Harvest Monday, July 12th

It's Harvest Monday again! Thanks, Daphne for putting this thing on. This was a pretty hot week, so the tomatoes are going strong. I've got three varieties that have started producing; 4th of July (early), Big Mama (paste/roma type) and Red Lightning. The 4th of July plants have really started to turn, and I got quite a few of those. I've gotten about a half dozen of the Big Mamas, and I've picked 5-6 of the Red Lightnings. That last one I am hoping will be a nice one for great eating and interesting looks. So far, there's no big monster ones, but who knows, maybe they'll get bigger as the summer progresses. Here's a close up of the Red Lightning:


The summer squash have started producing. I've given a few away, although I don't feel inundated by squash yet. I planted four sets of 3-4 plants each, so the possibility is definitely there! I figure when that is getting close, I'm going to try stuffed, batter fried blossoms. I'll keep you updated on that. Anyway, here's a picture of some of the stuff I picked Sunday. I hadn't picked in a few days, and it's only a portion of the tomatoes.


This week I'll be canning some tomatoes and plums. Have you ever canned plums? They're awesome over applesauce. Oh, I have started keeping track of how much I'm getting! Here's the week's totals:

Plums .................8 lbs
Summer squash ..4 lbs 15 oz
Peppers ....................12 oz
Tomatoes .......... 10 lb 7 oz

Chocolate Frosty

Like most people, we have been really hot here lately. No matter what we are doing, we get hot and sweaty. I've made a few frozen treats that go perfect with hot weather, when we sit under the ceiling fan and do a whole lot of nothing. Chocolate Frosty is one of them. It seriously hits the spot. And let me tell you folks, this stuff is easy to make. Trust me. You'll love it. Oh, and you don't have to tell anybody it's so easy. It'll be our secret.


Chocolate Frosty

1/2 gallon chocolate milk
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 small tub Cool Whip, thawed (8 oz.)

Whisk together chocolate milk and condensed milk until well mixed. Add in Cool Whip and stir until well mixed. Divide into 2 1 gallon zipper bags, and freeze for 4-6 hours. Take out of freezer and "moosh" bags until frosty is smooth instead of stiff. Pop it back into the freezer and let it freeze solid. Enjoy!

Voices, Heat, and Plain Jane, Homemade Lemonade

First of all, thank you, Robin, for following my blog! Welcome aboard.


I went to see my dad this afternoon. He had a doctor appointment, again, and my sister and I went with him. Yeah, we had loads of fun, then went to the pharmacy. When were leaving the pharmacy, I heard this little voice. Funny thing was, my sister heard it too! You know what it said? ............. Yogurt! Amazing that we both heard it, because the frozen yogurt place was a good two blocks away. My dad, who was waiting in the car for us, was all too happy to go with us, even though he hadn't heard the voices. Lucky he was with us, huh?? Anyway, we had frozen yogurt, went back to my dad's place, got him all comfy cozy, then we left to go home. Unfortunately for me, my car doesn't have air conditioning. It's really hot today, and by the time I got home, I was very hot, very sweaty, and very red in the face. I think a normal woman would quite possibly have died. Good thing I'm not normal! Know what revived me? The ceiling fan and my Plain Jane, Homemade Lemonade! It's amazing stuff. Try it. It's easy, tart, and it has some oomph to it. I suppose if you don't want lemonade with oomph, or are a little bit squeamish when it comes to lemon, you could back off of the juice, but really, I think it's just perfect.



Plain Jane, Homemade Lemonade

1 cup lemon juice
4 cups water, divided
1 cup sugar

Heat 1 cup of water. Stir in sugar to dissolve. Add lemon juice and the remaining 3 cups water. Stir all together. Pour over ice and enjoy.

Harvest Monday, July 5th

It's Harvest Monday at Daphne's place! This week I picked:
summer squash, tomatoes, basil, and ........ my first mild salsa peppers! Wahoo! (Happy dance!)


My glads are coming on nicely. I picked a bouquet this morning to bring into the kitchen next to the sink. These are the only glads I picked this week. I like to leave lots in the flower bed, because it's right outside the bedroom window, and when I get up every morning, I look outside and the first thing I see are flowers!


The hydrangeas are plugging along. Such a funny little flower. They're beautiful in their own special way. I can totally relate to them. These will go on the dining room table.



This is a stump. Well, actually, it's a log. From one of our eucalyptus trees we cut down on Friday. That would count for Harvest Monday, wouldn't it? We went to a potluck yesterday at a friend's house, and this is what we brought. Honest and true! Fits nicely in the fancy-schmancy car, don't you think?


And we also brought a big plate of these frosted zucchini bars. (We're not total hicks!)



Grandma's chocolate zucchini cake came along for the ride, too. I forgot to take a picture of it before, so this is the after picture. It was really good.


And last but certainly not least, Dozer would like to add his piece to this Harvest Monday post. He hadn't been allowed to roam around in the garden all week, until today. While my back was turned, he made his own personal harvest. He was a little bummed when I didn't let him finish it, but I think he's gotten over it now.

Our Weekend Eats---And More!!

Welcome thyme2garden and debiclegg! Thanks for joining my blog!


We sometimes have marathon cooking weekends. It's nice to have some chow put away for those nights I just don't feel like cooking. During the summer, there seems to be more of those than any other time of year. I get sidetracked outside, or visiting friends, or busy looking at the inside of my eyelids, or some other equally important activity. So, this weekend, hubby smoked meat. Boy, did he ever! He started the weekend with a turkey. Leftover from Thanksgiving, when turkey is cheap. (cheep?)


And then two full pork loins. I have discovered one of the fastest, simplest, yummiest dinners on earth. It involves a slice of smoked pork loin. And cheese. And a roll. And a barbecue. But I digress. That's a whole other post.



Here's two pork shoulders, beginning their yummy journey.

Those two pork shoulders will magically turn into pulled pork, after about 9 hours of smoking. Oh, I can't even begin to tell you how wonderful this stuff is!

Here's last night's dinner of smoked turkey, green beans with bacon, and tomatoes from the garden. It was yummy!



And tonight's dinner? Pulled pork, more green beans with pesto, tomatoes and cucumbers.



Yeah, we're eating pretty good. I'm getting full all over again!

Sunshine, Summer, and Memories

Sunflowers are bright and cheerful. They bring to mind running barefoot in the sunshine on warm days. A cold glass of lemonade under the shade of a big tree, enjoying what summer has to give. Last year, the brother of a good friend of ours grew sunflowers for the first time. Acres and acres of sunflowers. Just before they flowered, he passed away after a tough battle with cancer. Now when I see a field of sunflowers smiling at me, not only do I think of sunshine and summer, but also of a hardworking young farmer, sending love to his family through bright yellow sunflowers.

My First Harvest Monday!

I wanted to take part in Daphne's Harvest Monday. This is some of what I got from the yard this week: basil, zucchini, scalloped squash, grape tomatoes, my first Fourth of July tomato, and.... drum roll please... lemon verbena! We bought a little plant a few weeks ago at the farmer's market, and now it's big enough to cut a little from. Oh, and I got a dozen eggs. That counts, right??


I got enough glads to make 2 bouquets for the house, and give some to my neighbor for her birthday.


This is my first year for growing onions. I pulled them all out and started drying them. All the pictures I'd seen of onions drying were in the sun, so that's where I put mine. Then we started thinking, and I went onto the internet, and found that we should have them in the shade. We lost a few, but not bad.