Fall: Is it really Around the Corner?

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I'm finally coming up for air from dealing with garden produce. In the Midwest, we had HUGE rain and storms last night, but it has seemed to have pushed the horrid Temps and Humidity 

out. I actually de-summered the living room. And, actually began thinking about Fall.

These are some of my old photos from when I first began blogging.

Crab apples at the Botanic Gardens.

 Geese feeding in the local Forest preserve.

Are you ready for Pumpkin Spiced coffee from a Vintage Pot and cup on the porch?

 Old photo from N.Wisconsin sunflower field.

Natures' bounty arrangement, everything from our yard.

Our home is Fall with rich colors all year long. 

Casual table setting with vintage and new.  Garden flowers, produce and faux fruit. Can you guess which is which?

Squirrel in vintage margarita glass, everyone is nuts about Fall!

Some photos, just can't be arranged, Nature does it for you.

Everyone is fattening up for winter in the Farmhouse kitchen.

Lots of faux flowers in an old Ironstone pitcher.

She's shy...hiding in the Fall leaves.

Front porch in long shadows.

Huge acorns from the Lakewood Forest Preserve in my mom's 1950's wooden cracker server.

Pilgrimage to the Pumpkin Farm. Love the old wagons we pulled our pumpkins in.

Bounty on the Buffet. All warm tones, natural,  Antique silver and Jamestown glass candlesticks from 1986.

Almost antique brass candlestick from my Great Grandparent's wedding anniversary. Dried Hydrangeas and gourds from our garden. Indian Corn in an old glass pitcher.

Is Fall showing her lovely sheen in your neck of the woods?

All the opinions and photographs in this blog are my own. I have not been paid or reimbursed in anyway for my opinions, posts or any products shown or anywhere I shop.

Thanks always for visiting. 

I will try and respond to every comment and answer every question.

Sharing at these Ad Free blog parties-with ads not in the middle of the blog (I'm going to try and see if this is possible)

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 Sandi Magle

Canning Italian Zucchini in Stewed Tomatoes

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Our garden is our Green way of living on a lot 80 x 120. We avoid toxic chemicals, GMO seeds and harmful insecticides. We have well water---so even the chemicals used in processed water are avoided.

Though this year everything is late the garden...IT'S Going CRAZY all at once for a change, except for our peppers, which will be ready next week. Only thing I had to purchase for Mabel and Sandi's Italian Zuchinni in Stewed Tomatoes was the peppers, celery, and onions, and lemon juice.



This is an old family favorite. My mom and I concocted in the 1970's to replace our favorite shelf staple of 'Delmonte' Stewed Zuchinni, as stores weren't carrying it anymore. We used the label ingredients and improvised a bit and this is the version we came up with.



Prepare tomatoes: I use these techniques in my last post: Preparing Garden Tomatoes for Canning



MABEL and SANDI's
Italian Zucchini in Stewed Tomatoes Makes about 7 Quarts or 14 pints.

Stewed Tomatoes:

2 quarts of peeled and chopped tomatoes
1 cup of chopped celery
1 cup of chopped onion
1 cup of chopped peppers (green, yellow or orange)(sweet)
1/8 cup of minced spicy pepper or 1/4 tsp of hot pepper flakes (optional)

hand chop or put in electric chopper
1 head of garlic cleaned
1/4 cup of chopped parsley/cilantro
1/4 cup of chopped fresh basil.
1/8 cup of chopped fresh oregano
(you can use dried herbs if you desire, I've used Italian herb mix in the past)
bring the above ingredients just to a boil, process or move on to adding the zucchini.

(Stewed Tomatoes alone can be hot packed into hot jars and processed in a water bath canner---follow instructions from your favorite canning resource. In each quart jar, I add 2 Tbsp of lemon juice and 1tsp canning salt to each quart, or 1Tbsp lemon juice and 1/2 tsp. canning salt to each pint. This is your preservative, lemon for color and acidity and salt for preservation and flavor.


To make the Stewed Zuchinni add sliced zucchini to the stewed tomatoes. The rest of this recipe MUST be pressure canned!

ADD:
Add 12 cups of cut up zucchini and or summer squash (skins included) I cutaway any large seeds.
Bring to boil and simmer for 30-45 min. until almost totally cooked through (The zucchini will be somewhat transparent.)

Ladle into hot/sterilized jars.

