Sunday in Alabama

Took a about a four mile hike in the Monte Sano state park with Marcie, Pat, and Stephanie. The trees are wild pecan and walnut. The sun was out and warm and this is just how I love to spend Sundays.  There were lots of plants I have never seen before.

We did come across a produce store with lots of organics and items I want to use to prepare some meals this week. The owner of the store, Garden Cove Produce,  welcomed me to her lovely state. There were some things I don't see in our grocery stores such as lots of okra and as much dandelion greens as there was lettuce. I have seen dandelion greens at the farmer's market or sometimes in the specialty section of the produce section, but not sold in the quantities they do.

I made a raw vegetable salad as I would at home with at least ten different vegetables. I used a few that I had heard aren't eaten by my sister's family, avocado & beets, to name a couple. I didn't mention them in the salad until they were almost done with their second bowl. I love doing that.  I wouldn't feed anyone anything that would cause harm to them, but I do like it when people enjoy foods they thought they wouldn't like. We had a nice meal at a seafood restaurant today, but I did notice there were no vegetables on anyone's plate. Good thing we all ordered some salad. They did serve an interesting dish. My brother in law had a red fish fillet that was coated in crab meat, corn meal, and parmesean cheese before frying. I am not fond of frying, but this looks like an idea to play with for baking fish.

I took a walk around my sister's neighborhood. It's a bit different than a typical neighborhood at home. I do have to giggle a bit, most of these houses look like little mansions. This is the style of most the homes in this community. Bricks are cheap as the red clay is plentiful. Most of the homes are made of brick, lots of brick.