You Can Take the Girl Out of the Country…

…but you can’t take the country out of the girl!  I may have been gone from my home town for 20 years, but there are some things that you just never forget, especially during this time of year.

I love fall for lots of reasons, but now that I’m back in South Carolina farm land, nothing says fall more than the smell of cotton in the fields…..or should I say defoliant sprayed on the cotton to help the leaves die and fall off the stalks.  Once the leaves have fallen, cotton picking can commence!

 

This conjures up lots of fond childhood memories of growing up on our farm, my daddy working late into the night picking the cotton before the rains came, and of my "helping" out by jumping into the trailers full of freshly picked cotton.  This was a job my sisters and I adored.  Packing the cotton down into the trailer was necessary to be able to get more cotton in it before hauling it off to the gin.  And who better for the job than a bunch of giggling little girls!  I loved this “chore” so much that my mother once invited several of my little friends to our farm in honor of my birthday (I forget how old I was).  The highlight of the party was jumping in the cotton trailer!  Each party guest also got to take home a miniature cotton bale!  What I wouldn’t give to have a couple of those little bales.  Hmmm….I wonder if there’s any old photos of that party???

 

Another very distinct smell is the fragrance of freshly dug peanuts.  The "new crop" season is now.  And there's no better boiled peanut than the ones picked right off the roots with your very own hands. 

 

 

 

My friend, Cathy, allowed me to come to her farm and help myself to their freshly dug legumes.  The bulk of their nuts has been contracted to a food company, and the few that I gathered won’t make a difference to their harvest.

 

I boiled up a batch as soon as I got home, and let me tell you they are some kind of good!  (that’s Southern speak for all my Yankee friends!)  ;)  I’m tickled I still have at least 2 more batches to boil and get in the freezer.

If you’d like to know how to make your own boiled peanuts, go here for the recipe. 

I’d love to know what fall smells send you down memory lane?

Happy Fall, y’all!

Caviar of the South, Boiled Peanuts

Everyone in the South knows that summer not only means homegrown tomatoes and other yummy garden freshness, but also New Crop peanuts!

Now I don't claim to know a lot about peanuts, but I do know that the only good boiled peanut begins as a GREEN, or raw, peanut.  You can buy raw peanuts throughout the year, but if they aren't moist and fresh out of the ground, it will take forever to cook them to the desired consistency that a boiled peanut must be to "pass the test". 

Now if you're expecting crunchy goodness like a roasted peanut, you're going to be disappointed, or pleasantly surprised when you crack open a boiled peanut.  Think more along the lines of butter beans.  After all, peanuts are in the legume family!

My whole family likes boiled peanuts.  They're great as a snack, breakfast, lunch or dinner!  And there is a distinct way of eating the morsels, according to them.  First you put the whole thing in your mouth, sucking out all the salty brine, then you crack the shell either with your teeth or with your fingers.  Next you get to pluck out the nuts, eating them one by one, or by dumping them into your mouth from the shell, all while looking into the bowl for the next peanut victim of your addiction.  (but no one was willing to let me capture the experience on camera!)

The other very important fact about boiled peanuts is the distinct Southern pronunciation of this delicacy.  The word "boiled" is a difficult word to pronounce to begin with, therefore, we Southerners have made it easy by just letting the word literally roll out of our mouths:  "bowl"; "bole"; or "bol".  This sounds so much better than the literal way of pronoucing the word the way it's spelled!

So, go on out and buy yourself a couple pounds, and enjoy some "Southern Bole Peanuts", y'all!



find "green" peanuts in your favorite grocery store; load at least 2 pounds of
these babies in a bag





bring 'em home, and give them a good rinse in your kitchen sink






measure out 1/2 cup salt and...

 

... 4 Tablespoons Old Bay Seasoning



toss the salt, Old Bay, and peanuts in a stock pot;
fill pot with enough water to make peanuts float...full but not overflowing



bring water to a boil; lower heat to medium high and cover;
set timer for 1 hour.



at the end of the hour, check your water level and add more water if needed.
Also do a taste test on a couple nuts. If they're still crunchy, they still need to cook.
Set the timer for 1 hour, and repeat this step until the nuts are a soft, meaty consistency.
2 lbs takes around 3 hours to cook. If the nuts are close to the desired consistency,
remove from the heat and let sit in the hot water to finish cooking. 
Eat 'em all, or put some up in the freezer for a great winter snack during football season!