Garden Fresh

My garden is in full swing. This is one of my favorite garden times, we are eating herbs, lettuce, greens, sweet peas, radish, zucchini and squash. The garden is pretty and there is the anticipation of harvest.

I tried a practice vegetable pickle with yellow squash and zucchini but I don't think anyone will eat it. No one here likes sweet pickles. I just wanted to try something different. I added a little spice thought to offset the sweet, so we'll see.

I tried it because I have been renting canning books from the library. As a result I have become appropriately scared of botulism, so I purchased The Complete Book of Home Preserving.

So far I love this book because it is modernized and has some California cuisine ideas for serving your preserves. For example: a pineapple salsa which it recommends to serve with grilled pita brushed with olive oil.

Here are two pictures of the peas using corn for support and the cucumbers climbing the sunflowers.

I don't plan on letting the sunflowers seed here but they are pretty and giving shade to the plants that prefer it.

Winter Garden

Sprouts are easy to grow and this is a method my parents figured out.

My dad cut a screen of some sort the size of a wide mouth mason jar.

It is an easy, inexpensive way to grow sprouts without buying a kit. Because it is so tall you will need to rinse it frequently.

First, put a TBL of seeds in the jar, fill it with water and wrap a towel around the jar. This is to prevent the seeds from turning green in case you want to do it for a homeschool lesson)

Fill the jar with tepid water and soak overnight.

Rinse with tepid water each day. You will notice growth in a day or two.

Not every seed will sprout but when the majority are a good size, remove the towel and let them grow for another day unwrapped.

You will need to eat them or refrigerate them at this point.

Tzatziki with homemade totilla chips

Why doesn't my eye cream work? Is it consistency? technique? Is this the face I am stuck with?
Last time I saw my dad he said I looked tired. I just answered, "yeah." I was -- but I was more reluctant to say "no this is just my old face."

The garden is ppfftt... from the snow last weekend. Summer has left us.

Am I leaving the summer of my life as well? Yes, today is my birthday.

I spoke with my mom about this topic and she said that you do forget how old you are until you look in the mirror. It is because you still have fire inside.

I have heard you could put cucumbers on your eyes but even when the garden was putting out left and right (it was when I was over watering) I still didn't want to waste them on my old face.

My honey didn't think he liked cucumbers unless they were in tzatziki but when he tasted the first garden cuke this year he was surprised. That isn't what a cucumber tastes like from the grocery store -- it tastes fresh, crispy, good...

How I will miss the garden food! Only 7 or 8 months to go, right?

My recipe for Tzatziki came from a cook book I bought before I was married. I think I was always destined to cook.

Instructions:
Dice one cucumber with the skin still on, place it in a colander with 2 tsp of salt and let it sit for one hour. This will pull moisture from the cuke so it isn't watery when you serve it.

Mash 2 garlic cloves with 1/2 tsp of salt, use the back of a spoon or a mortar and pestle.

Pat the cucumber dry with a paper towel and place it in a bowl with the garlic, 1 Tbl chopped fresh mint, 1 cup plain yogurt and fresh cracked pepper.

Serve with pita bread or tortilla chips.

If you make tortilla chips as I did here in my trusty skillet, you certainly want to eat less of them. Partly because of the time it takes to make only a few but also because you never really grasp how horrible deep fat frying is until you see it. But oh, they tasted good.

Welcome Autumn! Welcome to the chilly weather and welcome new season of my life.