This Just Makes Me Happy

Thanks to my first born. He makes me happy. He has a wicked sense of humor. I hope he feels like that pizza more often than not.

Tastes Like Summer

I have been buying vegetables and fruit from roadside stands for about a week. We took a trip to Ham's Orchard over the weekend and bought peaches, tomatoes (yes tomatoes), and zucchini. Yellow squash came from a card table vegetable stand near my mom's house, and a watermelon came from a truck farmer set up at a local restaurant. We are pretty full of locally grown veggies and fruit. Here are a few ways I have prepared them.

Squash Casserole#1
4 Large Yellow Squash steamed and mashed.
2 Medium onions chopped
2 Eggs
2 Tablespoons Sugar
1 Stick of Butter melted
1 Cup of Soft Breadcrumbs
Salt and Pepper to taste

Mix the squash, onions, eggs, sugar, half the bread crumbs, and half the butter in a mixing bowl. Spread the mixture into a baking dish, pore remaining butter and sprinkle the remaining breadcrumbs over the squash mixture. Bake at 350 for thirty minutes.

Squash Casserole#2
4 Large Yellow Squash steamed and mashed.
2 Medium Onions chopped.
2 Cup Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese
1 Teaspoon Curry Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Ground Coriander
1/2 Teaspoon Ground Cumin
5 drops Chili Pequin Sauce (Tabasco also works).
Salt and Pepper

Mix squash, onion, 1 cup of cheese, and the remaining ingredients in a mixing bowl. Spoon into a baking dish, sprinkle the remaining cheese on top of squash mixture. Bake at 350 for twenty minutes.

Friend Zucchini and Yellow Squash - Not a recipe more like a set of instructions.
Cut squash in thin slices
Dip in egg white water mixture (1 egg white 1/4 cup water)
Dip in Cornmeal type Fish Fry Mix
Fry in vegetable oil until golden brown
Sprinkle with season salt.

Zucchini with Tomato
2 Chopped Zucchini
2 Chopped Onions
2 Chopped Tomatoes
1/4 Cup Tomato Sauce
1/4 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
1 Teaspoon Cider Vinegar
Salt and Pepper

Saute onion in olive oil until clear add the remaining ingredients and simmer until the zucchini is soft. Add more tomato sauce if needed.


Baked Tomato
Cut tomatoes (As many as you need), sprinkle with chopped basil (we use lemon basil), sea salt, and pepper. Drizzle the tomato halves with olive oil and bake at 350. Sprinkle on some Feta or Parmesan cheese before serving.

Tomato Salad
Chopped tomato
Chopped Basil
A little Balsamic Vinegar
A little Olive Oil
Sea Salt to Taste

That's all I have right now. Anyone have some recipes to share? I could really use a few more ways to cook squash.

Garden/Pizza/Sleeping Monkey

Here is the garden after the major clean up. It is not perfect, but it is much much better. Note the garden cart with more veggies to be planted. Those are peppers, cucumbers, and dill.

To entertain us, Teenage Monkey did this to some pizza. Comedy and Tragedy in pepperoni. My kids are weird.

This Monkey falls asleep in random places. To torment him, Teenage Monkey takes his picture.

Hot Compost and a Rainstorm

Hip-hip-hooray. My compost pile heated up to 120. I was hoping for 140, but I can live with 120. It is working and should make good compost in three weeks. I know I should let this go and just live with a cold pile, but the competitive streak in me is strong almost as strong as the stubborn streak. I want to dominate the compost pile. I want the compost pile to yield to my will. I want the compost pile to obey me. Pretty sure a bunch of microbes could care less what Aunt Debbi wants.

We had rain today. Unfortunately, we did not get the rain barrel installed, maybe next time. It felt so good outside. The temp dropped into the 70's from the 90's. There was a little thunder and lightening, but nothing major. It was a nice rainstorm, unlike those that have been drowning other parts of the country.

Sit Down, Stop Whining, and Weed!!!

