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[snousle]

Assorted stuff around the property.







This last one is a rock and wild grape vine thought by our neighbors to look something like a crouching dragon:

Comments

[bikerbaer.livejournal.com]

beautiful!

[bluebear2.livejournal.com]

I like the first one with the bullet holes.

[darkphuque.livejournal.com]

Wild grape vine... takes me back to my childhood when Yiayia, myself and the women in the family went to pick wild grape leaves in the late spring. We would can them and use them for both meat filled and vegetarian stuffed grape leaves. They are smaller than the domestic ones, but so much more tasty.

[snousle.livejournal.com]

We have really nice fresh grape leaves from April through August. I have long thought of trying them for dolmathes but have been so busy that I missed the opportunity. They sure make for nice linings for plates, etc.

Is it really necessary to can them first? I could be using fresh ones through the whole summer. Cleaned and stored properly they stay nice for weeks in the fridge. The canned ones I buy are awfully shredded up and time-consuming to work with. I'm thinking the fresh would be superior from at least a mechanical perspective, if not flavor. Thoughts?

[darkphuque.livejournal.com]

The best are the young ones when they are almost mature. Of course fresh ones are best. All you need to do is blanch them. We canned them because we had to go a long distance into the forest preserves to pick them. I use the ones in jars and I find about 60% rollable. The old ones are rough and hard. I use those to line the pot and separate layers...

[snousle.livejournal.com]

I will make a point of trying it in the spring. Though after the hemlock experience I'm kind of paranoid about poisonous look-alikes. I'll try it myself, and if I don't die, I'll serve it for my clients. LOL.

[moofedct.livejournal.com]

Those're pretty cool! I would guess the last pic to resemble a dinosaur.

[beastbriskett.livejournal.com]

Ah, that buckshot and rain patina...
The lush feeling of growth and decay is one of the things I enjoy about your place.
The cat is adorable!

[barbarian-rat.livejournal.com]

I like that that grape photo