July 18, 2009: Addendum for Dan

Dan has requested the recipe for the French Fried Onion Rings that I blogged about a few minutes ago. Here it is, Dan!

French Fried Onion Rings

This batter fries up tender and crisp, but it MUST be icy cold so do NOT skip the chilling process. The batter is also excellent for other fried veggies, such as zucchini, broccoli, okra, etc., or for fish.

3 large onions, sliced into rings (about 1/2” slices)
1 cup flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1-1/4 cups iced water (original calls for 1-1/2 cups, but I think that makes it too thin)
vegetable or canola oil for frying

Separate the onions into rings. Soak in a bowl of ice water, in the refrigerator, for about two hours.

Meanwhile, prepare the batter; combine the flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Add the 1-1/4 cups iced water all at once and whisk until the batter is smooth. Refrigerate for at least one hour.

When the onions and the batter are thoroughly chilled, heat 2 inches of oil in a heavy, medium saucepan or deep fryer to 375F. Drain the onion rings and pat dry with a towel. Place all of the onion rings in the chilled batter and stir to coat well.

Working in batches to avoid crowding, drop the onion rings one by one into the hot oil. Fry, turning once, until golden brown and crisp (3-4 minutes). Drain on paper towels. Sprinkle with salt and serve hot.

July 18, 2009: Onions, Onions Everywhere

Everywhere but in my garden, that is. I've used up all but a half dozen or so of those I raised. But the Walla Walla Sweet Onions are in the farm stands! That means we'll be eating onions in just about everything for the next few weeks, as they are not good keepers. If you're not familiar with Walla Walla sweets, they are great big onions that can almost be eaten like an apple, they are that mild. There's nothing better than a thick, raw slice on a hamburger.

Yesterday I made a pot of corn chowder, using freshly dug potatoes from my garden, along with Walla Walla Sweet Onions and freshly picked Sugar Dot corn from the farm stand up the road, about a half mile from our house. We had it for dinner last night, along with jalapeno corn dogs, made with peppers from the garden.

Our garden dinner tonight featured these delicious Walla Walla Sweet Onions.

Saturday's Garden Dinner

Grilled Walla Walla Sweet Onion Burgers
French Fried Walla Walla Sweet Onion Rings
Green Beans (green beans)
Cabbage-Pepper Slaw with Walla Walla Sweet Onion (cabbage, peppers)
Cantaloupe & Pineapple
Iced Raspberry Green Tea

The 25th Annual Walla Walla Sweet Onion Festival

July 18th & 19th 2009 · Downtown Walla Walla, Walla Walla, WA

July 17, 2009: Happy Blogoversary to Me!

A year ago today, I began my very first ever blog as a garden diary for my own use. I never, in my wildest dreams, thought anyone else would actually read it! Who knew I'd still be around a whole year and 204 posts later? I've "met" so many wonderful people in this past year. I love each and every one of you, and I hope you'll all be right here with me through the next year or (hopefully) years to come.

Love,
Granny

July 16, 2009: Blanching and Freezing Vegetables

Since I had a bumper crop of green beans and summer squash this year, I put quite a bit in the freezer. Today I had nearly 2-1/2 pounds of the neighbor's Royal Burgundy bush beans to prepare. I like blanching the Royal Burgundy "magic" beans, as they are really self timing. When they turn a uniform bright green, they're ready!

A mixing bowl full of washed and snapped beans.

Put the beans in a blanching basket and lower into vigorously boiling water. Place a lid on the blancher, return the pot to boiling and blanch for 3 minutes.

The Royal Burgundy beans will turn a uniform bright green when blanched. This batch is almost ready. In the meantime, fill the sink or large container with cold water and add a lot of ice cubes.

Remove the beans from the boiling water and drain well.

Plunge the drained beans into the ice water to cool quickly and stop the cooking process.

Drain well.

I like to spread the drained beans onto a large pan that has been covered with a clean dish towel, and place them, uncovered, in the freezer.


