Garden Fuss

It's been a long time since I've updated but these were just too neat to not share. All natural ingredients then colored with jam and all natural food dye... We are so getting in the know about this kind of stuff. I'm just so happy to share these with my family and any friends who happen over this season.

Today we came, we saw, and we said good bye to one of many farmers markets closing for the season this weekend. No sooner than arriving did the family and I start pining for, and talking up 2012's market days. Already I can see braving the still cool chilly mornings for hot coffee or cocoa from food trucks like Arepas while on the lookout for asparagus and the first fresh sweet lettuce, spinach and spring onions from local farmers. I may have been nervous about trying ramps before, but after an introduction to them this year part of me now can't wait to snatch up a few bundles to make my own herbed oils, ramp soups, and even a fragrant stir-fry. Like the farmers I met today I am ready to be rid of this years bounty. It was hard work but very much worth it. There are still brussels sprouts, kale, swiss chard and beets in amazing colors to harvest yet. I have got to get busy pickling what's left so I can feed my face in grattitude of this years bounty while flipping through t

It's been too many months since we've indulged in a pizza night. Well with school back in and everyones schedules picking up for the fall we have to make a point to get everyone involved in communing together. Tonights culinary activities got us a chicken brocolli and (homemade) pesto pizza with an accompanying meaty boy pizza that is full of turkey pepperoni and italian sausage. To burn off our delicious weekend endeavor we did manage to get in a very long almost 2 hour walk with the dog. Overkill? Maybe, but getting the family together outdoors ad involved with dinner is importat to me and the DH. Sunny days like this are too far and few in our region so it's importat to take advantage of the good stuff. I think my fam knows the good stuff is when we're together.

Some how my internal cold monitor went off in time for us to get the potatoes dug up. Wouldn't you know as I post this update the news is reporting that last night we finally reached official first frost temps at the Twin Cities International Airport. I guess I do have 6th sense when it comes to cold.... Well, I have been dreading this for some time now due to our unusually early cold weather. Yes we are in Minnesota the land of schizophrenic climates that can change in the blink of an eye. But it doesn't help to be achy and sniffly and just plain zapped from the dryness and lack of sunlight these days. What's a girl to do? I've tried first bribng then ultimately shaming the kids into digging them up. I even thought about teaching the hound to dig potatoes for a nice scooby snack. None of my drama and theatrics was successful so I had to get my big toosh up with my big girl panties on, wrap my neck, and bundle up to begin my last adventure in the garden this year.

Another reason to support the local markets? They love on our kids with more than delicious fresh produce. They fill little hearts by providing colorful gourds, multiple colors, glitter, and opportunities to be creative. I love that even though the dog days of summerare gone we can still find great things to eat and do @ our local farmers market.  As you can see from the pictures I was able to find beautiful parsnips, and the freshest Jerusalem artichoke I've ever seen. This is an ingredient I have seen in the past and stayed away from because I had no clue. However, I will be using these beauties in a couple different dishes that I hope please my finicky crew. I'll try them creamed into a soup, and a roasted recipe. If this goes over well then you know where I'll be next week.... My local farmers market or somewhere similar hoarding... I mean purchasing another clutch of them. Another honorable mention of the day are the salad greens. I found some amazing lettuce and g

Diced onion sauteed with fresh cabbage from the garden and topped with chunks of cheddar cheese has been stuffed into seasoned ground pork to make the ultimate burger. As you can see from the pic the burger sits on a bed of cute pear tomatoes and fresh romaine lettuce. For the base of the burger have used fres bread from "A Bakers Wife". Now that's what I call a weekend dinner with greens!

I love pickling and now my mom has caught the pickling bug too. Usually I stay away from consuming okra due to the slime factor when cooked. For my birthday the other day I gt a box from mom with some preserved items including, muscadine jelly and pickled okra. It takes a good cook to use okra in a way that doesn't have slime oozing down your throat. My mom can definitely fry up a good batch with crunch but she doesn't live close eough so I can enjoy them fried. Most people I know put it in gumbo or soup. If it's going into any kind of soup... I avoid it like the plague. This is my first time trying okra pickles and I will tell you now I am going to harvest the remaining pods in my garden and brine those bad babies before it is too late. 
I know it's strange to some for a person to grow a plant they would not eat themselves. I would say to you, have you never seen an okra blossom? It is one of the most beautiful flowers in the world. If I could collect a bloom and prese

