Happy Harvest Labor Day Monday.........09/03/2012

Since I have been busy catching up on my preserving this past week, I only went to the plots to harvest yesterday. I really didn't think I would have too many tomatoes. But just in case, I brought all of my containers and some bags too. It's a good thing I did!!! This is everything I harvested yesterday!!!

Some Asparagus & Chinese Noodle Beans and tomatoes..... 

and some more tomatoes.....

and more tomatoes......

and even more tomatoes......

and yes, tomatoes.......

and tomatoes......

and my first little Pumpkin. I think I planted Sugar Pie and a huge Butternut Squash.....

and some more tomatoes......

and some lovely sweet peppers.

The tomato total for the day/week was 75.38 lbs! I guess I'll be laboring on this Labor Day for sure! I hope everyone has had a safe and enjoyable Labor Day Weekend!

Harvest total for the week: 88.95 lbs

Beans:

     Asparagus, Red Seeded - 7.1 oz

     Chinese Red Noodle - 5.6 oz.

Peppers, Sweet - 36 oz.

Squash:

     Butternut - 99.95 oz.

     Pumpkin - 68.55 oz.

Tomatoes - 1206.05 oz., 75.38 lbs.

Hop on over to Daphne's Dandelions, our host of Harvest Monday to see what's going on in Veggie Gardens around the Globe!!

Independence Day & Plot 102

Our new Community Garden plots are 200 square feet smaller then at the old location. That means that we have 400 square feet less space then we had last year. We have been on the waiting list for another plot since last winter. I really thought we wouldn't get another one until next year. Last week, two gardens were red flagged out due to no activity. Wouldn't you know our name came up. My first response was no. Even after Dora said that we would get help clearing it and it would get tilled.  Then I told Dora I would think about it. When I told my hard working neighbor gardener Patti about it.....she said, take it and we can share. So I said yes. I think I'm going to blame my decision on the excessive heat!

Here is plot 102...full of weeds

Here another view of the weeds.....and

here's my partner in crime Patti! 

Do you see that cleared path? That's the only part of the plot that is cleared. The person in the plot to the left must have moved the marker a few feet and planted corn right on the plot line. We are going to measure the plot tomorrow and then make a decision about the fencing on that side. Wish us luck.....I must be out of my mind to take this on in this heat! Well, at least we will have enough space for our Fall broccoli and cauliflower!

Happy New Gardening Year!

Last year was an interesting gardening year for me. I had the excitement and hard work of getting our plots at the Community Garden. Although the extremes in the weather made for some disappointments. Looking back at the pictures, it was an amazing transformation.

February 24, 2011

May 16, 2011

July 14, 2011

August 31, 2011

As many of you know, the Community Garden is moving to a new location this year.....so, I get to do this all over again! I am really going to need a lot of support and please remind me that all the hard work will once again turn into this

and

this....and

this....and

this!

All in all I really can't complain about 2011. We got to meet 3 Garden Bloggers: Laura, Marcia and the crew at Spring Garden Acre. Now, what can be better then meeting some great new people?

We also ended the year with a harvest total of 726.25 lbs. Although I really did expect the total to be much higher. Who can complain about........

a couple of full cupboards, a full freezer and lots of other good veggies stored away to fill our bellies with great and nutritious food??

"The Italian" and I wish each and everyone of you a Happy, Healthy & Bountiful New Year!

Have a Blessed Christmas

Merry Christmas!

Thursday's Christmas Kitchen Cupboard.......12/22/2011

As many of you know, I do a lot of baking for the Holidays. This year I did not do a single post on Holiday baking!

So, I decided for Thursday's Kitchen Cupboard. I would post some pictures of what I have been baking, a recipe or two and links to previous posts with some of the other recipes.

A post including two favorites around here, Chinese Christmas Cookies and Pecan Squares can be found here.

Chinese Christmas Cookies

Here we have from top to bottom: Snowballs (recipe below), Pecan Squares (recipe at link above) & Almond Crescents (recipe is also below).

A post with my favorite Holiday treat, Nanaimo Bars can be found here.

Oh boy....these babies are good and just a wee bit fattening!!!

This is a new cookie for me this year. Lynda at Cortina Creek Farms posted this recipe here. When I saw these cookies, I knew that I had to try the recipe with many of our homemade jams and jellies.

Aren't these just Beautiful?? Thanks Lynda!

I also made traditional Chocolate Chip Cookies and a variation using the base to that recipe.

White Chocolate Chip Cookies with Almonds.

I think that I like these better then the traditional Chocolate Chip Cookies made with semi-sweet chocolate & walnuts.

