Sauteed Cabbage

I found this great recipe over here at Salads and Such.

I've never had cabbage cooked this way and I LOVE it!

I have a whole row of cabbage still in my garden

 so I will be cooking this dish more often!

Sauteed Cabbage

2 tablespoons clarified butter (I don't bother to clarify the butter.)

2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds

1/4 to 1/2 large Savoy cabbage, cored and thinly sliced (I use regular cabbage.)

Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1. Heat the clarified butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 to 45 seconds. Add the caraway seeds and toast lightly, stirring constantly until aromatic, about 30 to 45 seconds.

2. Add the cabbage and reduce heat to medium-low. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until soft and golden, about 10-15 minutes. Adjust seasonings and serve immediately.

Makes 4 servings.

Tasty Tuesday From My Garden

Sorry Tauna for showing off my garden veggies when you

haven't had decent weather to even plant your garden yet.

My Garden has done wonderful this year

compared to the last few years.

This salad was so easy.

Just boil your favorite pasta.

Drain and while it is still hot pour your favorite Italian dressing

over the top and stir it in and then let it continue to cool off.

Chop into small pieces your favorite garden veggies.

I was so excited to finally have broccoli grow in my garden.

I've planted it the last few years but have never had it bloom.

So I added my broccoli, yellow summer squash,

 green bell pepper, red onion, and cucumber.

The onion was the only thing I didn't grow.

Add the veggies to the cool pasta and then refrigerate

until cold. Enjoy!

 I've never had a tomato plant grow this big
so I had Anna stand beside it so we could tell how big it has gotten!

They haven't started turning red yet but this one will make

wonderful fried green tomatoes!

There are tomatoes just covering all 5 plants.

They have gotten so heavy they were falling over and so we have had to stake them qnd tie them up.

We have also had an abundant supply of cucumbers.

I've been making lots of zucchini bread.

10 loaves yesterday to give to my V/T sisters.

We never get tired of yellow squash cooked with Vidalia onions.

I also cooked a head of cabbage from my garden

yesterday but forgot to take a picture of it.

We have really enjoyed our fresh veggies and

feel very blessed to have had such a good garden this year.

Fried Okra

Ingredients
6 cups oil, for frying
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons House Seasoning, recipe follows
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 pounds fresh okra, sliced 1/2-inch thick
1/2 cup buttermilk
Directions
Heat oil in a large, heavy-bottomed skillet or Dutch oven to 350 degrees F. (You may not need to use this much oil; do not fill the pan more than halfway up the sides with oil.)

In a medium bowl, combine cornmeal, flour, House Seasoning, and cayenne pepper. Dip okra in buttermilk and then dredge in cornmeal-flour mixture to coat well. Carefully add okra to the hot oil and cook until golden brown. (It may be necessary to fry the okra in batches.) Remove from oil, drain on paper towels, and then serve immediately.


House Seasoning:
1 cup salt
1/4 cup black pepper
1/4 cup garlic powder
Mix ingredients together and store in an airtight container for up to 6 months.

Recipe courtesy of Paula Dean

I'm Only Missing Tomatoes

A visit to the Atlanta Farmers Market yielded

a 25 pound bag of sweet onions- $8.00

1 1/2 bushels of bell peppers $14.00.

Lots of other things too.

But the one thing I didn't get were the tomatoes

that I need to make salsa.

Hope to get them in the next few weeks from

Waycross, GA. You can pick a 5 gallon bucket

full for $6.00!

I am going to go ahead and chop the onions and

the bell peppers so that when I do get the tomatoes

it won't take that long to make the salsa.

My goal is to have more salsa than Tauna!

I'm sure she didn't know it was a competition.

Just kidding, Tauna.

I love the salsa I made this summer for the first time

and my goal is to have 365 jars of it so

that I have a jar a day for the next year.

Just kidding on that thought too!

I do tend to go a little over board when I like certain things

but I have already eaten all the salsa I put up in July.

Okra and Tomaotes

What to do with fresh okra?

I was given a mess of okra last week, oh what a gift!

I put it with the okra I had from my garden.

Then I sort of came up with this recipe.

~

In my head it started out somewhat like that great

Poppin Squash Recipe I got from

Katherine Mt Smokey Mt. Cafe.

But ended up differently but oh so yummy.

I've made this three times in the last couple of weeks.

Fry up a few pieces of bacon.

Remove bacon from pan, crumble and save for later.

Throw 2 cups chopped Vidalia onions (or sweet onion) and

saute until they start to get translucent.

Add two teaspoons minced garlic and cook a minute more.

Add 4 cups chopped okra and saute about 5 minutes.

If you have fresh tomatoes add 3 - 4 cups.

