Whole Roasted Okra

Happy September!  While everyone is pumpkin happy (myself included, just wait until tomorrow's post) we're enjoying whole roasted okra with every meal.  I love okra in any form, especially fried and even stewed, roasting it whole is a new found love.  It's so easy and gives a little healthier, but still crunchy, spin on breaded and fried.  Give it a try -- I promise it's not slimy in the least!

Whole Roasted Okra

Ingredients:

• 1 pound okra, whole
• 1 T olive oil
• 1/4 t salt
• 1/4 t pepper

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees and line cookie sheet with parchment paper for easy clean up.
• Drizzle okra with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Mix until all pieces are coated.  
• Make sure okra is in a single layer and bake for 20-30 minutes, shaking pan a few times, until slightly brown and crisp. 

Notes:

• I've only tried this with fresh okra, as it's readily available this time of year.  (If you're in the Midwest, Fresh Thyme has it!)
• It's so good that I have a feeling I will try frozen, but defrosed, okra this winter.....

Happy Cooking!

Composting 101

Hubby and I scored a major deal on a double bin composter last weekend and I couldn't be more excited!!  (You know you're old when get excited over something like that...)  It's a beaut with two 50 gallon bins that each rotate separately.  When our sweet neighbor who is moving next week set it out with a for sale sign on it, we didn't hesitate to jump on it.  This means that our yard will end up looking as lovely as their impeccably beautiful landscape, right??

While I grew up composting (and quite honestly, thought that's just what one did) Hubby clearly did not.  He's been throwing a little of everything in there, while I keep pulling things out.  Composting is really pretty simple, once you know the dos and the don'ts.  For a successful compost pile, you need a combination of browns and greens. 

BROWNS include cardboard, dry leaves and grass clippings, straw, shredded paper, newspaper, cardboard egg cartons, and egg shells (not including walnut).

GREENS include vegetable and fruit scraps (think peels, strawberry tops, melon rinds), tea bags, coffee grounds, spent flower bouquets, and weeds.

DO NOT compost meats, fish, bones, dairy products, pet waste, cooked food waste, oils and fats, glossy paper, and charcoal.

Typically a good mix is one part green to two parts brown.  Make sure to mix and turn your compost once a week and water so that it's just moist.  Once it turns dark and is like soil you're ready to use the black gold in the garden.  

In the meantime, I found the cutest small compost bucket for the kitchen that almost matches my beloved Portmeirion.  While I currently don't mind going out to the big tumbler every night, I know that once winter hits I won't be quite as enthused.  This allows us to continue composting while keeping the kitchen looking cute and not freezing to death either.

Happy Composting!

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Please find my full disclosure policy here.  

Honey Bee Love at Williams-Sonoma

Clearly we have a great affinity for the honey bee in this happy little hive.  Really, it started at the very beginning.  Melissa is the Greek word for honey bee (as in if I were introducing myself I would say, "Hi, I'm honey bee...").  Then in college, Daddy took the boys and me to a beekeeping class.  Although we were skeptical at the time, it's ended up being a true love.  It took a bit of convincing for Hubby to bite the bullet and add a couple hives to our yard, but I finally won him over. (I am, however, still working on the chickens.  No luck yet.)  Although it sounds corny, seeing them zip around our backyard really does make my heart smile.

So, when the latest Williams-Sonoma catalog landed in our mailbox last week, I had an awfully hard time resisting placing an order.  It's buzzing with the sweetest little bee items.

My favorite is the darling embossed china.  How cute would it be for a dinner in the garden??  (Yes, with our bees providing the entertainment.)

Plates

Platter

Iced Tea Spoons

I'm not entirely sure I'd be able to construct this darling beehive cake like it looks in the photos, but it might be worth a try.  The pre-made royal icing bees add a cute little touch, too, and I know I'd be capable of adding them to some homemade cupcakes.

Cake Pan

Finally, how cute is this kitchen towel?  And with it's French sayings, it's the perfect combination of two loves.

