A colorful harvest

It's a little early for root crops, but I decided to thin out my carrot and beet beds. Instead of pulling out little starts and throwing them away, I wait a bit. Then I pull out the biggest ones and eat them when they are baby-sized and tender.


The Vidalia onions I planted from seed had stopped growing tops. So I think they are done. Maybe I'm supposed to save these pearl onions and plant them as sets next year. Nope, I'm going to eat them.

I planted a different variety of rainbow carrots this year. Last year I used Burpee's rainbow mix. It was the seeds of several varieties mixed together in one packet. This year I found an interesting offering in the R.H. Shumway seed catalog. All the carrots are the same variety, but that one variety produces many colors of carrots. The babies I pulled were light yellow and orange.


The beet patch was looking crowded, so I pulled a few of the larger ones. They're chioggia beets and feature a bullseye inside. So I had to cut one open. So pretty!

It's the height of bean season, and I've got lots of pretty varieties - Cherokee wax, dragon tongue, contender, and blue lake pole beans.

I only have two eggplant plants. With the large, dark varieties I don't usually get to harvest until late August or September. But I've already had about ten of these smaller lavender ones. I'll be stuffing these babies with tomatoes, onions, basil and bread crumbs for dinner with a veg-aholic friend.

I have so many cucumbers I don't know what to do! Yes, I do. Pickles, of course! I react to something (maybe tumeric) in store-bought pickles. So I'm trying to make enough homemade pickles to last until next year's cucumber crop comes in. Here's a rerun of my pickle recipe, with a few new tips.

Kay's Dill Pickles

2 C water
1 C cider vinegar
2 T sea salt (non-iodized)
1 bunch of dill for each jar
1/4 t mustard seeds for each jar
cucumbers

This recipe makes enough brine for about three pints of pickles. If you have lots of cucumbers, double or triple this recipe. For my last batch, I tripled it. It made six pints and two quarts.

Boil the first three ingredients for five minutes. Sterilize jars in boiling water. Cool and dry the jars. (Or just run the jars and lids through the dishwasher, like I do.) Put a bunch of dill and 1/4 t mustard seeds in the bottom of each jar. Fill with (room temperature) cucumber slices. Really pack them in! Pour the hot brine into the jars over the cucumbers. Leave leftover brine in the pan. Let the jars of cucumbers and brine stand for 10 minutes. Pour the liquid from the jars back into the pan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and boil for 10 minutes.

Fill a Dutch oven or large pot half-full with water. Bring it to a boil while your brine is cooking down.

Pour the reduced brine back over the cucumber slices, to 1/4 inch from the top of the jar. Clean and dry the jar threads and seal with lids. Set your boiling water off the heat. Set the sealed jars into the pan of water. Water need not cover the jars. It's fine if the water comes 1/2 to 2/3 up on the jars. Do not process or cook. Let the jars cool completely in this pan of water.

Here's what I do next: go to bed! When I wake up the next morning, the jars have sealed and cooled down. These pickles are tasty if you eat them right away, but they're better if you wait a week or so.

Use ONLY stainless steel or enamel coated pots for making pickles, and plastic or stainless steel utensils. Since I have a well, I use bottled water in the brine. I reuse old pickle jars. The rubber seals on the lids will hold up for two or three picklings. Glass quart mayonnaise jars can be reused. You can buy metal rings and lids in the canning section of most grocery stores.

I use the brine without fresh dill or mustard seed to pickle asparagus, using the same method. Then I use the pickled asparagus in place of artichokes in my Greek salads.

Last week I bravely ventured out of town for the first time since going gluten free. I attended the Midwest Writers Workshop at Ball State University in Muncie, IN. Because my body is still VERY sensitive to some foods, I took all my meals with me. The kitchen staff was great! They let me store my food in their refrigerator and reheat meals in their microwave. They also prepared gluten free meals for two other workshop attendees.

I am REALLY glad I went! I got to meet Bill Fitzhugh, a favorite (funny!) mystery author, and get good advice from lots of authors and agents. I feel like I'm finally ready to write fiction, just as soon as I get a break from the gardens.

