Broccoli oh Broccoli

I just want to make a note that this year's broccoli crop continues to produce significant usable florets. They've produced vegetables consistently from the beginning of June through the end of September, giving me at least 4 full months of production. What a great crop!

Harvesting, Cooking, Freezing

I've done a lot of the following 3 things lately:

1. harvesting green peppers, tomatoes, carrots, broccoli, basil, and oregano
2. preparing them in various meals
3. storing and freezing them in mason jars

I made a big batch of plain (no meat) tomato sauce with about 10 tomatoes, and I have at least another dozen or two tomatoes ready to go. It made over 4 pints of sauce, most of which I froze in mason jars.

4 frozen pints of tomato sauce

The other day on a whim I thought I would try to throw together a pizza on a tortilla because I had the fresh sauce I had just made plus fresh basil and green peppers and a chunk of mozzarella in the fridge. So I made 1 pizza with the sauce,  cheese, and green peppers and the other with sliced tomatoes and basil instead of sauce. I think they would have turned out a lot better on a pizza crust, but the thin wheat tortilla worked adequately :-) I froze two of those as well.

I've had frozen pierogies from the Italian store for a couple of weeks and I finally got around to makeingthem into mason jar meals to freeze. I used carrots, broccoli, green peppers and herbs from the garden. I boiled the sliced carrots in broth and fresh dill and steamed the broccoli over top of it. I sliced and stir fried a couple green peppers with onions and then added the pierogies after I boiled them. I also heated up two cans of blacks beans with a couple of chopped tomatoes from the garden with butter and Old Bay seasoning. I layered them in 32 oz. mason jars as follows: veggies on the bottom; then the beans, which filled half the jar; 4 pierogies each with the peppers and onions; and a small pat of butter on top to keep it moist when reheated. It made 6 jars, which I let cool and then put in the freezer.

pierogi, beans, and veggies mason jar meals

I've also made dozens of salads in the mason jars. You layer them appropriately, with the dressing on the bottom, then heartier veggies, lighter veggies, cheese, other stuff, and greens on top. I made my own balsamic vinaigrette (1 part olive olive, 3 parts balsamic vinegar, plus brown sugar and garlic) and used as many veggies from the garden as possible. The mason jars have amazing preservation powers! The salads can stay in the fridge for a week without the green wilting. Some of the veggies soak in the dressing and the flavor really pops.

mason jar salads stay fresh for at least a week

I thought all the cilantro going around this time of year might taste good in hummus so I've experimented a few times with that: chick peas, olive oil, lots of cilantro, garlic, lime juice & sea salt.

cilantro hummus

Check Out This Crazy Carrot

Check this bad boy out!

Another Typical Day

that looks like a meal right there

As we plow through these, the dogs days of Summer, and start to feel Autumnal clues in the air, the Bloomfield backyard urban garden aka yarden still keeps putting out hits! Like the Summer of Love, 1969, you can feel the love produced by my two little herb and veggie plots all Summer long. Broccoli continues to flourish. Tomatoes have begun to ripen. The basil, oregano, dill, and, of course, mint only get bushier as time goes on. Now, some fat little yellow worm ate through the stem of my zucchini plant, so that motherfucker died. The plant I mean, not the worm. Fat little worm gorged him or herself long before I figured out what happened. Oh well. The carrots turned out great, and the green pepper plant continues to put off nice little tennis ball sized fruits. Yarden 2014 for the win.

fat little worm destroyed my zucchini plant

New Candles!

I made a batch of candles recently -- orange color with some flower scent I can't remember. The little tins I used -- 3 Altoids containers and a McCormick black pepper canister -- turned out really well! The wooden wicks in the ceramic and glass containers came out great too. I also made candles in a mold for the first time: red spiced apple poured into aluminum foil molds. Tripling the foil worked best. I like the crinkly look and I've started calling them Rock Candles. I also made an incense holder by pouring some wax into a little candle holder/stand.

Simple Baked Zucchini Recipe

Just want to write down this really simple healthy zucchini recipe. You just need zucchini (chopped into cubes about a half inch square) plus a fat (butter or oil) and a bit of flavor (even just a few shakes of salt and pepper). Chop the zucchini into small pieces, toss it with the oil, salt, and pepper -- maybe throw in some chopped onion or garlic, or sprinkle some parmesan cheese on top -- and bake for 15-20 minutes at about 375 degrees, until the zucchini pieces reach your desired tenderness. I like them to cook pretty much all the way through but not completely soggy. Use a decent amount of oil/butter/salt for a stronger flavor if you prefer. Use this little starter recipe with whatever else you want to throw in -- tomatoes, red peppers, fresh basil, etc...

chopped zucchini

tossed with oil, salt, pepper, and chopped onion

glass baking dish, about 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes

done, super easy, less than 5 ingredients, from the yarden to the table

served with steamed homegrown broccoli and a pizza from Donatelli's

Simple Broccoli Bacon Quiche

What does one do with 9 backyard broccoli plants putting out some serious florets? How about a quiche!?! You'll need a bunch of broccoli, a half dozen eggs or so, 1-2 cups of shredded cheese, milk, butter, chopped onions and garlic, salt and pepper, a pie crust, and I highly recommend bacon!

Have the pie crust ready in a pie pan. Chop up the bacon (maybe remove some of the fat in the process) and start cooking it in a pan over low-medium heat. After a moment, add a tablespoon or 2 of butter to the pan, and then the chopped broccoli, onions, and garlic. Cook slowly until the veggies get soft. Scoop/pour into the pie pan and sprinkle some cheese on top. 

Mix 4-6 eggs and about a half to whole cup of milk. Add your salt and pepper, the rest of the shredded cheese, and some more butter (melted) to the egg mixture. Pour this over the veggies in the pie crust and bake at about 350 until the middle sets, about 25-30 minutes.