Remember me complaining about how I never can get anything done in my own garden. I was sunburned and being a big baby. The garden really was neglected. There were weeds everywhere. Everything was overgrown, and many little veggies were waiting to be planted. Well what a difference a week can make.

At the end of my gripefest last Sunday, I had decided to just go out in the garden and just enjoy gardening. I took a little stool, gloves, a bucket for weeds, my Felcos, and a glass of wine. I sat in the garden for about an hour and a half, staying until it was too dark to tell the difference between the good plants and the bad weeds. I worked until the area I could reach was cleared and then picked up my stool and moved down the row. After repeating this activity every evening since, I am happy to say, about half the garden has been looked after and the compost pile has been turned.

It is possible to turn and sift a compost pile while sitting down. A giant pile of plant material was accumulated during the weeding process. After compost turning and sifting was over, I layered the weeds, with rough compost, and stuff cleaned out of the refrigerator. Cotton seed meal was also added to the pile. Hopefully, tomorrow, this will be a hot pile. If not, tomorrow's post will be a rant about why my compost pile will not heat up.

I really enjoyed this week in my garden. There was no sunburn or sore back. There was no feeling sorry for myself. I did get crawled on by lady bugs and enjoyed the scent of herbs as I brushed against them while working. Lemon balm, lemon verbena, Mexican mint marigold, thyme, and basil all smelled wonderful. Finally, I have a garden I can be proud of. Well, at least part of the garden is praise worthy. The second half of the garden and the perennial borders still need a lot of work. There is still a long way to go, but at least I know how to get there.

Breaking Tomato News and a Cookie

Texas is not responsible for the tomato crisis. Neither is California. Although earlier we were being investigated. Is this news? They don't have a clue where the salmonella came from.

Above is a great oatmeal peanut butter cookie made with eggs from a friend's flock. No salmonella there. Middle Monkey made them and they taste great. Please forgive the blurry picture, Aunt Debbi is tired.

Giving and Gardening

I was reading blogs (imagine that) and Silence was giving some great hints on reducing clutter. She got me to thinking about something that happened yesterday. First the back story.

Two years ago, a fellow master gardener suggested that we take on two projects. Both were to build, plant, and maintain flower beds adjacent to local charities. The first was at a senior citizens center. The second was at a local women's shelter. I did not know that there was a women's shelter.

The funds to run the shelter are raised by a thrift store. They take donations of clothing, books, furniture, toys, appliances, and sporting goods. I soon as I became aware of this set up, I began donating all of our unused, outgrown, or just unneeded stuff. Turns out with three kids and a large generous extended family, we end up with a lot of stuff.

I have been volunteering on the projects since the beginning, working on the design, installation, and upkeep of the flowerbeds. I have dropped off many many bags of clothing, toys, and random stuff for the thrift store. I also occasionally shop at the thrift store for books or seasonal clothes. It is a feel good project and a feel good way of donating.

Yesterday, it all took on a different meaning. I was talking to a fellow baseball mom during a game. I mentioned that I had bought a couple of prairie skirts at a thrift store. I was bemoaning the fact that I could not find new prairie skirts. She suggested I look at the thrift store at the women's' shelter. I explained my involvement with the women's shelter gardens and that it was exactly where I had purchased the skirts. She lowered her voice, leaned in toward me, and said,"I am staying there right now. Please don't spread it around, but they saved my life." I knew her son was staying with grandma, but I didn't think anything of it. Many children stay with grandma, especially during the summer. Turns out she was a victim of domestic violence. The volunteer staff of the center houses her, feeds her, gives her counseling, and helped her write a resume and get a job. Yes, she has a job. She plans to stay a while and save enough money to make a good stable start to living on her own.

The picture above is one of the flower beds. This is a Christian run charity, but don't worry, I am not going to get all religious on you. Before you even ask. No she does not read this blog and her identity is very well protected. Ignore the spacing, blogger is at it again and I can't fix it.