Summer Cooking

Love, love, love this recipe.

I picked some Swiss Chard from the garden and wilted it slightly.

Stuck in a big honkin' piece of mozzarella cheese.

Added salt and pepper and olive oil to the outside.

And grilled them.

Pregrilling.

Nice little packets.

Post grilling.

Lord have mercy!

I added a little more olive oil and salt and just ate them.

Okay, I ate all of them.

Simple and delicious!

We had more cucumbers from the garden so I made dill pickles.

Yes, Dill pickles.
I want to learn to make sour pickles but I don't know the difference.
Someone help me.

I made Garden Zucchinni bread which is more like a garden and less like Zucchini. It had tomatoes, onions and cheese in it. I'm used to a sweet Zucchini bread and not savory so this threw me a bit. It was delicious with the big bowl of Turkey chili I made tonight. The bread didn't rise well so I think I need new Baking Powder. Or Baking Soda. Or new flour.

I braided all my garlic so it could finish drying.

Warning: don't let the children read this next part.

My husband called this sculpture: "all my past lovers."
He said we couldn't display this in our house.

I made this delicious Spanokopita too.

I'm not a fan of working with Phyllo dough thank you very much.

The kids ate the entire pan full of Spanokopita.

I like saying that word.

Spanokopita.

Spinach, Ricotta and Feta.

Heavenly!

What has your garden brought to your dinner table?

Bev

Zucchini Pickles

The Garden is bursting and I am so happy. Last year we had barely anything because of the tomato blight and drowning rain. This year we are already overflowing in mid July.

Zucchini is always in abundance and I'm always looking for recipes to create from them. This year I pickled them. The husband picked 16 Zukes yesterday and I made the pickles.

Later that evening he brought me 6 more.

I'll use these for Zucchini bread and freeze most of them.

Bread and Butter Zucchini Pickles

16 cups sliced Zucchini

4 cups of thinly sliced onions

1/2 cup salt

4 cups vinegar

2 cups sugar

4 tbsp of mustard seed

2 tbsp celery seed

2 tsp of Tumeric

Cover Zucchini and onion slices with water and salt.

Let stand 2 hours and drain thoroughly.

Combine Vinegar, sugar and spices and bring to boil.

Simmer 5 minutes and fill sterilized jars with mixture and pickling solution leaving 1/2 inch at top. Complete with a water process bath for 15 minutes.

You can use red onions too if you want a sweeter taste but I find the white ones work just as well. Besides, it was all I had in the refrigerator.

Yes, I was sobbing while cutting these.

Isn't it pretty?

Oh gracious me!

16 pints of pickled Zucchini.

And look at all of my Garlic that we harvested!

A few heads are tiny and could have used another week in the ground but that's ok. These will dry and I will braid them. I always wanted a garlic braid hanging in my kitchen. Don't ask me why. I think I will plant more garlic in the fall.

Oh and Morgan made a Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie for dessert.

Love that child.

Love chocolate.

And pickles!

Bev

Chicken Pasta Pesto

This was dinner last night.

Chicken pasta pesto

or

Pasta chicken pesto

or

Chicken pesto pasta

or

Pesto chicken pasta

or.......

It was delicious!

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

2 whole skinless chicken breasts roasted and shredded

2 ribs of celery-diced

1 box cooked penne pasta

one can of olives or fresh kalamata olives

1 bunch fresh basil- chopped

6-10 cherry tomatoes halved

1 can drained Garbanzo beans or White beans

2 cups of packed fresh spinach

salt and pepper

Sauce:

-1 cup of fresh pesto

(or Besto Pesto-this is a local pesto available at the farmer's market)

-juice and zest of one lemon

- 1/4 cup sour cream

-1/4 cup mayo

How To Make:

Combine sauce ingredients and set aside. Drizzle cooked pasta with a little olive oil,

add sauce, chicken and rest of ingredients, mix well. The hot pasta thins the sauce.

If the sauce is too thick you can thin it with a bit of pasta water.

Serve warm or cold.

Or make it Vegetarian to suit your taste.

Serving size: a big honkin bowl.

