Sunday Kitchen!

Here we are again! Another Sunday evening and lots of kitchen chores done. I didn't get things underway until noon so not as much this week.

5 pints of organic peach sauce for pancakes, waffles, and ice cream, 3 pints of apple butter made with organic honey crisps, Chocolate chip pecan cookies, and a pear cranberry galette.

Dinner was incredible. I had two 1" thick rib-eyes which I poked with a fork and marinated with soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, garlic and capers. Seared them in butter in a hot cast iron skillet on high heat(with the capers I fished out of the marinade) for about 4-5 minutes on both sides, covered and turned down the heat while I made potato pancakes from left-over mashed with onions, garlic, egg, flour, salt, pepper, and grated parm, and a side of steamed asparagus, tender-crisp. The steaks were perfectly medium well and tender. Tasted incredible!

Saved some of each steak (they were 3/4 lb. ea.) Tomorrow night they will be sliced and sauteed with sliced baby bellas and onions. Have a couple of potato cakes and some asparagus left so easy dinner on a Monday night.

Time to put my feet up and read before nodding off to sleep.

Hope everyone had a delicious weekend! :hi:

I had an easy day. Neighborhood potluck this afternoon, so I made an apple pie, a peach-raspberry pie, and a big potato salad. It's sure fun to see what people bring. Some things harken back to classic Americana, but then there are some things like caprese salad and tiramisu that reflect more recent trends.

I have no pie left, but I did manage to keep out some potato salad for later.

My neighbor is making catsup and grape juice tonight from the garden. And I saw the chickens that live across the street. They are getting about half a dozen fresh aigs daily from the hens at this point. One variety of chicken allegedly lays blue eggs, and I hope to see one of those.

You still spent plenty of time and energy on your projects. I bet those pies were the talk of the pot luck. Peach raspberry sounds incredible!

The chickens are likely Aracaunas. Otherwise known as Easter Eggers. :hi:

Macs, Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, and two other kinds I don't know but they are red and round and have a softer, whiter flesh--good for sauce.

Apples apples everywhere. I made an apple sheet cake this afternoon. Will make applesauce next. And another apple-type coffeecake next weekend for a brunch I'm hosting. Apple bread made with shredded apples. Let's see, what else? I can do pie, but making crust is a bit of a hassle. I'd rather throw together an apple crisp.

In other news, I finally got around to using Artisan bread dough for homemade pizza. It's good! It makes a thicker crust than the one I usually make and it was well received around here. I topped the pizzas with oven roasted tomatoes and some fresh basil from my garden. Having the dough in the fridge ready to roll out makes for a fast Sunday night supper.

I bought some nice looking peaches at the store; they smelled good. But one bite told me I'd been ripped off! They were starchy and not very sweet or juicy. So I cut them up and put some sugar on it to make a syrup. I think I'll use your peach sauce idea and throw them in the food processor tomorrow. Serves them right!

I would so love to have a fruit tree or two. Maybe in a few years or so when the sand plums we planted mature and bear fruit. We'll see. Apple sheet cake sounds wonderful, as does all the rest of it! Yum!

Some of the peaches I bought were okay and others were not. The nots got fed to the chickens. It is past peach time, really.

So glad the Ain5 is working as a pizza dough for you. It is pretty handy. If you add some semolina to it, it tastes incredible as a pizza dough. And your toppings sound delicious.

Your family no doubt appreciates all the effort you put into everything!

We got here in November and I thought they were fruit trees of some kind but had to wait until summer to find out. I was hoping at least one would be a pear, but no--just these different kinds of apples. We have way too many apples--they lie on the ground and deer come and eat them. Also squirrels, bees, wasps and ants. We gave up trying to spray them, so just put up with the spots and cut them out when using.

Family will be visiting this weekend; I'll invite them to help themselves.

having enough that you can share with the local wildlife rather than fighting to get enough for yourself before they eat it all. LOL And good on you for no more spraying! That is FANTASTIC!! :thumbsup:

They were small but bounteous this year. I did about 3 Quarts :wow: of sauce and made 5 Quick Breads with the fruit and almonds. I still have about a Bushel left to peel today. I don't like them much in pie because this batch has a very bland flavor. They've been great in quick breads where you don't mind the stronger taste of cinnamon and vanilla. I may do muffins today and use all white flour. I'm finding the half whole wheat may be a little too over powering for such a delicate tasting fruit.

I also did a pork roast for pulled pork sammies. (99 cents a pound--how could you resist), Made some burgers and sausage balls for the freezer and made a batch of green chili sauce.

It was busy here yesterday....I slept well. (Well eating some of my labor contributed a great deal to that as well....When will I ever learn about those fricken carbs from wheat!)

in the muffins if you can. When I get home tonight I have a recipe bookmarked for a great pear ginger muffin with whole wheat, if you would like it. :hi:

I'll pick up some ginger when I'm out and about today.

two recipes that you can hybridize:

http://recipes.howstuffworks.com/gingerbread-pear-muffins-recipe.htm

http://www.recipezaar.com/whole-wheat-ginger-orange-muffins-374025

:hi:

Do tell.

