Wow. I haven't posted since July. I can not believe it. I have been so busy with the two jobs and all the changes in the garden, yard, kitchen etc. I have thought often of posting a recipe I tried or created without pictures but then decided against it. I have also thought of writing nonsense about my culinary capers without recipes just to keep the blog going but it was not my original intention to do so, so I didn't. Now looking back, I wish I had. Had I done so I would not have months of emptiness on my blog. So I think it is time to just write. I used to enjoy writing back before life got in the way. So I think writing about my garden and culinary experiences will still stay in the spirit of the blog and if not, oh well, its my blog, I can change it if I want to right? Don't worry, I promise to continue with wonderful recipes, just forgive me if I am not as dilligent with the picture updates as I used to be. With time being of the essence and having so little of it, keeping the camera handy to snap food pictures is not really a priority at the moment. As always, good food, and new recipes is.
As we enter into the holiday season (and I do have a vacation coming up in which I hope to work on winter garden projects and try some new recipes..and ofcourse have time to post the results) look forward to renewed energy in the blog and I hope in yourselves.
~K
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Saturday, July 19, 2008
First Pickings
Our first pickings were lettuce and raddishes. I was so excited! I did take pictures...of the first things coming out of the garden...the past month I have been very slack about it...which is sad..because my counters have literally been over run with vegetables and I forget to take their pictures. So please enjoy my garden salad pictures since I'm stingy on sharing the rest of it..LOL
Growing, growing GONE!
It seems like our garden grew overnight....we waited patiently and then BAM...everything started getting huge!! (must have been when the rain finally came in...ya think?)
cabbage
squash and zuchini
Lettuce (below)
Houston, we have sighted a tomato!
Green beans running!
Mary Mary, How does your garden grow?
These pictures were taken mid-late May...the plants had taken root and begun to grow. We had added zuchini, squash, tomatoes, eggplans, corn, cucumbers, peppers and mulched around the plants in part of the beds.
As a side note: I had read somewhere that petunia's give greenbeans a stronger flavor so I always plant them together....a side benefit is it makes that garden pretty!Garden Beginnings
I have taken several pics of my garden through the planting and harvesting process. I am going to try and post them in order. This first post is a few weeks after planting. The first things in the ground were radish, cabbage, lettuce and greenbeans.
Stuffed Zucchini Parmesan
This recipe is fantastic and excellent warmed up the next day for lunch. I found this on Cooks.com and followed someone else's adaptation plus adapted it myself to creat a completely new recipe. This is how I MADE it.
Stuffed Zucchini Parmesan
Ingredients:
2 LARGE zucchini (I'm talking baseball bat size here...or 4-5 small zuchini for a gathering of people or side dish).
1/2 cup of Pepperidge Farms Seasoned Stuffing mix
1 lb hamburger, browned and chopped
1 tbs melted butter
1/4 stick butter
1 tablespoon flour
1/4 cup sour cream
salt and pepper, to taste
zucchini pulp
Ragu Pizza Quick Sauce
1 cup Mozzerella Cheese
Parmesan cheese
Directions:
Drop whole zucchini into boiling salted (about 2 tsps salt per 5-6 quart pot) water. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes or until tender.
Drain; cover zucchini with cold water to stop the cooking. When cool, slice in half lengthwise; scoop out meat from centers ( I used an icecream scooper) leaving a hollow shell. Reserve zucchini pulp and set aside.
Mash zucchini pulp using a potato masher or a fork.
Stuffing:
In a small saucepan, melt 1/4 stick butter. Blend in the flour until no lumps remain; add sour cream. Combine with salt, hamburger and zucchini pulp, mixing ingredients until well blended.
Fill the zucchini shells evenly with the stuffing.
Melt 1 tablespoon butter in microwave. Stir in 1/2 cup Pepperidge farms stuffing crumbs, mixing until all are coated. Sprinkle a layer of buttered crumbs on top. Drizzle Ragu Pizza Quich Sauce over the top and Bake in a preheated 350F oven for 20 minutes. Sprinkle top with Parmesan cheese and shredded mozzarella and bake for 10 minutes more.
