BRUSSELS SPROUTS

Lastly I must not over look Brussels sprouts, but I have a bit of a personal story so they get a separate post. The little tender bit size cabbage babies, we called them, are an easy and nutritious side for any winter meal, and summer too for that matter. They won’t grow through the cold but hold well over winter months in a cellar or cool basement. If storing them in a root cellar they need to be left on the stalk. They will grow well in the cool right up to the first hard frost.

     One of my most vivid wonderful gardening memories has to do with my mother's growing of these little treats. The first few years she had decided to try growing them she had such a problem with stink bugs. The sprout plants really seemed to attract these nasty little beetles a lot more than collards or cabbage, and they got the rest of the garden infested with the pests no matter how much we plucked them and sprayed them off, a job which was unfortunately expected for us kids to share in, though my sister who supposedly was so scared of the bugs would scream and moan until she’d finally be let off duty. …Humph, to my resentment. Well after a few years my dad, who was an avid organic gardener had the idea of praying mantises. So he purchased some! They came right in the mail special delivery. The box was small so we wondered. We gathered around to see as he brought them into the kitchen and got a knife to open the box. My mother cautioned him not to let those things loose in her kitchen, but he laughed and told her it was just egg cases that the box was so small it didn’t have the grown insects inside. So he opened it and the cases had some green mold or moss all over them… except that it took us only a moment to see that the moss was moving. If you looked really close it was a bazillion minuscule mantises coming from the cases. My dad leaped to get to the garden with the box, loosing a bit of the rapidly growing moss along the way-- to my mother’s exasperation. He set the box in the garden right where our sprout plants had sprouted, and he and I sat on the ground looking closely for what seamed an hour and watched in fascination as the moss of mantis began to grow, move then disperse. This definitely did the trick. If you ever have problems with stink bugs (harlequin beetles) try it. But my sister was even more afraid of the praying mantis all over the garden so her job of harvesting later in the season was hindered as well. 

     Brussels sprouts are great just steamed with a little salt and pepper. Or cook them in the microwave. Do not boil them into a mushy little lump. I think lots of folks don't like them cause they never had them cooked properly. We eat them hot with Thousand Island dressing. They are also great cut in half after steaming and drizzled with melted butter, finely chopped fresh rosemary, and fresh cracked pepper.  Or you can roast these babies in a hot oven, after coating with a little oil and seasonings, till they just start to brown around the edges. My daughter-in-law has a lovely recipe of sautéing them in browned butter with cashews. They are a great morsel of flavor, easy to prepare, and if you have mantises, easy to grow.

Enjoy your sprouts. Blessings mon amis