Postcards from Home ~ Harvest from the Garden

Today was a gorgeous, sunny fall day where I live.  Soon we're expecting our first overnight freezing temperatures so I picked most of what is left in the vegetable garden.  Almost all of the remaining tomatoes, zucchini, string beans, basil, and flat leaf parsley.

A couple of weeks ago we harvested some of the beets.

I know a lot of people don't like beets, but I adore them. They were one of my favorite vegetables as a child, and they remain so today.  I love to pick some of the beet greens throughout the season and saute them quickly in a little olive oil with some slivers of garlic.. they are very nutritious and are delicious steamed as well.

I feel fortunate that most every herb, except the most tender, survive year-round in my climate, ready for the picking.

But still, I like to cut big bunches and dry the stems in my dehydrator. Then I remove the crispy leaves...

And store them in big air-tight canning jars.

This is oregano,  I also dried some thyme, rosemary, lavender and parsley. The flavor of the dried herbs is more intense than when used fresh from the garden.

Once the leaves are removed, I make small bundles of the dried stems ~ they add a delightful flavor and scent to grilled chicken, meats, fish and vegetables. Just add them to the mesquite or charcoal (just to the side of the hot coals) after you've begun grilling.

We also planted successive plantings of several kinds of radishes a few weeks apart for continuous harvest.

These are French Breakfast radishes, quite mild.  In loamy, sandy soil  they will grow twice as long as mine do. 

You've probably surmised from the length of these radishes that (even with plenty of soil amendments) our soil is neither loamy nor sandy.  ;)

I love the purple ones, and the white ones the best.

The very tip of the iceberg when it came to our tomato crop.

As the season progresses and we become flooded with tomatoes, I generally lose interest in photographing them... this year was no different.

The preceding two shots were from the very first of the season... when we cannot wait for them to ripen!

We've been enjoying quite a few of these Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato sandwiches on homemade whole grain bread throughout the summer and early fall.

And plenty of wild blackberries from the back of the property.  

This year we didn't get many nectarines from the tree, (due to the crazy weather) but the few that ripened were sweet and juicy. 



The plum harvest was also light, but they were sweeter than any I remember.

I neglected to get photos of  any of the grapes, but I did preserve some grape leaves for making Dolmas later.

Earlier this year I also put up some more Rose Petal Jam from our roses...

And did I mention eggs?

We have five different breeds so the eggs are a variety of colors.

From the fifteen chicks we raised this Spring we now get between 9 to 12 eggs PER DAY.

And that's not bad...

Considering that THREE of the fifteen chicks turned out to be ROOSTERS. 

Here is one of them. Please meet "Trouble",  he's the king of the roost and loves nothing more than to perch on the highest places.  (As seen here, about 7-feet up, on top of his pen.)   His other favorite place to roost is on top of the 9-foot high cross members of the bean supports.  Or taking a jaunt over to the house to come spy on me as I work in the kitchen.  He's quite the character.

My next group of Postcards from home will be all about the chickens... so you can see how they have grown since Easter.

I'm always a little sad to see the summer harvest come to an end because it means winter isn't far off...

But it will give the garden a rest, and give us time to make plans for next years vegetable garden.  :)

Thank you for coming by today, friends!

xo~m.



Apple Crostada (and the Easiest Homemade Rolled-Pastry Crust Ever)

Apple Crostada with the easiest, homemade, rolled pastry crust ever.  

Do you struggle with homemade rolled-pastry dough for sweet or savory pies, quiches, tarts, crostadas, etc. and opt instead for the store-bought stuff instead?  There IS a slightly healthier alternative which tastes infinitely better, in my opinion. 

I know, I know... store-bought pie dough requires almost no work at all... but have you ever looked at the list of ingredients on the box of the most popular refrigerated/frozen pie crust brand?

Here you go:

Wheat Starch, Partially Hydrogenated Lard with BHA and BHT Added to Protect Flavor, Bleached Flour, Water, Sugar, Rice Flour, Salt, Xanthan Gum, Potassium Sorbate and Sodium Propionate (Preservatives) Citric Acid, Colored with Yellow 5 and Red 40.

And to me the flavor leaves a lot to be desired. 

If you've ever had problems with homemade rolled pie crusts you may be interested in this butter and cream cheese pastry dough.  It just takes moments to mix up in the food processor, then after a short chill in the refrigerator you'll be well on your way to one of the most forgiving, easy to roll out, flaky and tender crusts you've ever made. Plus, the flavor is outstanding.

The dough recipe has been around for years and can be used with either sweet or savory fillings.

To make the crostada filling I used peeled and sliced Granny Smith apples, tossed with some sugar, cinnamon, a squeeze of lemon juice, and a few drops of pure vanilla extract. 

I love crostadas, they are rustic and free-form; so much easier to make than a traditional pie. To form the crostada, roll the dough out on a floured surface, place the rolled dough on a parchment or silicone baking liner on a shallow baking sheet, then pile the filling in the center of the dough, dot with butter if desired, gather the edges up around the filling, pinching and pleating the dough where necessary to hold the filling in place.  You can brush with an egg wash or heavy cream and sprinkle with sugar if you like.  Then bake until fruit is bubbling and slightly tender and crust is nicely golden.

