Candle Mania

I made several batches of candles recently, including some really nice holiday candles with a gingerbread scent. I used all the glass pieces I picked up at yard sales during Summerette. Some of the containers have already come back around for a second or third pouring. The liquid scent seems to throw a stronger aroma around the room than the scent blocks, so I want to order more of those. I got the gingerbread scent and 10 pounds of container wax blend from Lone Star. The wax I used -- container blend 4633 -- dried to a nice silky finish. You can see it in the purple and reddish candles from this batch. The greener looking ones -- e.g., the large glass pitcher, the Altoid votive, and the wide bottom -- used soy wax. I also ordered a variety of wooden wicks from Lone Star, which I used in the holiday candles. I gave a several of them out as gifts.

 I love the way this one turned out. I kept it for myself to test the wooden wick, which crackles nicely. The stone container, which came from a yard sale, obviously doesn't toss much light, but I think it looks awesome.

I poured this one into a mini Altoid container that I happened to have sitting around. This actually looks like a marketable product to me. I want to find more free, reusable tin containers to make unique ones like this...

This one looks like a piece of salt water taffy to me. I used all three colors that I ended up pouring with that day, and stuck a penny in between the layers. I started referring to it as a commemorative 2013 coin ;-) Sounds like another big seller. This container came from a yard sale.

Twice Cooked Pork Tenderloin

I love pork tenderloin, filet mignon's dirty cousin, one of the leanest cuts of meat available. You can keep it nice and juicy with Mark Bittman's twice-cooked method. Basically, you put the whole thing in a pan with oil or butter and brown the outside. Then you remove it,cut it into medallions, and cook it again -- brilliant. I made this the other day with green beans and red potatoes. I also drank wine and poured candles that night.

Breakfast Sandwiches!

I used to do this back in the day on Beeler: make a whole bunch of breakfast sandwiches and freeze them for future reheating. You only have to cook once, but you can enjoy breakfast sandwiches all week! I usually make sausage, egg, and cheese on English muffins. You could use sausage patties or links cut lengthwise, or make bacon. You can use non-meat like Gimme Lean, which works great, or replace everything with vegan products and go fully healthy. I think sliced American cheese tastes the best, but I prefer to use raw milk cheese for a healthier option. I usually make six and wrap them individually with foil. Then you can reheat them one at a time in the oven for about 30 minutes (or defrost first in the microwave on low power).

For this batch I used:

• 6 eggs
• 6 sausage patties
• 6 English muffins
• 6 slices of cheese
• Smart Balance for cooking the eggs and buttering the bread
• a pinch of baking soda to make the eggs fluffy

Start the sausage first, which might take about 10-15 minutes. Scramble the eggs and add a pinch of baking soda to make them fluffy. Cook eggs in butter, oil, or whatever while the sausage cooks. Toast and butter the English muffins (or whatever bread you want to use) while the sausage and eggs cook. Line up the bread, throw on a slice of cheese, a piece of the egg, and a sausage patty, and there you have it.

Amazing Macaroni and Cheese

Last year I made family style macaroni and cheese a few times -- with tomato sauce and pork chops (optional) -- so recently I wanted to try making a more traditional ooey-gooey style mac-and-cheese. I found a great recipe, which someone had created based on someone else's recipe, and gave it a try this weekend. I did decide to add my own twist, though -- prosciutto, rather than bacon -- and it worked out really well. 

Her recipe seemed straightforward enough to make by memory yet complex enough to add a little gourmet touch to this comfort food. As far as I could tell from looking at several recipes, this one runs fairly basic. You got your pasta and your melted milk/butter/cheese sauce -- and it gets baked at the end. She suggested topping with cooked bacon bits. I decided to try prosciutto instead -- and to bake it with the meat rather than top the casserole with meat after baking.

after adding sauce to pasta, before meat topping

Check out this crazy quad-carrot! Or... turd-carrot. Maybe wiener carrot?

Harvest Bouquet

I let a lot of the broccoli flower for two reasons. 1) I have plenty and it still keeps producing more and more, and 2) the yellow flowers look nice. So I picked all the blooming broccoli flowers as well as the purple mint flowers and made a bouquet. Sorta cool...

Huge Batch of Garden Spaghetti Sauce

I just used 50 tomatoes from my garden to make a huge pot of spaghetti sauce! I pulled up my tiny little red onions that I grew -- none larger than a golf ball -- and used them as well. I also used fresh oregano and basil from the garden. I bought a couple pounds of local, grass-fed ground beef at the Phipps Farmers Market and included that as well. 

• 1 medium to large red onion
• a dozen cloves of garlic
• 8 Tablespoons of olive oil

• about 50 tiny tomatoes and 2 or 3 small ones, diced
• 5 cans tomato paste
• 5 cans of water
• 1/2 to 1 Cup sugar
• 10-20 leaves of fresh basil
• 5-10 6 inch stems of fresh oregano 

• 2 pounds of grass-fed ground beef

1. Cook first three ingredients (oil, onion, garlic) for about 5 minutes and add to large pot.
2. Add diced tomatoes, tomato paste, water, sugar, and some of the herbs. Simmer over low heat for 2-3 hours total.
3. Brown ground beef and add to the pot.
4. Add more herbs throughout cooking process.

I got those 3 black cherry tomatoes on the left from Tricia's garden
BEFORE I got chumped (not recently).

So. Much. BROCCOLI.

That ain't no cereal bowl!

Insane broccoli production! It just keeps growing! And growing! AND GROWING. I started with 12 little plants, and ended up pulling out a couple that struggled. So, with 9 or 10 broccoli plants I have had a constant harvest of fresh broccoli, daily, for over two months. I have a huge bowl full of fresh broccoli in the kitchen. I have a freezer packed full of plastic bags of chopped frozen broccoli. And I have given away at least 3 or 4 grocery-store-sized servings of broccoli to friends. I even game some to an enemy! Well, frienemy I guess. 

I used a variety called pacman broccoli from Bonnie Plants that I got at Home Depot. It has far surpassed my expectations and grown more successfully and productively than anything I've ever grown (and I've grown a plant or two in my life).

First it grows one giant head of broccoli. You cut it, and two more heads grow from the original stem. Cut those, and then you get four next time! Then eight! Ahhhhh more broccoli! 

WHAT TO MAKE?!?

Last night Cait made some chilli pepper oil ginger chicken and black bean dish, and we added broccoli florets at the end. It fit in perfectly. Earlier in the summer I grilled a lot of the broccoli. Recently I've frozen some of it and given a lot away. I want to make something like Adrienne made with the harvest I gave JJ. She made a creamy chicken and bowtie pasta with broccoli florets, which looked fabulous on Facebook. Someone suggested roasting at some point, which I need to try. Any other ideas?

Aje's chicken alfredo!

Cait's chili pepper chicken!