Mimi Mine

If you have visited my blog over the years, you will know how much I enjoy planting things in the garden and watching them grow. My love and appreciation for the things God gives us in our world to enjoy and sustain us greatly increases as the years go by. It brings me much joy and relaxation. You might like to see some of my other gardening posts  here , here and  here . This year, I am referring to my garden a Victory Garden because it has brought me a lot of solace and comfort during the uncertain times that the COVID19 virus has brought with it. Gardening is certainly not new to me, but it is just feels more special this year. I have added some new things, such as asparagus plants last summer and even more asparagus plants this year. I've also planted two types of raspberries and am hoping they will do well. I have purchased some blackberry plants but haven't planted them out yet. I've added a new variety of blueberries to the two bushes I already have. It's cal...

We have been enjoying some really beautiful springtime days around here. We have had beautiful blue skies, with temperatures with highs in the mid to upper eighties. Another thing that signals spring is in full swing is that locally grown strawberries have begun to appear at the roadside stands in our area. A bucket of those beautiful local berries has already made its way into my kitchen! Have I told you about my dearest and closest friend Harriette? Yes. Yes, I have, but here I go again. She is one of the sweetest people on the face of this planet? She is also one of the most loving, selfless and generous people I have ever known. We enjoy hanging out together. Sometimes we get together to work on some craft project or other or to sew something or just to talk and enjoy one another's company. She loves me unconditionally, in spite of all my shortcomings, including a mind that jumps from one subject to another and then back again. She knows what I am trying to say, even whe...

It has been mentioned before, a time or two, in this blog that my sweetheart has an enormous sweet tooth. It has also been mentioned that if he comes across fresh strawberries, just about anywhere, he is drawn to them like a magnet.  It is still not strawberry season here in Aiken, South Carolina. Still, my man makes it his business to be on the lookout for strawberries. Recently, we were shopping at our local Sam's Club and, somehow, a large container of strawberries wound up in our shopping cart, thanks to him!  Hey, I'm not complaining. I love strawberries too! It happens he's crazy for a good fresh strawberry pie, such as the one I made  here , which was delicious. In that particular pie, I used fresh locally grown strawberries. Since he never tires of eating pie, I thought that I would use all of the strawberries to prepare a couple of beautiful and scrumptious strawberry pies. Our girls and their families enjoy pies too and  we wil...

We had our girls and their children over here this afternoon to celebrate Saint Patrick's Day with us. I am now able to sit down to post the recipe for the Cream Cheese Key Lime Pie I posted about earlier. In case you missed my Saint Patrick's Day post earlier, this is the pie: Cream Cheese Key Lime Pie If you like taste of Key limes, then this one is for you. I actually made two of these pies for today because they add just a touch of green for Saint Patrick's Day dinner and because I thought my husband, who really enjoys a good pie. He is very fond of citrus pies, especially key lime and lemon meringue pies. This pie is very rich and creamy, satisfying those with a sweet tooth. At the same time, it packs a tangy Key lime punch! Cream Cheese Key Lime Pie Cream Cheese Key Lime Pie To make my Key Lime Pie I started with this Key Lime bottled Key lime juice: Nellie & Joe's Famous Key Wet Lime Juice There is a recipe on the back of the bottle. ...

Happy Saint Patrick's Day! It may not be a true Irish tradition, but it is traditional in our family. We are having Corned Beef and Cabbage, new red potatoes and carrots. Dessert at our house today is one of my sweetie's favorites, Key Lime Pie. I made two Cream Cheese Key Lime Pies! Cream Cheese Key Lime Pie I will be sharing the recipe for my Cream Cheese Key Lime Pie later!

I have said it before, my husband loves strawberries. Strawberries and peaches are pretty much neck and neck in the race for for being his favorite fruits. I love both of these luscious fruits myself, but I think he is even crazier about them than me. It is not strawberry season in South Carolina yet, so when someone where my husband works asked if he would care to split a flat with them last week, he quickly agreed to do so. When he came home with them late last week, we gave our two daughters two pints each and kept the remaining two pints for ourselves. These strawberries had just arrived in Aiken from Plant City, Florida! Strawberries from Plant City, Florida These strawberries are very good. Not only are they very large, but they are quite sweet and flavorful. The first thing I thought of was to bake a pound cake to pair up with these luscious beauties. In short time, I set about to making a Sour Cream Pound Cake. I used my recipe I posted about here . I did make ...

My fear of cooking with pressure cookers goes way, way back to my childhood. My grand kids would say it was back in the Olden Days, because I am pretty old(en), after all. My mother cooked things in a big old stove top version of the pot known as a pressure cooker/canner. I actually own the last pressure my mother owned. It is harvest gold.  The story I am going to tell you involved the pressure cooker she owned before the harvest gold one. The catastrophe that took place in Mama's kitchen left me traumatized and fearful at the prospect of ever using one of them. I tried, really hard, to work up enough courage to try out the old harvest gold pot I inherited from my mother. When it came down to it, however, the vision of what happened that day was still just too disturbing.  I was twelve years old, at most when it happened. It left quite an impression on me, nonetheless!  My mother had apparently crammed that pressure cooker to the brim with those butter beans and wh...