Wheat Berry Salad and Bruchetta

We went to the Farmer's Market this weekend.

I shouldn't be allowed in Farmer's Markets.

I found some wonderful things and tasted

every sample of cheese they had.

Then I bought a roasted red pepper, arugula, and mozzarella sandwich on some

french crusty artisan bread. It had a horseradish dressing.

I was very happy.

I bought Goat's milk cheese that they called Houligan.

I have no idea why.

But it was delicious.

Oh and fresh Mozzarella.

And a Stilson blue cheese.

And Sunflower sprouts-bye-bye mung bean sprouts.

You have been replaced by sunflower sprouts.

I'm pretty sure that Arugula is my new favorite food.

I kept ripping off leaves from the bag in the refrigerator and

nibbling on them. Yep, Arugula.

I made some Bruchetta on some Sour Dough bread that I bought too.

Arugula, tomatoes, olive oil a little salt and pepper.

And Mozzarella.

Did I mention that the Mozzarella was delicious?

Today I made Ina Garten's Wheat Berry Salad.
The recipe called for Feta....but I used Mozzarella.
It's only right.
Then I added some fresh mint, parsley and...
some more Mozzarella.

Tae ate 3 bowls of the Wheat Berry Salad.
He like the Mozzarella best.

Springtime is inspiring.
I wonder if I can grow Mozzarella in my garden?

Orange Cranberry Flaxseed Muffins

Orange Cranberry Flaxseed Muffins

Have you discovered Flax seed yet? I recently started using the Bob's Red Mill Brand. Flaxseed is very heart healthy. In just 2 tablespoons it has 2400 mg of Omega -3 fatty acids, no cholesterol, 4 grams of fiber and 3 grams of protein. It's a packed powerhouse of goodness.

These muffins are great in the morning with a little

cream cheese frosting or with a cup of jo'.

Do not leave out the orange juice in this recipe. If you must, you can substitute lemon juice but you really need the citrus to brighten the flavor of this muffin or it becomes very dense and heavy. This recipe also contains no oil so it is important that you use the carrots and apples for moisture.

Orange Cranberry Flaxseed Muffins

1 1/2 cups flour

3/4 cup of flaxseed meal (or ground flaxseed)

3/4 cup oatbran (slow cook not instant)

1 cup brown sugar

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp of baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp of cinnamon

1 tsp of nutmeg

1/2 cup of raisins

1/2 cup dried cranberries

4 large grated carrots

2 eggs

2 grated apples (I used one cup of applesauce)

3/4 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla

juice and zest of 1 large orange

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease muffin tins.

Mix dry ingredients together and then combine with remainder of ingredients.

Beat until just moistened. Do not overbeat or your muffins will be very tough.

Scoop into muffin tins. I use an icecream scoop-

One scoop fits exactly into the muffin tin.

Bake for 15-20 minutes.

Makes 18 muffins.

Serve warm with a bit of butter.

Enjoy!

Bev

Preserving Apples-A Tutorial

Some of you have asked how I have preserved or jarred the 70 plus pounds of apples we picked at Jaswell farms. It's not a hard process at all.

Just about any kind of apples can be used. I like the sweeter ones but tart ones work just as well if you like them and sugar can be adjusted.

Start with canning jars. These are pint size but I've also done quart size. My family can polish off a quart of applesauce at one sitting. You need the jars with screw lids and rubber seal inserts.

You also need a really big pot for the water bath and helping to seal the jars when full.

Fill the pot with enough water to cover the tops of the jars.

Throw all the jars with lids and tops into the boiling water for 20 minutes.

If you don't want to take this step you can simply run everything

through the diswasher on the sterilize cycle.

While the jars are sterilizing you can prepare your apples.

My neighbor Mary lent me this apple corer. I need to get one.

Spear the apple on the rod, push it toward the blade and crank the handle.

See how nicely it peels, cores and spiral cuts the apple?

Each apple only takes about 20 seconds to peel. A total time saver.

It's a beautiful thing.

Spiral cut and cored to perfection.

The little piece of apple with peel that is left is given to the kids for a snack or to the chickens. The chickens are quite fond of apples.