Abundance!

I love the harvesting part of this farmin' thing! My basket is full every morning. Those puny little plants I stuck in the ground six to eight weeks ago have grown like crazy!

Here's my little bean patch. The pole bean towers are as high as I can comfortably reach. The pole beans have just started to bloom. The bush beans are giving me more beans than I can eat!

I've made a few pickles, and some jellies. My shelves are bending under the weight.

Here's what's ripe today - or almost ripe. I wish those tomatoes would hurry up!

Chilis, tomatoes, gypsy peppers, blackberries, yes, that's a honey bee in my cleome, eggplant.

My chigger bite count stands at about 1000. Sheesh! I'll put up with those itchy critters so I can enjoy my good bugs. No chemicals here!

The winged creatures in the bee balm are hummingbird moths. I had three moths and one real hummingbird in the bee balm at once! I clicked about 30 (mostly blurry) photos. These two were the only decent shots.

Good thing I've got photos, because I'm too busy to write much!

Morning chores

I needed a basket to gather all my ripe produce this morning. I picked my first green and yellow beans, my first lavender eggplant, and my last asparagus. Also my last black raspberries and gooseberries. I pulled a couple of baby beets. They need a few more weeks, but I wanted an early treat. The cucumbers have been ripening two at a time for a week or so. I picked a dozen yesterday! I'm ready to tackle that sweet gherkin recipe that requires daily maintenance.


I wasn't the only one to discover the cucumbers. The wascaly wabbit has helped himself to four of my crisp beauties. I planted bush cukes in the back garden, because I thought they wouldn't vine. Wrong! I have vines galore! They're already five feet long - and still growing! I may have to set up a make-shift trellis. The cukes on the ground are too accessible to my short, furry friends.


After three weeks of constant cherry picking and pitting, my cherry season is over. I picked all the cherries I could reach on my tree. There were only a few very high branches that I couldn't get to. The birds stripped those branches clean in 24 hours! My friend, Richard, reported that there were still MANY cherries left on his tree. So I picked four more gallons at his house. I have a wealth of cherries in my freezer. I've made a couple of batches of jam, and several cobblers.



I even dried some in my dehydrator. I split them in half and sprinkled them with sugar. They are still very tart. They may be good in a sweet oatmeal cookie.

This little gem will grow into a dragon tongue bean. That's a flat yellow bean with purple stripes. I like them because they are tender and hold on the vine well. Don't you love baby pictures?

I have two patches of bee balm behind my pool. The purple patch blooms first, and then the red patch takes over. My hummingbirds love the bee balm. They visit every day while I'm floating on my raft. They are speedy and fearless.

And here's the day lily of the day. Many varieties are in full bloom now. I have a rainbow of yellow, oranges, reds and maroons.

I didn't post my Monday Menu because it's the same as every other week's menu. I filled the oven with some chicken, some pork, and a peach cobbler. I'm sticking to basics. Even so, I managed to poison myself somehow. I've been puffy and itchy and groggy for eight days now. I'd really gotten used to feeling good every day. I'm anxious for this to pass.

I'll be leaving town (eek!) for a writers conference next week. I'll be taking all my food with me. So I'm trying to plan and prepare carefully. It's my first trip since going gluten free. I'll miss the (relative) security of my own kitchen. I love my house and my big yard, but I don't want to be captive here. I need to figure out how to travel. This is my first baby step.

Hope you can join us!

Kate over at Gluten Free Godsmacked is throwing a virtual barbecue! Thanks for the invitation! Just click on the title of this post to link to the shindig.

I signed up for the letter T, so I could bring my Tomato Pie. It was one of my favorites before going gluten free. And it was a big hit at my farmers market booth last summer. So I wanted to find a way to make it gluten free. I've given up a lot of former favorites for my health.

I AM NOT GIVING UP TOMATO PIE!

