on many vegetable crops as well as spices and herbs, small fruits and berries, stone fruits and tropical fruits. Insecticide applications can often be made up to the day of harvest.

Benefits of neem oil insecticide
• low toxicity, safe for the applicator
• low environmental impact
• organic and biorational
• relatively broad-usage allowed
• easy on beneficial insects and mites
Beside all of the benefits of neem oil the only real downside is that it is not very persistant so may need to be re-applied every few days (see instructions on product label). Many gardeners, however, consider this characteristic to actually be another benefit because neem oil insecticide won't interfere with beneficial insects or delay harvest.

What's growing in my garden?

Because I love to garden, people tend to get ask me what I am growing. I probably have more in my yard the most because I live on almost an acre. But, I try to only plant around the fence line. I like having an open yard for my kids to run around in.
I am only going to list the edibles I am currently growing.

Fruit Trees in my Yard
Honey Murcott Tangerine- Very Sweet and Juicy
Cara Cara Red Navel- slow to produce
Honeybell Tangerine
Sanbokan lemon- Sweet lemon
Sunraycer Nectarine- slow to produce
UF Gold Peach- ton’s of small sweet peaches
Floridabell Peach- Nothing in 2 years, I will probably get rid of it.
Tice Mulberry- the kids LOVE it! Sweet juicy berries right off the tree
Blueberries- can’t remember the variety but they are doing great
Apache Thornless Blackberry- love it!
Ice Cream Banana
Raji Puri Banana
Pineapple
and of course of have some herbs and a few veggies growing.

I know this looks like I am growing a fruit stand in my yard but I promise you I'm not. If you were to come to my yard you would see that most of the trees are blended into the landscape and some of the trees are still small.