Strawberries in September??

I bought a strawberry plant or two for our deck this year.  The summer went by, we got a couple of small berries, but the woodsy creatures got to them first.  I'd pretty much given up on it when Brian told me last week that there was one ripe strawberry on the plant.  I promptly went outside and ate it.  It was the sweetest little strawberry that I have ever tasted!

Then more berries came.  Brian ate a couple, and I put the rest on my Cheerios yesterday.

Then I looked outside this morning and guess what?  MORE!  It's a Strawberry Miracle!

Guess I *will* try strawberry plants again next year.

As for the rest of my plants, I got a ton of cilantro, basil, parsley and oregano.  Good lord, the oregano!  Apparently basil needs to be harvested quicker than I did though, because I chopped some up for chicken soup the other day and it tasted "woody."  Which is a shame, because it's my favorite.

The green beans were a mostly-fail.  Bugs or critters got most of them, we got one handful and steamed them for dinner one night.  I had several jalapenos and anaheim chilies, so I'd try them again, too.  Nothing on the blueberry plant, but tons of cherry tomatoes.  Too bad only a few would ripen at a time, so they became a snack every day instead of in a salad.  All in all, not a bad year!

From (My) Plant to (My) Table

Ta-Da!  Pesto, made from MY home-grown basil!

It wasn't bad for my second try.  I'll tell you....using a food processor makes all the difference.  Anyone who tells you that you can make it in a blender is crazy.  This is actually the first time I ever used the food processor myself.  And man, did it show....I couldn't get it running and Brian had to show me that I had it assembled backwards!

This called for half a cup of pine nuts, three cups of packed basil, a couple cloves of garlic, half a cup of grated fresh parmesan cheese and half a cop of olive oil, along with salt and pepper to taste.  Three cups of packed basil is a lot more than I thought, it wiped out more than half of my deck box:

The recipe also said "The more the merrier" when it came to garlic, so I used four cloves.  Two of them were huge though, so I'd say that it was closer to six.  So I'd politely disagree, that's a lot of garlic.  Didn't stop us from eating it though, we're no strangers to garlic and love the taste.  It's a good thing that we both had it, though.  :)  It might be different if you roasted the garlic the night before you assemble the pesto, but I'm not sure what that would do to the oil and other ingredient ratio or if it would work.



Now I'm off to find out if you can freeze pesto....because if you can I know what I'm putting in the freezer for this fall and winter.

Herb Harvest!!!

This is the first year that I've been successful at growing herbs in deck boxes.  And having herbs that you can just snip and add to your cooking is awesome!

First the cilantro....we have so much of it.  I love it, especially in guacamole or tacos.    There was a sweet cilantro salad dressing the other day too.  Homemade salad dressing tastes SO much better and is apparently better for you, too.

Brian made a quick homemade spaghetti sauce the other night and used fresh parsley and basil. It was delicious.

Next up:  cilantro in homemade salsa and perhaps a basil pesto.  I'm loving this!  Now, if my tomatoes, cucumbers and zucchini come up, it will be a perfect growing summer.

Zucchini by the Pound

To say that our zucchini plants are thriving is kind of like saying that Big Ben is well....big.  Three HUGE zucchini plants, and I've already given some away.

Our new favorite side dish:  grilled zucchini.  Slice, salt, grill, serve!  Even Brian, who is not overly fond of zucchini, enjoyed them.

One thing to be careful of......the zucchini cook quickly and smoke up fast, too.  I needed to run the fan and open the doors to get rid of the smoke.  (Disclaimer:  No smoke detectors were tripped in the making of this meal.)

Grilled zucchini is extra-special when you dot it with balsamic vinegar and a little shredded Parmesan.

Garden 2012

Ready for another season of gardening!  I'm hoping for more success this year than the last two.  Since this is likely the last garden that we'll plant at this house (hopefully if all goes well next Spring) I'm going big.  Going with the usual suspects:  green beans, zucchini and of course a tomato plant.  But this year, I'm adding lettuce, beets and WATERMELON to the mix!  I've heard that lettuce is ridiculously easy to grow, and I really enjoyed beets that much when we had them.  Planting will hopefully start first week of May, going to do it early this time!  Wish me luck.

