This ain't no Garden of Eden

[Bird]

I got to meet your "skinny" little underfed puppy too. I've never seen a chihuahua that was so friendly.

Remember what she looked like a bit over 3 years ago? Dee's favorite napping place

 

[jimmyj]

Cute little dog.

Gents, I must inform you after reading this post last night before bed, all I did was dream about picking Okra and trying to figure out how to prepare it!

 

[Bird]

all I did was dream about picking Okra

I don't recall anyone mentioning how okra causes you to itch. Did you scratch all might? I think it affects everyone a little differently, but seems to cause some degree of itching for anyone who picks it. Just handling the okra pods to wash and/or cut them up makes my wife's hands itch. They never affect the palms of my hands, as it does for her, but when picking it, the backs of my hands and arms will itch for awhile, but not a big deal. But one of my neighbors down in Navarro County, who loved eating okra and grew lots of it, said he had to wear gloves and a long sleeved shirt to pick it or it would drive him nuts itching so bad he couldn't stand it. I don't know anyone who can have the plant touch the backs of his hands and arms without some itching.

 

[Uncle Doug]

I don't recall anyone mentioning how okra causes you to itch. Did you scratch all might? I think it affects everyone a little differently, but seems to cause some degree of itching for anyone who picks it. Just handling the okra pods to wash and/or cut them up makes my wife's hands itch. They never affect the palms of my hands, as it does for her, but when picking it, the backs of my hands and arms will itch for awhile, but not a big deal. But one of my neighbors down in Navarro County, who loved eating okra and grew lots of it, said he had to wear gloves and a long sleeved shirt to pick it or it would drive him nuts itching so bad he couldn't stand it. I don't know anyone who can have the plant touch the backs of his hands and arms without some itching.

I think certain people are more prone to the itching. The type we have at home does not cause me any problem. The one at the church will cause the backs of my hands to itch for about an hour, even after washing. I use to go early to the church on Sunday morning to pick a few things before church so those that need it could take it home with them. Now I try and go by on Saturday morning for that same reason.

I think the back of the hand thing also could be from contact with the leaves when picking the okra.

 

[jinman]

I've planted Clemson Spineless and it seems to be one of the "less itchy" varieties. We have one 20' row and three 15' rows. I pick the whole patch bare-handed and in a t-shirt. That's only a little over a gallon of okra. When we had a bigger patch a couple of years ago, I also picked bare-handed. I do itch some, but rinsing in water very soon after picking seems to take care of most of the itch.

When I was a kid, we planted almost an acre of okra. We always picked wearing long sleeves and cloth gloves with the fingertips cut out. I would itch like crazy, and between my fingers felt like tiny needle pricks. No amount of washing seemed to do any good. It took a couple of hours for that to go away. I hated it.

I don't know if it's the leaves or okra pods that make me itch, but the sap from cutting the pods is sticky and contributes to the problem. I used to pick using a knife and cutting the pod between the knife and my thumb. I now pick with a small pair of scissors, using two hands: one holding the pod and the other cutting with the shears.

Okra is bad for the itch, but tomato pollen really makes me sneeze. I'm not sure which is worse.

 

[Bird]

Jim, the Clemson Spineless is what I always planted in Navarro County, and like you, I'd itch a bit, but no big deal, but Margaret even says the palms of her hands itch from handling the pods. I always got my itching from touching the leaves and stems of the plant, not the pods.

And the only time I ever used gloves to pick okra was for awhile one summer in my pre-teen years, and it wasn't because of the itching. It was because I didn't see that bumble bee in one of the blossoms until he stung me. So I decided to wear gloves that summer.

 

[Bird]

Jim, you mentioned what sounded to Margaret and to me like a good recipe, but I didn't write it down or have amounts or ratios, so this may or may not be very close to your recipe, but we enjoyed a batch of your vegetables fixed this way this afternoon. Picture #1 is a finely chopped onion in a skillet with a little olive oil just starting to cook. #2 is after I added a spoonful of chopped garlic, a few sprinkles of basil, a little salt and pepper, and strips of your bell peppers and your banana peppers. #3 is after I piled on a few slices of both the yellow squash and the zuchinni. #4 is after it simmered awhile with the lid on the skillet. I did add just a little bit of water. And #5 is the sirloin we had with it. It's so hot outside, we just cooked it in a skillet seasoned with a bit of KC Masterpiece Steak Seasoning. And I was sure I snapped a final picture of the veggies after I stirred in a cup or so of chopped tomato, but alas that picture ain't to be found.

 

[jinman]

Bird, I think you have it. It's funny that you had to add some water and I always seem to have to dip some out, but that may be my technique as much as anything else. I do get my onions and peppers cooked pretty well before adding the squash. Then I simmer the squash and let it actually brown a little on the bottom. It makes a hard job cleaning the frying pan sometimes, but that toasted squash flavor is very good. I hope you enjoyed your meal. If I don't have peppers or tomatoes, I just do the squash by itself, but the peppers and tomatoes really add a lot of flavor to the mix. It's a flexible dish, but not one that's done in a hurry.

Your steak also looks really good. My mother used to cook pan steak because we didn't have any outside grill. Heck, I think I was married before I ever had a charcoal grill. Steak can be really tasty if cooked in a pan. I don't know that we ever could afford sirloin, but we sure had our share of round steak and tenderized steak my mom would batter and fry. She always made gravy to go with that home style chicken fried steak. I know I quit eating that when I left home. It's probably a good thing I did. It was good, but not necessarily good for you.

BTW: I sometimes don't add tomatoes, but stir in a can of cream of mushroom soup to the squash the last five minutes or so. That gives it a whole different flavor.

 

[Bird]

Jim, I think now that I probably didn't need to add the water. Of course, it was less than a fourth of a cup of water. But after simmering with the lid on, then I let it cook a bit more with the lid off just to boil away what little water was still there.

 

[jinman]

Well, I hope you liked the taste and the smell. Our house smells like my concoction for a whole day after cooking it. Luckily, Kathy likes onions, but if we have company coming, she gets out the air freshener.