Southern Porch

I wanted to share with you a picture of a little garden bench that was given to me. It was unassembled and plain wood when I got it. I painted it and hung it on the wall of my porch.

I like the check and floral thing so that is how I painted it.

It comes in really handy for my garden gloves and other things that I can just drop off on my way in the house.

I think this little bench was originally intended to be used to set plants on as an accent. I like finding a different way to use things. This makes a nice little shelf for my porch.

Isn’t it sometimes the small things that make us smile? This little bench is one of those things. Really, in times like these, it is good to notice little things like how the grass is now green and the birds singing and the flowers blooming. These things make the big things not seem quite so bad.

Stay tuned tomorrow for an update on the robin’s nest – new eggs with pics!

To see more 2nd time around posts, visit Diane for 2nd Time Around Tuesday.

Today’s Lagniappe: Key Lime Bars
Something  refreshing to serve on the porch.

1 cup finely ground graham cracker crumbs
2 1/2 tablespoons finely ground graham cracker crumbs
1/3 cup sugar
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
3 large egg yolks
1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated lime zest
2/3 cup fresh Key lime juice , (about 23 Key limes total)
1 cup sweetened condensed milk, (14 ounces)
2 Key limes, thinly sliced into half-moons

Make crust: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Stir together graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter in a small bowl. Press evenly onto bottom of an 8-inch square glass baking dish. Bake until dry and golden brown, about 10 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack.(Leave oven on.)

Make filling: Put egg yolks and lime zest in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Mix on high speed until very thick, about 5 minutes. Reduce speed to medium. Add condensed milk in a slow, steady stream, mixing constantly. Raise speed to high; mix until thick, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low. Add lime juice; mix until just combined.

Spread filling evenly over crust using a spatula. Bake, rotating dish halfway through, until filling is just set, about 10 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack. Refrigerate at least 4 hours (or overnight).

Cut into 2-by-2-inch bars. Garnish bars with whipped cream and a slice of lime.

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It is Outdoor Wednesday and memories of fish fries! Click the pic above for more of Outdoor Wednesday!

I have to interrupt my Southern food series to show you what this pretty little robin has been doing on my porch. After you see the pics, read about my Grandpa’s fish fries – a Southern tradition!

This is how she started out. At first the wind kept blowing the twigs away but she stayed after it. If you look real close you can see where my husband tried to help secure it with some floral wire.

Here she is, caught in the act of building. It was amazing to watch!

Still at it!

She's really making progress. The female robin picks the spot for the nest and is the primary builder. Male robins help out by bringing materials for the nest.

See her building material in her mouth? She is using her right wing to build this nest. Amazing!

Looks like a lot of work to me!

So, she got her nest built and we started waiting for eggs. We have to hold the camera up to the nest and let it auto-focus to get the pics. We cannot see in the nest from the porch. We kept taking pictures of the empty nest and then, finally:

An egg! Isn't it pretty?

At last check, there were 2 eggs that we could see. You can just see the tops of them.

Robins will lay from 3-6 eggs and then they will incubate for around 15 days. We will be looking for more eggs and keeping you up to date on their progress in the coming weeks!

Now, back to that fish fry! I just want to tell you a quick story about my Grandpa’s fish fries. If you’ve been reading my blog, you’ll remember that Grandpa is 93 years old this year. He used to hold the best fish fries. He used to go fishing in Canada every year and he would bring back fish and have great fish fries. Eventually, the limit that he could bring back got too small for his parties. He then had a friend that had a trot line on Lake Texoma. He said he would get around 100 pounds of fish from him for the fish fries.

After a while, so many of the local politicians were involved and vying for time that it started getting out of hand. One summer, Grandpa’s beautiful wife, Betty (who had done a lot of the fish fry work) tripped over their Great Dane, Patrick and broke her arm. That was the end of the fish fries. Everyone was really disappointed, but, it was great fun while it lasted!

Southerners have always loved to gather for food and friendship in the steamy hot days of summer. This is one of my memories of those times.

Today’s Lagniappe: Southern Fried Catfish
There are a million ways to do it. Here is how I do it.

4 catfish fillets
1/2 cup cornmeal
3 tablespoons flour
creole seasoning to taste (I use Emeril’s Essence or Tony Cherchere’s)
salt to taste (depending on what creole seasoning you use)
vegetable oil

Pour vegetable oil to a depth of about 1 inch in a large cast iron skillet.

Heat the oil to around 375.

While oil is heating, mix cornmeal, flour and seasoning.

Coat catfish fillets in flour.

Once the oil is hot, fry the fish until golden brown and it flakes easily with a fork.

Drain the fish on paper towels and serve hot with tarter sauce.

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