Summer's End

I love to grow my own veggies and herbs over the summer. The rewards of a garden are so diverse and fulfilling that I'm definitely going to keep this hobby going as long as I possibly can, even after I "grow up" (i.e. move out, when I have to!) - containers in an apartment, herb pots on the counter, anything! This summer brought not only me but my family and Andrew an insane amount of healthy, pesticide-free, (mostly) heirloom vegetables! We also gained an immense amount of respect for the sheer power that nature has over the quality (not to mention quantity!) of the budding veggies and fruits. The summer was filled with long, hot, stick yourself in the freezer days coupled with inevitable bring-the-house-down thunderstorms, and while the tomatoes loved that treatment, we had a few casualties too...

If you've ever had a garden of your own before (or known someone who did) you undoubtedly have heard stories of giant zucchinis emerging, some of which are larger than a toddler (and others which travel buckled in!). I was really looking forward to dealing with the bounty this year, since I had marked down a couple delicious sounding snacks and meals to make with the leftovers (and, if you do have an abundance, take a look at this recipe... I'm so jealous!). Alas, by early July, we knew that there would be no summer squash on our table this year. Both our zucchini and cucumber vines began to wither, shrivel and turn yellow, and the tiny fruits that had begun to grow started to turn black and mould. Sigh. I guess the cucumber pickles that I grew dill for are out of the question too!

Thankfully, I'm fortunate enough to have a pretty decent number of options when it comes to buying locally farmed and grown produce. Not only do I have an array of farms and farmer's markets within spitting distance of me, but our supermarket chains have finally started to take notice of what our local producers have to offer. In fact, a few days ago I had Charlie Kondek (who represents an ad firm for Loblaws) send me a link to one of their most recent info spots on TV (this one specifically pertaining to Ontario, though they have the others here), and I thought I'd post it here for those who want to see a bit of my backyard!

This particular farmer, Phil Tregunno, is also a major employer in Ontario during harvest season. Hand picking is a lot of work, and 100 supplementary employees throw themselves into the challenge every year. The result is piles and piles of peaches and plums in the store that taste as good as those from the farm, with less driving! You can find out more about your local supply farms here.

Zucchini and cucumbers notwithstanding, we were very lucky this year to get as much as we did (and are still) from our garden. What better way to say farewell to the throes of Summer gardening than with a big, hearty breakfast before (or a restful lunch after) reaping the last harvest? Thanks to Foodland Ontario for the original idea - it's a delicious, filling and completely customizable recipe! I'm also sending this off to NoobCook, who is hosting Andrea's event Grow Your Own... between the red pepper, chives and tomatoes in this dish it's full of homegrown goodness!

Garden Eggs in Spuds
Serves 4
4 medium-large Russet baking potatoes, scrubbed
PAM or cooking spray
2 button mushrooms, sliced
1/4 cup diced red pepper
1 Roma tomato, diced
8 egg whites
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 tbsp minced chives
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/3 cup shredded low-fat Cheddar cheese

1. Pierce potatoes 3-4 times with a fork or skewer.
2. Place in microwave, cook on HI for 15 minutes, or until soft. Allow to cool slightly.
3. Slice potatoes in half and scoop out half the flesh from each half, reserving for later use if desired.
4. Microwave empty shells 3 minutes longer.
5. Preheat broiler, and place potato shells on a non-stick baking sheet.
6. Heat a non-stick frypan sprayed with cooking spray over medium-high heat.
7. Add mushrooms, red pepper and tomato.
8. Cook 5 minutes, stirring, until tomato liquid has mostly evaporated and the vegetables are softening.
9. Beat together egg whites, salt, pepper, chives, garlic powder and onion powder.
10. Pour into frypan and cook, stirring, until eggs are mostly set (they should still be a bit runny).
11. Divide egg mixture between the potato shells and top with Cheddar cheese.
12. Broil 4-5 minutes, until cheese has melted and begun to crisp. Serve immediately.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 234.0
Total Fat: 0.9 g
Cholesterol: 1.8 mg
Sodium: 177.7 mg
Total Carbs: 42.1 g
Dietary Fiber: 5.5 g
Protein: 15.2 g

The last bit of random news for today is about school - see this photo?? That's chapter one of my $120 college math textbook. Yes... the title is "Using the Calculator". Hmm... my tuition dollars at work?

