A few weeks ago my uncle, Chef Brad was in town and cooked us dinner. You haven't lived until you've had dinner cooked by Chef Brad! He is amazing. Anyway, here's the recipe he cooked. You can find it and lots more on his website (he's just updated and improved it and it's wonderful). One of the greatest things about this recipe is how fast and simple it is to make. We watched him make it and it was amazing how fast he made it in the Cuisinart Pressure Cooker. That performance was all it took to convince Brandon and guess what he is giving me for our eighth-year wedding anniversary present? That's right! A Cuisinart! It should arrive tomorrow or Monday. I'm excited. If you plan on buying one, buy it Here and Chef Brad will include his pressure cooker cookbook! By the way, you can make this recipe without the pressure cooker, but in the pressure cooker it's faster, better flavor and better for you! Enjoy!
Friday, 28 August 2009
Wednesday, 26 August 2009
We don't have any mature fruit trees right now - we planted two peaches and a pear a few years ago, but they are not ready to bear fruit yet. We did leave one peach on one of the trees and we picked it a few weeks ago - it was really good. We are excited for a few more years when we'll get more off of it.
We love fruit and our kids love fruit so this time of year we try to forage for fruit that we can pick that people in our neighborhood aren't using. You'd be amazed at how much fruit goes to waste this time of year and most people are more than willing to let you take it off their hands if you just ask!
We've been busy canning applesauce this week and last. Some neighbors have an apple tree that is just spilling apples all over the side walk. C was walking by and wanted to pick one so we had him knock on the door and ask if he could. The lady said we could pick as many as we wanted - she doesn't use them very much. So we took her up on the idea and have been picking bags and bags of them to make into applesauce. It has been fun - the kids love to go pick the apples - we bring a bucket for C to stand on and J usually just picks them off the ground - lol. It makes me want my own apple tree too - so maybe this fall we'll plant one! :)
This is the busiest time of year for me with all of the canning! Still to come this week and next will be peaches (we usually buy them), pears (provided by another kind neighbor), salsa and tomatoes (that's right -they are finally coming on strong!). I may dry some of the apples as well - we love dried apples! Anyway, happy harvest to you all.
We love fruit and our kids love fruit so this time of year we try to forage for fruit that we can pick that people in our neighborhood aren't using. You'd be amazed at how much fruit goes to waste this time of year and most people are more than willing to let you take it off their hands if you just ask!
We've been busy canning applesauce this week and last. Some neighbors have an apple tree that is just spilling apples all over the side walk. C was walking by and wanted to pick one so we had him knock on the door and ask if he could. The lady said we could pick as many as we wanted - she doesn't use them very much. So we took her up on the idea and have been picking bags and bags of them to make into applesauce. It has been fun - the kids love to go pick the apples - we bring a bucket for C to stand on and J usually just picks them off the ground - lol. It makes me want my own apple tree too - so maybe this fall we'll plant one! :)
This is the busiest time of year for me with all of the canning! Still to come this week and next will be peaches (we usually buy them), pears (provided by another kind neighbor), salsa and tomatoes (that's right -they are finally coming on strong!). I may dry some of the apples as well - we love dried apples! Anyway, happy harvest to you all.
Wednesday, 19 August 2009
This is such a great recipe, it is so fresh and yummy. We've tried it with banana peppers (and more of them) instead of the jalepeno. This is really good with freshly picked corn (just cut it off the cob) - yum!. Enjoy.
Black Bean Corn Salsa
*Serves 8-10
INGREDIENTS:
2 Cups Black beans, drained (1 14.5-oz. can)
½ Cup sliced green onions
1 Cup chopped fresh tomatoes (*see Note)
2 Cups whole kernel corn, drained
½-1 tsp. ground cumin
½ tsp. chopped jalapeno peppers
Salt to taste
2 Cups Black beans, drained (1 14.5-oz. can)
½ Cup sliced green onions
1 Cup chopped fresh tomatoes (*see Note)
2 Cups whole kernel corn, drained
½-1 tsp. ground cumin
½ tsp. chopped jalapeno peppers
Salt to taste
DIRECTIONS:
Combine ingredients in a small bowl. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Serve with corn chips.
Combine ingredients in a small bowl. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Serve with corn chips.
*Note: Fresh tomatoes are best but if you don't have them, you can use 1 cup diced tomatoes (canned)
Tuesday, 18 August 2009
Here's the latest pictures from our garden (taken a few days ago):
Here's the corn patch:
And here's a picture of the other side - you can see the squash peeking through the vines:
And here's some of the squash & melons that we are really looking forward to:
Here's the corn patch:
And here's a picture of the other side - you can see the squash peeking through the vines:
And here's some of the squash & melons that we are really looking forward to:Hubbard
Sunshine
Butternut (I'm not sure why this one split open like it did)
Pumpkin -disappointingly small :(
Crenshaw Melon
Sunshine
Butternut (I'm not sure why this one split open like it did)
Pumpkin -disappointingly small :(
Crenshaw Melon
Saturday, 15 August 2009
Here's a picture that represents one day of picking from our garden (what made it inside the house anyway - some get eaten right after it's picked :).
As you can see, our tomatoes haven't come on in full abundance yet, but we've been getting lots of yummy corn. I picked the last of our first planting today. Our second planting will be ready in a week or two. I could have picked four times this much chard - we have it coming out our ears right now! As you can see, no zucchini today or yellow squash. They've been a huge disappointment. We've got tons more carrots ready to pick too, we just picked enough for a couple of days. Anyway, pretty good for one day huh? We pick about every other day and we usually fill up a large bowl full of vegetables each time. Mmmmh! I love this time of year! I can't wait for the cantaloupe and crenshaw!!
As you can see, our tomatoes haven't come on in full abundance yet, but we've been getting lots of yummy corn. I picked the last of our first planting today. Our second planting will be ready in a week or two. I could have picked four times this much chard - we have it coming out our ears right now! As you can see, no zucchini today or yellow squash. They've been a huge disappointment. We've got tons more carrots ready to pick too, we just picked enough for a couple of days. Anyway, pretty good for one day huh? We pick about every other day and we usually fill up a large bowl full of vegetables each time. Mmmmh! I love this time of year! I can't wait for the cantaloupe and crenshaw!!
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