Oh the soft **ping ting** of canning preserves is what I'm hearing this evening. After taking a trip to Trader Joes earlier in the week I found a fresh shipment of California figs. I know this is against my motto of buying local, but I just couldn't pass up this sweet succulent fruit. Nothing says christmas like a meal with figs. Though I've never had figgy pudding which I'm not sure contain actual figs... I do enjoy yogurt with a sweet and savory smelling fig, thyme, and lemon confiture. I can eat this for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Last year I gave away and enjoyed lots of preserves. This year I'm already more than half way done with my canning, and looking forward to tucking into them when the white stuff (dare I say the "s" word outloud) actually hits the ground. Enjoy the pics and be sure to check back because I'll post my recipe for you. 

Later Peeps!!

The little man in the family has been asking me to make cinnamon rolls for months now. Due to his allergies we have not been able to buy commercial brand rolls. So again armed with the power of the internet I began a pastry excursion in a much needed warm kitchen. It turned out to be very blustery and wet today. Lord knows we needed the moisture but this cold stretch is irritating so soon in the year. With that said, it has been a perfect roll making day and here are the pictures of our results. I will add a recipe later, but had to show the lushness of these rolls. The smells of cinnamon and butter are still wafting through the house.

The makings of our Tomato Sauce started off with a large box of fresh Roma's we picked up from the St. Paul Farmers market . I think we have finally gotten a quick process down for removing the skins because we finished in under an hour. (minus the time for the water to actually boil) I have had a few people including my sister in-law ask how to make sauce so I thought I would outline a basic one here that can tweaked and toyed with until it tastes like you want it to.   So with that being said here is how I got organized to start making sauce. A large stock pot of boiling water A pot of ice water A clean bowl for the composting skins or to toss in trash later (I’m not judging) A paring knife to score tomatoes and then cut out their tasteless core A couple empty casserole pans or large bowls or pots to hold peeled and cored tomatoes Metal strainer or Something Similar to scoop tomatoes out of boiling water A food processor Last but most important to me,

A couple years ago we delved into the world of fermented foods. We started out by ordering cultures for greek yogurt and kefir grains for fizzy gingered water which was delicious btw. After a while since I as the one doing 99% of the work without essential equipment I threw in the towel and gave my kefir grains away. I still have yogurt cultures but need an actual yogurt machine not my crockpot which became too hot to create a good yogurt or cheese. Well not too long after this we had an opportunity to try kimchee from a local Asian Market "United Noodles". This fetted smelling concoction was too much for my nose but my daughter braved the stench to taste the cabbagey combination of veg. She quickly bought a jar and googled a recipe to try with cubed beef. A little leary I ventured to try a small bowl before I knew what was in it. Mmmmm I loved the turnips and thought what are these other yummy bits? when she told me it was Kimchi I couldn't believe it. I researched

 I have been looking forward to having squash and tomatoes from my garden ALL YEAR. Now that these tasty veggies have gotten their start it's already getting blustery out. I am praying for an Indian Summer so we can extend the summers bounty.

Our first visit to the St. Paul market was all I wanted and more. It started with a horse drawn carriage ride from the "FREE"parking lot. The brawny pair of studs carried us as if we weighed nothing at all. With just a sight whistle they new when and where to turn down the city streets avoiding both pedestrian and vehicle when they do. With such great service we couldn't help but donate to their "apple" fund. Once we arrived at the actual market stands; which we could have walked to less than a block away mind you; we got busy venturing for honey comb and peppers. However, we couldn't stop at peppers and honey. We found MN Grown eggplant, rutabaga and kholrabi, "Young Thang" goat cheese from Love Tree farmstead cheese , and "Lorz Italian"garlic from The Herb Man out of Farmington Mn all for $20 dollars which was a great price. I'm always happy to go to farmers markets; I meet so many nice people and always seem to find something new

Every few year for 11 years a local bakery Buttercream Wedding Cakes has been getting our business. The cake they made for our wedding years ago is still all people talk about when the topic of our union comes up. They not only have amazing cake, but excellent customer service. I was at a loss for decorating this years cake so I left it up to them. They came through with a beautiful clean design that tastes AMAZING! The DH is digging in with a fat wedge and I and the kids will follow suit shortly. So with that said it's my anniversary and I am getting my updates done early so the festivities can begin. Eat Local People! It's so delicious!

