grace grits and gardening

ramblings from an arkansas farm girl

Z is for Zentangle

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As a child I loved to color and draw and doodle. Was there anything better than a new box of Crayons, the one with the sharpener in the back? Filled with a rainbow of possibilities, I could spend hours studying the various shades and memorizing the color names—Brick Red, Cornflower, Green Yellow (not to be confused with Yellow Green)…
I recently began drawing zentangles as part of my regular writing practice. (Thank you Crescent Dragonwagon and Fearless Writing!) Zentangling is like a Spirograph without the plastic frame. A small piece of artwork, the results are often surprising, sometimes reflecting my mood or surroundings, often an image of my writing. 
Doodling for adults.

With each stroke of the pen, I zone out and juice up the right side of the brain, the expressive and intuitive side.  Anything that awakens the right-brain helps with creative writing.

Skeptical? I’m not surprised. That’s your critical, analytical left-brain preaching…

A – Z Blogging Zentangle

talya

“Drawing makes you look at the world more closely. It helps you see what you’re looking at more clearly.” 
― David Almond, Skellig

Musical Pairing:

Drawing, Barenaked Ladies

I did it! I blogged through the alphabet. Thank you to everyone who played along. If you are a new follower, I hope you will continue reading Grace Grits & Gardening long after Z…

Z is for Zentangle.
Til next year…
A to Z April Blog Challenge.
Happy May!

Y is for Yellow

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Yellow is just not your color, Momma always told me.

It wasn’t that she was being rude. She was only trying to save me from looking washed out and jaundiced.

None of the Tate girls can wear yellow, she said. It clashes with our mousy hair and freckly skin.

 But Momma, Momma, this is key.
I love yellow. It’s sooooo me.

What about to school? You see,
a Keiser YELLOWjacket, I shall be…

Could I, should I, late at night?
No never, ever. It won’t look right!

The color of summer sunshine, yellow is lemony fresh clean. I’m all about clean…

My kitchen is painted happy yellow. Sweet broom and yellow bearded iris fill my flower beds. Yet rarely do I wear the color…

As was typical in our family, Daddy never got the memo about our yellow problem. During his mid-life crisis, before I was even old enough to drive, he bought me my first car.

A could-it-be-any-brighter(?) YELLOW corvette.

Oh the irony.

talya

Look at the stars. Look how they shine for you, and everything you do. They were all yellow. —Coldplay, Yellow.

Musical Pairing:

Yellow Submarine, The Beatles
almost done!
Y is for Yellow.

Bacon Scallion Hoecakes

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Grace Grits and Gardening Hoe Cakes

Once upon a time as early as the mid-1700s, field hands used their flat hoe blades as a griddle, frying corn cakes over an open flame.  In the South, these cakes were known as hoecakes (commonly called johnny cakes elsewhere). 

As the daughter of a cotton farmer, I find this fascinating.

My husband and I recently made Bacon Scallion Hoecakes (as published by Garden & Gun). My cast iron skillet handed down from Nana proved perfect for the job and was much easier than trying to clean off my garden hoe. 

Get prepared for a seriously amazing dish…

Bacon Scallion Hoecakes 
1 cup self-rising flour
1 cup fine yellow cornmeal
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tbsp sugar
2/3 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup water
1/4 cup bacon fat
1/3 cup sour cream (we substituted Mexican cream – it was great!)
2 eggs
1/3 cup thinly sliced green onions
1/4 cup finely chopped crisp bacon
canola oil with a bit of bacon fat

Method:

In a medium bowl, whisk together first five ingredients.  In a separate bowl, combine buttermilk, water, fat, cream. Blend well then add eggs and mix until just combined. Pour liquid into dry ingredients and mix until a thick batter has formed. Do not over mix… Gently stir in onions and bacon. Again, do not over mix… Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Use an ice cream scoop to pour batter into pan.

 Cook as you would pancakes, frying on each side about 2 minutes. Add more oil as needed. 

grace grits and gardening

Makes 12-14.

Serve hoecakes with ribs, chicken, soup, etc. instead of cornbread, garlic bread or rolls. Or for breakfast or dessert, drizzle with honey or maple syrup and serve with powdered sugar and fruit. 

We served ours with collard greens and spicy grilled shrimp.

Grace Grits and Gardening

Delicious!

talya

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

Food. Farm. Garden. Life.

THANKS FOR READING!