When the beans are frozen solid, they can be bagged and returned to the freezer.


I was on a roll, so I decided to freeze the excess yellow crookneck squash. My youngest son had taken half of yesterday's squash harvest, but I found three more today. Two of the bunch were a bit large, so they went into the compost.


I ended up with two bags, weighing 1-1/4 pound each.

For complete instructions on blanching and freezing your vegetables, visit The National Center for Home Food Preservation

I picked my first "big" tomato today. It was a whopping 2 ounce Rutgers, that tasted just like a winter, store-bought "cardboard" tomato. I hope I get a tomato that tastes like a tomato soon.

Thursday's Garden Dinner


Rotini Mozzarella Casserole (onions, basil, garlic)
Fried Zucchini (local zucchini from farm stand)
Corn on the Cob (local corn from farm stand)
Tossed Garden Salad with Fat Free Italian Dressing (tomatoes, cucumbers)
Hot Garlic Bread (garlic)
Iced Raspberry Green Tea

Chilled Cantaloupe (local cantaloupe from farm stand)

July 16, 2009: My Friend and Neighbor

I often mention my next door neighbor in my blog. Pat lost her husband last March, and she'd been holding up quite well until last week, when she told me she was beginning to feel depressed. Of course, that was to be expected after the loss of her loved one. After all, they had been married for over fifty years.

Pat doesn't have a vegetable garden, but she loves mine. We have a gate from her yard into my garden, and she is always welcome to anything she can use. In return, she brings me jars of home canned goodies from her kitchen, usually containing something I've grown.

This spring, I planted a two hills of zucchini and two hills of cucumbers over on her side of the fence, and gave her the remainder of my packet of Royal Burgundy bush beans to plant there as well. She loves having her own little garden, even though her zucchini are giving her worries over the dying leaves.

I hadn't seen Pat out in her yard for two or three days, and assumed she'd gone somewhere. I'd noticed her daughter and son-in-law looking over the fence at my garden just a couple of days ago, which was what they always do when they're visiting her, and I figured they were just looking after the place in Pat's absence. But yesterday, I noticed her beans were ready to pick, and still no Pat, so I called her. It turns out the poor dear has been very sick in bed, with aches and fever, all week! And nobody told me.

Well, of coarse I told her I'd tend to her beans and make sure they were picked, blanched and frozen for her. Now I'm wondering if anybody is bothering to bring her food. I'll be fixing her beans today, and I think a nice pot of chicken soup will be simmering on my stove.

By the way, she got a bigger crop from her purple beans than I did. She didn't amend her soil with anything, just planted them in native soil with no fertilizer, no nuthin'! Just look at the first picking from her 2' x 6' bean patch....



That's almost 2-1/2 pounds! The cucumber is from her plant, and I really need to go over to check for more. My hands were so full of beans, I couldn't carry any more. The lemon cucumber is from my plant, it was hanging over on her side of the fence where I couldn't see it.

Hmmmm. The seeds were mine, and I planted them and picked them. Do I add this to my harvest total, even if they weren't picked from my garden ? I think I should!

Wednesday's Garden Dinner

Pan Fried Sirloin Steak with Caramelized Onions (onions)
Parsley Buttered New Potatoes (potatoes, parsley)
Green Beans & Crookneck Squash (beans, squash)
Sauteed Parsnips (parsnips)
Sliced Cucumbers with Ranch Dressing (cucumbers)
Cherry Tomatoes (tomatoes)
Strawberry Sundaes (strawberries)

July 15, 2009: Addendum

This is my second post for this date. Please scroll down for the main blog for today.

After I picked the yellow crookneck squash, I ventured back out into the heat (93.9 in the shade) to harvest more from the garden. I picked the first Lemon Cucumbers, the seeds of which were a gift from Cheryl's Garden Goodies, and only two cucumbers total from the three Spacemaster plants. There was a rather small crop of strawberries, but lots of green berries and blossoms, so there are many more to come. The raspberries are finished for the season, the few I picked will be eaten right away and not even weighed. There were just enough cherry tomatoes for Mr. H's dinner salad, and yet another picking of green beans to add to the ones that are still waiting in the refrigerator. I either need to get them cooked or frozen.