A Double-Header in the Kitchen

I worked on getting the Big Kid to clean up his room while Hubby whipped up this recipe:  Saucy Steak!  The recipe called to be served over mashed potatoes, but we opted for rice instead.  The meal was rounded out with green beans fresh from the garden.

And bonus!  There's plenty of leftovers.  We gave the same dinner to the boys (minus sauce).  Lately we've been trying harder to have everyone eat the same thing at night.  I am really wishing that veggies had been showing up every night on the dinner table from an early age for Will, 'cause I'd be lying if I said it was a walk in the park to get him to eat them now!  But still we try....

What's in the yellow bowl, you say?  That there is homemade chocolate ganache....relaxing so that it can be spread on a cake to take to a cookout tomorrow night.  And that cake....is a whole 'nother blog post!

Holy Green Beans!

I took Will out in the backyard tonightt to get some of the fresh green beans that appeared while we were on vacation.  Also, big THANKS! to my brother for coming by every day to water our garden.  Without him, our veggies would have been victims of the heat wave that swept thru in our absence.

 Show me the green beans, Mom.  I don't see them!

 Wow...it really is cool to grow our own veggies!

 We grew them to eat them, Mom?  Oh my....you're hilarious.  Or barking mad.

 Taking his watering duties very seriously.

This is the first bunch of green beans, I grabbed just enough for dinner.  And there's still a plethora of 'em out there.  What should we do with this first bunch??

Garden Update

 Everything's coming along nicely.  No edibles yet, but there are a few small green tomatoes and the zucchini plants have squash blossoms on them.  Something is eating my basil plant!  It's got little bites in the leaves, and the bottom leaves look kind of scraggly.  I weeded and watered tonight after the heat dropped a little.  Man...those weeds!  If I ever find myself really angry, I'm going to go out and weed something.  Those stubborn suckers...they really take it out of you!  I hosed down with the garden hose afterwards, just my legs.  Yup...as cold as I recall from my childhood!

Can't wait to feast on green beans, zucchini and tomatoes.  :)

Cooking up a Storm....In a Storm!

Lots of thunderstorms this weekend.  It's been a very busy one, with something going on for pretty much all of it!  And most of it was food-related.  We went to a wedding on Saturday, and it was a very simple affair, including a potluck reception.  I kind of like this idea!  However, with work, two kids and going out the night before, I just didn't have time to make something for it.  So we picked up some chips and pineapple salsa on the way.  Luckily, no one else thought of this and it went nicely with the other things on the table.  One of my knitty friends baked a cake that was out of this world!  It was a spongy roll cake, with a sweet cream and fresh berry filling.  Awesome!  Congrats and Best Wishes to Danielle and Dave!  :)

Tonight's dinner is grilled chicken breast with melon salsa.  Brian made the salsa this morning from honeydew melon, canteloupe, red onion, cilantro, jalapeno and simple syrup.  The recipe called for agave nectar but I'll be honest, I don't know what that is.  And since I was short on time, we made a substitution.  We hit a snafu when Brian went out to light the grill.  I think I forgot to mention this....our grill caught fire a few weeks ago.  Yes, a grill is "supposed" to catch fire, however this was on the outside.  We'd lost one burner but could still cook.  Today we lost a second one so the chicken's grilling on our George Forman grill.  It's not looking good for the season as far as grilling is concerned.  And gas grills are so damn expensive.  I'm hoping that we can hold off until the big summer clearance, when they start bringing in the grills at the hardware store and putting out the snowblowers!!

I'm also bringing a meal to my friend Shelly tomorrow.  Shelly had her baby boy "Tadpole" (not his real name) two weeks ago and I'm bringing her family a vegetarian meal tomorrow night after work.  I'll stay long enough to visit and meet the baby, and also help her out with some cleaning or whatever.  Naturally, I left the cookbook that I picked a recipe from at work, because that's just how I roll.  :)

I am sorry to report that Crafty Mama is seriously lacking in the gardening department.  Every time that I have time to work on it, it's raining!  This afternoon has been simply ridiculous.  I'm afraid all I'll get to this year is maybe a couple of tomato plants.  Oh well, there's always next year.