Summer salad with grilled pattypan, heirloom tomatoes, and cucumbers with fragrant jasmine rice and ribs. Dinner is served.

I figure our summer grillin days are really numbered and what would make supper super today more than fresh heirlooms from the garden? So hooray for the 1st pineapple, and black krim tomatoes making their debut.
Happy Planting and sunning your self in the garden!
Tina

Yes those are plums but there are mystery items involved as well. More to come in a later post whether it's a success or a failure. Good Nite!

I've been waiting all summer for these beautiful tasty squash to ripen. But, after it turned cool on us I thought for sure I'd missed the mark on these. The plants are gynormous and there were male blooms galore. However the female blooms were no-where to be seen until just a week and a half ago. Now the little she's are popping open all over the squash patch. I have been purposely not buying squash at the market as I skulked by jealosly gawking at their pleantiful trays. I didn't go so far as to wish borers on them but felt like an envious red headed step child watching the fat kids eat cake at the garden party. What is their secret? Alas my fare weather people answered that for me in the paper last week. It's all about location, location location this year. Some of us were too wet some were too dry and all of us were too hot. Not to mention slugs,boreres, and japanese beetles... Now I fall into the lucky category and have been able to actually and literally eat th

For a few years now we have heard from our closest friends all the benefits of finding a CSA and how it helps local farmers as well as the community and of course us to feed ourselves and family's. CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. This is a movement that allows consumers to buy locally grown seasonal food directly from farmers by pre-purchasing shares. Shares are bundles or boxes of a variety of produce. Shares can contain everything from vegetables and fruit to meat and cheese. Now that I have become educated and in the know, I for one will stand up every chance I get to support them. However getting the DH to agree to it is an entirely different animal. (ie. think husband agree to prepay hundreds of dollars for food he can't see in fridge). Since I am the main shopper and home chef in this family I ultimately took the lead and forced the issue. We took the plunge and delved into the CSA pool early this spring. I tried very hard to be proactive and find one th

Look at some of the bounty we recieved today from the concrete beet farm. I'm kicking myself for not taking a picture of the extra share items before processing them but I've been waiting for pickling day since our sour mexican gerkins turned out to be a disappointing waste of time. I can say with some sense of assurity that I will not attempt them again. This is my first year attempting relish. Though it's not as green as the relish found at the grocery store I am excited to try my favorite pickled item on a nice beef hotdog or maybe even a bratt. I'm so excited about CSA's this year and utilizing them to feed my family s well as help out some young famers in the process.... But more about that later because the kale has yet to be processed and the pesto I made from the basil needs to be frozen. 
Happy harvesting and a good night to you,
Tina

After one failed attempt I'm proud to say that my big baby didn't give up and has now successfully made tasty frozen rasberry custard icecream. A little encouragement and jesting has fueld her to concoct a treat to beat the heat straihgt from our garden. I'll have her post a recipe later. Just had to shre this beautiful pics and more praise for my future personal chef.

Got Mint? Got Basil? Got a flare for nummy asian deliciousness? We do in this house so our summer spring rolls hit the spot for a quick meal to beat the heat in the kitchen. First assemble your ingredients (fresh herbs and lettuce) from the garden before the heat of the sun beats you down. You then proceed to wash and rough chop these ingredients. Dice, or shred your choice of meats or you could even use tofu (yum), prepare your rice noodles by dipping into hot water for a couple of minutes then chill in ice water and drain. Do the same to your rice wrapper only it should take about 30 to 40 seconds or until pliable. I make a sauce to spread on the wrapper before assembling with hoisin, peanut butter, soy sauce, chili garlic paste, lemon juice and a touch of honey. I spread this on the wrapper, add noodles, herbs and/or veggies, meat or tofu then I wrap pretty much like a burrito. I make a dipping sauce with finely shredded ginger, water,lemon juice, sugar and hot garlic chili paste. T

Scarlet and green beens are getting started. Already it's a better crop than last year. I'm hoping to have enough to can this year. If it's not too late I will be starting another successive row to carry us into the fall. There are afew more blank areas in the garden and it's only July. I want to add more herbs and sweet peppers since only the thai chilis are fruiting. The tomatoes are off and running with new fruit popping up daily. I see fried green tomatoes on the menu this week for sure. Any ideas on what I should try for mid season sowing in zone 4? Send me a message or just reply to this post. I really appreciate advice and moral support. Thanksin advance,
Tina

Cranberry white chocolate with ginger lime glaze.