I spent most of the day yesterday on that very chaise lounge. Reading, drinking a cold drink and just enjoying all the fragrances of the flowers along with the birdsong. Not a bad way to spend a day!
In between I had made several recipes of food for a party later this afternoon, poolside. All is ready now.
The brisket cooked for 24 hours. The potato salad is made. The baked beans are ready and the corn on the cob is ready to cook. All that is left is to heat the queso dip and grill the sausage. A fun time hopefully will be had by all.
My sister-in-law, Annette, loves to garden as I do. She has purposely planted all kinds of fragrant plants.
Gardenias, a magnolia tree, an orange tree and Carolina jasmine, just to name a few. The fragrances are exquisite no matter where you are sitting or walking. Hibiscus as seen above don't have a fragrance but their blooms make up for that. I can't grown hibiscus in Mexico at our altitude. Darn. I've tried.
Nor can I grow gardenias. I've tried and tried...........
The lemony fragrance of magnolias are one of my favorites along with the seedpods in the fall. I've never seen a Magnolia tree in Mexico.
However orange blossoms can be seen in many places in San Miguel as that once was a primary crop. Ahh, the fragrance.
Carolina jasmine is a great climber There is jasmine in Mexico but I don't think it is this variety. The fragrance is very similar to gardenias.
Here's a mixed bouquet that I arranged today to put on the table for the party. Gardenias, magnolias and hibiscus. Quite an unusual combination, but I love it!
Gracias to my sister-in-law for having created such beauty. I'm lucky to have had a chance to enjoy the garden while it is in bloom!
11 comments:
The jasmine is know in the South as Confederate jasmine or asiatic jasmine. It's blooming all over Charleston SC right now.
You had me at "...the brisket cooked for 24 hours...". Any chance you'd share the recipe?
And you've made me want to plant jasmine. Ah....the memories fragrance can invoke!
Ah yes, I had forgotten the name Confederat4e jasmine. I bet Charleston is beautiful this time of the year. I was there once. Lovely city.
Dean, to me brisket is so easy to cook. I usually use a smoky salt, a few spices and cook it on 225 for 24 hours in the oven covered in foil. This time I use Tony Chacere's cajun seasoning as a rub with a few other spices, whatever I could find, but couldn't find the smoky salt. So I cooked with what was at hand. Midway through, about 12 hours I doused it with Stubbs BBQ sauce and again put the foil on. NONE was left! All gone......
You have really prepared a feast, and what a beautiful setting for the party.
I haven't planted hibiscus here in San Miguel, but I had great success with it in Patzcuaro, and our house was at 8000 feet. Even the gardenia did well, but I did keep it in pots on the veranda.
Hmm, I tried several times here. I don't think its the altitude a much as the lack of humidity....who knows?
Maybe I should try one more time....
I came upon your blog this morning as I was working on a project for Bolton High School. Amazing what the internet has allowed us to do. In April 2015 BHS will be 100 years old. The school and town are planning a year long celebration. As the website goes up we are looking to contact as many former graduates as possible. May I please in the future send you the "official" webpage when done and Facebook page? And if you could just pass these two pages on to those you have kept in contact with. Then perhaps they can pass along to fellow grads. The committee sees these two sites as being the best to contact people as BHS grads are far flung across the globe. Thank you and GO BEARS!
As they say Sherry, small world. I was aware of the 100th Anniversary. I was in Alex for my 50th class reunion in 2010.
Send all the info to me. Jean Burnum Blake and Ellen Fresch Schoenbaum were the head honchos, among others, for our reunion.
Hopefully you have there info?
Yes I do, thank you. My hope is through our tech savvy world; reaching as many alum as possible. Love your blog, beautiful pictures!
Thanks for the how to on your brisket!
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