Thanks to Hurricane Irene, the Midwest has enjoyed a week of Canadian summer weather; highs in the low 80's and lows in the high 50's at night. Bruce and I call this 'Jackson Hole, WY weather'. The breeze blowing through the open windows has freshened the indoors and carried the birdsongs along with it. My greatest delight is spending time outdoors in the morning. I gather our harvest, and make a mental note for the next day. I never got out of the kitchen on Sunday, which is not a personal goal, but there simply is a lot of chopping and peeling to be done this time of year. Don't mind it when the outdoors is inhospitable, but my heart wants me to head outside, but ourproduce keeps me inside. After I picked this produce, Bruce returned with a basket of tomatoes and pears to work up.
My neighbor, Susan Case, came over to share a fantastic homemade apple pie she had made, then took photos of Bruce and me in the garden. Later in the day she returned with the hard copies. Bruce and I look like the elderly couple in Grand Woods', "American Gothic". Years ago I took a similar photo of Mom and Dad in the foxglove at Forest Glen. Oh, how we follow in those footsteps. Unfortunately, Susan didn't use a digital camera, and I have no scanner. But picture Bruce with a pitchfork and me holding Grace, standing at the edge of the garden. Susan and I share the same initials, sjc, and since she is the queen of desserts, we call each other Sweet Suzy and Savory Sara.
For years I have kept a folder in my computer recipe file for garden produce and one for canning. This past week I gathered the best of the best of those, saving them to my flash drive, then printed out a handy notebook for me to grab when I'm in the kitchen or come in from the garden. Instead of stalking the wild asparagus, I stalk the domestic squash and tomato, calculating what can be best used that day, and what I can do the next day with the abundance. I'm also putting my ideas for the next year's garden on paper and computer. Every year I think I have my beds have been laid out to perfection, only to be frustrated when I can't dig my carrots because of the tender fennel growing in the neighboring row.
Well, time for the garden before the day heats up. Hopefully the time in the kitchen will be brief.
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| Earlier in the summer I made these eggplant 'purses' from Laura Calder's French Cooking Show. The eggplant is grilled, layered in the small containers, filled with Ricotta cheese and mashed, grilled eggplant, covered with the tips of the layered eggplant, then baked. The 'purses' actually slip out of the containers, for a pretty presentation. A little tedious and time consuming, but great to do with an abundance of eggplant. |
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| Our volunteer butternut squash plant that popped up in the compost pile. We have counted 16 butternuts on there. Love that chicken shit. |
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| We tried strawberries twice in this garden and were not impressed. Let's see how our herbs like it here. |
