Sunday, October 2, 2022

Starting October

 

Passionfruit Flower

The garden didn't like being downgraded to a rating of 6, I guess, because, this morning, the passionfruit vine sported 6 or 7 flowers!  Most of them are on upper vines that I couldn't photograph well, although  I tried:

Two Passionfruit Flowers, Side by Side

There are several buds, too, on the vine, so I am hopeful that there might be some passionfruits to be harvested next summer!

Oh, and I also found two oranges hiding among the leaves in the orange tree!  They are still small and green, but, hopefully, they will ripen - one for me and one for my daughter!

Yesterday, Saturday, was the start of the month of October.  I opened a new bag of rice and made milkrice for brunch, with freshly made seeni sambol (sweet and spicy onion relish).  Later, I took a packet of chicken curry from the freezer and kept in the fridge to thaw for later in the week.  I also took the turkey carcass I had in the freezer and made turkey stock to make soup.  I kept the stock in the fridge overnight - I will defat it, today, and make the soup, using vegetables I have on hand in the fridge and freezer.  There will be turkey-vegetable soup on the meal plan, next week, plus some to share.  

For dinner, I cooked salsa rice - there was a jar of salsa in the fridge with about an inch of salsa left in it, leftover from when my daughter was home.  I added the salsa to the rice I was cooking and it made my version of Mexican rice!  There were two more pieces of the sauteed chicken drumsticks left in the fridge as well, so, I re-sauteed them with some onions and frozen green peas to have with my rice.  Somehow, I ended up with more leftovers!  LOL.

It was cloudy in the morning, yesterday, but, sunny in the afternoon.  It was a much cooler day, with a high of 79F.  

Today, Sunday, is sunny with a high of 81F.  I had leftover milkrice and seeni sambol for brunch and did a tour of the garden.  Something has eaten all my sweet potato leaves!  I suspect the mourning doves!  Or, maybe it was the possums.  I'm hoping that there will still be some sweet potatoes to harvest.

This weekend, I am grateful for:
- Finding two oranges (still small and green) on the tree!
- Passionfruit flowers (and the potential for fruit)
- Sunny, cooler days
- Frugal meals from leftovers
- Chats and emails with family and friends

Joyful activities have included watching some online videos and walking in the garden.

Hope you are enjoying a lovely weekend.

20 comments:

  1. Salsa rice! I must try it when I have salsa next time. :)

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  2. September went really quickly. Just seems like yesterday you were preparing milkrice for the beginning of the month!

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    1. I hope October slows down a little bit! I need to really organize my days to get things done!

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  3. The salsa rice was creative. I sometimes like to add something leftover to the crockpot, for example I might put water into an empty mustard container, shake and add the liquid to the pot. It amuses me that we would never see adding salsa, or mustard rinse water in a gourmet recipe on-line!
    I'm still enjoying not cooking, as we travel home and eat at airports and on planes!

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    1. Thank you, Bushlady; it added a little extra flavor to the rice and it was a good way to use it up. I could have added it to the soup, too. I like your idea of adding the mustard rinse water to something that is cooking. Why not?
      Enjoy your break from cooking as you travel home. Safe travels!

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  4. September really did fly by. I'm sure your garden wasn't happy at being downgraded and chose to surprise you. Fingers crossed your two oranges will ripen.

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    1. LOL, the garden is saying, "Hey! I'm trying my best!" I hope October will be a kinder month for the garden. I also hope that October will slow down a bit!
      Hope your day is going well, Eileen. :)

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  5. Good for the garden for protesting that low rating!!

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    1. LOL. The back garden is not doing too badly; it's the front garden that is a disaster!

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  6. The passionflowers look so beautiful. I'm going to have to try the salsa rice - sounds perfect for me!

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    1. The flowers are short lived, open for just a day, but, they are very pretty. The salsa rice makes a nice change from regular rice. :)

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  7. See, the garden is telling you to be patient! what a lovely surprise, finding the two oranges as well as the promise of some passion fruits next year.

    September disappeared in a flash so I'm hoping the same as you, that October slows right down. The clocks change at the end of the month and I'm in no hurry for the days to shorten and the darker nights to be with us again.

    You mentioned that you are thinking about going out occasionally, starting with a visit to the Temple, and I just wanted to say that I hope it all goes well for you. xx

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    1. Yes, finding the two oranges was a nice surprise and the promise of passionfruits very welcome. :)
      We don't change the clocks until the first weekend in November, but it's already turning dark earlier and earlier.
      Yes, I'm thinking of going to a few places, masked, of course. Our new Covid numbers seem to be hovering between 1,000 to 2,000, which, I think is as good as it is going to be. I still need to book my next booster and my flu shot, but, after that, I should be as well protected as possible, I hope! Thank you for the well wishes! :)

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  8. That passionfruit flower is gorgeous! My dad used to used salsa in his cooking. He would dump a whole jar in for tacos! I'm glad to hear that your garden is doing so well in this drought. You take such good care of it.

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    1. Thank you, Stephenie. A jar of salsa can come in handy! :)

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  9. I'm not sure I've ever had passion fruit. In fact, I'm not even sure what it looks like. How do you use it?

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    1. The passionfruits on my vine are round green fruit that turn purple as they ripen. I had posted a photo of one of the fruits in a previous post, here:
      https://bless2cents.blogspot.com/2022/04/friday.html

      You cut open the fruit and scoop out the pulp-covered seeds inside. You can eat them as they are, spooned over ice cream or mixed with other fruits, or, you can make a drink using the juice (straining the seeds out) mixed with water and sugar. Each fruit has about a teaspoon or two of the pulp/seeds so you need quite a few to make anything, but, they have a sweet-sour taste that is quite delicious.

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  10. Good idea using the salsa in rice. I might give that a try.
    I like to put a few spoons of salsa along with whatever vegetables I'm using when I make a frittata.
    This food talk is making me hungry. I had a fruit salad for lunch but I am still hungry.
    I think I will have a few dates.

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    1. I like salsa rice and I think you'll like it, too. Sorry to make you hungry! :D

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