Fresh Picked

August 15, 2011

I love this season of the year – when my meals are planned around what I pick fresh from the garden.

Corn on the cob – all you can eat. Green beans – lightly steamed and dripping with butter. Summer squash in every form imaginable. And what about the tomatoes!

TomatosIs there anything as wonderful as a fresh, vine-ripened tomato?

Unless it’s something made from that fresh, vine-ripened tomato! Something like BLT’s, fresh salsa, bruschetta, or our favorite – pasta with fresh tomatoes.


Just peel 8 medium tomatoes. Chop, seed and drain.

Combine 1/4 cup of olive oil, 1 clove of garlic (crushed), 1 tablespoon of fresh parsley chopped, 1 teaspoon basil, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 of a green pepper (chopped) and 16 black olives, sliced.

Add tomatoes and set aside at room temperature.

Cook 8 ounces of pasta according to directions. Drain and place in serving bowl. Add tomato mixture and toss. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Yum!

We’re still in the honeymoon stage with tomatoes- enjoying all we can eat fresh – but don’t have quite enough yet to can.

WatermelonThen there’s my pride and joy – my watermelons – both of them.

The melons didn’t like the heat and drought of July. But thanks to the boys faithful watering, we saved one watermelon plant with 2 watermelons on it.

I was a little scared to pick the big one – but my friend Martha just gave it a thunk and proclaimed it done.

She was right – it was perfect!

I may just have to call her to come and thunk the next one in a few weeks. :)

So what’s on tonight’s menu?

All you can eat fresh corn on the cob (Pedro holds the record with 6 ears at one meal) and chicken wraps (with roasted yellow squash, green peppers, onions and garlic for the more adventurous eaters!)

Lip-smacking goodness!

By Country Gal | Posted in Cooking and Food, Gardening, Harvesting, Summer | Tagged , , , , | Comments (6)

True Confessions

May 20, 2011

lettuceI feel like I must confess here.

After all my noble efforts to start my own plants this winter – well – ahem – things haven’t worked out so well.

Let’s start with my pathetic cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower plants.

They were so bad that when I was shopping with my sister at the Amish stores – in a moment of weakness I bought all new big and beautiful plants and planted them in my garden.

That’s not all – the spindly little cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower starts that I’ve been nursing for months got yanked out of their pots and – are you ready for this – fed to the chickens.

Ouch.

But wait – there’s more!

Most of cantaloupe, watermelon, pumpkin, and squash plants looked fabulous for a while – but then started shriveling up and dying. Anything that had at least one green leaf got planted in the garden this week.

I think I will need to do a lot of replanting!

But on the bright side -we’ve have several meals of asparagus, a few tiny radish and our first garden fresh salad. The lettuce I planted was a mix of different varieties – some I am not familiar with.

Pedro took one bite of lettuce last night and announced, “I think I just ate a weed!”

I must confess that since my garden is not exactly weed-free that I”m more that a little worried he did!

Speaking of lettuce – during that same shopping trip with my sister Teresa – I also bought 2-4 packs of  head lettuce to put in the garden – thinking they would give me a head start on salad.

Two nights later there was a bunny convention in my garden and all my beautiful heads were served as the entree. Let’s just say that was some expensive bunny food. :(

But then there’s my tomato plants. We moved them into bigger pots a few weeks ago and planted them in the garden this week. They are doing great!

My friend Mendi asked me at Matt’s Graduation party just how many tomato plants I actually planted this year. Would you believe I didn’t even know?!

But since this post is a confessional of sorts – I sent Angel Girl out to count.

58.

Yes – I need to confess to going slightly overboard and planting fifty-eight tomato plants. I may be handing out bags of ripe tomatoes to random strangers come mid-August! :)

There – now that all of my garden blunders are out in the open – I have nothing more to hide.

They say that confession is good for the soul – I hope it’s good for a laugh or two as well! :)

I’ve linked this post up with the Tuesday Garden Party over at An Oregon Cottage.

By Country Gal | Posted in Gardening | Tagged , , , , | Comments (8)

Homemade Ketchup

October 9, 2008

Ketchup

I’ll admit that I don’t have fond memories of homemade ketchup.

There was one year growing up that my mom decided that since all five of us kiddos loved ketchup, she would use some of her bumper crop of tomatoes to can up a homemade version.

It did NOT go over well. It was runny and didn’t look or taste anything like the kind from the store that made the Heinz family millionaires.

So spending time making homemade ketchup was never on my to-do list.

Until we were enjoying a 4th of July barbecue at the home of some friends. Our kids were scarfing down hot dogs and burgers slathered in ketchup.

My host made the comment that my kids sure loved her homemade ketchup.

Her homemade what? I couldn’t believe that my kids were not only eating, but enjoying homemade ketchup! Come to think of it- so did I.

Needless to say, I left with the recipe and it has been a staple in our home ever since.

I bet Mom is laughing right now.

Homemade Ketchup

4 quarts tomato juice (I run my raw tomatoes through my Victorio strainer*)
3 1/2 cups sugar
2 cups vinegar
1/4 cups canning salt
1/2 teaspoon red pepper
2 small cans of tomato paste (6 oz. each)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves OR 1 tablespoon whole cloves (Take out after cooked)
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon allspice

Mix all of the ingredients together and boil for 1 hour.

Dissolve 3/4 cup of cornstarch in a little cold water. Remove ketchup from heat and add the cornstarch, stirring well. bring back to a boil.

Pack hot into hot jars, seal, and process in a boiling water bath for 25 minutes.

I always keep some empty ketchup bottles around to pour my homemade version in before I serve it. It’s easier to serve from a squirt bottle and you can fool unsuspecting children and visitors!

*The link is to a similar brand.

By Country Gal | Posted in Autumn | Tagged , , , | Comments (2)

Plant a Salad Garden

June 11, 2008

Salad With the price of food so frightfully high, and the danger of salmonella in fresh tomatoes, it may be time to consider planting a salad garden. All you need is a planter, potting soil, and some seeds. I would recommend leaf lettuce and spinach to begin with.

Plant the seeds according to the directions on the back of the seed packet. Then keep it in a sunny location, such as a deck or patio and keep it well watered. In a few weeks you should be able to start eating the baby greens.

If you plant a new garden every 3 weeks or so, you will have fresh greens all summer. Enjoy the greens until they start to go to seed, then just pull them out and replant.

Why not try a cherry or grape tomato plant in another pot? Or a sweet pepper plant? Or even jalapeños! Try different kinds of lettuce for a unique salad combination.

You don’t need a huge country garden like mine to save money on fresh salad all summer long. Being creative with the space you have is a great Thrifty Thought!

By Country Gal | Posted in Gardening, Thrifty Ideas | Tagged , , , , | Comments (0)