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While we're discussing our beloved bees, I would be remiss if I didn't mention how very important they are to our everyday life.  Two out of every three bites of food is thanks to them.  When you're purchasing your flowers this spring, please take a moment to ensure your flowers have not been treated with neonicotinoids.  Although there are some big box stores weeding out (pun intended...I know my neighbors don't love our dandelions and clover, but our bees sure do....) this treatment in the next couple years, they will still offer many treated flowers this summer, so please choose wisely.  You can read this article for more information.   And please, please, please don't spray hives to get them out of your yard.  Find a local beekeeper who, I'm sure, would be thrilled to come relocate them.

Happy Bee Love! 

*Affiliate links included in this post.  Thank you for supporting The Happy Little Hive.

Pan-Fried Kale

This hardly qualifies as a recipe, but I can assure you that it has become an all out obsession in our little hive.  I started making this last year with kale from our local farmers' market and loved it so much that I decided our garden needed tons some this year.  We've been so lucky with warm weather that thus far that it's still going strong....as is the obsession.

Mint Tea

We've been enjoying our mint from the garden all summer.  It's delicious and prolific.  The perfect addition to any garden.  We've been enjoying vodka mojitos, have mixed some in with watermelon and feta, added it iced tea and meat marinades, but at this point in the summer it was beginning to look a bit straggly.  I decided to cut it back and harvest the mint in hopes that it will grow back fuller (which it usually does) and that we can have yet another harvest before it gets too cold.

We haven't yet used it to steep tea, which is a favorite, so I decided to brew a pot for a little afternoon treat and dry the rest for later use.  It couldn't be easier and tastes so much better than premixed tea bags.

Porch Rules

Porch rules have popped up all over Pinterest and I've been itching to recreate something for our back porch.  I found the perfect little spot on an antique plant stand that simply needed something a little extra.  These porch rules fit the bill perfectly.

Five on Friday [The Garden Edition]

T.G.I.F!!!!!  I'm so very excited that the weekend is almost here!!  I'm headed to Chicago as my Koumbaroi are baptizing their little one.  It's sure to be a spectacular celebration and I'm anxious to be a part of the special day.  But first, let's get down to this week's Five on Friday.

ONE
As I was planting the hanging baskets last weekend, Hubby made some different suggestions.  Ultimately, we decided to each plant our own, using our own method, and see how things turn out.  He has announced he's not going to water mine....I'm all on my own.....admittedly, Hubby's much better about that than I am.  But in light of the competition, I just might be better about it this summer!

DIY Plant Markers

Although I've been yearning to get our garden going this year, the weather just hasn't been cooperating.  It rained all day Saturday, so instead I decided to tackle a little garden DIY indoors. 

Zinnia Love

The other day I mentioned my sentimental love of zinnias in passing, and since then I've had a couple questions about it.  So.....here's the story.....

Garden Update

Back in May I showed you a glimpse of our garden after we first planted it.  We have started harvesting some goodies, and I thought I'd give you another little peek at just how much it has grown.  (Unfortunately, the weeds seem to grow just as quickly, if not quicker....please just pretend you don't see them! We don't treat at all for fear of harming our bees.  As a result, they tend to have a mind of their own.)

So far we have harvested okra, beans, peas, hot peppers, sweet peppers, and jalapenos. 

In the Garden

Every spring Hubby and I plant a vegetable garden.  I always say I'm not going to go overboard and that I'm going to keep it simple, but that never seems to be the case.  I just get too excited :). (Last season I found Pink Girl Tomatoes -- our very favorite -- for $2 for four plants.  I ended up buying 16 plants.  These are heirloom and grow to be HUGE plants.  I gave some to my dad, but still.....) I really did think I had accomplished the "don't go overboard" goal this year while buying the plants.  When Hubby and I planted, I realized I hadn't.  Oops.  Regardless, we're both very excited that it is finally warm enough to get them in the ground.  We can hardly wait for them to start producing.