I'm not complaining you understand, but Summer just seems to be lingering on in a very hot way! I'm tired of all this heat...can't we get some moderation, like 80 during the day and 65 at night? Oh, add gentle breezes and a little rain during a few evenings, please.
I know, it was just a few months ago we were wanting this heat, but does it have to be so oppressive just because we wanted it? We're never satisfied.
Our little experiment in animal husbandry is really showing results now! Johnny is collecting as many as 17 eggs a day from the first hens to mature...and most of those are in one box only! It happens to be the first box they come to for selecting a nice cozy place to lay their eggs...so they're either just as lazy as we humans or get stuck in ruts like we do too..hehe. Remember, on your visit over here you can buy farm-fresh eggs at only $1.50 a dozen...and they're really brown too.
The garden has produced phenomenally this summer. We've put up so much tomato, bean and squash that our freezers are all full to the brim. Now I'm turning the tomatoes into sauce and canning it.
We had some friends over last week and Johnny cooked out hamburgers and hot dogs. I sliced some of the heirloom tomatoes to use for the burgers and several were surprised at the variety of colors that 'real' tomatoes can produce. There were deep red, light orange and bright yellow slices to choose from. To confirm to one guest that they were really tomatoes we had grown I had to wander him down to the back 40 to let him see them hanging on the plants! We even found one of the fully ripe green/yellow striped cuties that really blew his mind. For me, it was old hat...but following him around and cruising his cute butt was my enjoyment for the trip...grrr!
Since it has been so hot we've really tried our best to avoid cooking for the last few weeks. One recipe we use all the time is for what we call
TOMATO HASH
Take as many or as few tomatoes as you feel will feed your crowd and chop them into chunks about ½ inch in size. Save the drippings they produce, and the seeds too. In the bowl with them, chop a handful of fresh basil – you could roll it into a cigarette shape on the cutting board and then slice the resulting doobie into thin slices (called chiffonade by the French) and add them to the tomatoes. Add a chopped onion and a little chopped garlic if you'd like.
Mix the whole thing together and top it with bottled Italian dressing – the one you love best. You could make your own but since we're avoiding work here use the bottled.
Give it a taste and add sea salt and freshly ground pepper to your liking.
Serve in a bowl alongside whatever easy stuff you've put together for your meal. If you are grilling out, this makes a tasty different topping for your burgers too. Or, if you drain off the juices it will work great spread liberally on grilled sliced French bread that you first sprinkle with a little good olive oil.
It would be a good start for a gazpacho too, but that I'll save for another column.
NOTE: Make sure you get your veggies from the Farmer's Market. The stuff you buy from the grocery generally was picked green and gassed in the truck to turn red as it was traveling across the country from wherever. Besides, going to the Farmer's Market gives you the opportunity to cruise the farmer, ogle his hunky son, or lust over his beautiful daughter. Remember?
We're diligently working on revitalizing the Athens AIDS Task Force and it is progressing. We now have a web page – www.athensaidstaskforce.org – and from there you can click on the donations button to help out. Remember, a few bucks goes a long way when we're helping our brothers and sisters in need! I know this column goes primarily to WV, but AATF is right next door and serves all of the counties from next to Wheeling down along the river to Pomeroy – home to lots of us bears and cubs.
And, see you this Friday night at Woodstarr in Parkersburg for another Terry Urban and WVA'S sponsored fund raiser...for Athens AIDS Task Force this time – good times, lots of friends, and a place to get your supply of condoms that we'll be passing out. Please join us.
Hey, you all have an open invitation to wander over the border into Ohio and visit our little acre of 'fun' – send me an email. We call it Dust Bunny Farm -since we seem to have lots of them around the house...hehe.
Keep on eating well, and hugs to all of you from the cub and the old daddy bear.
I'm not complaining you understand, but Summer just seems to be lingering on in a very hot way! I'm tired of all this heat...can't we get some moderation, like 80 during the day and 65 at night? Oh, add gentle breezes and a little rain during a few evenings, please.
I know, it was just a few months ago we were wanting this heat, but does it have to be so oppressive just because we wanted it? We're never satisfied.
Our little experiment in animal husbandry is really showing results now! Johnny is collecting as many as 17 eggs a day from the first hens to mature...and most of those are in one box only! It happens to be the first box they come to for selecting a nice cozy place to lay their eggs...so they're either just as lazy as we humans or get stuck in ruts like we do too..hehe. Remember, on your visit over here you can buy farm-fresh eggs at only $1.50 a dozen...and they're really brown too.
The garden has produced phenomenally this summer. We've put up so much tomato, bean and squash that our freezers are all full to the brim. Now I'm turning the tomatoes into sauce and canning it.
We had some friends over last week and Johnny cooked out hamburgers and hot dogs. I sliced some of the heirloom tomatoes to use for the burgers and several were surprised at the variety of colors that 'real' tomatoes can produce. There were deep red, light orange and bright yellow slices to choose from. To confirm to one guest that they were really tomatoes we had grown I had to wander him down to the back 40 to let him see them hanging on the plants! We even found one of the fully ripe green/yellow striped cuties that really blew his mind. For me, it was old hat...but following him around and cruising his cute butt was my enjoyment for the trip...grrr!
Since it has been so hot we've really tried our best to avoid cooking for the last few weeks. One recipe we use all the time is for what we call
TOMATO HASH
Take as many or as few tomatoes as you feel will feed your crowd and chop them into chunks about ½ inch in size. Save the drippings they produce, and the seeds too. In the bowl with them, chop a handful of fresh basil – you could roll it into a cigarette shape on the cutting board and then slice the resulting doobie into thin slices (called chiffonade by the French) and add them to the tomatoes. Add a chopped onion and a little chopped garlic if you'd like.
Mix the whole thing together and top it with bottled Italian dressing – the one you love best. You could make your own but since we're avoiding work here use the bottled.
Give it a taste and add sea salt and freshly ground pepper to your liking.
Serve in a bowl alongside whatever easy stuff you've put together for your meal. If you are grilling out, this makes a tasty different topping for your burgers too. Or, if you drain off the juices it will work great spread liberally on grilled sliced French bread that you first sprinkle with a little good olive oil.
It would be a good start for a gazpacho too, but that I'll save for another column.
NOTE: Make sure you get your veggies from the Farmer's Market. The stuff you buy from the grocery generally was picked green and gassed in the truck to turn red as it was traveling across the country from wherever. Besides, going to the Farmer's Market gives you the opportunity to cruise the farmer, ogle his hunky son, or lust over his beautiful daughter. Remember?
We're diligently working on revitalizing the Athens AIDS Task Force and it is progressing. We now have a web page – www.athensaidstaskforce.org – and from there you can click on the donations button to help out. Remember, a few bucks goes a long way when we're helping our brothers and sisters in need! I know this column goes primarily to WV, but AATF is right next door and serves all of the counties from next to Wheeling down along the river to Pomeroy – home to lots of us bears and cubs.
And, see you this Friday night at Woodstarr in Parkersburg for another Terry Urban and WVA'S sponsored fund raiser...for Athens AIDS Task Force this time – good times, lots of friends, and a place to get your supply of condoms that we'll be passing out. Please join us.
Hey, you all have an open invitation to wander over the border into Ohio and visit our little acre of 'fun' – send me an email. We call it Dust Bunny Farm -since we seem to have lots of them around the house...hehe.
Keep on eating well, and hugs to all of you from the cub and the old daddy bear.