The azaleas are blooming, as are the Red Bud trees and other white-flowered trees (ornamental pears?). And, the grass is greening up.
Unfortunately, I’m seeing all the azalea and other blooming colors from the inside of my moving car as in our new little neighborhood just has newly planted flowering shrubs.
Mine are white, which will be really pretty against my seafood green house with its white trim in a year or so.
I fertilized and have been watering these plants as azaleas are shallow rooted.
If you want to see some spectacular photos of blooming azaleas in South Carolina, here’s a nice link:
https://www.shutterstock.com/search/azalea-south-carolina
I have two new cooking adventures over the weekend.
Son Bryan has a Traeger wood-pellet smoker/grill, and Saturday night he grilled a marinated boneless leg of lamb on his smoker. His marinade included garlic, rosemary from his garden, olive oil, and salt. And while the meat rested, he grilled fresh asparagus. Corinne, meanwhile, made mashed potatoes.
Can I just say that this lamb was the best I have ever eaten. It was perfectly done inside and was tender and totally delicious. Sadly, I did NOT get a picture of this awesome family meal as I was too busy enjoying this family. But, the whole Traeger wood pellet smoker/grill was totally new to me. The pellet hopper automatically adds the pellets to keep the set temperature constant.
Saturday night at Mike and Tami’s, 14 people sat down for dinner: 4 adults (two grandmothers and 2 parents) and the rest ranged from 15 years to college freshmen. It was so fun to be amongst this energetic and happy crowd. M&T had BBQ with all the fixings, and Mike had also made extra side dishes, to include two platters of roasted veggies and a big salad.
I’ve never seen veggies done this way in big pieces. They were delicious! I came home with some of the leftovers. They are so pretty when cooked too.
There were many different BBQ sauces on the table as many of these folks had their own favorites. A new one to me was an Alabama white BBQ sauce made from a base of mayonnaise and horseradish, mixed with spices. It can be sweet or sour, or both, with varying degrees of hotness. There are many recipes online.
OK, that’s three new cooking adventures.
I’m stuck in the house today until my new grill arrives, with free shipping and already assembled included. Do I dare hope it actually will be assembled?
Bryan had an extra propane tank which he gave me. He told me to go to a local hardware store which will fill it FULLY, unlike, he says, getting a partially filled tank from the box stores.
Who knew?
Louisa Enright's Blog 