Lastly, my pup Joey is not feeling well.  He was sick this morning and I pulled his food.  After making sure he wasn't throwing up for the rest of the day, Mama made him a big bowl of white rice and boiled hamburger.  He was really appreciative, let me tell you!  This is a great thing to make when your dog's not feeling good.  If you don't have any hamburger on hand, chicken's a good substitute. 

So that's it for now.  Whew!  What a whirlwind weekend!

In the Garden

Hooray, it's May!  That can only mean that it's almost time to plant our vegetable garden.

My first year planting, I had a great year with a bumper crop of tomatoes and zucchinis.  Last year, high of the previous year's successes, I got cocky and tried to expand way too quickly.  It was a ridiculously wet summer, and it took out most of my plants.  I got like six zucchini (which Brian says is more than plenty for him!)   and the plant just shriveled and died, turning to mush in the rain.  Zucchini likes wet summer weather, but this was just too much.  The peppers I had planted never came to fruition, the cucumbers and carrots were too small to be edible, and the sugarmelon?  Sprouted then withered. 

So, as they say in sports, this is a rebuilding year.  After the soil is turned over, I am only planting zucchini, tomatoes and green beans.  I plan on a  lot of green beans, as they are the only veggie that Will eats willlingly.   One plant for regular tomatoes, and one for cherry tomatoes.  I don't care if I ever see a grape tomato again!  That's the only thing that grew really well last year, and we had bushels of them.  And there's only so much you can do with them, after you put them in salads and saute them in pasta a couple of times, you're sick of them.

I am also hoping that now that Will is three, he'll take a bit of an interest in helping take care of the plants.  Maybe if he gets to help water them he'll be more apt to eat them?

Garden Update (aka Name that Bug)

---Sadly, my zucchini plants have kicked the bucket. I'm not sure if it was the ravaging rainstorms or if I planted them too close to the shed. I did get three or four zucchinis before they died. Considering the plethora that I had last year that I had to find people to take it off my hands, I'm not all that disappointed. I'm really the only person in the house that eats it. Will only eats it clandestinely. Usually in some form of chocolate baked goods!

---Tomatoes, Tomatoes, Tomatoes! I have lots of grape tomatoes! The only thing I've come up with for grape tomatoes is to put them into a salad. I'm going to have plenty of plum (Roma) tomatoes when they turn red though, and those are good in a variety of things. And there's two regular tomato plants....salsa here we come! I also have been hankering for a tomato, basil and buffalo mozzarella sandwich on ciabatta bread, like we used to make at the coffee shop I worked at in college.

---Tons of herbs. Especially oregano. I'm not sure just yet what I'm going to do with all of it.

---Cucumbers! I'd say I have a dozen sprouting. I love cucumber. I find that they work really well in an Asian Steak Stir-Fry with red peppers, onion and a homemade stir-fry sauce. (Great, now I want that too!) Though I find a slice of cucumber with just a sprinkle of salt is quite good, too. And I recently had a slice or two of cucumber in a glass of water at a spa.....different than lemon and definitely refreshing.

Tonight, Brian was pulling some tomatoes and he noticed this weirdo catepillar thing. I have NO idea what it was, but being a total bugophobe, it creeped me out!! It had a face almost like a parrakeet, and Brian had a difficult time removing it from the tomato vine. It was the exact same color as the vine, so he missed it at first. Anyone know what it is?? Email me if you do.

Monster Harvest

I hurt my back the other night cutting zucchini off the vine. It was almost dark, we had just come back from a week's vacation in Western NY, and I was working quickly. Stupidly, I bent at the waist instead of at the knees and CRACK! It's not as bad as the job I did last September, but I spent the rest of the night on the couch with an ice pack.

Tomatoes are turning nice and red, and I should probably check on the carrots soon. The zucchinis that I got are monsters! One of them is over a foot long! I know that they don't taste very good when they get that big, but that's what happens when you go away for a week and it's been so rainy!

Produce for Charity

The past couple of weeks have been wet and rainy, so I finally got outside to the garden and MAN! Guess who forgot to thin the zucchini and cucumber plants?! I am going to have a ton this year, because there are not one, not two but FIVE zucchini plants out there! And booooyyyyyy do I need to weed!

