Thursday, May 31, 2012

From our garden....

Here we are at May 31 already!  It seems as though the year is passing quickly!  Perhaps the way our warmer weather this spring has advanced the growing season has something to do with that.  At any rate, I am sharing more from our garden today.

Zucchini on Monday morning.
Another one on the vine.

Later on Monday morning, we harvested these zucchini, and I sliced and roasted them for lunch.  Each day has brought more.  This is the first year they have been ready before the yellow squash, and we are still waiting for them!

A full basket!

We have more than a dozen zucchini now, just waiting to be changed into something delectable.  I'll try to remember to photograph and let you see how we use them.

Also in the basket in the picture above is the largest beet we have ever seen!!  Somehow it was overlooked in the garden from last fall's planting.  Others have been harvested that were not near this size!  We enjoy Harvard Beets, made from a recipe in Betty Crocker's Dinner for Two from the late-sixties.

HARVARD BEETS
1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
dash of pepper
1/3 cup liquid (beet juice plus water to make 1/3 cup)
1 1/2 teaspoons vinegar
1 can (8 oz.) diced beets, drained (1 cup)

- Mix cornstarch, sugar, salt, and pepper in saucepan.  Combine beet liquid and vinegar; slowly blend into cornstarch mixture.  Place over medium heat and bring to boil; boil 1 minutes.  Add beets and heat through.  Two servings.

We, of course, didn't need to use canned beets.  We were able to use the liquid from our initial cooking of the beets, and that has worked very well for us.  In past years we have also made pickled beets.  I know beets are not popular with everyone, but perhaps some of you enjoy them.

Thank you so much for following along.  I really enjoy your comments.

Next post - King of our castle....

10 comments:

  1. Food, from your own garden. It doesn't get much better than this!!!

    "To read a writer
    is for me
    not merely to get an idea of what he says,
    but to go off with him
    and travel in his company."

    ~~Andre Gide

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  2. Me, I have all my chicks gone from the nest so I don't cook much and I live on the edge of the Greenbelt so deer and antelope play (and eat the garden when I had one). Raccoons, foxes and coyotes too. :-))) SO I just have a container garden and one tomato plant..half of which tomatoes I give away though I eat one a day when they ripen, and one red bell pepper plant. But it's fun.

    All we have here for soil is chard and clay :-)))

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  3. beautiful harvesting from your garden, that beet was a real prize!

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  4. I love zucchini! Steamed, batter dipped and fried or made into bread or cake. I hope my son in law's brother has some in his garden that he will share this year.

    The beet is awesome! I have to confess though that I had too many beets when I was growing up and they are not a favorite.

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  5. I do love beets!!! I found my last jar hidden in the back of the fridge. I had a couple and then the next morning I found the empty jar. My daughter loves them too. :) That is a huge beet.
    Your squash looks so pretty. I could eat it right now, nothing better than eating out of the garden.

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  6. Well, I have to say that I'm among the ones who do not enjoy beets. It's not so much the flavor, but the texture that bothers me. My hubby does like them, though, and I have a can in the pantry that I should get out and fix for him with your recipe. Thanks for sharing that with us! You will do many wonderful things with your zucchini, too, and I look forward to hearing about those adventures as well! :-)

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  7. I love that you are already gathering from your garden. We are just getting our seeds and plants in here. My father LOVED Harvard beets! xo Diana

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  8. I love zucchini, I like it just about any way possible but especially love it grilled.

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  9. Wow, my little bit of garden is just bared sprouted out to the true leaves. Enjoy all your summer produce. Have a great weekend, Connie :)

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  10. Love fresh veggies from the garden

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