I've never really made it before but they had really reasonably priced Hatch Chili's at the grocer. I asked the butcher lady (who is from New Mexico)what to do. She went into a long drawn out explanation about roasting them on the grill and throwing them on damp bed sheets. I listened but was a little afraid to ask for her sauce recipe. She did however give me some free spice rub for my pork roast :bounce:

Anyhoo...I roasted them in the oven and threw them in the saran covered bowl to blister. Peeled them and threw them in a pot with some sauteed celery and onion. Chopped up the Roasted Hatch peppers and also a fading Poblamo from the fridge and cooked it down with some water and Organic Better than Bouillon. Also added in about 4 good sized cloves of garlic.

I don't know if it's authentic without the bedsheet...but it's pretty good!

The garden here is LOADED with peppers. They aren't a poblano, nor are they an anaheim. I'm going to have to ask about them. Hmm... a damp bed sheet? Those southwesterners! Peppers in the bed sheets!

It's my go to flavor for most of the new things I need broth for. It's a tad on the salty side but what bouillon isn't. I just didn't have any stock around.

your elbows this weekend, too! Sounds really good! :hi:

I visited them at their new home in Portland. They thought they were apples at first! She says to me, "they're good but they're so juicy!" I said, "they taste like pears." and then it struck her--of course, they were Asian pears and she'd seen them at Trader Joe's. I wasn't familiar with them before that, but we collected some and made some nice salads and things with them. Some went to the ants, unfortunately. She kept waiting for them to turn red! The tree is maybe 7 or 8 feet high.

I love my Italian Plum tree a lot but the Asian Pear has been a steady producer for many years. Some years the fruit is larger and more flavorful than this year but I never have problems making use of the fruit even if I just cook it down for sauce. It far surpasses my pear and apple trees in quantity. Now I just started two fig trees this year so it may have some competition in the future for favored tree status.

The teenagers ate them for snacks. One tree makes a LOT of those things.

You grow such interesting things and I can't grow more than hair in my NJ apt.

:-(

But you know what? There's probably a farmer's market near you where you can at least get fresh stuff.

And in NJ you have those fabulous tomatoes I've always heard about. Can you get them?

I grew up around Newark and we always had the finest tastiest tomatoes growing in our yard. Everyone grew tomatoes ....We joked it was the aerosol fertilizer cocktail from the dumps in the Meadowlands and the chemical refineries around the airport. I swear there were days when the air was green and not the good kind. Plus we also had the mosquito man going around every week spraying the neighborhood ...God I loved how that smelled...seriously :hide:

REally?

We were all so innocent (and ignorant)

But you all seem to have so much fun growing your own veggies.

where you can plant some basil and tomatoes in containers, at least? :hug:

:(

Are you allowed to put plants out there if they don't take up too much space or is that against fire regs? I'm ignorant about such things.

It's facing east and it's at the back of the bldg., so it can't be seen from the street.

but not impossible. Most tomatoes require full sun but here's one I found that can take to partial sun:

http://www.seedsofchange.com/garden_center/product_details.aspx?item_no=S14172

While I'm thinking that a western exposure would be better, for as little as it costs, it might be worth a try.

And this popular variety of basil says it will take partial sun, too:

http://www.seedsofchange.com/garden_center/product_details.aspx?item_no=PS15506

You might want to do some research and see if there are other varieties that might work or even different veggies you might want to try other than these.

I think a few plants, if they do well in that environ, would give you a sense of accomplishment even if you can't plant a whole garden.

I wish you luck if you decide to give it a whirl next year. :hug:

Pity summer is almost over and it will soon be too cold to plant anything.

Thanks again!!!

:hi:

Check out if you can snag a spot now as they go fast in urban areas. I've also seen folks advertise on Craig's list for garden space or ask around the neighborhood and find a Senior who needs some gardening help in exchange for space.

I don't know what kind of building you are in but do you have a roof? You might want to ask around your building to see if there are any others interested in roof gardening.

:thumbsup:

I never thought of asking in the neighborhood about a PeaPatch. The roof is out of the question because it's dangerous (it doesn't have much of a wall or railing).

Thanks again for the great advice.

:-)

If that's possible, then maybe it's possible to grow veggies indoors in pots. I honestly don't know.

But I don't have that kind of space in my apt. LOL!!

:D

If I had the energy, I would duplicate it next Sunday in my own kitchen.

So maybe I can do one or two of your items. Hmm, which ones should I choose? :)


Cher

And as far as energy, that wouldn't take much out of you. I haven't been doing this much right out of the starting gate, I've had to work up to it. A little at a time as you can manage it is definitely the way to go. :hug: