GTTC: summer corn and sun tea

I'm one of those spoiled little darlins whose mom would cut corn off the cob for.  Today, this is still my favorite way of enjoying end-of-summer sweet corn goodness, with plenty of butter and some parsley and thyme from the garden.  

Summer is not my favorite season, but one thing I'll miss is a long hot day to brew sun tea.  

GTTC: more fish... and black eyed peas

I'm so freaking excited about these black eyed peas!  This is my kind of crop - sow seeds, let them grow amok, wait till they're rattling around in their pods, shell absolutely perfect little dried beans.

Below, another fish dish.  These little bundles are cooked individually and fun to cut open and eat.  Every time I cook a fish like tilapia, I'm stunned that dinner cost like $3 per person, especially cheap because almost everything else came from the garden.  In the packets: French filet beans, roasted red pepper, olives, garlic, tilapia, parsley, olive oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, pepper, sea salt.  20 minutes at 400F and a healthy dinner is done.  And your harvests?  Are you canning? Preserving? Making lots and lots of salsa maybe?  Share in the Garden to Table Challenge by linking us to your blog...

The candy lilies are entering their final stage of this year.  These are a sight all season - great spring foliage, super pretty blooms, the spiraling of the wilted flower, and the "blackberry" fall seeds.

Hope my American friends enjoy a restful Labor Day weekend!

GTTC: French filet beans and our second week eating clean

Here's where we excel:  We don't keep junk food or junk drinks in the house.  When I cook, I cook good healthy meals.  Here's the problem: I don't cook nearly enough, opting for take out much too often.  As a busy working mom, having a plethora of great ethnic cuisine all around us, and a glut of those sorta cheap, fast carry out places makes a dinner of Baja Fresh, Chipotle, or Panera far too tempting.  And though we don't stock junk, my husband doesn't really register his nightly 7-11 runs. Upon hearing the deadbolt unlock, the kids yell up the stairs "Can you get me a Mountain Dew" or "Can I have a Gatorade and a bag of Fritos".  It's time for a change.  I've had my family on a 30 day "clean eating" program.  Here are our rules: lean proteins, whole grains, nothing processed, nothing refined, nothing fried, nothing manufactured.  No sugar, minimal salt, and for me in particular, no dairy.  Though my husband and I have both lost weight, that is not the goal.  The goal is to purge our systems of crap and to eat healthily like we should be doing in the first place.  

We're on day 13 and it's going well.  Many jokes have been cracked about "mom's diet food", but everyone has been compliant.  And one thing that has made me happy is that my little one, who seriously has the potential to be a junk food addict and obese adult (and who was literally fiending for chocolate in the first couple of days), has lost the cravings for junk.  

Above was a quick and cheap dinner of tilapia with a spicy harissa sauce along with my French filet beans which are producing like crazy (along with my black eyed peas and bolita beans - can't wait for these)

Ironically, having said all that about the junk, I just have to share the treat my older daughter (who never seems to be home anymore...sniff sniff...she's 14 now) and her friend made the other night.  In the center of each cookie is an Oreo!  

Below you see a project my little one created in camp.  It was so clever I had to share with my nature loving friends.  The stages of a butterfly's life is illustrated with pasta.

What are you harvesting and cooking this week?  I'd love to hear about it if you'll link below.  A final question  - have you started fall planting yet?  What are you growing?

GTTC: spaghetti with fresh peas

The spaghetti above was a delicious summer dinner with crisped pancetta, pine nuts, and fresh shaved parm. There are also loads of fresh garlic and peas from the garden.  Funny story:  I'd forgotten I planted (or even purchased) peas!  I harvested and prepared to cook what I thought were snow peas when I found the peas inside bulging.  I'm going to admit here that this might be the first time I've ever had fresh peas (always had a pea aversion), and they were amazing.  Really sweet - almost like corn.  I wasn't even sure how to cook them, so I just heaped hot spaghetti over them to heat them up a bit.  Here's another secret about this dish above - the noodles were parboiled, and then cooked down in white wine - sort of risotto style.  Complex taste, full flavor, and easy to make too!

