No Doubts

If I had any doubts about the end of the main season garden, they were erased with the dawn.  We a record low temp this morning and it was just barely above 29 degrees F when I got up this morning at 6:15.  Brrr!!  So, after that, the garden is officially done. It didn't matter if anything was covered, it was frozen.  I even had to wait for a clump of ice to clear the hose this morning when I went to water the chickens.  This is such odd weather.  We don't usually get temperatures like this until sometime in mid to late October. Global weirding strikes again.
I thought I'd share a few photos of my Manic Monday (and last night)

Last night's dinner- affectionately known as Zombie Smush.  It's really enchilada casserole made with blue corn tortillas.  It's built like lasagna: layers of tortillas, a mix of corn, chili beans & hamburger and cheese. With enchilada sauce poured over all.  (for a vegetarian version, just leave out the hamburger)

The blue corn tortillas make it totally gross looking but it tastes fabulous.  And the boys love to eat it.

The tomatoes have come full circle.  I've got green tomatoes ripening on my seed starting racks, nestled in flats.  They end where they began.  Somehow fitting.
And what's a girl to do on her day off when she can't play in the garden and has TONS of salvaged peppers?

Make fire roasted peppers, of course!  After a frosty morning, it turned into a lovely day- a bit windy but not too bad. It was too windy to fire up the grill on the deck so I  worked in the little 'porch' under the deck by the back door.  Sheltered enough from the wind but still enough air circulation that I didn't get smoked out.
And... I'm sure that none of you, nor I, have any personal experience from our misspent youth to be able to answer this question but I'm going to ask it anyway:  Did you ever notice that chiles on the grill smell kind of like pot?  Just a thought.  Not that I know what it would smell like from college days......
The peppers got chopped and frozen into little recipe sized packages.  While I had the grill hot I also grilled a few eggplants.  One I had for lunch and the others I made into little single serving faux eggplant parmesan casseroles:  grilled eggplant layered with roasted peppers, cheese and tomato sauce.  I had one for my Meatless Monday tonight while the guys had spaghetti.  And I've got more tucked into the freezer for later.  Hmm, I've finally got a use for all those little pyrex dishes from college that I've been lugging around for 20 years.
And finally...

the pathetic end of the garden.  If the weather is nice, next weekend I'll probably pull everything except the broccoli, fennel and kale and put the garden to bed for the winter.  Of course, we probably have enough warm weather left that if I till now maybe a bunch of weeds will sprout only to get frozen off, Mwahahaha....

So, with the end of the garden season and only straggling tomatoes inside it looks like I'll be able to get started on quilting season early this year.

Pizza night!

Sorry, no photos though.
I had some pizza sauce left over from my canning exploits over the weekend so we decided to try it out.   Tonight was pizza night.  A pepperoni pizza with homemade sauce for the boys (and for V).  Plus, I made an experimental pizza for me.  Justine would have loved it!  One more thing to miss her for.
I roasted eggplant, tomatoes, sweet italian peppers, onion and garlic in the oven until tender and a little caramelized.  I pulled off the peels and tossed it all in the blender with a few black olives, some fresh basil and oregano and pureed the whole mess.  I used it as the sauce on a pizza crust, topped it with parmesan and an italian blend of cheeses, sprinkled it with a tuscan herb blend.  Fabulous!  Wonderful for a meatless Monday.  I had some left so I've now got enough for two more pizzas in the freezer for later.
Otherwise, the tomatoes are winding down. I've got a bit of sauce on the stove cooling.  We'll eat some this week and I'll freeze the rest.  There isn't enough to bother firing up the canner.

Not much else going on.

A Meatless Monday success!

Woo Hoo!  Finally, something new and vegetarian that both boys actually LIKED!  Mark the date on the calendar!!

Of course, it isn't that far of a stretch from things we've had before.  But still different.

Cheddar Spoonbread

from Mollie Katzen's The Enchanted Broccoli Forest

I know- not the best photo but I wanted to get it before it fell.

Of course, next time I make it, there will be a few tweaks.  I actually followed the recipe.  (insert gasp of horror here)  It wasn't difficult but made lots of dirty dishes.  And it needs hot peppers!  and onions....  And I don't actually OWN a souffle dish.  It also made a HUGE amount so maybe I'll have to see about cutting down the recipe.  Of course, if I had a bigger dish....  I used two casserole dishes and it turned out fine.  We only ate one and have an entire other dish left over.  I'm thinking breakfast??

Here's the recipe if you want to try it.  My take on the instructions ;)

Cheddar Spoonbread

6 eggs, separated and at room temperature

2 cups milk

2 Tablespoons butter

3 cups fresh corn (I used frozen and it worked fine, I just drained off part of the juice)

1/2 teaspoon salt (it could have used more)

1 1/2 cups yellow corn meal

1 1/2 cups packed, shredded cheddar

(I also added in some fresh ground black pepper and cayenne)

Preheat oven to 400*F and butter a medium souffle dish (or any other fairly straight sided casserole dish)

Bring the milk to just under boiling in a small pan (scald it) and remove from heat.

In a deep skillet or medium saucepan, saute the corn in the butter for a few minutes. (here is where I would add the peppers and onions)

Add the cornmeal to the corn and continue to stir and saute them together for about 5 minutes.

Slowly add the hot milk into the corn mixture and stir.  Remove from heat and pour into a large bowl.  Stir in the cheese and beat in the egg yolks.  Let cool to room temperature.

While this is cooling, beat the egg whites until stiff.  Fold them into the cornmeal mixture as well as possible without deflating the egg whites. Transfer to the souffle dish and pop it into the 400F oven.  Immediately turn the temp down to 375 and bake 35 to 40 minutes.  Serve immediately before it falls.

It was an interesting combination of textures.  The souffle part made it quite light while the cornmeal gave it a lovely crispy crunch and the sweet corn was just that. 

Even my non-adventurous eaters liked it.  Hooray!!  This is definitely a keeper recipe- with tweaks next time.