Dinner Tonight: Spaghetti

Okay class, its time for the spelling bee.
Can anyone tell me what S-P-A-G-H-E-T-T-I spells?
Spaghetti? Um, nooo. Any other guesses?
Yes, that's right S-P-A-G-H-E-T-T-I spells EASY!
Great job and thank you!

During September I bottled tomatoes one day. It made a huge mess, was exhausting, etc, etc, etc... And then my tomato plants had the nerve to produce MORE tomatoes! How rude of them! Okay, okay, I was actually ecstatic with the abundant production of my four plants. But after making a huge mess one day, I couldn't justify making the mess over and over and over for just a few tomatoes at a time. So.... I froze them! Yep, I froze tomatoes. Have any of you ever tried this? I got the idea from good old Martha but changed the baking temp and time a little. Basically, you halve the tomatoes, arrange them on a oven-safe cooling rack and bake them at a low temperature for a long time to dry them. I am sure you could also just use a food dehydrator. I did mine at 250 degrees for about 2 hours. I also sprinkled them with salt, pepper and Italian seasoning - ready for spaghetti sauce! Once they are dried out (they still remain fairly mushy), throw them in freezer zip-loc bags and into the freezer! It worked out perfect for preserving my small batches of late tomatoes.

I used some of my frozen goodies tonight for dinner. Check it out! (They will take a little longer to cook than regular bottled tomatoes - they are frozen, people!) Add tomato sauce and you have yourself a meal!!! Have I ever mentioned how MUCH I LOVE EASY???

(Here's my un-attended sauce 15 minutes later. Perfectly lovely and easy. All on its own!)

Dinner Tonight: BLT

It has been a fairly busy day and tonight Husband and I are leaving for home. Thus, dinner is low on the priority list. I was busy making a salad for tomorrow (ever tried broccoli salad?) and was smart enough to cook a few extra slices of bacon.

Have I ever mentioned my undying love for bacon?? Oh how I love that greasy goodness...

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Where was I? .... Oh! Dinner.... I am taking Easy Street and we are having BLTs. Mine will be in the form of a salad; Flint's will be a sandwich.

Side note: Have you ever considered what an oxymoron a BLT is? I have an idea! Lets take bacon, pretty much the worst food for our hearts, and eat it with tomatoes and lettuce, so that we don't have to feel so guilty about eating it :) But don't worry, I've never felt guilty about eating bacon, even without the LT added!

...I always love an excuse to take it easy - especially when it involves bacon :)

Garden Gone

Saturday we pulled the final tomato plants from the ground and officially called the garden 'quits' for the year. It was definitely a sad day. This garden has brought me so much joy. I don't exaggerate when I say that it was the best part of my summer.

My top five six favorite aspects of the garden (in no particular order) :
- The adorable chicken proof fence
- Deliciously sweet cobs of corn for dinner
- Digging potatoes - can you say treasure hunt?!
- Watering my little plants each day - aka personal mediation time
- Freakin' amazing tomato plants that out-produced my wildest dreams
- Turning a dirty, leave-collecting, abandoned plot into something green, productive and beautiful 

So long, dear garden, til next year!

Corn, Tomatoes, and Furniture?

A few things that never got blogged about (in no particular order...)

I've taken up re-finishing furniture. Does this have anything to do with gardening? Nope. Cooking? Nope. But its fun! (PS: I'm thinking of selling some of the stuff I've been working on and doing commission. But this isn't an advertisement or anything. Cough Cough Cough.)

Hello Sunshine!

As I turned on my garden sprinkler (just 10 minutes ago), I noticed (for the first time) these little beauties!!!
Ta-Da!!!

I knew that there had been blossoms on my tomato plants a couple weeks ago, but it seemed like nothing was happening. I was wrong! Granted, they are tiny... BUT, they exist. Period! I am curious to see if they do well or not (aren't tomatoes like the single hardest thing to grow?).

PS: Yes, yes, yes, I know. My pictures stink. Real bad. But you see... My cord that connects camera to computer is lost. Forever. And so I am stuck using my dinky phone for all photos. Lame-o. My apologies.

Chicken, Cheese & a Carter!

Yay! We have our FIRST guest blogger here at the Emerald Gardens! Let me introduce you to 

Mrs. Kelli {Carter} Meyer

 

I know Kelli as a Carter, so its hard for me to remember the Meyer at the end! Kelli and I grew up together and have always been good gal pals. Specifically when I think of Kelli, I think of showing steers. She and I were always county fair buddies and did lots of 4-H/FFA stuff together. The Carter family women are great cooks (who love spicy food!) and Kelli's mom makes the best fudge to be found :) Kelli is now forever away, living in Missouri, doing great things with her life: husband in vet school while wife in nursing school - you guys rock!).

Kelli sent me a few recipes. Today I am sharing a chicken dish. Sadly I couldn't make it for dinner because I don't have Stovetop on hand (...and the grocery store in 80 miles away...). However, I am grocery shopping on Thursday and Stovetop will be at the top of my list! Once I've made it, I'll give my review :)

Bruschetta Chicken Bake