Weirdness

Okay, I'm sorry if I sound mean here, but when you go to school, especially a post-secondary one, should your teachers not be at a higher level of knowledge than you? After all, you are paying through the nose for the sheer "honour" of attending their classes (not to mention the books!). I'm going there to learn. Not teach. Sigh.

So what's the deal? Well, apparently my computing teacher struggles with running a jump-drive and relies way too much on our shabby school e-mail service for class projects... when it failed on Tuesday we got to waste 20 minutes while she tried to figure out how possibly to get all of our student e-mail addresses. Eventually, I tore out a sheet of paper, grabbed a pen, and started a list old school style. The look on the prof's face was priceless. Go problem solving!

The other incident was less of a problem and more of a semantics issue, I think (or hope!). My core course (Food Services) professor mentioned yesterday the need to tell a "strict vegan who doesn't wear or use any animal products and attends PETA rallies" to eat a couple eggs every day to boost protein intake. Umm... eggs? Do they not come from an animal, namely a CHICKEN?? You know, cluckety cluck?? I rolled my eyes and caught the glance of my friend, who just shook her head. Ooooh, boy.

Ah well. The first week is over. Thank God... I forgot why people hated school!

The other weird thing that happened this week was the result of my stepbrother. After my mom made cabbage rolls, we still had a bigger than Jupiter cabbage in our cold-storage room (it didn't fit in the fridge). While wolfing down his share of the rolls on Tuesday, Dan asked my mom to make cabbage soup one night this week. I was flabbergasted. The carnivore, meat, potato and ramen noodle boy asking for a vegan, pasta-less soup? I think my mom decided to seize the opportunity while it was still on the table (so to speak), and started to dig through her cookbooks for a decent recipe. The only request from Dan was that it needed to be spicy. Not "add a couple grinds of pepper" spicy - more "add as much pepper and Tabasco as we have in the house" spicy. Not wanting to blow their heads off, though, my mom comprimised, taking two different cookbook recipes (one German, one Polish) and adding four different types of pepper instead of a ton of one specific kind (which would have been paprika from the Polish version). A big Vidalia onion, some celery and a jar of home-canned stewed tomatoes rounded out the shreds of cabbage and added some interesting flavour to the spiced broth (with mustard powder from the German recipe) too.
This soup, basic as it seems, is so delicious that I could easily eat it every day for lunch (I'd stir in some kidney beans for protein, though, if making it a full meal). It stores wonderfully, getting better as it sits, and is filling, low-calorie, and full of cancer-fighting vitamins and cruciferous veggies!

Peppery Cabbage Soup
Serves 10, 2 cups per serving
1 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, diced
1 rib celery, diced
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, minced
5 cloves garlic, minced
12 cups water
3 cups vegetable broth
1 tsp salt, or to taste
1 1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp mustard powder
1 large head green cabbage, chopped
19 oz stewed tomatoes

1. In a very large pot, heat oil.
2. Saute onion, celery and peppers 6-7 minutes.
3. Add garlic, cook 1 minute more.
4. Stir in water, broth, salt, pepper, paprika, and mustard powder. Bring to a boil.
5. Add cabbage and tomatoes, reduce heat to a simmer.
6. Cook 40 minutes, uncovered.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 75.6
Total Fat: 1.9 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 442.7 mg
Total Carbs: 14.2 g
Dietary Fiber: 4.1 g
Protein: 2.8 g

One Last Hurrah

This is me pretending that I'm up with the times! I know that the Labour Day long weekend is long over *sob* but I did so much over the course of it that I couldn't say it all at once - I'm just too lazy, and given the shaky state of my wireless connection I'd probably lose 3/4 of my post if I did! So, the easy way it is!

