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Grow and Cook Pumpkins
When the pumpkins start turning orange, we know fall is not far off and that means football. We are football fans. My husband played football and my son did as well. My daughters were on the sideline cheering on their brother and Friday night football was a fun family time. Of course not everyone loves football but pumpkin harvesting also means changing of seasons, cool weather, and fall festivities. There is a lot of good food wasted when untold numbers of nutritious pumpkins get turned into jack-o-lanterns. Pumpkins make a very good custard and put into a pie shell you have pumpkin pie. During the early years the pumpkin…
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Growing and Harvesting Butternut Squash
Butternut Squash It is considered a winter squash. Given the chance winter squash will take over a garden (this includes pumpkins). The vines are very long and will grow to all parts of the garden. I usually direct the long vines to the perimeter of the garden so they encircle my garden space. Growing butternut squash was not on the top of my list during my early gardening years but once I decided to try growing it, it has been a regular in my garden. Growing Butternut Squash Butternut squash is easy to grow. The growing season begins in the summer for harvesting in the fall. The seedlings are extremely…
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Pecan Recipes
Pecan pie Anyone? What about pecan squares? How about homemade pecan milk? Get it all here! Pecan pie usually is associated with fall and the holiday’s. We enjoy pecan recipes all year long. Fun Facts about Pecans Pecan trees can live to be 300 years old 80% of the worlds pecan crop comes from the United States April 14rh is National Pecan Day July 12th is National Pecan Pie Day It takes a pecan tree 10+ years to reach maturity and begin producing nuts. Want to learn more about growing your own pecans? Check out the post here! There is nothing like a homemade pecan pie especially when you know…
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Homemade Italian Spaghetti Sauce
Where the flavor starts… Italian cooking is not a quick process. It is a social event. The kitchen is the gathering place, and as I cook, there are wooden spoons flying around tasting my sauce. When I make tomato sauce, it slowly cooks 2-4 hours depending on the amount of sauce I am making. The house is filled with such a pleasant aroma. The meal is greatly anticipated and enjoyed. As many Italian cooks declare “flavor in Italian dishes builds from the bottom up”. True authentic cooking like my dad did started with lard as the base with finely chopped onion and any other vegetables like celery, carrot, or garlic.…
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Slow Roasted Tomatoes
Growing up in a large, Italian family, big family meals were routine. For Italians, food is not just a meal. Family meals were frequent and often centered around food and extended family. My grandparents where straight from Italy and moved to the USA when they were young. My dad was one of 5 boys so there was always big stomachs to fill. Everything was home made and tomatoes seemed to be served in some form everyday. My Aunt Angie made homemade bread daily and as you can imagine it did not last very long. My dad made homemade tomato everything including pizza sauce, spaghetti sauce, roasted tomatoes, and all…
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All You Need To Know About Growing Cucumbers
I love growing cucumbers. The best memory I have is taking a big bite out of an extremely bitter cucumber. That was early in my gardening journey and I had planted a cucumber meant for pickling, not eating raw. Who would have thought there was a difference? I sure didn’t. So, when picking seeds to plant make sure you read the seed package carefully. Decide What To Grow Cucumbers have a refreshing taste mostly because they are high in water. They are divided into 2 categories: those used for pickling and those used for slicing. Pickling cucumbers tend to be bitter and are not good when eaten raw.…
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Peach Preserves
I have so many peaches ready on my peach trees, so I’ve been in the midst of making my peach preserves! Many of my readers have been asking for the recipe, so here it is! [amd-zlrecipe-recipe:7] SaveSave SaveSave
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Canning Peppers: How To Preserve Peppers
My favorite gifts to give are canned goods. So, once my garden starts taking off I like to begin some of my canning. I get asked frequently for my canned pepper recipe each year – Enjoy! I have harvested my first round of peppers (mostly different types of jalapeños) and it is time to preserve them for later. The heat level of the peppers can be adjusted based on the type of pepper planted however, mine all go together in jars. My family can handle the heat. I do put a mixture of red and green peppers together as it makes a pretty combination especially for Christmas gifts. 2 quarts…
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Zucchini Bread
The Ever-Prolific Zucchini We learned a lesson from zucchini over the years. We always grew 3-4 plants each year and you probably can guess the rest of the story. We ate zucchini. We cooked with zucchini. We froze zucchini. We gave away zucchini. We now grow 2 plants and that seems to plenty to fit our needs and we do not feel as if we are being wasteful. We like baked goods with zucchini the most. Zucchini bread and other baked items are very easy to make. Grating the zucchini is a snap if you have a food processor with a grating feature. (It really saves the knuckles.) A…
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How To Make Sourdough Bread
I love getting lost in my kitchen on days when it is too hot to be in the garden. How many of you can relate? Living in Texas during the dog days of summer, some days are too hot to get out in the garden. It can get to 90-95 degrees by noon. Those days I make sure the garden is watered, harvest what is needed in the morning and move to the kitchen. Today is was one of those days. My sourdough starter was in need of a feed so I decided to make fresh sourdough bread. It requires minimal work once you get your starter going however, it…
Home Grown is Best