This time I cut some of the leftover dough into shapes with a leaf-shaped cutter, and brushed with an egg wash (some I tinted slightly with food coloring to imitate autumn colors), and sprinkled with coarse sugar.  I baked them separately on their own lined baking sheet.   When the crostada was taken from the oven I brushed the exposed fruit with melted apricot jam for extra sheen, then decorated with the baked cut-outs, using the apricot jam as 'glue' to help keep the leaves in place.
 

If you've made this dough before, or if you try it, please let me know what you think of it. :)  Holiday baking is just around the corner!

If you would like a printable copy for the cream cheese pastry dough you'll find it on my recipe blog by clicking HERE.

Thank you for coming by today. xo~m. 

Lemon Cream Pots with Lemon Wafers

Lemon Cream Posts with Delicate Lemon Wafers

Another great little dessert from Donna Hay ~ the recipe reminds me of my old stand-by Lemon Pots of Cream recipe which I've shared before, but this one is easier to make.   I used Meyer lemons, but the recipe actually calls for regular lemons, so those will work just fine.

If you like the flavor of lemon but don't care for overly sweet desserts, you may really like this one.  It's creamy and decadent and I found the 3/4 serving size almost too much for me.  Next time I think I may reduce each portion to 4 ounces each... when the (slightly sweetened) softly whipped cream topping is added, it's quite enough.

The Lemon Wafers add a good contrast to the Lemon Cream Pots, and they are easy to make.  But if you don't feel like making them, just add any other little crisp cookie... I won't tell.  :)

If you would like a copy of the recipe you can find it on my recipe blog... HERE.

Thank you for stopping by today!  I'm always most appreciative of any comments you would like to leave.

Have a wonderful week, friends.

Street Festival ~ Farewell to Summer 2010

The annual Art Along the River festival signifies the end of summer here...

it's a two day affair featuring art, music, a dog walk, food and micro-brew tastings from local breweries.

I thought you might like to take a look at some of the sights we enjoyed last weekend.

A very tall, calm, friendly fellow with beautiful markings and interesting eyes. (Yes, I'm a dog lover...)

Good Blues...




A lovely lady enjoying the music ~ :)




My favorite part of the event; the Street "Painting"
(it's actually chalk.) 

Street painting can be traced back to Europe beginning in the 16th century.

Called Madonnari in Italy (because the Madonna was a favored subject), itinerant artists traveled to towns and provinces around festival and holy days to create their artwork from chalk, charcoal, or broken tiles on streets, in town squares, or near churches. In appreciation of the artwork passersby would leave oil, a bit of bread or occasionally a coin or two.


 In England the artists are called screevers.




Of course in a short time the artwork would wash away.

World War II caused a disruption of this form of folk art, but a resurgence emerged in the 1970's. In Boston, in 1973 "Sidewalk Sam"  (Robert Guillemin)  was recognized as the first street painter in the U.S.





Over the years street painting has become popular worldwide ~ and you may have seen some of these incredible artists at work near your home.

I love that an area is designated for children to try their hand at chalk painting too.








Soft afternoon shadows on this beautiful piece.

Every year the artwork is different, and I try to pick my favorite.
It was a tough call this time, but I kept being drawn to this beautiful image of an early 1900's young woman *sigh*














Remarkable detail on this historical character.

Well, hello again.


I definitely think she was my favorite this year (as evidenced by the number of photos I took of her...) I couldn't help myself, I was drawn back again and again.

Bonus...  Accidentally captured in the top corner  *cute shoes!*

Hiding under the Sunday paper ~ for the cat lovers among us.

Look! It's Toucan Sam's cousin. :D

Colorful hummingbird and plumeria blossoms.  Passing the toy shop window on the way back to the car ...... The perfect conclusion to a magical day. :) ,,, Thanks for stopping by for a visit today, friends!.. Have a wonderful weekend.xo~m.   



Mini Caramel Apples

Oh, how I wanted to love these little Mini Caramel Apples.

I found the idea from a magazine a couple of years ago; I think it was "Family Fun" magazine.

They WERE fun to make...

Just melt some candy caramels ~

And use a melon-ball scoop to cut apple balls from the apple, leaving a bit of green peel on each.

Stick a small pretzel stick in the center of the green peel and dip into the melted caramel, and allow them to "set up" on waxed paper or a silicone baking liner. You could roll them in finely chopped nuts if desired...

But don't bother. 

In fact, I suggest you don't even bother making them.

Shortly after dipping them-- the lovely caramel slid slowly off the little "apples" into a sticky, liquid pool on the plate. 
Not pretty. :0(

In anticipation that this might happen I had actually blotted the apple rounds with a paper towel to absorb some of their juice just before dipping them.  Pffft.  

Forget it.  Next time I'll just core and cut the apple in wedges and let everyone dip their own into the warm caramel.

Once again, sometimes the simple way is the best way. ;0)

I hope you don't mind that I shared this kitchen-flop with you~ but I thought you should know.

Please stop on by Designs by Gollum for "Foodie Friday" to see some kitchen-successes this week. 

Thank you for stopping by today!

xo~m