Snowball Christmas Cookies

Ingredients:

• 3/4 Cup Softened Butter
• 1 tsp. Vanilla
• 1 Tbsp. Water
• 1/2 Cup Sugar
• 1/8 tsp. Salt
• 2 Cups Cake Flour
• 1 Cup Mini Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels

Directions:

1. Cream together first 4 ingredients
2. Add Flour & Salt and mix well
3. Stir in Chocolate Morsels
4. Refrigerate for a couple of hours or days. I make my doughs ahead of time and then bake them all in one day.
5. Roll into 1" balls and place about 1" apart on lightly greased cookie sheet
6. Bake for 20-30 minutes at 300 F
7. Remove from oven and roll in colored sugar or plain sugar when still warm
8. Cool & enjoy!

Almond Crescents

Ingredients:

• 1 Cup Softened Butter
• 1/2 Cup Sugar
• 1 tsp. Vanilla
• 2 Cups Flour
• 1 Cup Finely Ground Almonds

Directions:

1. Cream together first 3 ingredients
2. Mix in Flour and then Almonds
3. Refrigerate the same as the snowball recipe above
4. Roll about a teaspoon of dough into a log form, place on lightly greased cookie sheet in a crescent form and then press the edges down with your fingers. I really should have taken a picture of this...but, I forgot. If you look at the shape of them in the picture above, you will get the idea of the shape.
5. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until the edges start to turn a golden color, at 300 F
6. Remove from sheet and sprinkle with Powdered Sugar
7. Cool & Enjoy!

I also made some labels for the Mustards. They are now ready to be given as Christmas Presents!

Here are some of the mustards ready to go.

As you can see I used various different jars that have been saved or given to me. I was so happy that I didn't have to use many small canning jars! There always seems to be a shortage of the small jars around here.

What has been going in or out of your Cupboard lately??

From "The Italian" and I to each and every one of you....Have a Wonderful Holiday and a Bountiful New Year!

Thursday's Kitchen Cupboard.....Thanksgving Edition.....11/24/2011

In all my blondness, last Thursday I didn't realize that this Thursday was Thanksgiving. If so, I would have mentioned that I would do a Thanksgiving Edition of Thursday's Kitchen Cupboard. In this post I am posting what has been made or served for our Thanksgiving feast from our stored goods.

Appetizers:
Eggplant Caponata - canned - served with homemade toasted French bread
Cheddar Cookies - served with various homemade jellies & jams
Tapanata  - served with homemade toasted French bread

A couple of months ago I found this great recipe for Cheddar and Pepper Jelly Cookies here. We decided that these cookies would be great served with various jams & jellies as an appetizer for Thanksgiving.

Cheddar Cookies

• 8 oz (2 cups) Sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded
• 6 TBL (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup flour

Directions:

1. Place cheese and butter in a food processor (could be creamed by hand or mixer); add flour and process until the mixture forms a soft dough. Gather up the dough and divide into two flat disks. Wrap in wax paper and freeze until chilled, about 45 minutes. (I made my dough ahead of time and put it in the frig.)
2. Position two racks in the center and top third of the oven and preheat to 400°. Line two baking sheets with parchment or use nonstick sheets.
3. Using 1 teaspoon dough for each, roll the dough into small balls and place 1 inch apart on the sheets. Bake 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and make an indentation in each cookie for the jelly.
4. At this point the original recipe states to put a dollop of jelly on each cookie and return to the oven. Since we are serving these with various jellies and jams, I just returned them to the oven and baked until done about 5-8 minutes for my oven.
5. Transfer to racks and cool completely. Recipe makes about 20 cookies. I made a double batch and made them a bit smaller.

The Feast:
Stuffing made with homemade bread & Herbs, Celery & Onions from the garden.
Mashed Potatoes - from the garden
Applesauce - canned

Desserts:
Pumpkin Pie - made with fresh cooked Long Island Cheese Squash from the garden
Cherry Pie - made with frozen local sour cherries

I think that this is going to be the best tasting pumkin pie that I have ever made. The squash batter tasted just wonderful before I cooked it!

Yum, yum.....Cherry Pie...my favorite!!

The rest of the feast was made with locally grown produce. I also made the Brown Bag Apple Pie.....yum! The locally grown Granny Smith Apples were the biggest, yugliest and best apples that I have ever had! I only used 5 apples for one big pie!

Isn't that just wonderful???

From our hearts to you.....Wishing each and every one of you a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Next Thursday I will do an update on the mustards and post the Horseradish Mustard recipe.

I may not have the time today to respond to all your comments or visit your blogs...since we still need to make the Living Room the Dining Room and the Dining Room the Living Room like we did last year.