The Labour Day weekend always reminds me of BBQs and family gatherings, which is weird since I don't think I've been to one on Labour Day in a long time, if ever! Usually it's spent in a mix of lazy, casual morning and early afternoon lulls and the sudden oh my God school's tomorrow panic that comes on the Monday night. This weekend, like all the others I remember, was devoid of a "get together" style of BBQ (though corn and burgers were cooked up on Sunday night), but filled with more than it's fair share of work! Apparently "time off" is code for "do your other work" in the real world, so other work it was!

The most major event of this past Labour Day was moving my dad and Martha into their new house on Saturday. I immediately took over the kitchen organization tasks (cue Andrew... "you always take over!") and together with Andrew, my sister and my grandma we got the whole thing sorted. The best part about his new house: GAS STOVE!! Very very awesome. I can't wait to get cooking on it!

Sunday was less work-intensive, outwardly. Our search for good enough weather to golf in (a belated birthday gift to Andrew) was answered overly so: we had a gorgeous, warm, sunny and non-humid morning and we took full advantage! 9 holes didn't quite tire us out (or over heat us) enough, though, so Andrew and I went out to the backyard thing that's taking over the yard garden and spent an hour picking. And picking. And picking!

The patio table was a sea of red. When the two "adults" of the household did return (apparently the way home from the course involved a side trip westward to a golf shop) they were pretty much beyond words at the immense amount we had. Hot peppers, sweet peppers, carrots, beets, beans! Tomatoes, too, you know, in case you couldn't tell...

I'm pretty sure any spare time I have next weekend is going to be spent drying more of these suckers. It's a good thing, though, 'cause we've been mowing through the previous batches! I'll just have to remember to save a bag or two for winter, and not gobble these down too!

Is This the Best of the US?

Sometimes I have to wonder about the "best of" or the "must-do" lists out there. For instance, this most recent one that I spotted on Slashfood last Friday. Keeping with the theme of the "100 lists" spotted all over the food blogging world (and done here too), Emily Matchar created the top hundred must-eat foods in the U.S.A. Though she does specify that it's an overtly subjective list, I'm personally not so sure about some of them being "must-eats"... more cult favourites in my book. What the heck - you know I'm doing this one anyway!

The rules for this one are the same as for the previous lists - bold for ones I've done, struckout for ones I'm not doing in this lifetime, plain for ones I need to do and linked for a description of some of the weirder (or more location-specific) ones.

Hope everyone's "first day back" after the summer was uneventful! How many on this list have you tried? Is this the best America has to offer?