Stuffed Zucchini Parmesan
Ingredients:
2 LARGE zucchini (I'm talking baseball bat size here...or 4-5 small zuchini for a gathering of people or side dish).
1/2 cup of Pepperidge Farms Seasoned Stuffing mix
1 lb hamburger, browned and chopped
1 tbs melted butter
1/4 stick butter
1 tablespoon flour
1/4 cup sour cream
salt and pepper, to taste
zucchini pulp
Ragu Pizza Quick Sauce
1 cup Mozzerella Cheese
Parmesan cheese
Directions:
Drop whole zucchini into boiling salted (about 2 tsps salt per 5-6 quart pot) water. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes or until tender.
Drain; cover zucchini with cold water to stop the cooking. When cool, slice in half lengthwise; scoop out meat from centers ( I used an icecream scooper) leaving a hollow shell. Reserve zucchini pulp and set aside.
Mash zucchini pulp using a potato masher or a fork.
Stuffing:
In a small saucepan, melt 1/4 stick butter. Blend in the flour until no lumps remain; add sour cream. Combine with salt, hamburger and zucchini pulp, mixing ingredients until well blended.
Fill the zucchini shells evenly with the stuffing.
Melt 1 tablespoon butter in microwave. Stir in 1/2 cup Pepperidge farms stuffing crumbs, mixing until all are coated. Sprinkle a layer of buttered crumbs on top. Drizzle Ragu Pizza Quich Sauce over the top and Bake in a preheated 350F oven for 20 minutes. Sprinkle top with Parmesan cheese and shredded mozzarella and bake for 10 minutes more.
Zuchini Casserole
For some reason our zuchini plants have done fabulous this year while our squash plants (which are planted with them) have done horribly. Most of my recipes use both but since we only had a bunch of zuchini, I had to find some new recipes. We did some simple grilling which everyone seems to like but I am just not that crazy about grilled zuchini. Here is a recipe I found for a zuchini casserole off of Cooks.com. Stephen says it tastes a lot like the Calico Squash casserole recipe. It does but it has a great texture to it. I'm going to post the recipe in its original form and then post what I did so you can choose how you would like to make it. I'm going to make this again soon and hopefully I will snap a picture of it this time. It completely slipped my mind the other night.
Zuchini Casserole
Ingredients:
4 cups zucchini, peelede, seeded and cut into 1 inch cubes (I leave my peels on and didn't de-seed it: mine is from my garden and the peels have not been waxed and deseeding takes to long!)
1 stick of butter or margarine
1 small to medium onion, chopped
1 cup shredded carrots (I chopped mine)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup of sour cream ( I think I used a bit more)
1 box of Pepperidge Farms seasoned croutons (I couldn't find these so I used a half of bag of Pepperidge Farm seasoned stuffing mix)
Directions:
Boil zucchini just until tender and drain. In a large skillet, melt butter. Add carrots and onion and saute until tender. (3-4 minutes over medium-high heat)
Remove from heat and stir in sour cream, soup (undiluted), zucchini and half the croutons (or 3/4 of the stuffing). Pour into 3 quart baking dish. Top evenly with remaining croutons (or stuffing mix). Cover with foil (I didn't do this) and bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes. (I baked at 400 for 15-20 minutes.) I also used a bit more zucchini then called for (not sure how much as I didn't measure ;).
Zucchini Casserole
Zuchini Casserole
Ingredients:
4 cups zucchini, peelede, seeded and cut into 1 inch cubes (I leave my peels on and didn't de-seed it: mine is from my garden and the peels have not been waxed and deseeding takes to long!)
1 stick of butter or margarine
1 small to medium onion, chopped
1 cup shredded carrots (I chopped mine)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup of sour cream ( I think I used a bit more)
1 box of Pepperidge Farms seasoned croutons (I couldn't find these so I used a half of bag of Pepperidge Farm seasoned stuffing mix)
Directions:
Boil zucchini just until tender and drain. In a large skillet, melt butter. Add carrots and onion and saute until tender. (3-4 minutes over medium-high heat)
Remove from heat and stir in sour cream, soup (undiluted), zucchini and half the croutons (or 3/4 of the stuffing). Pour into 3 quart baking dish. Top evenly with remaining croutons (or stuffing mix). Cover with foil (I didn't do this) and bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes. (I baked at 400 for 15-20 minutes.) I also used a bit more zucchini then called for (not sure how much as I didn't measure ;).
Zucchini Casserole
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