I was reading an article in Woman's Day recently about a charity called Backyard Harvest. A woman in Idaho started Backyard Harvest when one year, she decided to plant a garden. She let her kids plant lettuce seeds and they planted the entire pack. At harvest time, they had 200 heads of lettuce!! And, as she put it, "nobody has that many friends that want lettuce from your garden." She contacted a local food pantry and asked if they acepted fresh produce, and they did! They did tell her that they don't get a lot of fresh produce to give out to needy families, though. So she recruited friends and neighbors to grow extra in their gardens and to donate the fruits of their labor to hungry families and a charity was born. It's going so well that the idea has expanded with people opening chapters in both Washington and California.

When I read the article, I immediately thought of my poor zucchini and cucumbers and thought about how many of my friends would want some when the plants explode with wholesome goodness next month. I thought it would be cool if there was a Massachusetts chapter. But for now, I'm happy to freeze some of my produce. Maybe someday there will be something like that here.

cross-posted at Life in the Carpool Lane.

Here They Come....

I checked the garden last week, and of course the zucchini plants are sprouting. Those suckers could grow in sand, I swear!! I was a little disappointed that nothing else seemed to be coming up. Then Brian kindly showed me where the cucumbers are coming up, they're hiding in the weeds! I'm going to train the cucumber to grow on a trellis, in order to make some room. The sugarmelon appears to be doing nothing, but I refuse to be sad about it.

I also got some herb plants from my parents for Mother's Day, so today I put the mediterranean oregano and rosemary in containers. I also went a little crazy and planted some carrots, and I think I have a little room left over. The package of carrot seeds said that they're so easy to grow, they'll grow anywhere. My rocky little garden is going to put them to the test! We bought four (four!) different kinds of tomato plants, and I got them in the ground today as well. There's grape tomatoes, romas, "Big Boys" and "Early Girls." Oh Boy!

In case you couldn't tell, I'm loving having my own garden.....

Garden Expansion

I spent part of last Sunday planting this year's garden, and I'm so excited! So far, I have zucchini, cucumber, green peppers and....sugar melons! The grocery store called them "personal melons" and I think that's ridiculous. They're little baby watermelons, I couldn't resist them. I plan on adding 2 or 3 tomato plants to the mix, as well as an herb garden. However, after reviewing my space, I don't think I'm going to have room for that. So I am going to try to grow fennel, basil, oregano and parsley in containers. I haven't bought the containers yet, because I'm not quite sure what I'm looking for. But I have a vision!

Garden Time?!

Now that Spring is officially here (albeit only two or three days old) it's time to start thinking about the Garden. I'm thinking this way despite the still partially-frozen ground, as it doesn't hurt to be prepared.

I definitely want to expand this year, but I've learned a few lessons. For one thing, THIN OUT THE ZUCCHINI PLANTS. That puppy was a monster last year!! I've also decided not to grow green beans this year. Instead, I think I'll go with tomatoes, zucchini, cucumber and maybe peppers. Also, this year I'm going to grow an herb garden in a window box. I'm certainly going to plant some basil, as there's nothing as delicious-smelling (herb-wise) as the perfume of fresh basil. :) And now that I have a food processor, I'm anxious to try to make some fresh pesto that doesn't turn into a mess!

Anyone got some other suggestions for easy things to grow?

Zucchini Overload!

Since I picked three more zucchini yesterday, it was time to make another zucchini dish. I found a recipe in "Joy of Cooking" aka "The Bible" for a Zucchini Frittata. I've never attempted a frittata, but I've screwed up plenty of omelets and the idea of an "open-face" omelet with no flipping or folding was tempting. It took a little while to make, but it was worth it. And even Hubby, the self-proclaimed zucchini hater, took a second portion!

I also went to the farmer's market nearby yesterday for some farm-fresh corn. That's one thing I won't attempt to grow, it's seems like a lot of work for such a little return. Of course, I came home not only with the corn but some carrots, Boston and Iceberg lettuces and a cucumber. Oh, and a bunch of fresh basil. I ADORE fresh basil, it's perfume is intoxicating. I brought it home not sure what I was going to do with it, but I'm thinking some pesto sauce. I've never made it fresh, but I'm sure it's good!

