Faith, Folklore, and Friends

When we went on our vegetable buying spree last week,  we bought two eggplants.  I had not cooked any eggplant in years, so first I googled eggplant recipes.  Although I had eaten it before, I had never made Eggplant Parmesan. I figured it was time to give it a try. Here we go: Cut the ends off and peel two medium-sized eggplants. Slice them lengthwise. Put salt in the bottom of a half-sheet pan.  Place eggplant slices on top of the salt, then cover the top of them with salt.  Let them sit for about thirty minutes.  The salt will draw the moisture and bitterness out of the eggplant. Rinse thoroughly, then drain on paper towels. In a bowl, beat an egg and about 1/2 cup of milk. In a separate bowl, add at least two cups of bread crumbs.  I used the Italian bread crumbs that are already seasoned. Dip each slice in the egg mixture, then coat with bread crumbs.  Hub attempted to make pictures of these steps, but there were ...

Thanks to the Alabama Cooperative Extension System and all the other sponsors listed on the sign, Florence has its first and very popular community garden. Hub, who needed volunteer hours to complete his Master Gardener certification, did a lot of work helping build these 4' x 8' raised beds. There are approximately fifty raised beds, and all of them are full. The raised beds were constructed using pressure-treated lumber, then filled with compost, some of it consisting of decomposed trash from ginning cotton.  Soil tests were done, then lime and commercial fertilizer were added. Each bed was irrigated. First choice of the beds was given to veterans; then to people who do not have access to land to grow a garden; people who are physically unable to garden traditional, non-raised bed gardens, and   those economically unable to build a garden. Unfortunately, there was not enough for everyone who wanted one. There is a large variety of plants, and alm...