Pioneer Woman at Heart

  I posted this photo a few days ago, and asked if anyone knew what it was.  Well, with the help of my sister-in-law, and an app on her cell phone, it's been identified as Wineberry. In the early spring, I thought it was my red raspberry bush spreading into my asparagus patch.  I never got the chance to dig the sprouts out due to fracturing my foot. I did some research on this plant, and of course the birds planted it (they seem to be good at this).  However, it's an invasive plant, because it grows quickly and can over take the area.  Lovely.  It's actually illegal in some states to sell etc. I'm not sure I'll be able to dig them out until spring, as my asparagus has gone to seed and is very tall.  I'm going to do my best to remove it this year though. Apparantly, those spiky looking pods open up, and produce an edible raspberry.  Other than that pod, the plant itself, literally appears the same as our red raspberry plants. Oh, and the stems are ...

  I finally got around to make a full batch of meatballs.  I like to get this done before the freezer fills up. One year I barely had room to flash freeze, and made a mess with meatballs stuck to the wire shelf above, ha ha!   While the meatballs were flash freezing, I shredded up the very last of the picked zucchini.  I made us a batch of the most delicious chocolate zucchini muffins I have ever had.  I found the recipe this year online, and it is a keeper.  Yum!  I uses Einkorn all-purpose flour. I had two pounds of pork, so I prepped it for homemade sausage with home grown sage.  I let it sit in the fridge overnight before cooking it, so the ingredients can produce good flavor.  I apparently have two different recipes for this, and I added extra seasonings, so this will be interesting. I saved a few boiled eggs for snacking, and topped some chicken salad with them.  I may add boiled eggs to my chicken salad next time.  ...

  It's been very hot here, but canning must go on.  Tomatoes are picked and ready for a full day of canning.  I have to run our dehumidifier in the kitchen. We woke up to thunderstorms, so hence more humidity in the air, and today they say the heat index could be up to 110°F.  I have had the radio on the last few days, and today they are talking about closing some schools due to the heat.  Some schools here do not have air conditioning. Say a prayer our power stays on for a full day of canning.  I am seeing that several towns on the out skirts of us, are without power this morning. The zucchini and yellow squash are still rolling in, but yesterday the plants looked as if they were about done for the season.  I guess I will know next week after this rain dries out.  We are to get strong storms tonight, so if the rain stops, and I get a break with sauce reduction, I will need to check on tomatoes again. A couple of the zucchini plants are producing ...

  It's been pretty "busy" here lately.  So busy, that I baked a Georgia Peach Crumble with the oven off!  Multi-tasking at it's worst ha ha! I kid you not!  I thawed the last of the peaches in the freezer, and turned the oven on, but forgot to hit the "start" button (which is required for it to actually turn on).  How I didn't notice it when I put it in the oven, is beyond me.  Other than I have been up to my eyeballs in garden work, harvesting, and then when it comes inside, it of course has to be dealt with. (full of stems, leaves, etc.) It was another race-against-the-clock sort of day.  Hurry and get the bedding and laundry on the line, so it will be dried and put away, bed made etc. before my husband got home.  Hurry and get the dishes washed, dried and put away, so I can take the blueberries, that were flash freezing, out of the freezer and bagged.  Hurry to process some green beans and freeze, and hurry all of everything to get out to ...

  Yesterday's pickings.  Even though I picked the day before, and I obviously missed some cucumbers.  Those larger ones went to the chickens. In lieu of a severe storm threat yesterday afternoon and evening, I tied up the last 35 tomato plants, hit the stakes again (best I could with a dry ground), and found another worm.  I accidently slammed the side of my thumb while hammering stakes in (not the first time for either of us). I could barely bend my thumb to cook nor do dishes, so I whipped up a comfrey poultice, and today there is barely the sight of a bruise, and pain is about zero. We have been enjoying our homegrown green/wax beans.  We don't eat potatoes like we used to, but last night was just the right time.  So good with bacon.   My husband is my entertainment lately.  He is coming up with ideas for the extra zucchini, and last night made these in the air fryer.  Blech.  Coconut oil with an egg dig and seasonings....

  I finally found the other tomato worm, while I was tying the tomato plants up again.  By the way, the plants are as tall as me , and have gone way above their stakes.  I am a hair from being 6 feet tall, if that tells you anything.  We will be watching end of summer sales, for 6 foot metal (sturdy) tomato cages for next year.  I  don't know that they'll work, as our plants are fully loaded, and very heavy when the tomatoes are on.  I don't know what I was thinking.  I went out, thinking I'll just quick pick green beans and be back inside for inside work.  Ha!  Not only did it take an hour to pick beans, but I had more zucchini, and cucumbers to pick.  I had no yellow squash, but the plants are once again loaded with blossoms, and the bees are a buzzing out there. I sent more zucchini to work with my husband, and I will be taking any other extra to the library staff next.  I am still freezing some for us, but it is coming in d...

