So many tomatoes! yum! We got the first ones a couple weeks ago. We have eggplant! I need to harvest and cook. We just got a zucchini from a friend... A ground squirrel ate our other plant. I hope the transplanted zucchini makes it!
Tuesday, July 26, 2016
Garden in July
So many tomatoes! yum! We got the first ones a couple weeks ago. We have eggplant! I need to harvest and cook. We just got a zucchini from a friend... A ground squirrel ate our other plant. I hope the transplanted zucchini makes it!
Thursday, July 21, 2016
pancakes
She made pancakes! It was this recipe (basically--minus the wheat gluten).
(July 10 -- cross posted from the family blog)
(July 10 -- cross posted from the family blog)
Sunday, July 17, 2016
Saturday, July 16, 2016
Sunday, July 3, 2016
so many things to blog...
I need to blog about our plum tree and how many plums it gave us. I need to blog about how I finally learned how to do something with the plums!
Back in 2013, we made a plum crisp... http://veryveryverygreen.blogspot.com/2013/07/from-trees.html I called it tart, and initially I thought I just needed more sugar, but as I thought about it, I realized it was BITTER. I also realized that no matter how much sugar I added, it wouldn't solve the problem.
I don't remember if we had many plums in 2014, but in 2015, we barely had any so I didn't think about how to use them. However, this year, we had a bumper crop and I needed to do something with them. Even if one likes plums, you can only eat so many a day!
One friend (with four kids) took about 50 of them (in two batches). I gave another 30-40 or so away at work. I think I lost about 20-30 letting them go bad on the counter... And that just left me about another 200-250.
Sigh.
We let a lot fall off the tree 'cause we didn't pick them fast enough ('cause I didn't know what to do with all the plums). (You have to pick our plums when they are still sort of red. They turn deep purple when ripe, but too many fall off the tree when you let them ripen all the way so you have to pick them a day or two early.)
I finally turned to my friend google and googled bitter plums...
I learned that it was most likely the skins that were causing the problems. I learned a good trick to getting the skins off. Roast 'em!
Rinse plums, remove any stems that might still be on them, and place plums on a baking tray (with sides 'cause the juice will run off if you don't and will make a mess if you don't have sides).
Stick in the oven at 350 for 20-30 minutes.
Let 'em cool until you can handle them and peel the skins and pit them. The skins will totally slip off. You do have to do some work to get the pit out. I was covered in plum juice (very red!) and I won't talk about how I accidentally went to the store with plum juice splattered on my face. (And yes, I did have some dribbled down by my mouth 'cause I was eating some of those roasted plums -- you know, for quality control!)
Some one suggested a food mill and someone else suggested a poor man's food mill which is a colander and a spatula. (Note, I might invest in a food mill someday... Any suggestions or favorite brands, let me know.)
I am happy to report that google (and all the people who posted about their experiences with bitter plums) was right. Skinning the plums made a difference and now our plum crisps are awesome. They are a little tart, but they aren't bitter. I even made sour plum (but not bitter) jam! Fun!
I plan to use this roasting trick on our tomatoes -- they are just about getting ready to burst forth! (I think the roasting trick will work better than the boiling a peeling method I did last year.)
Okay, I can cross off my need to blog about plums, but I still need to blog about many other things:
I need to blog about my workout and twice a week at Body Pump!
I need to blog about getting ready for the fourth of July!
I need to blog about our awesome new granola!
I need to blog about vegan friendly treats at Baskin Robbins!
I need to blog about getting a deep freeze for all the wonderful foods from our garden and trees! (We're still looking!)
Back in 2013, we made a plum crisp... http://veryveryverygreen.blogspot.com/2013/07/from-trees.html I called it tart, and initially I thought I just needed more sugar, but as I thought about it, I realized it was BITTER. I also realized that no matter how much sugar I added, it wouldn't solve the problem.
I don't remember if we had many plums in 2014, but in 2015, we barely had any so I didn't think about how to use them. However, this year, we had a bumper crop and I needed to do something with them. Even if one likes plums, you can only eat so many a day!
One friend (with four kids) took about 50 of them (in two batches). I gave another 30-40 or so away at work. I think I lost about 20-30 letting them go bad on the counter... And that just left me about another 200-250.
Sigh.
We let a lot fall off the tree 'cause we didn't pick them fast enough ('cause I didn't know what to do with all the plums). (You have to pick our plums when they are still sort of red. They turn deep purple when ripe, but too many fall off the tree when you let them ripen all the way so you have to pick them a day or two early.)
I finally turned to my friend google and googled bitter plums...
I learned that it was most likely the skins that were causing the problems. I learned a good trick to getting the skins off. Roast 'em!
Rinse plums, remove any stems that might still be on them, and place plums on a baking tray (with sides 'cause the juice will run off if you don't and will make a mess if you don't have sides).
