Sunday Letter: 04.09.23

Dear Sunday Letter friends,

I hope this letter finds you happy and healthy and filled with joy. Today is Easter Sunday, resurrection day for those of us belonging to the Christian faith. While I have readers who do not celebrate Easter, I believe we can all set aside time on this day to celebrate goodness and peace and grace.

The world sure does need it.

Something I love about any holiday? Using one of my…

wait for it…

Egg Dishes!

Deviled egg dishes bring me J O Y  (and if I ran away from home the way Bernice did, I’d pack one in the floorboard of Betty White and take it with me). Through the years, I’ve collected several different egg plates that have either been passed down from family members, snagged at estate sales, or gifted from friends.

Y’all, there’s a limit to what a girl can collect, because without a limit, one might become a (shhhh!) hoarder. So I limit my collected things to plants, books, and egg dishes.

Oh, I do have a whole drawer full of logo t-shirts, but really, can one have too many t-shirts?

Lo, the egg dish takes center stage on the Easter table when the deviled egg is offered up as the yummiest of appetizers. Why is the egg such a prominent symbol during Easter? Because eggs symbolize new life and rebirth.

Tip: Don’t limit your egg dish to deviled eggs. A few ideas for serving more than eggs:

• chocolate dipped strawberries
• stuffed mushrooms
• baked olives wrapped crescent dough
• bite-sized potato skins
• small cupcakes or muffins
• mini-quiches
• bacon-wrapped stuffed jalapeños
• stuffed dates

See?  Basically you can serve any round or oval-shaped finger-food in your handy-dandy egg dish. 😊

Peppermint Stick Tulips

We planted new bulbs to our beds last Halloween, and now it’s like Christmas when each new variety begins to bloom. Why? Because once I plant bulbs, I forget what I’ve planted. (I keep labels for this very reason.)

This latest bloomer is not as tall or graceful as our other tulips, and its leaves are pointy. I noticed them blooming for the first time on a very sunny day with blossoms wide open to the sunshine.

Sweet white tulips, I thought.

Then, I studied the flower more closely and was quite surprised to see the entire story. The outside is striped rosy red.

On a cloudy or chilly day, the blossoms close up tight and look like a peppermint stick. The official name of this variety is Tulipa clusiana ‘Peppermint Stick’, so I say, “Bravo!” to the person with naming rights.

Nature provides yet another timely lesson: when we look at things from all sides, we might discover something amazing or at least be pleasantly surprised.

What’s Growing This Week?

Something new I’m adding to my Sunday Letters—a quick peek at what’s growing and blooming each week. Well, I may not include this every week, but my goal is to include this with regularity.

Take a look at a few of the plants flourishing in our garden this week.

Seeing trillium and jack-in-the-pulpit coming up in our woodland bed THRILLED me. I have been trying to grow these ephemerals for three years, and this is the first time they’ve looked healthy and happy.

All of the plants pictured, with the exception of the tulip and viburnum, are native to the United States.

Native plants are essential to the health of our ecosystem, and yes, I will preach on this any chance I get. Native species feed butterflies, insects, birds, and other animals by providing nectar, pollen, and seeds. And, because native plants are adapted to our local climate and soil conditions, they take less resources to grow.

Growing native is a major win-win any way you look at it.

All plants are NOT created equal,
particularly in their ability to support wildlife.~Doug Tallamy

🐝

Two Yummy Recipes using Collard Greens

Last week, I made two yummy recipes using collards. The first was a lentil soup recipe that called for one cup of chopped greens. Then, because I still had fresh collards after making the soup, I also made a delicious collard salad.

Note: Both = keeper recipes I will definitely make again!

• Best Lentil Soup recipe from Cookie + kate. (I used green lentils which look yellow in my picture.)
• Juneteenth Collard Salad from Black Girls Who Brunch.  (Perfect any time you can find fresh collards.)

Things Momma Says:

If I ever wear a belt, you know I’ve lost weight.

***

We’ve come to the end of another Sunday Letter. Cheers to a sunny, non-stormy week ahead—perfect for working in the garden!

✞

Grace Grits and Gardening
Farm. Food. Garden. Life.