My dear readers….I seem to be on a painting frenzy AND a fish recipe frenzy!
But first, lets talk about paint.
I remember the Primer books in 1st and 2nd grade, when as children, we were taught to read. The Primer books were sooo cool to me.
I loved reading about Father getting all the lawn furniture out of their basement, washing and painting them up in fire-engine red, sunny yellow, bright blue and kelly green.
I loved reading about Dick and Jane and Spot and Janet.
I certainly didn’t identify with the Spring ritual of painting furniture, because growing up…we didn’t really have actual lawn furniture….and we certainly didn’t paint our chairs bright, bold colors. When we sat outside, we pulled furniture from inside the house to sit on.
Perhaps the reason I loved reading about “run, Spot run”….was/is the same reason I love to read today.
Reading takes one away to a different place and time and the romantic part of me places me right there, whether it is Mowgli running through the jungle or Agatha Christie solving mysteries on the Orient Express. Soooo therapeutic.
And painting is also therapeutic for me. Everything gets a new lease on life.
Which leads me to my story of my paint store experience.
My Secret Garden started out with muted colors which evolved into a few yellows, red, blue and green in the chairs that sat around the outdoor dining table.
Pops of color started emerging everywhere.
Then the hot pink mandevilla flowers entwined in and about the pergola
and the bright red hibiscus
and the terracotta orange concrete steps bordered by balustrades.
And then the mosiac multi-colored Mexican tiles on the stair risers.
Yep, quite a plethora of colors.
So I am standing in the middle of the paint store looking at paint colors for outdoor furniture. Yep, just like Father in the Primer Books. 😉
I had already decided on the bright blue color for the potting bench…see the link below for the potting bench bright new color.
Not Quite a Potager…But Close Enough!
but I had a brainstorm after picking out the blue paint.
The seating bench could use a “sprucing up”…I mulled this over and over in my mind, luckily the cover for the cushion had just been replaced…with the same bright orange cover. (I bought two of them when I purchased the bench several years ago)
BUT…what color should I choose for the wooden framework?
I kept imagining a bright yellow, but dismissed it when thinking about the orange cushion…and so as I stood there taking up space, trying to do a MacGyver process in my head, I realized I just couldn’t make up my mind.
So I started doing a deduction process. The Secret Garden already had bright blue and bright red and ok, I won’t bore you with color details….but as I was getting ready to give up and go home and forget about painting the seating bench…I suddenly had an idea. Why not use an espresso brown color…just like the window shutters. Yes, it would be a “safe” color as that color was already on the shutters on the back of the house and it would be good with the orange color. So I grabbed up the espresso paint along with my blue paint for the potting bench and headed home.
All the way home, I second guessed my choice of espresso….so the first thing I did when I got home was to go out to the Secret Garden and take another look at the seating bench.
I stood there laughing at my silliness. The Captain had met me at the door and followed me out to the Secret Garden and now he asked why I was laughing….I said:
“look at the NEW paint color I bought for the seating bench!”
A frown furrowed on his brow and he said….”what is new about it? It is the same color isn’t it?”
Alas, yes….it was the original color of the bench. I wasted all that time trying to picture colors that might work with the orange seat cushion when the original color was the exact same color I purchased.
Oh, well…I also reminded myself of the 3 brand new nail polish bottles sitting on my manicure table. They are not only the same brand…they are the same color of coral nail polish. I pick one up when I spot a new color in Walgreens.
I must like coral….and espresso!
Which leads me to catfish and my childhood. (how did you like that for a segue?)
We may not have painted any lawn furniture when I was growing up, but we did eat lots and lots of catfish.
I have always liked catfish and my favorite way of preparing it is pan frying it in a cast iron skillet.
Which you can do out on your grill….while you are painting your lawn furniture.
“Look Jane, Father is painting your chair blue!”
“Run, Spot Run”
The handy dandy printable recipe is below.
Hugs
- 4 to 6 whole catfish fillets
- 1/3 cup cooking oil (I use canola but you can use vegetable)
- 2 large eggs
- 1/3 cup flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon Creole or Cajun seasoning (optional)
- 1/2 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 1/2 cups Panko bread crumbs
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
- Rinse catfish and set aside.
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat or you can put a cast iron skillet on your outdoor grill.
- Set up 3 dredging stations (I use aluminum pie plates) and in the first combine the flour, salt, pepper, Creole or Cajun seasoning, Old Bay, paprika, onion and garlic powder.
- The second add the beaten eggs The third pie pan add the parsley to the Panko crumbs
- Dust the catfish in the flour mixture, then dip in the eggs and lastly roll in the Panko mixture Place the breaded fillets on paper towels
- Fry, in batches about 3 to 4 minutes per side until golden brown and cooked through.
- Drain on paper towels and serve with tartar sauce, lemon wedges
- I love catfish with just about any potato or rice there is....and if you add a green salad or cole slaw, you have a great meal
- * If you don't catch your own catfish, flash frozen ones are just as good. I particularly like the farm raised catfish in the U.S.
Please comment, I'd love to hear from you.