Sick... of cucumbers???

Am I sick of cucumbers?  Can it really be true?  I find it hard to believe.  And yet, there is sits, a bucket of fresh cucumbers, untouched with no plans for use. 

Part of the problem could be this lingering summer virus.  It has me low energy.  But I could also be lacking inspiration.  Maybe I should hit the books.  Find something new to do with fresh, delicious, healthy, cucumbers. 

August Day

Another August day.  A great time in the garden.  This morning dawned with a cloudy drizzle.  A nice surprise in the middle of August.  The tomatoes and squash don't love it; but I do appreciate the reprieve from blazing August heat.  The kids and I took advantage of it by heading outside to give the garden the once-over.

First on the agenda: cherry tomatoes.  I love cherry tomatoes.  They ripen quickly, are easy to pick, and taste delicious.  They are also bite-sized and perfect for snacking.  It's a little too bad that both my kiddos say, "yuck" every time they bite a tomato.  But I selfishly don't care - it means Mommy doesn't have to share.  We picked a few buckets full and discovered the most beautiful yellow garden spider hanging out in the morning mist.  What a beauty!  Black and yellow with red legs.  It made my heart especially glad because in my mind, if my garden ecosystem can support such a gorgeous predator, I feel like I have a good thing going.  Go Nature!

We checked the peas- nothing.  Maybe the few days of blazing heat got them.  Peas are not hot fans.

Checked the beans.  A few of those.  I wish more of my beans had sprouted... dang beans.

Checked the corn.  Picked a few ears for lunch.  Corn is almost done.  Only a few ears left.  I've really had a corn craving this summer.  I might have to plant double next year.

Noticed that the potatoes were peeking out of the ground in a few spots.  Very peculiar.  Guess I'll have to do some digging soon.  In the meantime, I re-covered them with dirt as best I could.  Potatoes do NOT do well in sunlight.  They turn green and you're not supposed to eat the green parts.  Green is toxic in potatoes.  I also borrowed some rutabaga leaves for extra shade.  Hopefully that won't make them rot.

Slugs were out enjoying the cloudy day.  The kids had a great time rounding them up, though they missed the giant spotted one somehow.  How can something without legs be so quick?

I harvested and hung the rest of the mustard.  I also picked about 8 more rutabagas but I left the greens this time.  I still have fresh greens from last week.  I'll save myself the work this week.  I also found one good-sized beet.  I definitely need more of those next year! 

We headed in for snack by 9:30am.  Plenty of time left in the morning to roast the tomatoes, corn, and rutabagas and make salsa fresca.

Roasted Tomatoes

Tomatoes, halved
Onion, diced
salt and pepper
Oil
Garlic, minced (optional)

halve tomatoes and place skin-side-up on a baking sheet.  Drizzle with oil, sprinkle salt and pepper.  Roast for ~45 minutes at ~ 400 degrees.

Tomatoes can then be used, refrigerated, or frozen for when needed.

Applesauce

Apples and pears are coming 'round to ripeness.  They are falling off the trees, being squashed and mowed; time for picking.

This morning was dry and sunny.  Perfect picking weather.  My mom and kids headed out to the orchard and easily picked a wheelbarrow full of pears and apples.  The pears were hard as rocks, but they will ripen soon.  The apples were juicy and begged for a crunchy bite.  My children graciously accepted their temptation and we had a dozen or so freshly picked, bruised, and bitten apples. 

We filled the wheelbarrow with water, gave those apples a quick bath, and then set to work coring and peeling.  In no time, we had several naked apples that went right into a sauce pot on the deck to simmer down into bronze applesauce.  We're ready for you Fall.

Applesauce

Apples, peeled, cored, and quartered
Lemon juice, a good squirt
Sugar, a good heap
Powdered ginger, to taste
Ground cinnamon, to taste
Ground nutmeg, to taste

Simmer the apples until bronzed and mushy.  Stir and mush to break up chunks.  When applesauce is looking bronzed, add lemon juice, sugar, and spices.  Cook for another 10 minutes then can or refrigerate.

Storm's a' comin; time to pick tomatoes

After learning about how acorn squash store, I went ahead and baked them all up on the grill.  Three acorn squash created about 2 half-gallon freezer bags of cooked squash.  I put them straight in the freezer as it just seems WAY too hot and humid to be eating acorn squash.  Maybe I can't think of the right recipe though...  Maybe with the next three, I'll try to eat them... maybe.  At any rate, freezing is the only option because thicker veggies like pumpkin and acorn squash can't be canned safely by water-boiling; it's too dense for the heat to penetrate.

It's supposed to thunder-storm tomorrow so I took all my pumpkins inside, brought in my drying mustard seed, picked my cherry tomatoes, and put all my poppy-flower seeds in a jar.  I'm excited for the deep-watering prospect that the storm is supposed to be bringing.  We'll see how it pans out though.  This is Oregon and the weather is unpredictable even from street to street and "rain" might not mean anything gets wet.