I'm pretty happy with my garlic this year.  I haven't done a true taste test since I bought the original planting stock about 7 years ago, but the early red and ajo rojo are definitely the most beautiful with their red streaks.

This garlic was harvested quite a few weeks ago, but with the technology problems I've been having, I'm just getting to post pics now.  But...I am back from the beach - spent lots of time lazing on a raft, reading magazines, eating, watching the Olympics and the anger I've been feeling has dissipated for the most part so I'm back to my Garden to Table Challenge posts.  What else are you harvesting?  How has this summer treated your garden?  How are you using your harvests?  Link below and tell us about it!

GTTC: lemon-mint ice cream (and the 10K!)

For this week's Garden to Table Challenge, I decided to make use of the mint that is growing prolifically but obediently within its bounds in the sunken pot in the garden.  This lemon mint ice cream is made with a lemon and muddled mint syrup, which is poured into the ice cream freezer along with the lemon zest infused custard base.  It was a really different flavor with a refreshing and light creamy taste.  I love making ice cream, though mine is usually a soft serve.  You're technically supposed to let the ice cream harden for several hours after running it through the ice cream maker/freezer - which I never do.  Really now.  Who can wait?!

Want to join us in the weekly Garden to Table Challenge?  See here for the details.  Random periodic prizes will be awarded.  This week, a starter pack of Asian vegetable seeds goes to Lindalou from Our Mush Push.  She's always doing something interesting, fun, or creative.  Check her out!  Lindalou - e-mail me with your address when you get a chance...

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If you followed my run recaps, you know I started the year off strong making a sustained, consistent effort.  Then, almost all at once, I fell fully off the wagon.  I talked my friend into doing a race with me in December but I backed out at the last minute.  I would have backed out of this too, but I really couldn't do this to my friend, especially after talking her into doing it (and the other one!) in the first place!  The 10K race was today and I accomplished my goal of 1) finishing the race, 2) finishing on the road as opposed to the sidewalk where they make you move if you're going too slow, 3) not getting picked up by the straggler van, and 4) not being one of the 10 slowest people.  In other words, I was just trying not to humiliate myself.  I was not only not one of the 10 slowest, but when I finished, there was still a sea of people behind me!  I've been refreshing the results page of the race site and the times are still not posted.  But as one of the many inspiring t-shirt messages I ran behind said, "Finishing is Winning"!

Edited to add:  not that there's anything wrong with being one of the last 10...

Lots of random stuff

Happy Halloween! The little one is going to be some sort of vampire princess - the costume is pretty ornate and the natural fangs (since the top two teeth are missing) complete the look. It'th juth tho cute!!! (that's the missing front teeth lisp)


Today, it snowed all day! The fall scene looks a little odd dotted with the large flakes of snow. My husband said it was being called "The Rare October Snow". Wonder which creative genius coined that?


I must thank all those who commented about Scamp in my last post. It was a really stressful and emotional week. This is Scamp above, bored out of his freaking sweet and gentle mind during this 2 week period of crate confinement. I've been waxing poetic (and melodramatic) in a journal about this whole thing so I'll spare the readers of this public blog, but if anyone happens upon this, is going through it, and would like to e-mail me for more of my/Scamp's personal story, please feel free. But for the rest of the garden readers here, I'll just say it's been a difficult time, but we're feeling optimistic after seeing his tail wag ever so slightly yesterday. Yesterday, I'm pretty sure I saw him pick up and move one of his back legs ever so slightly as well. We're now about 11 days post-op. Anyway, your comments have meant a lot and have been reassuring and so helpful!!! Thank you!!!!! :)

For my husband, the month of October becomes "Shocktober". He spends all his spare time watching horror (many b-rated) and other Halloween themed movies. He noticed that in this scene from Attack of the Giant Leeches, the main character was apparently getting his spring seed order together!!! See the seed catalog on the table?