I know the parsnips are not supposed to be pulled until after the first frost, but curiosity got the best of me. They are certainly large enough to eat, but I don't know how sweet they'll be with an early harvest.

Once everything is washed, trimmed and weighed, I'll be adding some poundage to my 2009 harvest total.

July 15, 2009: A Messy Kitchen is a Happy Kitchen...

.... and this kitchen is delirious!

I envy the bloggers who give beautiful pictorial step-by-step instructions while preparing their recipes in their spotless, modern kitchens.

I'm not one of them.

My 80s era kitchen has a long counter that is perfect for food preparation, and I utilize every square inch of it. That's why you'll never see any pretty cooking pictures on this blog! You might see....

And this is just the beginning. It gets worse....

See what I mean?

Luckily, by the time the banana bread comes out of the oven, it's back to normal.

But I worked up an appetite. Who can resist warm banana bread, right from the oven?

I hate my old Harvest Gold formica counter top, and I lust for a granite beauty, in rich dark colors. Unfortunately, my counter top will not wear out, stain or burn up. And Mr. H thinks it looks great....he says it's "retro". I think I'm stuck with it.

And with the Harvest Gold sink.

*whimper*

Some Harvest Gold colored things aren't so bad, though.

A Harvest Gold pumpkin

Harvest Gold marigolds and calendulas

And can you believe this one day's picking of Harvest Gold crookneck squash?

I had to weigh the squash in two batches, and it added 6 pounds 12 ounces to my 2009 harvest total. I'd call that "Harvest Gold"!

Banana Nut Bread

Makes 1 average loaf (recipe may be doubled)

1/2 cup shortening (I use butter)
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup mashed bananas
1 1/2 tbsp. milk mixed with 1 tsp. lemon juice or vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. soda
1 cup chopped walnuts

Cream shortening and sugar. Add eggs and beat until fluffy. Add mashed bananas, vanilla and milk/lemon juice.

Combine flour, baking powder, salt and soda and stir into creamed mixture. Stir in walnuts.

Pour into greased loaf pan. Bake at 350F for 45-50 min.

* I just bought new bread pans, and they are a very dark color. I almost burned my bread before the center was done. In the future, I'll use my old light colored aluminum bread pans, or drop the oven temperature to 325F.

July 14, 2009: Annie's and Otto's Garden Dinner

I have to use all those green beans up some way, so Annie and Otto had a "garden dinner"........

....but look closely. See where the green beans are ending up? Notice the neat little pile of beans next to Annie's dish. Otto, on the other hand, is a typical guy. His beans are scattered all around. Maybe they were just saving the best for last, as they did eat all but one bean after they finished their meat.


Mr. H and I didn't have much of a "garden dinner" ourselves, but we did have one thing from the garden, because I needed a green pepper. Just look at this beauty!

We had a really delicious and pretty dinner tonight, but you'll just have to take my word for it as the phone rang just as I was heading outside with the plate in one hand and the camera in the other. It was a friend, calling from Pennsylvania, so I shoved the plate of food at Mr. H, and I grabbed a fork and ate from the serving dish, standing up, while conversing. I do wish I'd been able to get a photo, as it was a thing of beauty.

Tuesday's (kind of) Garden Dinner

Grilled Shrimp Kabobs with Green Peppers and Pineapple
*I marinated the raw shrimp in Yoshida's Sauce, then threaded them on skewers with chunks of green pepper (the only item on tonight's menu from the garden) and pineapple. I grilled them on the George Foreman grill and served them on a bed of....

Brown Rice with Broccoli Stir-fry Vegetables
*Just a bag of Success brown rice cooked according to package directions, mixed with a one-pound bag of frozen stir-fry veggies that were microwaved per instructions on the bag, tossed with a little Yoshida's.

Such a simple dinner, but so good and so pretty.