Here are some of my cherry tomatoes. 

This first bucket was picked by a 3 and 4 yr-old so... it had a lot of "less than red" tomatoes.  But, a few days and the bucket and they ripened right up.  So, it was actually a good thing.  The ones I picked tonight were pretty red but I'm going to leave them in the bucket overnight to hopefully get to full-strength!

When you pick veggies does affect the taste.  Tomatoes taste the ripest when they have been through the driest, hottest weather.  So always pick before watering or, like I did tonight, before an anticipated wet or cool spell.  Even if they have to sit inside for a few days to get fully red, you will avoid that wet, tasteless, taste.

The first batch of tomatoes I picked went for Salsa Fresca, which is my ultimate favorite way to eat any red tomato.  But, this batch will probably go for Tomatoes Gratin, we'll see if they make it. :)

Salsa Fresca

tomatoes, coarsely chopped
onion, finely chopped
salt and pepper
lime or lemon juice
cilantro leaves-optional
dash of garlic- optional

Mix and refrigerate.  

Grilled Peach Bruschetta

I don't have any peach trees at my house, but Oregon grows some delicious peaches.  A few weeks ago, we went down the road to pick Dixie Gems- which we were told were some of the best.  They were so ripe that some of them were falling apart.  I bought 37! It only took about 20 minutes to pick all them with a 2 and 4 year old helping.  The trees were just the right size for their easy reach.  No ladders needed.  TK Orchards in Aurora

When I got home, I separated the peaches into over-ripe, just-right, and ripe-in-a-day-or-two.  The over-ripe ones I washed, cut out the stone, and put in the fridge with some sugar sprinkled on top.  They, of course, turned to mush which I later turned into peach jam- yum!  The just-right ones we cut in half and grilled to make amazing Grilled Peach Bruschetta.

Grilled Peach Bruschetta

Peaches

Cream cheese
Thyme
Salt and Pepper
Blue cheese

French bread

Grill the peaches skin side up until grill marks appear.  Mix cheeses and herbs and spread on cut baguette.  Top with peaches.  Enjoy!



2015... Local Peach Comparison... the peach saga continues

Squash Season Begins

I've begun harvesting my winter squash.  They are called "winter squash" because they store so well, you can basically do nothing to them and have them fresh all winter. So far, I have this line-up... I feel like a warden.  The kids LOVE growing winter squash because they grow easily and abundantly, are easy to harvest, (don't have to be eaten that night for dinner), and come in myriad shapes and colors.  My son lined these up for me along the house and gave each one a name as he did so.  My favorite was one of the smaller pumpkins, now known as, "Dr. Shiny Head." 

When harvesting your winter squash, use a pruner to clip them from the vine.  A longer stem is preferable for storage (and for carrying).  Be careful not to bruise them or damage their skin, because that only encourages rot.  What a discouragement to pick up a pumpkin in the middle of winter and have the bottom stay on the ground while the top gets lifted up.  Or, worse yet, get a handful of rotten pumpkin bottom.  Yuck!

They need to have great air circulation and warmer temperatures to cure for a couple weeks.  Keep them out of direct sunlight but also away from damp.  I'm hesitant to put ours in our outbuilding because the roof leaks and it gets so moist in there.  But, I also need to get them up off the concrete slab and onto something porous like cardboard, or even better, straw.  Hmmm, what to do, what to do.

The exception to winter squash curing is acorn squash.  Apparently, they don't really cure and need to be eaten within a few weeks.  That encourages me to leave mine on the vine a bit longer as I'm not quite ready to sit down to an acorn squash.  Doesn't quite seem close enough to Fall yet.

  Most of what you see in the photo are pumpkins.  I have my gourd-like pumpkins on the right - knobby and small; my zucchini-like pumpkins on the left - soft flesh and tall; and my first jack-o-lantern in the middle.  I have some great jack-o-lanterns coming this year.  I'm excited!  The little guy over on the right is another pumpkin, more of a sugar-pumpkin type, he would have gotten orange, but I loved his colors so much, I had to pick him.  Unfortunately, my daughter loves him too and might have dropped him a couple times.  He might not make it to Halloween.  BUT, that's one of the reasons I have a garden: to help people connect to their food - how it grows, what it looks like, what it feels like, what it tastes like fresh, etc.  So, if my daughter wants to form a strong attachment to a pumpkin, so be it! :)

Rutabaga

The conundrum with growing vegetables, is that when you harvest them, you then have to do something with them. We planted rutabagas in April.  Then they grew and grew.  August 7, and a beautiful day, time to harvest.

