Archived Posts

Sat, 22 Oct 2005

Florida Blog Directory

Update: Many of the links in the list on this page are out of date. You can now find more than 800 Florida blogs at sourstock.com.

With Wilma on the way, It was a good time to preview the Florida Blog Directory.

I'm still adding to the list. If you know of a Florida blog that should be included, please write: dave AT spacecoastweb.org

[This list last updated 6/22/2006. At that time, I verified all the links, removing dead blogs. I included locations wherever possible. There are now 653 blogs listed.]

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Mayhaw and Peanut Butter Sandwiches

For lunch the other day, I had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches...

But only so I'd have something to blog about.

I don't often eat PB&J. I'd rather have meat and cheese in a sandwich. (Crisp bacon is nice, some lettuce, a pickle slice... Mmmm... sandwiches.)

With the exception of the Monte Cristo, I don't usually like sweet sandwiches.

But this jelly was special, made from wild mayhaw, so it changed the whole dynamic, transforming the pedestrian fare of PB&J into a culinary delight.

I chose plain white bread, not the honey wheat I'd build dagwoods with. I smeared on a thick layer of creamy peanut butter, to stick to my ribs and last me the day. Next the wild mayhaw jelly, (just a thin layer).

At the first bite, the unique tart flavor of the mayhaw dominates, then it evokes a subtle floral finish, with a woody tannin bite, fragrant and not unlike rose hips, or perhaps raspberry leaves.

The jelly is very sweet, so a little goes a long way, too much would be cloying. Three parts peanut butter to one part jelly seemed to be right to my taste.

When I had first sampled the aroma of the jelly, I'd had my doubts. I mean, this is swamp jelly, made from a wild fruit. But I'd happily buy another jar, after having tasted it.

I think mayhaw could be substituted wherever cranberry might be used. [Swamp cosmopolitans?]

I found the wild mayhaw jelly while on a recent road trip to Pensacola. Mayhaw grows in the northern regions of our state and throughout the Deep South, from Texas and Louisiana to Georgia and the Carolinas.

The mayhaw is a variety of hawthorne tree. Unlike other hawthornes, which usually bear in the fall, the Mayhaw ripens in the month of May, thus the name. The fruit is small and resembles a crabapple. The mayhaw tree is armed with large thorns and belongs to the same family as roses.

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