The crust was the biggest challenge for me. I think this dish would be great as a crustless casserole, but I didn't want to chicken out. I hadn't attempted pastry, and was a little intimidated by the challenge. So I tried a rich crust that can be pressed into the pan instead of a rolled crust. You can use any crust recipe that works for you. And if you have a good one, please share it with me!

Kay's Tomato Pie

3 or 4 large tomatoes
1 medium onion
Salt


First, cut your tomatoes into 1/2" cubes, and dice your onion. Put them in a colander, over a bowl, and salt them like crazy. Really, use more salt than you need for taste. The salt will pull out some of the moisture, so you don't get a soggy pie. Let them sweat while you make and bake your crust. You will discard the salty tomato plasma that collects in the bowl.


Crust
1/2 C brown rice flour
1/2 C tapioca starch
2 T arrowroot
2 T sorghum flour
1/8 t salt
1 stick cold butter, sliced
2 T goat cheese
1 t vinegar


Mix dry ingredients in your stand mixer with the whisk attachment. Add the butter, cheese and vinegar and beat on medium until creamy. Press it into your pie pan with your fingers. Bake at 375 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes, until crust starts to brown.

While your pie crust is in the oven, mix up the creamy topping.


1 1/2 C mayonnaise (I used homemade. Hellman's light works great.)
1 1/2 C grated sharp cheese (I used aged provolone. Extra sharp cheddar works great.)
Stir them together.



Cool your baked pie crust for 5 minutes. Then cover the edges with foil strips. Add a handful of chopped fresh basil and a generous shake of ground pepper to your tomatoes. Stir to distribute the flavors, and place them in your baked crust. Spread your cheesy mayo all over the top. Place your pie on a cookie sheet and bake at 375 degrees for about 40 minutes. The top should have some browned spots, but should not be all brown. Cool for at least 10 minutes before cutting. May also be served at room temperature.


I can't wait to see what everyone else brought to the barbecue! Kate will post links to all 26 recipes (one for every letter of the alphabet!) on or about July 7.

Y'all come!

New heights!

It's Super Kris! He climbed my wobbly ladder and picked lots of those cherries that were taunting me from the high branches. Thanks, Super Kris!

I shot this photo from the deck, which is several feet above the top of the hill. The cherry tree is near the bottom of the hill. So ladder placement is always tricky.

Random Tips

I call this one "Sunset over the cherry tree." I took it from my deck, looking west last night. I was picking cherries and looked over my shoulder. I had to climb down from the ladder and run for my camera. The glow only lasted a few minutes. This is about as close as we come to aurora borealis in Indiana.

Since I've been working in the yard day and night, I've come up with some time saving practices I'd like to share. I envy all of you who can stroll through farmers markets and gourmet stores, linger over new cookbooks, and prepare meals at a leisurely pace. But that's not me, so I've made some adjustments.

Now that I've figured out which recipes work for me, I'm baking in batches. About every ten days I need a baking day. I make a double batch of bread, slice both loaves, and freeze little two-slice packages for later use. Before I mastered homemade mayonnaise and found a good pickle recipe, one loaf would last about ten days. I only ate two slices a day with my breakfast. Sandwiches are back! And they're so easy and tasty, I'm going through more bread.

When I turn on the oven, I fill it up. I don't need the oven heating up the whole house, repeatedly. This is where my time saving practices go green! I can reheat in the microwave and the a/c gets a break.

Today I filled my oven with a small ham, four chicken thighs, two loaves of bread, and a cherry cobbler. On the stove, I cooked a pan of brown rice and sauteed some veggies. I cooked some green beans with spring onions, and boiled some potatoes for potato salad. I did all my cooking while CBS Sunday Morning was on. I love that show! Too often, good weather coaxes me outside on Sunday mornings. I was happy to work in the kitchen while enjoying some culture.

By the way, I made a double batch of streusel topping for the cherry cobbler. Half went into the freezer for my next cobbler. The next cobbler will feature different fruit, so it will be a different flavor, even though the topping is the same. The cherries taste more decadent than other fruits I've used - apples, rhubarb, blueberries. My second crop of rhubarb is coming in, and the gooseberries are almost ripe. The black raspberries are so precious I will probably make jelly from all of them. I'll feel secure having a year's worth of black raspberry jelly in my pantry.