 Today my son and I harvested six beautiful rutabagas.  It doesn't seem like a big deal to work with six rutabagas, but these are large, dirt-covered objects, not the clean, wax-covered ones you find at the grocery store.  Before they are even brought into the house they must be sprayed with the garden hose until all mud clots are gone.



Now I LOVE to eat my greens.  Rutabagas and beets are double bonus veggies because they provide a delicious tuber and a healthy rutabaga green.  After I bring the rutabagas inside, I separate the greens from the root.  I work with the greens first, because they will wilt.  I give the greens a cold water bath, rinse any remaining dirt off, and then coarsely chop and bag.  One rutabaga will provide just over a gallon freezer bag's worth of chopped greens.  These can be frozen and used in any recipe that calls for spinach.  I like mine in eggs, with cheese in a creamy dip, in lasagna, or even on pizza.  You can also freeze beet greens, kale, and green onions for easy use later.

Next I cut all the roots, fibers, and tough skin off my rutabagas.  You can also scrub them, but sometimes a sharp knife is faster.  I diced them up and added them to some fresh garden potatoes and beets for my delish Root Veggie Bake.

Root Veggie Bake

dice:
     Rutabaga
     Potato
     Beets
     Carrot
     Onion

Drizzle with oil and honey. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Stir.  Bake at 350 for 1 hour. 

Today I also added sprigs of fresh thyme.  Yum!

What to do with all those Zucchini?

So far, in my house-holding life, I have not had to deal with mountains of zucchini.  Last year, I had one plant that produced a zucchini or two every couple days and it was a beautiful relationship.  This year, I had NO zucchini come up!  I was pretty bummed about missing out on that delicious part of summer until I connected with my two beautiful sister-in-laws who are both battling zucchini wars of their own.  I am more than happy to take any excess zucchini off their hands, but then I end up with a mountain at my house.  A happy problem to have.

Tonight I tried something new.  Zucchini Medallions.  Great idea!  You basically chop your zucchini into two inch rounds and scoop out a cup in one side.  You then fill as desired - tonight we did chopped salami, brown rice, a bit of tomato sauce, a bit of onion, and feta - and grill!  I grilled them pretty hot for 15 - 20 minutes, the filling heated up, the medallions softened, and they were a big hit.  I ended up filling three zucchini this way, and we only had three medallions left.

Zucchini Medallions

chop and mix:
     Salami
     Onion
     Brown Rice
     Feta
     bit of tomato sauce to make it stick together

Scoop zucchini out to form a cup.  Fill cup, pressing filling down and heaping up.  Grill at high heat for 20 minutes.

End of Blueberry Season

The beginning of a season is thrilling and hopeful.  The end is satisfying and warmly greeted.  I have picked, eaten, frozen, and canned more blueberries this season than any other so far.

The berries I was working with today were pitiful.  Soft and ranging from green to shriveled way past ripe.  I had already experimented earlier in the season with canning green berries, so I wasn't worried about those, but I tossed any that were past their prime.

Blueberries are probably the easiest berry to work with.  They grow off the ground, don't have thorns, and grow in clusters, so picking is a cinch.  When canning, they usually don't need any extra pectin and lend them selves to a plethora of variations.  Here are some of my favorites: 

Black and Blue Berry (blackberries and blueberries)
Blueberry Lime
Blueberry Vanilla
Blueberry Vanilla w/ cinnamon and nutmeg
Blueberry w/ smokey chili (I actually used Merken, but you can use chili powder)
Blueberry Chili Lime
Blueberry Lemon

Blueberry Mint was terrible! (and required straining out mint leaves).  I was going to try Blueberry Ginger today, but ran out of steam.  Maybe next year. 

Pickles - Bread and Butter Chips

It's August and time to use all those cucumbers! Even the many variations of cucumber salad can become tiresome. Time to try pickles.

I've never pickled cucumbers before, but I have known people who make delicious versions and all my recipe books have their own favorite. I chose to start with a simple bread-and-butter chip pickle recipe in which the first line reads, "Looking for a first pickle to make? Pick this recipe." How could I say, "no?"

The process begins with chopping cukes and onions, salting, and letting rest in an ice bath for two hours. Mine actually ended up in the salty ice for about five hours, just because that's the way life goes. I don't think it affected them one way or another.

I had planned on using mustard seed from my garden in my pickles. Alas, it's not quite ready. So, I used what I had and figured it didn't have to be perfect the first time.

All in all, the process was rather simple. After the cukes soak, they are rinsed and you mix up your pickling brine. The cukes are brought to a boil in the brine, packed into canning jars, and sealed (for proper canning techniques, consult a published recipe). I learned my lesson canning plums; this time I really packed those pickles in the jars. Consequently, there were pickle parts all over the place- thank goodness I had set up my outdoor canning kitchen. The overflow did give me a sneak-peak taste at my new pickles though. Success! I really like them. And I think they look pretty good too.