This photo was taken of Scamp the (hot) dog during one of the 4 days we spent with him before he ruptured a disk. The costume was so much cuter on the slimmer dog on the website. So it's the same story for the canine world, huh.

Since I basically do not cook anymore due to my schedule and recent stress, my husband's little concoction is this week's Garden to Table Challenge entry. These jalapenos are stuffed with a combination of different fillings - garlic, garlic/blue cheese, blue cheese/cream cheese, and other combinations of the three ingredients. These were then stuck on a skewer and grilled. He and his friend Walter sure had a good time trying each combo. I personally made sure he kept his distance until we got a fresh bottle of Listerine. Anyone still harvesting out there? In what ways are you using your harvests? Link below and tell about it!

Finally, my friend Grace sent this lovely short video of blooms opening set to music. You may have seen something like this, but it's always nice to watch again.

GTTC: fresh raspberry gratin and next giveaway announced!!

I spent some time purging the bookcases today - boy is this a difficult task. I added many books to the donation pile that were hard to give up - not because they were particularly good reads, but simply because I've held on to them so long. But I'm happy to not have too much of a hoarder mentality. I found a never-opened Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics cookbook by Ina Garten on the bottom shelf. It's a lovely book - don't know why it's not sitting with my other cookbooks. As I flipped through, I found a decadent sounding recipe involving raspberries - conveniently what I returned from the farmer's market with!

The dessert was fabulous! Now back to this essentially new cookbook. No idea where it came from. It was more than likely a gift (maybe from my mom?). Sorry in advance if it was from my sister who might be reading this, because...this week, I'm going to give it away. For a chance to win, join the Garden to Table Challenge by posting about what seasonal goodies you're cooking and including a link in the post back here. Link below and earn one entry to the giveaway. I'm drawing from every entry earned during the entire 2011 season of the GTTC. Winner of this great cookbook announced next Saturday!

GTTC - skillet chips with lemon-garlic aioli

In the vegetable garden this week are lots of blooms, but nothing yet to harvest but herbs, so I'm still finding ways to use my super strong fresh garlic. What are you cooking up this week? Post about it, link here, and add your name to Mr. Linky below to share with other readers!

Lemon-Garlic Aioli (makes about a cup)

• Add the following to a food processor: 1/4 cup lemon juice, several cloves of chopped garlic, 1/4 cup mayonnaise, a splash of hot sauce. Process till smooth.
• While running the processor, drizzle in 1/2 cup of olive oil until incorporated.
• Salt/pepper to taste.

Skillet Chips

• Slice potatoes as thinly as possible (a mandolin kind of slicer would be helpful).
• Intend to make galettes by organizing slicse in a flower pattern about three layers thick in a skillet with a little oil. Place a small plate on top of galette. Cross your fingers that you'll be successful but know that the one time you made amazing galettes was just a fluke.
• If/when you fail, simply separate the slices and let cook till golden brown. Serve with aioli feeling successful about this serendipitous result.

GTTC - shrimp pasta with garlic cream sauce and basil oil

This week's Garden to Table Challenge post would have looked much more elegant with spaghetti, angel hair or linguine, but because of our Chinese superstition of never eating long noodles before travel (as any superstition, makes no logical sense but it's tested and true!), I had to choose elbow mac.

To make this dish, I started with my new favorite trick shared by Entangled - I made a medium-sized saucepan's worth of broth with shrimp shells first. Next, I blanched a handful of purple and Italian basil (from the garden) in hot water and then blended it with 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil and a pinch of salt. In a large pan, I sauteed finely chopped onions and LOTS AND LOTS of fresh garlic till soft. To the pan, I added the strained shrimp broth and about 3/4 cup of rice wine and reduced this down to about 2 cups. I then added a cup of heavy cream and reduced the whole thing down again. To serve, I tossed the pasta with the sauce, added cooked shrimp, and drizzled the strained basil oil on top. There is so much flavor in this oil, and the garlic cream sauce is JUST decadent enough!

