Leave us have conversation about BS -- no, not me!! No, not THAT!
Brussels sprouts.
I had forgotten how good they can be.
Yesterday I visited Sister Julie on the other end of town to have her
identify some of the people in some very old family photos come into my
possession (these are treasures - as the youngest <and cutest> in the
family, I don't have any pics of my older sibs when *they* were kids)
and, as is my habit, checked out the condition of her garden. Nearly
pristinely clean now. She had about four or five big ol' brussels
sprouts plants still going, though. When I see BS at the farmers
markets, they are often sold still on the stalk from whence they come.
The proud stalks in her garden, though, are nothing short of
limp-looking. They still look like they're growing and healthy and all,
but they're curved. No matter, the little sprouts appear to be coming
along nicely. Julie told me that they need to suffer either frost or a
hard freeze to develop sweetness. Kinda like rutabagas, I'll bet.
They're probably first cousins. Well, we've had some frost. I asked
her (fancy that!) if I could pick a small handful. She helped me and
then we went into the house and rinsed them off and put them into some
boiling water to cook for -- what? maybe 10-15 minutes? Not one to
gild a lily, I drained them and added a wee bit of margarine, some salt,
some pepper. Hallelujah, Mama! They were so sweet! I was expecting a
cabbage-y taste. Not there. I was expecting some bitterness. Not
there. Just perfect little sprouts. My sister Julie likes me. You
should be so lucky.
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http://www.jamlady.eboard.com, updated 10-20-05 with a note from Niece Jo.