Dear Sunday Letter friends,
This is the Sunday Letter that almost wasn’t. Last night when I should have been writing, I got wrapped up watching Earth vs. the Flying Saucers on MeTV. How I waited my whole life so far to see this 1950s black-and-white cult classic, I have no earthly idea. It had everything a good ole’ piece of sci-fi should have, including mind control and impenetrable force fields.
When I was a kid, there were several worries that swirled around in my mind. These troublesome things threatened my existence as a farm girl, a student, a kid trying to make it from the Monday morning bus ride to Friday afternoon’s episode of Gilligan’s Island. Aliens were one of those concerns, along with quicksand and the Bermuda Triangle and Bigfoot and getting the breath knocked out of me in Dodgeball and The Rapture that would happen like a thief in the night leaving ME the only person left on the planet.
But now here we are, together on another Sunday morning (or whenever you read this). None of my fears came to fruition (so far), and I bet you’re jealous over my wild Saturday night.
Too Cold
Confession: I just wrapped up a poor, poor pitiful me week. Mostly I’ve been a little under the weather. My semi-sickliness + slow-to-melt ice and snow = a severe case of cabin fever.
Forgive me as I whine for just a moment—I have been cold for days. This girl who always loves snow and wintertime has suddenly decided she can barely function within it.
See? Winter has taken control of my mind…
This past week, effort has been hard. Effort to do anything.
I’m taking my woolen hat off to those who survive in climates with honest-to-goodness winters. Even our fleeting frigid season has me longing for spring and counting down the days.
56 days in case you are wondering—the same as June 1 to July 26.
Funny to me how the short dark cold days of winter seem to pass way more slowly than the warm days of summer when scorching yellow sunlight burns from sunrise to sunset.
So Hot!
On New Year’s Eve, our friend served Famous Dave’s Devil’s Spit Pickle Chips. As you might guess from the name, they were pretty dang spicy. And since my husband likes his food to burn his insides from tongue to toes, HE LOVED them.
We took the bottle home with us.
After he polished off the jar, I wanted to use the pickle juice for something because it seemed a waste to pour all that sweet heat down the drain. So I chopped up half a small head of cabbage, stuffed it into the jar, gave the jar a shake, and let the magic marinade in the fridge.
Voila! Spicy cabbage! It’s perfect as a condiment for hot dogs, street tacos, or pulled pork. Actually, pickled cabbage makes a tasty side dish for most any meat.
If you don’t like cabbage, try cucumbers, onion slices, carrots, boiled eggs, peppers,—whatever you think might be good with a vinegary flavor. The main takeaway here—don’t throw away that pickle juice.
And if you love hot pickles, give Famous Dave’s a try. This isn’t a sponsored post, just a suggestion for pickle-lovers who like to breathe fire. Dave also makes a mild version which I will be trying because I don’t like to sweat when I eat.
Happy Mail
Receiving happy mail was a bright spot for me last week. According to Baker Seeds, these dwarf Orange Hat Tomatoes grow well in containers.
I bought enough to share.
Question: Do you grow tomatoes? If so, do you start them inside or wait and sow the seeds after the last frost?
If you start them inside, is there a particular heat mat and grow light you recommend? I’m gathering all the tips.
(Click HERE for a great frost date map.)
Things Momma Says:
Let me tell y’all something—you’ve not watched NFL playoff games until you’ve watched them with Momma. Here are two quotes to consider as you watch this afternoon’s Rams/Buccaneer game.
If you think about it, Tom Brady doesn’t have to do all that much.
Tom Brady eats all day long—sorta like me—only he eats healthy stuff.
😂
***
Here’s hoping for a brilliant, healthy week ahead for all of us.
Those eggs at the top of the post? I made bacon and eggs for breakfast yesterday. Looking back, I think those eggs helped turned my week around. This morning I’m feeling much better.
Now I’ll shut up.
Grace Grits and Gardening
Farm. Food. Garden. Life.
Last week was tough on lots of levels!
How long did you marinate the cabbage? Sounds delicious.
Overnight.
Thank you.
Good morning!! I’m in bed reading your Sunday Letter, and I have been waiting on it since 5:00. The cold is getting to me too, but we’ll survive it. Now I must get up and cook some eggs; that egg picture got me hungry. Looking forward to more football today. (Where is Tate?). Love the letter. 💕💕
Yes, it won’t be as fun without Tate. But I’m planning to come over and capture more quotes LOL.
How clever of you to use the pickle juice. I was thinking “sauerkraut” as I was reading.
I concur on this cold weather. It isn’t fit for man or beast. The worst thing about it here is it’s in the 30’s one day and then single digits the next.
