Garden

Our garden is officially out of season. It has been for quite some time now, but Scott finally mowed over the remaining tomato plants and weeds.

Honestly I was pretty sad. That garden was a great investment and provided not only us (seen here), but our family and neighbors with lots of fresh produce. I can't wait until next years planting season to arrive. I already have big plans!

Deep Freeze

For a long time now Scott and I have been talking about getting a chest freezer, and after a bunch of research and a 'Yeah God' moment we found one on super sale and snatched it up! Woot for online one day deals and extra online coupons!  Umm hello deal of the year...

Scott wants it to be able to put a big ole deer head (or two) in it, I on the other hand want to use it for our summer harvest (well next years at least) and extreme couponing. Ok, maybe not extreme, but Scott's Aunt is teaching me how to get some good deals.

It is huge! We read that it will run more efficiently if we have it full so right away I filled empty milk jugs with water and froze them. Scott had other ideas and surprised me by coming home with a car full of frozen goodies! We won't be going hungry anytime soon that is for sure!

Summer Garden Salad

Our summer garden has been pretty good to us this year (see here)! With the tomatoes in full swing my new favorite side dish has been this yummy summer salad... Mmmm so good!

Summer Garden Salad

4 c quartered cherry tomatoes
1-2 diced large cucumber (seeded if necessary)
4-6 chopped green onion stalks
1-2 orange (or red/yellow) bell pepper
1/8 c seasoned rice vinegar
1/8 c olive oil
Salt & pepper to taste

Toss all ingredients into a bowl and taste for seasoning, adding more vinegar, salt & pepper as needed. Serve right away or chill for a few hours.

This is one of those dishes that develops flavor as it sits, so I like to make it at least an hour ahead of serving if I have the time. **Also great with avocado

What a nice and tasty way to get your fill of daily veggies! 

Summer Squash Bread

Recipe #5 Summer squash recipe round up.

With so much squash on our hands, finding recipes that Scott and I will both enjoy has been quite a challenge. We have had our share of hits (this bread) and misses (squash cakes - which won't be featured). Scott's favorite is by far the fried squash but this amazing bread takes a very close second!

When I made this bread I was letting it cool while I was Skyping home and decided to take the first taste test while video chatting with my mom. I offered Scott a piece which he quickly and politely rejected. My mom's reaction was priceless, she said "Is he really not going to try that?!" Scott looked at me with puppy eyes and replied "I'll try it, give me a piece." Followed by "This is pretty good!" I am not sure if he thought it was going to be like a wheat bread or what because after trying it he was so surprised to find it was sweet like dessert.

The recipe's I found online were all very similar to zucchini bread, and until Nora suggested I try it with the squash I hadn't even thought of it! Of course it would be good, after all in my opinion the only difference in the summer squash and the zucchini is the color of the skin.

My go to recipe has always been this one from allrecipes.com so it only made sense that this is the one I tried for the squash.

Summer Squash Bread

3 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon baking powder 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon 3 eggs 1 cup vegetable oil 2 1/4 cups white sugar 3 teaspoons vanilla extract 2 cups grated zucchini

	Grease and flour two 8 x 4 inch pans. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
	Sift flour, salt, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon together in a bowl.
	Beat eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar together in a large bowl. Add sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture, and beat well. Stir in zucchini until well combined. (Now if we are going to be honest, I just dump all the ingredients into a bowl and stir until combined, less mess and I can't tell a difference in how it turns out.) Pour batter into prepared pans.
	Bake for 40 to 60 minutes, or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes. Remove bread from pan, and completely cool.

Enjoy with lots of real butter and a cold glass of milk :)

Grilled Squash

Recipe #4 Summer squash round up

Since Scott and I got a grill, I feel like I've become obsessed with it! Unfortunately the rain has kept us from using it a ton, but I try every chance I get! I love that you can take such simple items and with the flavor of the grill, turn them into something wonderful.

I especially love grilled veggies. Asparagus, corn and of course squash!

Grilled Squash (or any kind of veggie)

2-4 summer squash cut into 1/4 inch rounds
3 T olive oil
Sea salt & pepper to taste
Vegetable oil to prepare the grill

Preheat grill to medium heat and oil the grates with a paper towel.
Toss squash, olive oil and salt & pepper until well coated.
Arrange squash flat directly over heat not moving until grill marks form. Turn once and cook until tender.

Dinner is served!

Summer brings such a bounty of so many great veggies, I am doing the best I can to get my fill while they are fresh! 

Squash Casserole

Recipe #3 Summer squash round up

When we gave Scott's mom a bag full of squash she told me she was going to make a squash casserole. I had never heard of such a thing and was instantly intrigued! After a little recipe comparing online and taking a few things here and a few things there, this is what I came up with.

Squash Casserole

6 cups large yellow squash (diced or cut into half moons)
1 T bacon grease (I always save it in the fridge!)
1 large onion, chopped
4 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon seasoning salt
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 cup crushed Ritz crackers

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Saute the squash and onion in bacon grease and butter over medium-low heat until it has almost completely broken down (still retaining the shape but most of the moisture is cooked out), about 20 minutes.

Mix the remaining ingredients together except cracker crumbs. Pour mixture into a buttered casserole dish and top with cracker crumbs. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until golden brown.

