<p>Well, if you’re even a little Irish, Polish or any other potato-loving kind, the dish that goes by “rumpledethumps,” colcannon or many other names is a big one for our house, with variations. We use mashed potatoes, onions, preferably caramelized, a little butter, shredded cheese, and lots of broccoli and black pepper. Baked together for a while, it’s great! </p>
<p>Another way to do it is with boiled cut potatoes, boiled cabbage chunks, chopped cooked bacon and shredded cheese. Also baked together. Mmmmmm!</p>
<p>In anything that’s shallow so you can sprinkle cheese all over thinly. 20-30 minutes, depending on how thick it is and how cold/warm it is at starting.</p>
<p>JLauer–my mother kept the Japanese beetles under control in Phila by a) not spraying, and b) shaking the flower heads into soapy water (so they drowned) every night. Since then, they’ve started selling canned milky spore disease so you can kill the grubs as they develop in your lawn. <a href=“Site | Ohioline”>Site | Ohioline;
<p>Thanks for the link … very useful info. I’ve got some new brown patches in our lawn and now I know that is where the grubs are…</p>
<p>I really hate Japanese Beetles because I have always had large rose gardens and my efforts here in the south have been frustrated by these bionic pests! I will never complain about aphids or any other rose eating pest again!</p>
<p>Start with dry beans. I use about 3 cups of dry beans for my family. If you’re going to cook in the crockpot, just wash and put in the pot with a lot of water. (I fill it about halfway.) Let them cook about 8 hours on low. If you’re going to cook on the stove for 2-3 hours, wash them the night before and let them soak overnight in water. Use enough water to keep all the beans covered as they swell overnight. I never use just canned beans, but if the boys bring friends home unexpectedly for dinner I’ll add a can to make sure we have enough. Leftover beans are great in chili or freeze flat in a freezer bag. They keep very well. </p>
<p>This meal is best eaten in a bowl. Crumble up the cornbread, cover with beans and bean-juice and, if you live at my house, mash with a fork. I don’t think most people mash it up though. </p>
<p>Chow-chow is a cabbage-based relish you can find in grocery stores. It is usually with the pickles/relishes or in the produce section. Green is our favorite but it is available in red (red peppers and tomatoes). I don’t have a recipe but here are some. <a href=“Chow Chow Relish - Recipes - Cooks.com”>Chow Chow Relish - Recipes - Cooks.com;
<p>Here I am, being the doomsayer again, this time about herbs - “Not by the hand of man shall he die…” (Who said that, of whom, in what book?) </p>
<p>Don’t plant mint. I have been waging a battle with ‘chocolate mint’ plants for several years. Converted the sandbox into a raised garden, and planted oregano, chives, and mint (basil as an annual - love homemade pesto!) as well as some lilies and other non-herb perennials. The mint is almost as aggressive as my wisteria, which is attractively draped under the deck and trained on the split-rail fence, but always yearns to creep under off the siding and send tendrils all over the yard, hoping to succeed in an imperialistic land grab. The beautiful blossoms prevent me from attempted murder, but it is an unruly critter - if I didn’t ride herd on it, I’m sure it would completely cover the house in a few years (then I’d have an excuse to become a hermit and cultivate numerous additional eccentricities).</p>
<p>The wisteria requires regular ruthless pruning, the mint constant yanking out of the new shoots (I save a bit for mint tea, my favorite summer beverage). I even dug the whole sandbox out to a depth of 18 inches a few years ago, eliminating all of the mint (so I thought) but this year it ressurected itself, stronger than ever.</p>
<p>What I could really use is a recipe for chocolate mint pie that uses lots of fresh mint. Wonder if some of the recipe web sites would have one…mint jelly for your lamb chops, anyone?</p>
<p>I ran into the same problem with mint overtaking my herb raised bed. I had to rip out all the plants, totally close down the bed, then cover the bed with thick layers of newspapers and fall leaves and a final topping of black plastic, weighed down with some stones. I let it sit and bake – unwatered and with no sunlight penetrating – for a year to kill off the mint roots. (totally organic here) Meanwhile I started a new mint-free herb bed in another location. That one is doing great now. </p>
<p>This year my tomato plants are in the former herb bed and doing well, and there are zero weeds in the bed! </p>
<p>However, I did save a few sprigs of mint and planted them in a terra-cotta container (strawberry jar style with multiple openings) on my stone back patio. This gives us enough fresh mint for our iced tea, and even if the mint could escape from the container, it won’t grow in the stone of the patio. So that worked for us.</p>
<p>Thanks for the added info… I, too, use bacon grease with a pre-heated cast iron for cornbread. A friend taught be that as soon as I moved to the south. </p>
<p>What do you put in your beans while cooking in slow pot besides water? S&P? anything else? </p>
<p>I’d love some more low cost main dish potato, rice, or legumes recipes. </p>
<p>Thanks to all who weighed in on planting mint. I had no idea about its extensive growth. I’ve never tried mint, but will only use a container if I do.</p>
<p>My wisteria also grows like crazy – even tho the J beetles love to eat them, the wisteria grows faster than they can eat!</p>
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<p>NEW QUESTION…</p>
<p>How much do you think you spend on groceries each week (minus paper goods, cleaning stuff, TP, etc)</p>
</p>