Our egg basket has been looking a bit empty lately.  I have been using them a lot more, so I hope the newbies start laying soon. The garden is producing, but the red raspberries don't look that great this year.  The blackberries are loaded, so I'm hoping my bird netting will keep the birds out. It is such a relieving, happy, and glorious feeling to walk out and pick something fresh, and not have to get in the truck and drive to the store and spend hard earned money on our vegetables.  I am already making a list of what to plant next year  (for one, adding English type cucumbers, if you have a favorite organic/heirloom variety please do share).  If things go good this month, we may have new raised beds built for fall planting. I tried a new recipe to accommodate zucchini into our meal - Roasted Chickpea Salad.  Recipe is online with Green Healthy Cooking.  I made my own homemade ras el hanout seasoning (no sugar) using a recipe online from AllRecipes....

  We are blessed with a good harvest of zucchini this year.  The rain and bees are doing their jobs wonderfully.  We have had a poor harvest the last few years. Tip: When freezing shredded zucchini, drain in cheesecloth and squeeze out water before freezing.  It will help reduce a mushy thaw when needed for baking.   I wore out my first cheese grater, so I replaced it with one that will also shred/slice some vegetables.  It worked great for the zucchini. Delicious!  I may try other recipes, but this was a new recipe, and I did not even know you could make hummus with zucchini.  The recipe did not say to shred and squeeze out water.  It said to chop and toss in a food processor.  It is somewhat on the runny side, so next time I will shred and squeeze the water out for a thicker hummus.  I can then use it on sandwiches etc. Jovial's recipe, and it's online.  My batter and bread did not look anything like their photos, but it...

It was time to send this book back to the library.   I flipped through it and scanned one recipe.  It gives you a twist on some foods.  For example, there is a recipe where you shave the broccoli stalks to make a salad .  There are even a few recipes for using apple peelings and cores - apple win e jelly was one.

Every few days I have been making a crock pot of steel cut oats, so Hubby can take his breakfast to work (or we enjoy it after the gym, and before h e leaves for work ).     The frittatas, and other dishes fill up the remainder days.  I made a zucchini- tomato frittata recently.  The roadside produce stand still had some

Thank you all for your happy thoughts and prayers for rain to arrive.  It arrived yesterday afternoon.   It poured for a very short time, but it came down hard. I was so relieved.  I think the downpour lasted onl y 15 minutes, but it was better than nothing at a ll.  Today, I will be checking for any new squash, and broc coli to pick.  And tomatoes.    While it rained, I baked some homemade grahams.

Okay, I lied about letting the zucchini salsa sit.  We popped open a jar already.  Now, I did pretty much follow the recipe, but I diced up 2 jalapenos and 2 hot banana peppers and added them (to the marinade early on).  If you like medium to hot salsa, definitely add some hot peppers.  We loved this salsa.  It's very thick, so I think I can safely leave the corn starch out next batch (if I get enough zucchini to make it again).  I drained the veggies very well and I also drained my roma tomatoes after I chopped them up, before boiling everything.

I happened to be thumbing through a book I got for free at the library, and found a recipe for a healthier zucchini cake.  Although the book had outdated information on healthy eating, some of the recipes looked good enough to try ( Foods that Heal , by Maureen Salaman and James F. Scheer, © 1989) I had purchased blackstrap molasses from my last trip to Amish country (where it has been the only location to find it other than on the internet). Hubby's co-worker shared two large zucchini's with us, so I made the cake to try, and shredded the remaining zucchini for freezing.   The only thing I forgot to buy to finish this cake, was the slivered almonds.  Tip:  One of my daughter's suggested simply sprinkling chopped almonds on it next time. Zucchini Cake 2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour 2 cups zucchini, grated 1 c. slivered almonds 1 c.  apricots, chopped 1 lime (or lemon) 1 c. safflower oil (cold press) 1 c. honey 1/2 c. blackstrap mol...

Conversation between me and hubby: "Uh, honey? Did you know you can use a zucchini stalk like a recorder? You know like an instrument?" (Me) "Honey, you are just not normal." (hubby sighs and lowers his head with a smile, shaking his head from side to side) Crazy as it sounds, it's true.  If you still have zucchini in your garden give this a try.  According to this page in my book Log Cabin Cooking, Pioneer recipes and Food Lore" you can.  It's a ramble kind of day today.  Grab a cup of tea or coffee for this one. Yesterday I changed up my day.  I actually cooked dinner.  The family is so used to seeing me standing at the stove canning, or out in the garden.  I was not driving out for supplies, so I surfed the net for recipes.  Allrecipes is always a nice one.  I can search for recipes by the ingredients I have. I made Cheesy Sausage Zucchini Casserole , but changed some of the ingredients - used cream cheese and cottage cheese ...