Stick in the oven at 350 for 20-30 minutes.
Let 'em cool until you can handle them and peel the skins and pit them. The skins will totally slip off. You do have to do some work to get the pit out. I was covered in plum juice (very red!) and I won't talk about how I accidentally went to the store with plum juice splattered on my face. (And yes, I did have some dribbled down by my mouth 'cause I was eating some of those roasted plums -- you know, for quality control!)
Some one suggested a food mill and someone else suggested a poor man's food mill which is a colander and a spatula. (Note, I might invest in a food mill someday... Any suggestions or favorite brands, let me know.)
I am happy to report that google (and all the people who posted about their experiences with bitter plums) was right. Skinning the plums made a difference and now our plum crisps are awesome. They are a little tart, but they aren't bitter. I even made sour plum (but not bitter) jam! Fun!
I plan to use this roasting trick on our tomatoes -- they are just about getting ready to burst forth! (I think the roasting trick will work better than the boiling a peeling method I did last year.)
Okay, I can cross off my need to blog about plums, but I still need to blog about many other things:
I need to blog about my workout and twice a week at Body Pump!
I need to blog about getting ready for the fourth of July!
I need to blog about our awesome new granola!
I need to blog about vegan friendly treats at Baskin Robbins!
I need to blog about getting a deep freeze for all the wonderful foods from our garden and trees! (We're still looking!)
Saturday, July 2, 2016
Tomato Soup, by Tia
When Tia was little, under 2, she was sitting in my lap while I was eating dinner, I looked down and saw her grabbing the tomatoes out of my salad and licking them. The phrase, "don't lick my tomatoes" was born that night. (File under a phrase you never thought you'd have to say.)
She does love tomatoes. She and Kira wanted a tomato soup. We tried one recipe last Thanksgiving, and I liked it, but the girls wanted something a little different. Here's what Tia found; she made it and they loved it. (It's a winner, all 5 of us like it!)
http://coalefinnsoftball.blogspot.com/2016/06/today-i-made-tomato-soup-with-my-nanny.html
This summer, we are doing our reading and writing program. The reading program started years ago, probably 6 or 7 years ago, and the girls would get paid a penny a page for reading. The books had to be at or above their reading level and they had to write the titles down, the name of the book, the number of pages, and then at the end of the summer they'd have to total up what they earned. They all read a ton. They like to read so it's an easy way for them to earn some summer money.
As they grew older, and all are fantastic readers, we decided the program should evolve a little. They started blogging for money a couple of summers ago. They get paid a penny a word. They blog, and at the end of the summer we grab all the blog posts and word count them in a word processor. Again, they are responsible for the tallying and they get paid.
We now have a limit on how much money you can earn by reading (it's $75) and no limit on what you can earn by writing. (Actually, the rule is apparently a little more subtle... After you earn $25 in blogging you can earn more by reading... Next summer it's going to be the simpler rule of 75 for reading and no limit for blogging.)
This summer, I decided that we should evolve the blogging program a little more and if you find a recipe, make it, and blog about it, you get $5 for that post. (You get $7 if you create a recipe and blog about it.) I like new recipes and I like the girls to cook. (We'll see if the payment stays as high for next summer.) So far, we've gotten a few new recipes. This post links to the first one this summer. Go Tia!
She does love tomatoes. She and Kira wanted a tomato soup. We tried one recipe last Thanksgiving, and I liked it, but the girls wanted something a little different. Here's what Tia found; she made it and they loved it. (It's a winner, all 5 of us like it!)
http://coalefinnsoftball.blogspot.com/2016/06/today-i-made-tomato-soup-with-my-nanny.html
This summer, we are doing our reading and writing program. The reading program started years ago, probably 6 or 7 years ago, and the girls would get paid a penny a page for reading. The books had to be at or above their reading level and they had to write the titles down, the name of the book, the number of pages, and then at the end of the summer they'd have to total up what they earned. They all read a ton. They like to read so it's an easy way for them to earn some summer money.
As they grew older, and all are fantastic readers, we decided the program should evolve a little. They started blogging for money a couple of summers ago. They get paid a penny a word. They blog, and at the end of the summer we grab all the blog posts and word count them in a word processor. Again, they are responsible for the tallying and they get paid.
We now have a limit on how much money you can earn by reading (it's $75) and no limit on what you can earn by writing. (Actually, the rule is apparently a little more subtle... After you earn $25 in blogging you can earn more by reading... Next summer it's going to be the simpler rule of 75 for reading and no limit for blogging.)
This summer, I decided that we should evolve the blogging program a little more and if you find a recipe, make it, and blog about it, you get $5 for that post. (You get $7 if you create a recipe and blog about it.) I like new recipes and I like the girls to cook. (We'll see if the payment stays as high for next summer.) So far, we've gotten a few new recipes. This post links to the first one this summer. Go Tia!
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