What are you harvesting and cooking this week? I'd really like to know! Post about it with a link back here and then add your info to Mr. Linky below. Doing so is just plain fun and can win you prizes! As I mentioned in last week's post, I will be sharing my fall garlic stock with a lucky winner. The winner is...Julie, of one of my all time favorite blogs The Little Things.

GTTC - Italian sausage summer pasta (prize announced)

June 15th is garlic harvesting day (at least on the calendar). I harvested my reasonable sized garlic - ajo rojo, inchelium, early red, and an unnamed variety I got from the Washington Youth Garden in DC while volunteering last summer. Though the garlic was pretty enough, after reading about and seeing images of Entangled's ajo rojo garlic, I started to wonder if my ajo rojo was actually ajo rojo. At each harvest, I mark the biggest bulb to replant in the fall and TRY to do a good job labeling each variety of garlic, but it's within the realm of possibility that I've gotten cloves/varieties mixed up. Either way, I've decided that this fall, I will be ordering new planting stock- and will be sharing my order with a lucky winner drawn from all the Garden to Table Challenge entries thus far. Depending on postal regulations, I may have to limit this to gardeners who live in the U.S. If you want a chance to enter, simply link below with your post that refers to the GTTC. I will draw a name from all the entries on Friday, July 8th.

This week, I didn't get too fancy, but made a simple pasta dish that the family enjoyed: spaghetti, chopped hot Italian sausage, pine nuts, spinach (I suppose I could have used basil for a more summery dish), shaved parmesan and of course LOTS AND LOTS of fresh garlic.

What's going on in your summer garden and kitchen?

*** On a personal note, the fried computer has been replaced, but now we attack the problem of the fried FIOS cable. Don't know when I'll be back online at home... In addition to these technical troubles, I have having a hell of a time commenting on my favorite blogs! Luckily I'm able to blog read, but as of now, am not able to blog comment. If you're on my list of faves (and you know you are!) know that I'm reading and enjoying but am somewhat mute right now!

GTTC - chicken and daylily stir-fry

This week, the daylily buds are prolific not only in the garden border but also on the dinner table. Daylilies are called "gum jum fa" in Chinese - literally translated as "golden needle flower". The prized yellow buds are available in Asian supermarkets dried, and for the noodle soup dish above, that will do. For the stir fry in the bottom right corner, I would use only fresh daylily buds. In this dish, they're eaten as a vegetable, add an al dente-like bite, and have just a very hint of sweetness. I love this typical Chinese stir fry with the abundance of yellow flowers and loaded up with cilantro. Here's the recipe and more on growing and cooking gum jum fa. For more info on the daylily, also see Autumn Belle's post here.

A note on the noodle making machine - it's a gorgeous old piece and older than I am. It's mesmerizing to watch noodles being made. Also above is a photo of sea cucumbers - a crazy little sea animal that Chinese people love to eat. It's really a matter of texture rather than taste, and despite the very high price tag, when it's chopped and cooked, tastes like little pieces of unflavored gelatin. I'n not a connoisseur and I could really take it or leave it (or pick it out - which is what I often do).

What are YOU growing and cooking up this week? Tell us about it by linking below. Don't forget to provide a link back to this blog in your post.

GTTC - shrimp & grits and berry pie (and clematis rooguchi)

I don't get to appreciate clematis rooguchi nearly enough since it's tucked away in the deep shade garden, so I thought I'd feature it first.

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This week's Garden to Table Challenge was pretty exciting for me. Shrimp and grits is a family favorite. I make the sauce with a heavy amount of butter and garlic, but have always been in a quandary over how to how to produce a greater amount of sauce without adding sticks of butter. I was so happy to find that making a broth from shrimp shells like (I think - but please correct me if I'm wrong) Holly from Tasty Travels did in a different dish, created a greater volume of sauce, a more flavorful sauce, and no additional fat. The fresh-from-the-garden snow peas and sugar snaps sauteed were an amazing addition.

