Citrus in the Sun – this is January in Charleston, SC!

Potted green plant, looks like oranges, orange fruit, a type of lime, sunshine in january, charleston sc

Believe it or not, these are not a variety of oranges. They’re limes. I don’t recall the name on the tag, I’m thinking they may be mixed with orange/lime? Interesting, hmmm? When I saw how the sun was hitting the fruit I had to take a quick snap. You see these mainly planted in large (gorgeous) containers. We’ve seen them at a few places we’ve visited. Stunning for sure!

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Plentiful Butterflies…

The butterflies are plentiful right now. Around certain plants they were swarming at this local nursery/design shop. They have gorgeous plants and flowers and the butterflies really gravitated towards some of them. To the point they were all around my head, ha ha. Just looking out of our windows I’m see so many, all different colors – just beautiful!

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What to do with your garden’s bounty? VEGGIE PASTA! Dinner this eve…

The stars of the show...

Are you wondering what to do with a garden full of fresh veggies? Here is one quick and easy idea. What’s better is that this can be made with whatever you have on hand each day, so it’s completely different! Mushrooms, celery, walnuts, chicken, shrimp, hey… whatever you have will work! For this evenings meal, I have a zucchini, part of an orange pepper, some cremini mushrooms and some onion. Like I said, use what you’ve got…

Throw on a pot of water while you cut up the veggies. I like them cut small, my mom cuts big, it really doesn’t matter, do what you like (isn’t that liberating??)… Heat a skillet (you can use non-stick, I prefer a regular skillet or a cast iron skillet) with some olive oil, enough to lightly cover the bottom (don’t be too chintzy, you’ll need it to coat the pasta), toss in the cut up veggies (once you hear a SIZZLE when you slide a piece into the pan, cook it on medium high until it starts to get lightly brown… owwwwieee. you’re getting close to heaven now… won’t be much longer. Go ahead and toss the pasta into the boiling water. I usually use angel hair (capellini) because it cooks so quickly! Once the pasta is done, drain it well then toss it into the pasta and stir around. Turn the skillet off. I use tongs to coat the pasta with the oil and veggies. I realize I’m not giving amounts here, use what you like and whatever amount you like. You see what I used and that was for two people. I probably use about 1/3+ of a package of capellini… then sprinkle with PARMESAN… woohoo… you can also add fresh basil or any other herbs along the way. It’s hard to mess this up. It will become a go to meal when you can’t think of anything else to make (or don’t have time).

Tada... Dinner is served!

And there you have it… dinner is READY! As you can see in this picture I added a fresh cut up tomato.

Another option to change things up a bit… once the veggies are done, add the cooked/drained pasta, then add a few spoonfuls of PLAIN REGULAR yogurt (flavored is weird and Greek yogurt is too thick), stir it in with the veggies and pasta, then (hold on to your hat, this is the best part…) grate some pepper jack cheese over the top… throw a lid on top of the skillet just until the cheese melts… oh heavens. Tasty!

Catch you back here tomorrow!!