Zucchini Frittata

one small onion, chopped
one medium zucchini, thinly sliced
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 grated or shredded parmesan cheese
5 large eggs
torn fresh basil
olive oil

Preheat broiler on "low" setting.

In a cast-iron skillet, pour two tablespoons of olive oil and warm over medium heat. Add chopped onion, stir and cook until soft. Add zucchini, cook until golden (approx ten minutes) Remove from pan, remove pan from heat.

Crack all five eggs into a large bowl, add salt and pepper to taste. Beat until smooth. Add zucchini and onion mixture. Add torn basil and parmesan cheese to the mix. Put skillet back on burner, pour olive oil to coat pan, and warm on medium. Once oil has warmed, pour in egg mixture. Spread zucchini evenly. Turn burner to low, let bottom of frittata cook and set. Once it looks cooked (i.e. the edges of the frittata are cooked) put under the broiler in the oven for 30-90 seconds or until set. A traditional frittata is not browned, so don't overcook. When it comes out of the oven, invert onto a large plate. Serve in wedges.
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Another thing I plan on making today is Ratatouille. I don't know where the recipe for this comes from, but it is something that my mother has made for years. It's a totally vegetarian dish, and I've made it for my friend Jenny when she comes over and she likes it a lot. It can be served over rice or pasta, or as I am going to try it over sliced, pan-fried polenta!

Ratatouille

1 med/large eggplant, cubed
2 medium zucchini, sliced
2 TBSP chopped garlic
one med onion, chopped
1 can diced tomatoes, with added Italian herbs (or you can use plain if you like)
grated parmesan cheese

Warm two tbsp olive oil in a skillet. Add onion, cook until softened. Add garlic, cook until softened. Add eggplant and zucchini, cook until softened. Pour over the can of tomatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture is heated throughout. Serve topped with grated parmesan cheese.

Chocolate Zucchini Bread

I baked this last night with the first zucchini from my garden and had a piece for breakfast. Sooo good. And even better...Will had a piece for breakfast too and was none the wiser that he had just eaten a green vegetable! I cut the sugar down to a cup and a half, and really, I don't think the finished product was lacking because of it. Enjoy!

Chocolate Zucchini Bread (taken from AllRecipes.com)

INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)
2 (1 ounce) squares unsweetened chocolate
3 eggs
2 cups white sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups grated zucchini
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips


DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease two 9x5 inch loaf pans. In a microwave-safe bowl, microwave chocolate until melted. Stir occasionally until chocolate is smooth.
In a large bowl, combine eggs, sugar, oil, grated zucchini, vanilla and chocolate; beat well. Stir in the flour baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Fold in the chocolate chips. Pour batter into prepared loaf pans.
Bake in preheated oven for 60 to 70 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a loaf comes out clean.

Hostile Takeover

So....I hadn't ventured out to see the veggie garden in the last couple of days because we've had rain almost every day so there has been no need for watering. Was I in for a surprise tonight! The zucchini plant is freakishly HUGE! The leaves on it are as big as dinner plates. I kid you not. The stalks are growing OVER the stone border and opening like an upside-down umbrella, and there's these huge closed yellow flower buds. The thing is just comical. I'm afraid I will have so much zucchini I won't know what to do with it. Meanwhile, if anyone has zucchini recipes to share, send them my way! (or if you live locally and might be interested in some, let me know that too.)

Do you SALSA??

Know what's really good? Homemade fruit salsa. We had it for dinner the other night on top of salmon and it was divine. This salsa had fresh pineapple, tomato, onion, garlic and jalapeno. There's another one I want to try sometime with watermelon. We had some left so we'll serve it with tortilla chips at Tracy's birthday gathering tomorrow night. We'll eat salmon and homemade salsa again sometime, but on a weekend. Because as much as fruit salsa is delicious, it's also a pain to make with all the chopping of fruits and veggies, and watching Will at the same time. And next time I'll get salmon fillets instead of steaks, all those bones!

The zucchini plants in my garden are starting to form the zucchinis. The plants are HUGE. The leaves are almost as big as dinner plates, the wet and wild weather we've had lately is really showing in the size of the stalks and leaves. I'm really wishing now that I had planted some cucumber as well. But there's always next year. :)