Posted in Five Friday Happy Bringers

Five Friday Happy Bringers 7/18/25 (Food Heavy)

My weekly gratitude journal, of sorts.

1. Discovering a new (to me) type of peas at our little independent grocer, Red & White.

Sandandy Peas, fresh and shelled

Google told me that Sandandy peas “often spelled Sadandy or Sa Dandy are a type of cream pea, which falls under the broader category of southern peas or cowpeas (Vigna unguiculata).”

So Very Good! With an Earthy Flavor.

And leftovers for the freezer …

2. These stickers about breathing I recently ran across and had to buy.

3. Speaking of breathing, I so appreciate that our bodies breathe by themselves. We don’t have to force the breath. It simply happens.

4. Popcorn! Ex-wife Donna recently gave Robert and me this neat Movie Night Popcorn Set for Father’s Day.

The other evening in the middle of a movie (FYI: Twilight Kiss Suk Suk), I jumped from the couch and yelled, “Our popcorn gift! Pause the movie!”

And we did something which both of us realized we haven’t done in years, maybe decades: we popped popcorn “the old fashioned way” on the stovetop instead of in the microwave.

We had such fun!

Sometimes Slow is so much better than Fast.

5. I have mentioned before that HR and I love our local library’s “Spice Club.” Once a month or so, our Bull Street Library offers patrons a new spice, along with an explanation and several recipes.

Some of our Spice Club materials.

This month is Mace. I had never heard of Mace as a spice, only that self defense spray.

Well, listen to this: “The web-like outer covering of the nutmeg seed, Mace, imparts a more pungent and spicier flavor to food than nutmeg. Mace is most popular in European foods where it is used in both savory and sweet dishes, especially in French cuisine that calls for this spice to be used in tandem with nutmeg to balance the flavors; it is also the dominant flavor in doughnuts and a great companion for chocolate. Add whole mace to fruits while cooking; it can also be used in savory favorites, such as patés, creamed spinach and mashed potatoes.” Spiceworld.com

From the accompanying recipes, I chose cookies (mainly because they looked so easy to make.)

They were delicious!

May you have a Bit/Bite of Deliciousness this weekend!

Posted in Shhh … Silent Sunday

Shhh … Silent Sunday. 4/7/24

Okay, sorry but the Sunday Silence just ended.

So. Robert and I have been members of our local library’s Fight Club, I mean SPICE CLUB! for a while now. Every couple of months, they present a new spice, with a little history about the spice and a few recipes to try.

We Love It!

The current spice is … Vadouvan. One of my very favorite! Okay, TIB (Truth in Blogging): I have never heard of it before.

“Simply put, Vadouvan is a French curry powder. Vadouvan combines many of the classic flavors of Indian cuisine in a typically French preparation. French chefs in southeastern India used a Tamil spice blend, known as vadavam or vadagam, as their primary influence when creating vadouvan. The flavor of vadouvan is best described as being mellow and sweet with smoky notes.” SpiceClub

And the vadouvan recipe I chose to try?

It took a while to prep, but oh my goodness, how delicious it was! I served it with yellow saffron rice. 

Even though I broke the silence on my Silent Sunday post, you REALLY needed to know about Vadouvan, didn’t you?