See-just pop off the core and discard....to the chickens or compost pile.

Cut the apples in half and throw them into a big pot to cook.

Add granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon and I like a bit of cloves and orange peel/rind in mine. I wish I could give you amounts but really it all depends on your taste. For the 20 pounds of apples I peeled, I used about 1/2 cup each of brown and granulated sugar and about 2 tablespoons of cinnamon, pinch of orange peel and cloves. If the apples are juicy you won't need to add extra water. If they are on the drier side then add a few tablespoons of water.

That's how my measuring goes.

Time to check on the lids and jars.

After 20 minutes of being in a boiling water bath, pull them out. I bought these handy tongs specifically for pulling out jars. I don't know how I lived without them.

When everything is pulled out of the water bath, place them on a clean towel. Keep the lids and jars facing up so that you don't contaminate the jars.

Cook the apples until they are fork tender. I like big chunks in mine and just a little bite left to them. You can puree' these if you choose but I like the chunky style.

You will need a big mouth funnel too. Don't try to do without one. It makes a mess.

Yes, I did try it with out a funnel. I was scraping syrup off my counters for days.

Ladle or spoon the applesauce into the jars.

Pack it in slightly. When full, wipe the top edge of the jar with a clean cloth to remove any syrup.

You don't want your lids sticking when it comes time to eat the applesauce. Sugar around the edge of the jar can also harbor and breed bacteria.

This tool has a magnet on one end for retrieving the lids from the boiling water bath. The other end is used to poke down the contents of the jar. You want to make sure that you poke and get out all of the air bubbles from the jars.

Airbubbles are bad and harbor bacteria. Leave about a 1/8 inch space at the top of the jar to allow for expansion. Put the lids on but not completely tight and return the jars to the water bath (with fresh boiling water). The water should just cover the tops of the jars. Let the water boil for 15 minutes with the jars in the pot.

The jars will make quite a racket as they clang together.

After 15 minutes take out the jars and screw the lids on tightly. Press down on the middle of the lid. If it pops back up then you need to water bath them longer.

Once the lids are screwed on tight, I turn them upside down on a clean towel to help keep the heat in and further seal the lids. Let these cool completely before storing. I keep mine in the extra refrigerator but it does just as well on a dry shelf. Don't forget to date the jars. They will keep up to a year under the right conditions.

If you have and extra juicy applesauce, try heating it on a stove for a few minutes and pour the mixture over vanilla icecream for a yummy treat.

It's also great mixed into some oatmeal.

This is a site I go to frequently to help with my jarring times.

http://www.preservefood.com/canning/cookingtimes.shtml

Enjoy!

Apple Picking

We went apple picking today in the northern part of Rhode Island

at a place called Jaswell's farm.

The kids had a blast and this is our second year coming here.

I think we have found a new Columbus Day weekend family tradition.

Patrick adored the warty gourds.

Gosh he looks old to me in this picture.

Morgan favored the tri-colored corn.

And of course we must put rabbit ears behind the scarecrow.

Look! It's my third child who doesn't like to be photographed.

Zach and Tae had a great time climbing trees.

Morgan and her best friend Gab scaled a tree and got all the apples at the top.

Tree Climber.

Apple Binoculars.

The 13 year old who is now taller than me.

And the five year old who climbed way over my head

while I had chest pain.

Zach and Patrick in the forest of trees.

The apples were very ripe and there were tons laying on the ground.

You pick one apple and a barage of them fell on your head.

Of course, we ate a few while there. They were so juicy and crisp.

Yummy!

Extra Yummy!

My neighbor Mary lent me this apple peeler/corer. It worked really well considering we picked just over 70 pounds of apples! I really need to buy one of these.

See what a beautiful job peeling, coring and spiral cutting the apples?

It saved me so much time.

Todays bounty.

10 quarts plus 4 pints of applesauce and 2 pints of apple butter.

I still have about 40 pounds of apples left to take care of this week.

And of course how could we forget the apple pie?

It has a brown sugar crust.

My whole house smells fabulous but I'm exhausted.

Dinner tomorrow night............apple fritters!