At The Fair

In Progress...

From Our Garden

~  We are loving, loving fresh edamame with every meal.
~  And plums.  Not sure any will be left over to make our jam. 
~  Zucchini finally (though I'm sure in a few weeks I won't be so enthusiastic).  So far I've made zucchini bread and zucchini lasagna.  This lasagna is the best because I get to use so many things from our garden.  (bread recipe below... it's a good one)
~  Cucumbers are going slowly.  I'm not feeling inspired to make any more pickles... maybe only one plant next year.
~  Green beans on the other hand are still going strong and delicious.
~  And pumpkins are here already!  I've made two double batches of pumpkin muffins so far. 
~  Onions, carrots, and mini peppers are all finally here too... and delicious.
~  Oh and I almost forgot the tomatoes are just starting to ripen.  I've used them in the lasagna and our taco salad (another good garden using recipe) but I can't wait until there's enough for a big batch of our soup.


Zucchini Bread Recipe
1 large zucchini
1 cup of whole wheat flour
3/4 cup of flour
1 tsp of ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp of baking soda
1/4 tsp of baking powder
1/2 tsp of salt
1/2 tsp of ginger
pinch of cloves
pinch of nutmeg
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup canola oil
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Shred zucchini.  You should have 1 cup.  Combine whole wheat flour, regular flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, ginger, cloves, nutmeg and salt in a large bowl.  Set aside.  Blend brown sugar, milk, oil, egg, and vanilla.  Add the zucchini.  Blend again.  Add the flour mixture and stir just until combined.  Spoon into 8 and 1/2 by 4 and 1/2 by 2 and 1/2 inch loaf pan.  Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. 

Zoo

Today we ventured over to Hudson for an art exhibit that I've been so excited about. All of the art was focused on nature. It was SO inspiring. My two little artists thought that going to an art exhibit would be pretty fun too. I think they enjoyed it for about 15 minutes.



Until the beautiful park across the street caught their eyes through the second story window...




We followed a long path that led to a long bridge that led a small beach island...





Well we weren't prepared to swim but of course we had too... so underwear swimming it was.









I think we may have found a new favorite beach.  And I think I need to go back to the art exhibit all by myself. 

Morning Walk/Bike Ride

Pickles

Last night my sister and I begin the season of preserving with our first annual pickle canning.  We had never done pickles before but after a night of it we decided it was definitely worthy of repeating.  It was so much fun... and they are delicious (and I'm not usually even a pickle person). 

Recipe from "Preserving Food at Home"

3 cups of white vinegar
3 cups of water
1/3 pickling salt (we used sea salt and it worked just fine... brine didn't get dark)
4 lbs of cucumbers cut into spears
6 heads of dill
3 cloves of garlic
9 peppercorns

Prepare jars and lids.  In a saucepan combine liquids and salt, and heat to boiling.  Pack cucumbers into hot, clean quart jars.  To each jar add 2 heads of dill, 1 clove of garlic, and 3 peppercorns.  Fill jars with hot brine, leaving 1/2 inch of headroom.  Adjust lids.  Process in canner for 20 minutes.  Cool jars and check lids.  For best flavor let mellow for a few weeks.

We made several adjustments.  First we doubled the recipe.  Second we used smaller jars so in the end we had 12 jars of canned pickles.  We still added the same amount of peppercorns and garlic.  Finally, I found the best canning lids (Tattler is the brand) at the co-op that are reusable and BPA free, which worked great.