August 26th - A Ton Of Tomatoes & A Recipe

I have never picked so many tomatoes from my garden ever.  The plants are so big and hearty.  Just about everything else is now finished but the tomatoes are going strong.  The broccoli is also still growing as well as are the cucumbers.  The peas have just about finished.

I am going to post another recipe for you to make should you be interested.

Non-Dairy Broccoli Soup

1 whole broccoli (cut up - use the stem as well as the florets)
2 tbsp olive oil
2 stalks of celery (chopped)
1 small onion (chopped)
1/3 cup of flour
5 1/2 cups of water
2 tsp chicken soup powder
1/4 teaspoon of seasoning salt
2 potatoes
pepper to taste

Boil potatoes and broccoli in 5 1/2 cups of water.  Save water when done as this will be your soup base.  Add chicken soup powder.  Sautee onion and celery just until soft and add to pot.  Add seasoning salt and pepper.  With a hand blender blend soup until it is the consistency that you want.  In a small bowl combine flour and boiling water and whisk until blended into thin paste.  Whisk slowing into soup.  If the soup is too thick add a little extra water until desired consistency.

August 14th - Last Of The Zucchini

 It's a sad day, we used the last of our zucchinis but on a happier note we made a zucchini chocolate chip walnut loaf out of it.  It's the same recipe as the muffins below but you bake it for 55 minutes in two loaf pans.  The reason that I used two loaf pans is that I doubled the recipe as I had way more than one cup of zucchini.  When the time is up, check the doneness with a wooden toothpick.  It may need more time.

We've had more than enough rain now and the garden is once again very lush.  One small problem is that the cherry tomatoes are splitting as they are ripening too quickly and some of the large Roma tomatoes have bottom rot from too much rain.  You just can't win.

The peas and cucumbers are now doing much better as well since it's cooler.  It's in the 70's instead of the upper 90's.  A much needed relief for all of us.  The upside down tomatoes that we thought were dead, it turns out that they've actually started to grow again.  I'm not sure if they will ever produce a tomato or not but we shall see.

I am in the process of cross pollinating two different kinds of strawberry plants.  The hybrid is just starting to bloom so we shall see how it tastes.  That's all for now!

Just out of curiosity would you like me to post some more recipes?  If you happen by this site kindly let me know.  I would be more than happy to post recipes or answer gardening questions.  Thanks for reading my blog.

Zucchini Recipe - August 1st

 Yesterday we had a nasty storm that brought way too much rain with lots of thunder and lightening.  My zucchini plants were floating after just an hour and now a few of them have died.  But the tomato plants are doing fantastic right now.  These are just a few of them.  The larger ones are Roma tomatoes, then there are Roma cherry tomatoes and then Sweet Millions are the small cherry tomatoes.

Here is what one does when they have way too many zucchinis all coming at the same time.  You make some yummy muffins.  So far we've made the muffins, latkas and then just grilled them on the BBQ.  So for your zucchini enjoyment, I will pass along a really easy muffin recipe.



Debbie's Zucchini Muffin Recipe
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups of flour
1 cup of shredded zucchini
3/4 cups of sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp allspice (optional)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup chopped walnuts and 1 cup chocolate chips
1 1/2 tsp of cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp baking powder

Preheat the oven to 375 F.  Put all of the dry ingredients together in one bowl.  Put all of the liquid ingredients into a separate bowl.  Then add them together and stir just enough to mix everything together.  Do not stir too much, the batter should look lumpy.  Then bake for 20 minutes. Test to make sure they are done with a toothpick.  It should come out cleanly.

I hope you enjoy this recipe!!!