And for dessert, there was the last of the strawberries, a small quantity of rhubarb, and wild mulberries. With some granny smith apples added...

... a delicious summer berry pie! We all fought for the single leftover piece. It almost got ugly, but the father made everyone share. Here's the recipe ...

What are YOU harvesting and cooking this week? Post, include a link to Greenish Thumb, link below, and let us know about it. I love your ideas and as you can see, they really inspire me!

GTTC - cool strawberry treats

After picking bowls full every day for a couple of weeks, it looks like the strawberries are just about done. This week, we kept cool with sorbet and ice cream. I particularly loved the sorbet - super fruity, sweet, light, cool, and incredibly easy to make. The recipe for Fresh Strawberry Sorbet:

• simple syrup (1 cup sugar and 1 cup water, heated and then chilled),
• 1 quart of strawberries, pureed,
• 4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice,
• 1/4 cup corn syrup

Throw this chilled mixture into a proper ice cream maker. You know, I'm finished with the cheapo 20 piece plastic hand crank/rock salt contraptions that break upon first use. I'm talking plug in the wall, no cranking, done in 30 minutes. It's totally the way to go. The strawberry chocolate chunk ice cream was...just ok...learn from my mistakes - don't cut the sugar. Ice cream is supposed to be sweet.

This week, I award the first Garden to Table Challenge drawn from the names of GTTC participants. Tangled Branches has won a canning book. I think she has the Ball book, so I'll send The Joy of Pickling - a book I haven't read, but that looks great and has received many great Amazon reviews. Entangled - let me know how it is!

Want to be in it to win it for the next prize (which will occur whenever I think it up)? Simply post about what you're harvesting/cooking up, then link below. Name will be added to the jar for the next prize. The GTTC post will be up every Saturday. Link on the current week's post, whenever you want throughout the week. Don't forget to mention the GTTC in the body of your post. It's the right thing to do. :)

GTTC - strawberries and canning competence

I was right about the bumper crop of strawberries! For this week's Garden to Table Challenge, I made a few things from the garden that I can enjoy now or months from now.

First, I made triple berry jam (on the left) and strawberry lemonade concentrate (on the right). Later in the week, I made another 14 pints of lemonade concentrate, this time also adding raspberries and blackberries to my own strawberries. Here are the recipe and directions I used (loosely based on the Ball canning book - I adjusted somewhat because the recipe was waaaaay too sweet):

• To make about 6 pints of strawberry lemonade: measure 9 cups of berries (then puree), 7 cups of freshly squeezed lemon juice (I used 10 pounds of lemons to end up with 7 cups of juice. You really need a citrus juicer for this job!), and 8 cups of sugar. Heat ingredients in large pot till sugar is completely dissolved and liquid is hot but not boiling. Fill hot pint-sized jars. Process for 15 minutes.

Below, the start of tonight's project - strawberry lemon marmalade. This marmalade is so flavorful. There's something so fragrant about the peel of citrus fruits - but I think it's definitely an acquired taste. I thought marmalade was soooo disgusting as a kid. Do you like marmalade? Did you as a kid?

This week's canning went so smoothly. It's funny to compare the mad canning skillz I have now compared to my first experience. Here's what has REALLY helped:

• I have all the necessary supplies and have learned which ones I really need (large canner with a proper rack, tongs, a wet washcloth, a stockpile of jars, lids, and rings) and which ones I really don't (magnetic stick to pick lids out of hot water, jar lifter).
• I have the concept down. I don't need to constantly read and re-read directions in the canning book as I go along.
• I've got a system down. I can quickly and carefully remove a hot jar with simple tongs and a washcloth.
• Per my former farmer friend, I keep my clean jars hot in the oven turned on low rather than in separate boiling pots of water. This trick has made all the difference.
• I'm not freaking out about trying to keep a completely sterile environment like the book warns about. It will all be just fine.
• I have full trust in the "pop!" and don't feel the need to hover to watch and listen for it.