If not, use two or 3 cans of petite diced cans of tomatoes.

If you want to add little spice, add a can of Rotel tomatoes.

Add one or two tablespoons of sugar.

Add two chicken bullion cubes crumbled.

Stir all together and cook until okra is tender.

In another frying pan saute a pound or more smoked sausage.

Add bacon and sausage to tomatoes and okra.

Serve over a bed or rice!

I've been craving this everyday this week.

Zucchini

Friday Shoot Out

This weeks theme: Transition

I'm sure this a far stretch for the theme but this is all I could come up with this week.

Take fresh Zucchini

Slice it length wise.

Grill on both sides for 3-4 minutes.

Cover it with your favorite pasta sauce.

Sprinkle with your favorite cheese.

De~lish!!

Join us sometime soon. Click on the black camera above.

First Time

Tasty Tuesday

Homemade Salsa

12 cups skinned tomatoes

3 large onions diced in large chunks

( I use the sweet Vidalia onions)

6 large green peppers cut in large chunks

(I used 3 green and 3 red peppers)

4-5 hot peppers

(I only used 2)

1 & 1/2 cups 5% white vinegar

1/2 cup sugar

3 Tablespoons salt

1 Tablespoon black pepper

Combine all together and let simmer 3 1/2 to 4 hours.

Put clean jars in 200* oven for 1/2 hour.

This will keep them hot and sterilized.

Put lids in pan of water and boil.

Dip boiling salsa into hot jars.

Wipe rims and place hot lids on jar and

screw the on rings on tight.

Jars will seal as they cool.

This is the first time I've ever made it myself, she usually gives us some when she makes it.

This isn't to hot and a tad sweet

and we can eat a jar in one sitting.

I'm in love with it.

Recipe, thanks to my SIL, Sheri.

It's her mother Dora Froisland's family recipe.

Photo Hunt

Saturday Photo Hunt

This weeks theme ~ Free

These veggies were FREE to me.

Thankful to friends that share their bounties!

Tasty Tuesday

Look what I got yesterday.

Is that just not the best ever?

I'm so excited!

What a blessing it is to have gardening friends that share!

But it did remind me of the old saying:

In the summertime you should really keep your

car doors locked for fear that your neighbors will fill

up your back seat with all their extra zucchini.