I harvested a couple of heads of Brunia lettuce from the garden (during a commercial) and made a gallon zip lock bag of salad mix. I made TWO bottles of my default vinaigrette. (Duh! Why didn't I think of this before?) I can change it up by adding a splash of balsamic or red wine when serving.

When I fried bacon for breakfast, I added a few extra slices to use on pizza later in the week. I found some lovely fresh mozzarella at the new Fresh Market. I have piles of fresh basil. No tomatoes yet, so I'll have to use sauce. But I'm already looking forward to that pizza! I made a double batch of pizza crust a couple of weeks ago. So the extra crust is waiting in the freezer.

As a professional cook, I'm used to big batch cooking. During the school year I prepare meals for about 85 people daily. If you can get used to having lots of pots boiling at once, it's a real time saver. I'm set for the week!

Here's my cherry cobbler. It's tangy!

Kay's Cherry Cobbler

2 1/2 C pitted fresh cherries
3 T Zulka cane sugar
3 T quick tapioca

Mix together and spread evenly in a 7 x 7 buttered casserole dish.

1/3 C softened butter
1/2 C Zulka cane sugar
1/2 C brown rice flour
1/4 C gluten free rolled oats

Mix in the stand mixer using the paddle attachment. Sprinkle on top of the cherry mixture. Bake about 40 minutes at 350. I take mine out when the topping just starts to brown.

And here's my last random tip for combating poison ivy. While clearing three or four bonfires worth of brush last night, I must have encountered some. I've been lucky to avoid contamination so far this season. I forgot to follow my own rules. After I've been working with weeds, I always spray my exposed flesh with rubbing alcohol and rinse with cold hose water. If I think I might have walked in poison ivy, I spray and rinse my tennis shoes as well. I keep a spray bottle (from the $1 store) on the back stoop for convenience. But I forgot to use it last night.

This morning I have itchy bumps on my arm. Rats! So I'm using my homeopathic cure. I empty a capsule of slippery elm onto a saucer. Then I add a drop or two of water and make a paste. I put that on the blisters. The itching stops right away, and it's drug-free. The slippery elm draws out the poison and I heal up in few days.

Ah, summer!

Indians Fan

Here's a photo for Karen at Gluten Free Sox Fan. It's Victory Field in beautiful downtown Indianapolis. Our Indianapolis Indians, farm team for the Pittsburgh Pirates, play at The Vic.


That's the RCA Dome on the left, and the new Lucas Oil Stadium behind the steam plant on the right. I think our whole city looks like a giant Mayberry when viewed from inside The Vic. The hard lines of the cityscape are softened. The people are friendlier. We're all on the same team, and our team plays in a really great place.

The announcer always welcomes fans to "the best minor league ball park in the world." He welcomed me on Tuesday night. My friend David (owner of the oft mentioned Chatterbox,) hosted our first baseball outing of the season. The age range in our group was from 3 to 90. It was a good group, and a perfect night for baseball.

It was my first baseball game since going gluten free. So I ate dinner at home before the game. No matter. I still wanted a hotdog dripping with ketchup and relish when I got there. Next time, I'm taking along some snacks. I enjoyed a pre-game gluten free New Grist beer on the Chatterbox patio, pictured below.


If you're a race fan, or have another reason to visit out fair city in the summer, I recommend a visit to see the Indians play. And a stop at The Chatterbox before or after!

As previously mentioned, I am five years behind on my weeding. Since I'm feeling so much better this summer, I'm trying to get caught up in four short months. But I'm really glad I took a break for a little summer fun. Daylight Saving Time has all but eliminated evenings for me. I work in the yard until dark. Sunset is around 9:30. Then I put my tools away. Then it's time for a little dinner and off to bed. This weekend's fireworks displays won't start until 10:00. I prefer my fireworks at 9:00, and I'm not fond of DST.