And because canning is just really freaking fun and awesome (well, if you're the kind of nerd I am, you understand), I've decided the first GTTC prize will be the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. I've also decided that I'm not going to wait till the end of the season to offer prizes. In fact, all season long, if I think of a fun prize, I will simply: 1) announce it on a particular Saturday, 2) draw a name from all the entries thus far, and 3) award the prize the following Saturday from all entries up to Friday night. All entries then go back in the pot. In other words, the more you play, the more of an opportunity you have to win.

Note to new GTTC participants - I'll be posting each week's GTTC on Saturday. Feel free to blog about what you're harvesting/cooking up, link to this blog, and then link below. Doing this gives you one entry to the occasional random prize drawings as described above.

So...next Saturday, I will draw from all the entries in the GTTC so far. Winner will get a new copy of the Ball book, which has a gazillion recipes and explains all the basics of canning step by step. The photo above is just so ridiculous I had to post it. I was moving photos from my camera and found my husband took these. On a glorious day this week, my six year old and I were outside in the front yard. I was reading the canning book (you can see it behind me), then we decided that we were going to pretend to take a nap. All I remember was that my little one said she was going inside to get juice. I woke up an hour later alone, dazed, and confused. The six year old got juice and decided to check out what was on TV. She never came back. And I'm sleeping in the front yard by myself cuddling stuffed animals...

And speaking of cuddling animals, my father's little guys were born last week. Can't wait to see how big they've gotten in one week. This post from a few years ago shows photos of a duckling being hatched (or whatever the verb for that process is). Hope you've had a good week!

Garden to Table Challenge - roasted asparagus with shaved Parmesan

After five or six years of keeping the faith, there is finally enough asparagus to warrant the energy to cook it. The spears, purple upon harvesting, green up while roasting in an oven with a bit of olive oil and sprinkle of salt and pepper. To serve, they're drizzled with balsamic vinegar and garnished with shaved Parmesan. It was quite nice served this simple and elegant way!

What's going on in your garden and kitchen? To join the Garden to Table Challenge, post about what you're cooking, including a link back to this page. Then, link below to be entered in a drawing for prizes at the end of the gardening season. Each week's GTTC post will be up on Saturday. Feel free to add your post any time during the week!

May GBBD (!!!) & GTTC - sesame soba noodle salad

***** Happy May! *********************

This week, the salad greens have grown just beyond babyhood. The lettuce mix made a beautiful salad with soba noodles and an Asian-style sesame dressing. Here's what went in the salad (sorry, I didn't measure, but you won't be able to mess this up!): spring salad greens, cucumbers, cilantro, dried red pepper, green onions, soba noodles (cooked, rinsed with cold water, drained), and a dressing made of: peanut butter, orange juice, oil, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, lime juice, sesame oil, minced garlic, minced ginger.

If you've created something delicious this week using your own fresh harvest, I would LOVE to hear about it. Show your stuff off in your post making sure to include a link back to Greenish Thumb, and link to the current week's GTTC (posted every Saturday) using Mr. Linky. Each entry that includes a link back here, will be entered in a raffle for end of gardening season prizes (TBD. I have still not had any fabulous light bulb ideas, but I'm getting close). Those of you who have already posted and linked - I have your names down in my jar!

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In other news...It's MAY! Carol's blog's namesake. Thanks for checking out my blooms below. Next, why not visit May Dreams Gardens to see what's blooming in other parts of the world?

Baptisia, allium, maroon-colored sinocalycanthus above. Below, the blooms of hairy vetch - used as a cover crop in my vegetable garden.

Irises galore!

Lavender with a lush green backdrop of sedum.

'Green Halo' peony...

Preview for June: many lilies, roses, and summer perennials. See you back for GTTC next Saturday and GBBD on June 15th!

Reminder: you're linking below if you're participating in the Garden to Table Challenge. See you again soon!