I like the texture of the big chunks of squash. 

I spy some bacon grease...

The finished product!

Vanessa (Scott's mom) does it a little different, she uses Pepperidge Farms Cornbread Stuffing as a topping to the casserole which I am sure is lovely, I just didn't have any on hand when I made mine.

To me is taste like Au Gratin squash and the added flavor of the bacon fat was amazing! This is a recipe I will continue to tweak until I have it perfect, but in my opinion, I don't have far to go! 

Pickled Squash

Round 2 - Summer squash recipes.
I asked my sister Nora for some help finding ways to use our summer squash and she sent me this recipe (just one of many) she found on a blog called The Kitchn. I knew right away I would try it!

They look like art work in the jar!

Although I had to make a few changes from the original recipe as I didn't have everything on hand, they still turned out pretty great! Here is what I did:

Pickled Yellow Squash

2 pounds small yellow squash
1 sweet Vidalia onion
1/2 a small red bell pepper
1/4 cup kosher salt
2 1/2 cups cider vinegar
3/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon yellow mustard
1 pinch hot pepper flakes

Slice squash into very thin rounds. Remove both onion ends, peel, and cut in half lengthwise. Slice 1/2 of the onion into very thin strips, reserving the other half for another use. Seed and finely dice the bell pepper.

Toss squash, onions, peppers, and salt together in a mixing bowl. Add a handful of ice cubes and just enough cold water to cover. Stir well to combine, and set aside for thirty minutes.

Rinse the vegetables well and place in a colander or sieve to drain. Meanwhile bring the vinegar, sugar, pepper flakes and yellow mustard to a boil in a small saucepan. Immediately remove from heat, stirring to make sure the ingredients are dissolved, and allow the vinegar to cool for 3-5 minutes.

Gently pat vegetables dry with a towel and place in an airtight container. Pour vinegar over the mixture, tossing a fork to make sure all the slices get soaked. Cover and refrigerate until cool. Strain from brine before serving.

Prefect side to a BLT

They turned out great! I eat them as a side or just snack on them. Mmmmm, my mouth is watering for them now! 

Squash Recipe Round Up

Scott and I were blessed with a ridiculous amount of yellow summer squash which led to a lot of new squash recipes! With the help of my sister Nora and a little research of my own I'll share with you all of our squash adventures.

A good day's harvest

Recipe #1 Fried Squash

This is by far Scott's favorite way to consume our bounty! We've tried it with 2 different batters, here they are:

Deep Fried Squash

2-4 summer squash cut into rounds about 1/8 -1/4 in thick
1 1/2 c flour
1 T seasoning salt
2 eggs
1/4 c milk
Oil for frying
Salt

Mix flour & seasoning salt in a pie plate for dredging. Whisk together egg & milk in another pie plate.
Wash and cut squash into rounds. Dip into the egg wash and toss in flour mixture until well coated. Gently place into hot oil and let fly until golden brown. Drain on paper towels or newspaper and dust with salt while still hot.

Getting nice and toasty!

Squash with cornmeal batter.

I also made the fried squash with a little corn meal in the flour mixture (equal parts flour & corn meal) which added a different texture however it tasted the same. You cal also have fun with the spices you add into your flour mixture by adding things like cayenne pepper, garlic powder, dill - the possibilities are endless!

Let me know what you try and how it turns out! 

Beets

Papaw showed me how to make pickled beets! It took 2 days and lots of patience, but we did it! There isn't a lot of measuring so each batch is unique, but that is ok with me, each jar I've had has been delish! These won't be ready to eat for a while but I am so looking forward to trying them.

The process.

Makes my mouth water just looking at them! 

I can't wait to plant my garden next year and make them for myself! Just call me Susie Homemaker :)

Babies

Scott discovered three baby robins in the shed the other day!

Three baby Robins! 

I love checking on them in the morning when I go out to pick the squash. I was surprised to find they already flew the coop! That was short lived but fun!

Looks like we are once again empty nesters :(

Summer Squash Harvest

Our yellow squash is out of control! We started harvesting already and have given away about as much as we have eaten for ourselves!

I can tell we are going to have squash coming out our ears pretty soon. Any great recipes out there that I need to try?

Veggie Garden

With all of the weird weather we've had the last few weeks, our garden is growing like crazy! Mix the rain & heat and we have all the advantages (or disadvantages for us humans) of a hot house. 

At first people laughed at our garden because we didn't plant much, but now people are commenting on how well it is doing! Looks like this city girl has a little more up her sleeve than I get credit for!

3 big tomato & 4 cherry tomato plants.

Already showing signs of a good harvest! 

Pepper plant that produces 4 varieties. 

Yellow straight neck squash. 

Peaches! 

The star of the show would have to be the squash. The 4 plants we have are doing so well and we have already started harvesting them! The tomatoes will start rolling in soon, there are already lots of green tomatoes on the vines. We also planted green & white cucumbers that are getting off to a slow start, but I am confidant they will catch up with the rest of the crop. 

I have such big plans for next year. I will admit, keeping the weeds out has not been easy and I have let the last 1/4 of the garden space we tilled up to grow back. I figured since I haven't planted anything, whats the harm right?