Okra and Sunflowers

But of course, I went back to the Farmers' Market Saturday morning. This seems to be a routine that'd be nice to get in to.

This time, though, Howard came with me. No, the city of Memphis doesn't allow dogs at the market, but the downtown vet clinic offers courtesy pet sitting there. How great is that! So on a Saturday morning, Howard got to go for a ride (his first in the Beetle), meet new people, see other dogs, and I got to get more veggies!

And indeed--I picked up more okra! And yesterday, I finally tried it grilled. After all, I was grilling my fresh corn and squash, so it seemed like the right time to try the okra. It was fabulous! It wasn't at all slimy, and it had a great grilled/roasted flavor that I've not had with okra before.

How did I do it? Wash the okra, then simply skewer it using two skewers. Essentially, use two skewers for as many pieces as will fit (but with a little space between each piece), creating a sort of ladder---the okra will be the rungs of the ladder. Doing it this way makes it easier to turn. Brush with a little olive oil, lightly dust with a little salt (I use freshly ground sea salt), then grill! I guess it was on for about eight or nine minutes on each side. Oh---when eating, though, don't eat the very end---it's tough.

What else did I get? This week, I splurged for the fifteen dollar flowers. I asked her to focus on lots of sunflowers with some red flowers thrown in. I love 'em!







Photos here, of course, show the flowers, but they also give you a few more views of the inside of the house. Many folks have asked more about how things look now that I'm all settled in. Well, there ya go! :-) And yes, as the first pic shows, there's Howard, keeping a watch on the front yard.