Flowers & Farmburgers

Beautiful Morning!

A much welcomed Saturday after such a long week. Today was our day to attend the Atlanta Orchid Society show and sale, an annual event that I never miss. First stop, an early lunch at my favorite place for burgers, FARMBURGER in Decatur. They have the best burgers, aside from actually tasting one of their burgers, the website says it all:

http://www.farmburger.net/

I enjoyed my burger with house-made pickles, beets and pork-belly that was crisp and moist at the same time YUM!

homemade twinkie, better than the original

After lunch , we swung by Dekalb Farmers Market, a place not for the faint of heart on Saturdays. I picked up a few remaining ingredients I needed for the week to come and we survived the food mob. With shopping packed away in the trunk, we were off to The Atlanta Botanical Garden in perfect weather! I made a beeline for the orchid show to see if there were any green & white ladyslipper orchids left for me to take home and was pleasantly surprised to find my favorite orchid dealers had saved me a couple. The orchid sale and show was delightful as usual. Some of favorites today:

Pahiopedilum with multiple blooms

A rather extravagant composition using many ladyslipper orchids, this was the 1st prize in it's category

For more photos of the show: Orchid Show at the ABG, facebook album
The Tulips at the garden were also coming into bloom

I am off course partial to the white ones

Edgeworthia (paper bush) was in full bloom and the smell was intoxicating

espalier pear at the edible garden

Phaleanopsis Stuartiana

My new additions to the collection from the sale

We encountered some heavy traffic and road construction on the way back so a stop at the STARBUCKS was most welcomed. We enjoyed our yummy drinks which came with free mini desserts. I also picked up some interesting perennial groundcovers at the Home Depot on the way home.

new plants: Rock Cress and Snow on the mountain

The weather was still lovely when we got back and enjoyed listening to the birds at sunset. The plants are starting to put out lots of fresh growth. Spring is almost officially here!

It got dark soon. I taught a quick piano lesson and re-potted my new orchids afterward

My slowly maturing Pahiopedilum I got at the show a year ago, still in continuos bloom since I got it

A busy week!

Socrates:"I'll keep an eye on those birds while you clean the house"

A busy and productive week so far. In addition to piano lessons and rehearsals all week, Wednesday was spent organizing the pantry for the upcoming week long "cookathon" and also doing some Spring cleaning to get the kitchen ready. Thursday was devoted to the gathering of ingredients from "your" Dekalb Farmers market, Trader Joes & Sevananda. I am looking forward to cooking with ingredients like millet flour, quinoa, sorghum flour and chia seeds. Sing with me now: "chi chi chi chiaaaa!".

  

But as chores go, they are always more pleasant if preceded with a hearty breakfast. On Wednesday, we started the day with a "fancified" oatmeal breakfast. I made Irish Steel-Cut Oats with dried Michigan sour cherries(gift from Kathy), cacao nibs and maple syrup.

In addition to the oatmeal we had fresh pineapple and navel oranges and toast with butter.

And to drink, my current favorite tea, mariage freres Earl Grey.

Those cherries are amazing!

 After breakfast, it was pantry organization, houseplant maintainence and dusting followed by piano lessons, Ash Wednesday service, choir practice and meal planning and shopping list writing.

a place for everything and everything in it's place

On Thursday, it was a quick cup of tea and slice of toast and we were off. First stop was Panahar Bagladeshi Lunch buffet for "fuel". Then it was a cart full of food including 3 cases of fruit(mangoes, asian pears and satsumas) from Dekalb farmers Market, another cart full from Trader Joes and more from Sevananda. We managed to beat rush hour leaving the city and I got home in time to unload and organize everything before heading off to Willy Wonka rehearsal, we are one week to opening night! 

I definitely needed some extra "unwinding" after such an exciting day. Luckily I thought ahead and picked up some not too sweet apple tarts from the Farmers market. Also found a new Trader Joes tea to try so it was definitely time for "11pm tea".

Lot's of thin sliced apples, almost as good as "Apple Normandy" from Alon's

Country Living arrived today, perfect end to the day

Apple tart was not too rich and tea was lemony and bright. I am now ready for Friday, beginning with 8am call time for accompanying at a Literary meet followed by piano lessons and later in the evening Willly Wonka flying rehearsal(should be very entertaining). Somewhere in there, I plan to catch a nap.

Pahiopedilum Primulinum(a species orchid from Sumatra) this morning with the next bloom opening. When the newer bloom opens fully, the older bloom drops.  I got this rom the AOS show last year and it has been in bloom ever since.

I am looking forward to attending the the American Orchid Society show and sale this weekend. It starts tomorrow and runs till Sunday. So much excitement for the next few days!

Orchid & Violas, Shrimp & Grits

Yesterday(Sunday) was quite along day beginning with an early morning piano lesson, followed by church and then accompanying at a recital all afternoon. After the recital, I was able to pop into Publix for groceries. I spotted some lovely wild Georgia shrimp at the seafood counter and had to get some.  I decided it would make a lovely brunch somehow. Today ended up being a busy day with an extra piano lesson, phone calls to make and a few other chores around the house. The morning just got away, so much for brunch. Instead it was a quick breakfast of tea and toast. Luckily there was a little time left in the afternoon before Willy Wonka rehearsal for a quick meal and I decided to make shrimp and grits. One of my favorite meals because:
1. It is delicious and 2. It takes less than 30 minutes to make.

The collards in the back yard were ready to harvest so I decided they would be a nice green vegetable to round off the meal.

One of the ingredients I always keep in the freezer is stone ground grits, very handy for occasions such as today when I am suddenly inspired to make shrimp and grits. My "go to" recipe fro grits is from the LEE brothers southern cookbook. Perfect grits every time!

The grits take about 25 minutes to cook so I always get that going before the shrimp. Milk and water is brought to a boil and then grits are poured in gently and stirred.

For the shrimp, a few simple ingredients is all you need.

sliced onions

 

I usually add a splash of white wine to the shrimp but did not have any on hand today so decided just to leave it out.

 

Shrimp is sauteed with olive oil alongside the onion. The salsa and capers are added, if white wine is being used, now is the time to add it. While shrimp is cooking, the baby collards are shredded and steamed.

A sprinkling of Cajun seasoning gives it some spice.

freshly grated parmesan adds a nice finish to the shrimp

Dinner under 30 minutes!

Shrimp and grits was done in a jiffy, leaving some time for a quick cup of tea before rehearsal. I was in the mood for a smokey tea and went with the KEEMUN black tea.

every cup of tea needs a sidekick

Picadilly biscuit & homemade macaron

One thing I got done today is to sort through a few magazines. I had what I called a "magazine moment" today while plotting my seed starting plan for Spring. I have been saving my breakfast egg shells with some sort of project in mine and found my answer in County Living.

This looked like an interesting way to start seeds. I will give it a try and report back in a few weeks

 

Today was a rather overcast day but the plants outside did not seem to mind. The violas and pansies looked very refreshing.

Thalia Daffodils making progress

Indoors, I tended to the orchids and decided to make the orchid tray more airy with less dogwood branches.

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Orchids less a few dogwood twigs.

close-up of orchids in living room

For my after rehearsal snack, leftover creme brulee:

A nice dessert to energize me for the busy weeks ahead. There will be fewer post in the next couple of weeks because opening night for Willy Wonka is in 8 days and I will be busy with catering all next week. I will be taking a semi hiatus from blogging but will be back with frequent post once it is all over.