Earth Day Reading Project

Marcia at Birds, Blooms, Books etc, invited me to participate in the Earth Day Reading Project hosted by Sage Butterfly. You are supposed to do a post on three books that have inspired you to "Be Green".

After several days of thinking about books that originally inspired me to "Be Green", I really can't think of any. I can say that I think I have always been a Greeny and that "The Book of Life" has been my inspiration.

I was born on a farm and lived on one most of my life. I was that little girl who was always out in nature and playing in the dirt. We always grew our own food, preserved and did not waste. Ever since I can remember I have always thought that disposable & pre-packaged products were very wasteful and very rarely use any of them. For instance, we do not use paper napkins, plates etc. and very rarely use paper towels. We are the neighbors that very rarely have any garbage, since we recycle and compost....that gets the neighbors talking!

I do have three great gardening books that I just love and have been very helpful to me growing organically.

"The Vegetable Gardeners Bible" by Edward C Smith, is the book that I refer to the most and is definitely my favorite. This book has just about everything you need in one place. It is very easy to look up anything and find want you want in no time.

"Carrots Love Tomatoes" by Louise Riotte, is another great organic gardening book and my second most used resource. She has extensive knowledge in companion planting and there are a lot of nice hand sketched garden layouts in this book.

"Four Season Harvest" by Eliot Coleman is my latest inspiration in organic gardening and growing veggies year round. This year I am planning to use more of his techniques and try to grow more vegetables for us during the winter.

Celebrate Earth Day by "Being Green"



Happy Valentine's Day..............Update

I have to say that "The Italian" always surprises me when it comes to gifts. He always puts a lot of thought in to the gifts that he gets me. Sometimes the gifts are extravagant and sometimes they are simple...but, they are always with a lot of thought and lots & lots of love.

We've have been on an M & M kick lately....Aren't they pretty??

Bring up the tea: I bring him tea in bed when he reads in the early morning
Farmer Robin: You can figure that one out!
N.O. Our Town: New Orleans is our favorite place and we visit there a couple times a year
Love T.: "The Italian's" real name starts with a T

Although I ordered his present over a week ago, it was just shipped today!! This is what he is getting

Guess who is going to be doing the freezing this season???

He will just love it....he is a kitchen gadget junky!!

Guess What I just got???

A Big Bouquet of These!!!

Happy Groundhog Day!!

Punxsutawney Phil just announced the news

He did NOT see his shadow!!!

We are going to have an early Spring!!

Happy New Gardening Year

2010 was a great year for our garden! I really enjoyed reading and learning from all of you Great Garden Bloggers out there..........it has truely been a pleasure!! I never imagined that I would meet so many nice like minded people.

Happy New Year from our Garden to Yours!!

Gardening Gifts

"The Italian" did good. He got me some great gardening gifts for Christmas! It seems like I need a new pair of pruners every year. I am really bad about leaving them laying outside and mis-placing them at least once a day! He got me two different types of pruners and a clip-on holder to put them in. I think he is hoping that I won't spend as much time looking for where I layed them down! We will see if you can teach an old gardener new tricks!

I'm not much of a book reader unless it is related to gardening. There were a couple of gardening books that I was interested in from Rodale. The Rodale Institute is about 15 miles from where we live and they have another organic experimental farm about 3 miles from us. They have some pretty good workshops scheduled for next year. I think that I may go to one or two of them.

As you can see, "The Italian Santa" also got me a great jams and preserves book! There are some really interesting recipes in it. I think this means...even more jams and jellies next year!

The Feast of the Seven Fishes

The Feast of the Seven Fishes also known as La Vigilia, is the traditional Italian meal on Christmas Eve. The tradition began in southern Italy and is now celebrated by Italians all over the world. There are many hypotheses of the significance of the number "7". Some people believe that seven fishes are served because it took God seven days to create the world, while others mention the Seven Hills of Rome. There is also the possibility that the seven fishes symbolize the seven scraments in the Catholic Chruch, along with the seven sins. Another theory is that seven is a number representing perfection: the traditional Biblical number for divinity is three, and for Earth is four, and the combination of these numbers, seven, represents God on Earth, or Jesus Christ.

Last night we celebrated The Feast of the Seven Fishes at "The Italian's" parents home. The meal began with an antipasto.

The table is set with traditional antipasto: cheeses, sopressata, roasted red peppers, fava beans, eggplant caponata, wine & bread

Deep fried smelts, shrimp, calamari, catfish & codfish cakes

Clams in red sauce over spaghetti

and...Lobster tail

The evening ended with lots of homemade goodies..........my cookies and my father in-law's wonderful canollis!

Have a Blessed Christmas