1. New York pizza
2. Hoppin' John
3. New Mexico green chile
4. Homemade buttermilk biscuits
5. Tasso
6. Whole Maine lobster
7. Calabash-style shrimp and hushpuppies
8. Kansas City barbecue ribs
9. Hot glazed Krispy Kreme
10. San Diego fish tacos
11. Cheese curds
12. Key lime pie
13. Philly cheese steak
14. Memphis pork barbecue sandwich
15. Lowcountry boil
16. Huckleberry pie
17. New England clam chowder
18. Boiled peanuts
19. Buffalo burger
20. Eggs Benedict
21. Pastrami on rye
22. Corned beef and cabbage
23. Pancakes with maple syrup
24. Everything bagel with cream cheese and tomato
25. Thin Mints (preferably frozen)
26. Frito pie
27. Potato knish with mustard
28. Silver Queen corn on the cob
29. Soft pretzel from a street cart
30. Fresh-picked blueberries
31. Sourwood honey
32. State fair funnel cake
33. Chesapeake crab cakes
34. Candied yams
35. Oyster dressing
36. Snow cone or snowball
37. Wild Alaskan salmon
38. Sautéed morels
39. Persimmon pudding
40. General Tso's Chicken
41. Frozen custard
42. Italian sausage with peppers and onions on a hoagie bun
43. Chili dog
44. Buffalo wings with blue cheese
45. Spam musubi
46. Saltwater taffy
47. Fluffernutter sandwich on Wonder Bread
48. Black and white cookie
49. Frybread
50. BLT with thick-cut applewood bacon
51. Baked beans
52. Pumpkin pie
53. Collards with vinegar and Tabasco
54. Tex-Mex fajitas with skirt steak and sautéed peppers
55. Fried green tomatoes
56. Succotash
57. Shrimp and grits
58. Hot water cornbread
59. Barbecue chicken pizza with red onions
60. Chicken fried steak
61. Carnitas burrito
62. Apple butter
63. Geoduck
64. Soft-serve ice cream cone dipped in chocolate shell (especially Dairy Queen)
65. Pecan pie
66. Catfish supper at a church or fire station
67. Oysters Rockefeller
68. Homemade cranberry sauce
69. Pimiento cheese
70. MoonPie washed down with R.C. Cola
71. Pickled watermelon rind
72. Cracker Jacks at the ball game
73. Smithfield ham
74. Meatloaf and mashed potato blue plate special at diner
75. Chicken and waffles
76. Po'Boy
77. Green bean casserole with French's fried onions
78. Stuffed sopaipillas
79. Turducken
80. Shad roe on toast
81. Sweet potato casserole with or without marshmallows
82. Cioppino
83. New York cheesecake
84. Pan-fried river trout
85. Jambalaya - YUM!
86. North Carolina pig pickin'
87. California rolls
88. Burgoo
89. Penuche fudge
90. Fried peanut butter and banana sandwich (the Elvis)
91. Scrapple or livermush
92. Elk medallions in red wine reduction
93. Muscadine grapes
94. Cheeseburger at backyard barbecue
95. Open-face turkey sandwich
96. Chicago deep dish pizza
97. Cobb salad
98. Peach pie a la mode
99. Macaroni and cheese with Tillamook sharp cheddar
100. Root beer float

The Last of the Bananas

"Sarah, you can have those two bananas on the counter... they're over-ripe. Maybe make banana bread or something and I'll take it into work with me" - My Mom, yesterday.

Okay! But banana bread? Good, tasty and all, but booooring! Besides, I had made it before and again and again and again! Time for something different, something elegant and (most importantly) something to use up more of the pantry explosion. Into the cupboards I go, and staring at me - right at me - is a nice big sack of chocolate chips. Mmm, bananas and chocolate! I knew I still had some butter in the fridge, all nice and rock-hard (cookies were out of the question!) and it gave me... scones!

The best part about these scones is that they can be whipped up in 15 minutes (tops) and baked off in another 15. They freeze, reheat and travel beautifully and are so moist and rich that you don't need to put anything on them (though, a spot of peanut butter never hurt anything...).

Banana-Oat Scones
Serves 12
1 1/4 cups spelt flour (use whole-wheat if you don't have spelt on hand)
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup old-fashioned oats (not quick or instant)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 oz cold butter, cubed
2 over-ripe bananas
2 tbsp whole milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp honey
1/3 cup miniature, semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Grease a large baking sheet.
2. Stir the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
3. Cut in the butter until the mixture looks mealy.
4. Mash the bananas with milk, vanilla, sugar and honey.
5. Add the banana mixture to the dry ingredients and stir until partially combined.
6. Turn out onto a lightly floured counter and knead until the dough just holds together.
7. Pat into a 3/4" thick circle.
8. Cut into 12 wedges.
9. Bake for 14 minutes, then remove to a wire rack and cool slightly (if you don't devour them first!).

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 184.7
Total Fat: 7.8 g
Cholesterol: 15.5 mg
Sodium: 77.5 mg
Total Carbs: 27.5 g
Dietary Fiber: 2.8 g
Protein: 3.5 g

I know these will be a hit at work, since many of the employees are working odd (and usually early) hours and don't necessarily have breakfast before coming in. Not only that, but every time chocolate makes an appearance the goodies barely have a chance to be put on the coffee room table before they're gone! In fact, my mom's already had one - not even completely cooled - and she gushed about them for pretty much the rest of the night!

On a sad note, summer break's over :-(. I'm off to college tomorrow morning to try and fill my mind with all there is to know about Food and Nutrition Management. Doesn't that sound exciting...