I’m glad you explained the egg picture! Haha I was waiting for it.
I was specifically taking my woolen hat off to you and Tom when I wrote that sentence! I saw a post on FB that said the weather has been throwing out numbers like Powerball—and that’s true here too—highs for the week 22, 55, 34, 61, etc. LOL.
I’m right there with you on this winter weather. This time of year is when I start examining our finances to see if we could possibly afford a condo in Key West. Unfortunately It ain’t happenin’. I was just talking with my kids how every generation has their own set of fears- remember sitting under your desk at school with a book protecting your little noggin waiting for the bomb to drop? I’m gonna go fry me an egg and see if it helps with my winter funk. Just to be safe, I better add in some biscuits, country ham, and red eye gravy. Have a great week- it’s warmer today and Monday!
Yes, I thought about the whole duck and cover routine in school when I wrote that. We had bacon with our eggs. Happy eating!
Your musical pairings are always amazing! How do you manage to find the perfect match every week??
The Googler is an amazing thing:)
I have got to try that cabbage tip!
It is amazing! I had some for lunch. Delish.
LOVED THIS NEWSLETTER AND JUST KNOW THAT I DANCED TO THE MUSIC, not once but TWICE💕
YAY!!!
I happened to have my laptop downstairs on the kitchen counter near the TV in the den, and Larry turned on the TV, getting ready for the LA Rams and the Buccaneers. Your Mamma gave both of us a good laugh to start off the game!!
That’s so funny!! She does a running commentary. I should go live with her during the SuperBowl.
Love this letter.. we have Famous Daves Pickles at Costco here in Texas . Good on most everything and the juice is amazing. Thanks for sharing your week 🤠🤠🤠🤠🤠
You’re welcome!!
Regarding Tomatoes: I think I prefer indoor seedlings. What I did was rather simple. I always ordered seeds from SeedSavers out of Decorah, Iowa. They have a huge supply of heirlooms. I used peat pots, and later newspaper pots..some organic seed starter, like $4.50 to $7.88 at Walmart. I had two attic style bedrooms. So I set up two long folding tables, with a foot gap between. (I had other stuff too) I bought 8-48″ garage style, 2 bulb hanging flourescents the warm light version…and hung 2 over each end of each table, keeping centered over my plants. I used a single oil style heater to keep temp at about 75-80°(my upstairs isn’t heated). I mixed up my seed mix adding in approximately a Tbs of Epson salt, some dried, and ground up eggshells, about a 1/4 cups worth, to a gallon of water, to mix in my seed mix. You’ll want the soil decently moist before filling pots, as it will pack together in a bucket rather than after you plant. I then seeded them and used a mustard bottle to gently water daily if needed..it was usually. Oh and you want your lights hung about 8″ to a foot above your plants, so if you need to, add shoelaces to lengthen hanging chains. You will raise them accordingly as they grow. They grew quickly, after later transplanting in bigger containers,(I bought Styrofoam cups) I added an organic granule tomatoes food, every time I repotted, 4 times all told..6 weeks for some 8 weeks for others and they were in 32 Oz drink cups, and had 1/2″ sturdy stems. And were being hardened outside daily for an hour or 2. I ended up with 64 plants, and sold many to Amish, because they were so healthy, at $4.00 per plant. I had tomatoes coming out my ears. Those 2 years gave me the best harvest amounts and quality. The 2 years after, were less productive, and last year I got blight. So now I have to move my whole tomatoes garden this spring..fun. Hope that helps.
Thank you so much! Sounds like a wonderful set-up. I need to get busy!
The money made on plants I had 200 various plants, but half were tomatoes, and the 64 went in my garden, at $4.00 each and 36 plants sold that were only tomatoes, gave me $144. That paid for all my lights, and soil, and seeds. So win win. Just FYI if you plant extras, post them on Facebook or wherever, and sell them, they end up much healthier than the stuff we buy at greenhouses, and people will know by pictures, how robust they are, they sell fast.
Great tip!
Hopefully you watched the Chiefs/Bills game, too. It was fantastic! Probably better than any Super Bowl game. 🙂
Even though I’m from KC and glad the Chiefs won, I felt so sorry for the Bills. 🙁
The playoff games have been great!! I’m rooting for the Chiefs in the SB!
As you can tell, I’m catching up on my reading today! As we’ve huddled under blankets during these cold days, I’ve had similar thoughts about people who live in frigid zones. Do they get accustomed to the cold so they don’t feel it the way I do? I’ll be ready for spring!
I’ll be checking for Famous Dave’s mild version of those pickles. They sound good. My mother made wonderful pickled yellow squash that also had lots of onions and peppers. So good.