I'll just go ahead and tell ya that if you have any

extra veggies that you don't want this summer

I'll be more than glad to take them off your hands!

~~~~

I love cookbooks.

I love reading recipes.

I love cooking blogs and I've been following

a few since I started blogging.

my favorites are:

Katherine at Smokey Mountain Cafe,

Prudy at Prudence Pennywise

Kate and Sara's Our Best Bites

What happens is, while I am reading the recipe and all the ingredients

I mentally check off each item.

When I have every thing to make that recipe in the house,

that's the recipe I usually end up making.

That's exactly what happened last week when I saw

what Katherine at Smoky Mountain Cafe had created.

I had everything except the sausage and that was

easy enough to run to the store and pick up.

So here is my version of her Poppin Squash Casserole!

For step by step pictures and instructions check her out here.

Poppin Squash Casserole

1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon of butter
Baby Bella mushrooms,couple of generous handfuls
1/2 lb. of sliced andouille sausage or your favorite smoked or spicy sausage
1 medium diced vidala (or yellow) onion
2 teaspoons of minced garlic
2 yellow (summer) squash
2 zucchini squash
1 can of Original Rotel Tomatoes and Green Chilies
salt to taste
Manchego or Monterrey Jack cheese
seasoned bread crumbs

Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and add1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil and on tablespoon of butter. Once the butter has melted, add a couple of generous handfuls of baby Bella mushrooms. Don't move them around too much, you want them to sear and turn golden brown very quickly. Once the mushrooms begin turning golden brown, add 1/2 lb. of sliced andouille sausage or your favorite smoked or spicy sausage.
Allow the sausage to cook for about 5 to 7 minutes then add in 1 medium diced vidala (or yellow) onion and saute until the onion becomes soft. Add 2 teaspoons of minced garlic, stir to thoroughly combine.
Peel and slice two yellow (summer) squash and two zucchini and add to the skillet.
Saute for another 5 minutes, you want the squash to brown slightly but not turn squishy.
Add in one can of Original Rotel Tomatoes and Green Chilies!
Stir to blend. Season with salt to taste.
Pour into a buttered casserole dish.
Top with Manchego or Monterrey Jack cheese and some seasoned bread crumbs. Bake at 350 degrees fro 30 minutes.

Thanks Katherine!

We loved it!!

Oh, and don't forget to drop down to the post below and sign up for my giveaway!

Home Grown

Perfect day for planting!

Thankful for sons who help their parents.

Tomatoes

yellow crook neck squash

zucchini

broccoli

cabbage

cucumbers

okra

That's all I have so far, I'm sure I'll throw something else in there before it's over with, yum!

Who knows?

I'm just not sure what to even call this post.

It's random.

Maybe I should call it life.

I'm in way over my head with life.

Let's start with Gizmo, "Mo" for short.

He is a Maine Coon. He weighs 26lbs.

He is the Sweethearts baby.

His last check up about two months ago, he was healthy as a horse and almost as big.

He's been on diet cat food since he was 2 years old.

It's not working! He's still big~boned.

Well...

he has started peeing on the bedroom carpet in Harrison's old room.
(Short of killing him, I've been thinking about sending him to live at the shop. Shop cat, that sounds good to me.)

We've been sleeping in that room while we remodel our bedroom to make it more handicap accessible for the Sweetheart.

So we decided that we would replace the carpet with tile.
As we were ripping up the carpet we found a surprise lurking beyond the baseboard and wall.

I was scared to death that it was termites.
Upon inspection I was relieved to know that it was not.
Only to find out that it was really Carpenter Ants.



They are extremely destructive!!


They make a really big mess.


After the treatment this is what we are left with.
Looks like, though, there is only two studs that have to be replaced as well as the insulation.
Once that is done we will but the sheet rock back up and then cover the whole wall with 4 inch bead board.
I'll be glad when that is all done.
November makes 30 years we have lived in this house.


We went ahead and had the tile laid yesterday.
This is James Young.
He lives in Waycross, GA.
He does and excellent job.
He has laid tile in the homes of both our boys and Christon's parents.
If you live in the area and need some tile work done, contact me for his phone number.

He came back today to grout the tile.
He was just getting started and you know what he said?
He asked me if I knew what a Tile Man's worst nightmare was??
Thinking this was a funny joke, I say "no what?"
His answer, "Black Grout"
Oh, I couldn't help but laugh.
Sorry James.
I chose Retro White tile with black grout.
You know me, I love black and white!

The second crop of tomatoes are in, in Waycross.

They are $6.00 a 5 gallon bucket full.

As James and his dad were laying the tile yesterday I was canning this vegetable soup.
Recipe, thanks to Connie again. I tell ya, she inspires me.

We talked all about canning and gardens and farms.

About an hour after he left yesterday he called and said that he and his wife were going to Maynard to pick tomatoes that evening and wanted to know if I wanted some??
HELLO! Yes! and thank you very much!
James only lives about 15 minutes from Maynard, where we get our tomatoes. He brought them this morning.
I'm having a tomato sandwich for lunch, yum!

Wasn't that about the nicest thing ever?

I start taking Photoshop for Photographers on Monday evening.
I'm excited.

I've got a lot going on and a lot to do.
So you might not see me around much in the next few weeks.

Wish me luck!

~

One more thing, it is a beautiful day here in south Georgia. Blue Sky's no clouds and 85*!

Friday Shoot Out: Gardens

Let's get started!

You had better have your hat.

Your gloves.

Garden shoes, (I've since gotten

some rubber water proof shoes)

And bug spray.

~~

"We use to have a Bat problem

around here until the Mosquitoes

ate them all." (I'll give you

a prize if you tell me what movie

that line came from and who said it?)

~~~

This is my garden and this is cabbage.

This is my first little tomato.

This is the 2nd cucumber.

This is the oldest GRAND~girl and she
picked the first cucumber.



She couldn't wait to tell Pop-Pop.
And then she wouldn't share. She
ate the whole thing right by herself.


I've been admiring these grapes
around the corner on Old Jesup road.


This is the corn right on the other
side of the grapes. I didn't
plant any corn :(

The Beach/Kirkland Garden

They always have such a great garden.

Are these bright orange or what??

All the flowers above were at the

Home Depot store.

Flowers at the drive thru

Chick~Fil~A.

This is my B.I.L., Anthony.

He is a Master Gardener.

His birthday was the May 6th.

All he wanted was a 6 prong pitch

fork. His sweet wife my sister,

Carla got him one and he was thrilled!

Happy Mother's Day to me!

Isn't this just to cool?

This is what I picked out

and the sweetheart bought it.

I just love that it stands up like
this. It makes it so much easier

to just rake or sweep up what

ever you want in the wheel barrow

instead of using the shovel.
~~~~~~~~~~

Well that's it for my Friday Shoot Out pictures of gardens and stuff. Hope you enjoy. I promise I'll get around to visiting everyones gardens as soon as I can catch up with myself :)

~~~~~~~~~

We sure would like it if you would join us some time in the Friday Shoot Out! Just let Reggie and Patty know you are joining and then let Gordon know also and he will add you to the blog roll!