MUST ADD THESE:
for Quarts ADD 2 Tbsp of lemon juice and 1 tsp. salt  (Lemon juice maintains acidic balance, salt is for preserving)  clean rims, add hot seals

Process  for 35 min at 10# in pressure canner -following manufacturer's instructions.

for Pints -ADD 1 Tsp of lemon juice and 1/2 tsp. salt

Process for 30 min at 10# in pressure canner-following manufacturer's instructions.

Flavors mingle and intensify during canning.  Add extra herbs/salt/or even sugar to taste when opened. Always reheat home processed canned goods to boil-temp before eating.

Remove from canner and cover with a few towels to let your jars cool down slowly.

ENJOY fresh tomatoes/zucchini all winter long.

Flavors mingle and intensify during pressure canning.  But, you can always add extra herbs/salt/or even sugar to taste when opened. Always heat home-canned goods to boil-temp before eating.

Great with served with sausage, hamburger, in soup, or served as a side dish with any pasta.

We got 2 quarts and 6 pints from this recipe, being two people the pints are the perfect size.

All the opinions and photographs in this blog are my own. I have not been paid or reimbursed in anyway for my opinions, posts or any products shown or anywhere I shop.

Thanks always for visiting. 

I will try and respond to every comment and answer every question.

Sharing at these Ad Free blog parties-with ads not in the middle of the blog (I'm going to try and see if this is possible)

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Thank you for your cooperation,

 Sandi Magle

Preparing Garden Tomatoes for Canning or Freezing.

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If you have a bumper crop of Tomatoes and can't eat them fast enough, canning or freezing is a great way to use them later in your favorite recipes.

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Here our Tomatoes are ripening in the windows. We had storms and many were falling off the vines.

So we ripen in the windows---still by the sun.

IF you dont' have time to do tomatoes or have enough for a canning session, I freeze them whole with the skins and stems still on them. When you need some for a project ---pop the whole frozen tomatoes into a sink of hot water. The skins slide right off. Core and use for cooking. They are just like fresh, though they break down faster in cooking. A great time saver. I've held tomatoes like this for over a year. We made Tomato Sauce in January---when we actually wanted the heat from cooking in the house, instead of now---when it is going to be 88 today.

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What you want to do is skin your tomatoes for canning or cooking. Leave the stems on and pop them into boiling water until the skins start to split. Anywhere from 1-3 min. 

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Here you can see the skins slipping off just from removing them from the pot with a tongs.

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Toss them into a clean sink of very cold water. 

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As soon as you can handle them, core the tomatoes and the skins should slide off. Drain.

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I add all the skins/cores to the scrap bucket to return to the compost pile, a GREEN thing to do.

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Our San Marzano only take a minute or so...and they just slip out of the skins and are so firm. I love to can these whole and fill jars with juiced tomatoes.

Skinned and cored Tomatoes are now ready for your favorite recipes. We can Tomatoes, make juice, and make Zuchinni in Stewed Tomatoes, make sauces for canning. Tomatoes are the most versatile of all the vegetables...and easy to can.

All the opinions and photographs in this blog are my own. I have not been paid or reimbursed in anyway for my opinions, posts or any products shown or anywhere I shop.

Thanks always for visiting. 

I will try and respond to every comment and answer every question.

Sharing at these Ad Free blog parties-with ads not in the middle of the blog (I'm going to try and see if this is possible)

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Thank you for your cooperation,

 Sandi Magle

Our Vegetable garden 2018

   

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Crazy Weather here in Chicagoland and all over the country---but finally our Midwest vegetable garden exploded this last week. We had a late cold spring...and it was a struggle weather-wise getting the garden planted by June 15th. A MONTH late.

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Yes, it is huge tender zucchini. We had a bit of rain last week (almost 3") and they have exploded.

Our peppers aren't ready yet, so I had to buy for my stewing tomatoes. 

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We have a well, and have the luxury of watering our garden. Disappoint this year is cucumbers...one picking and the vines are withering.

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The holding pattern. San Marzano tomatoes are plentiful but literally falling off the vines. Probably the excessive heat we have experienced. We pick everyday and sun ripen in the windows. 

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They are a nice size, a cousin of Romas' they are sweet and meaty. I figure these are rescued from the critters. Despite fencing the garden we have critters-who love our tomatoes as much as we do. 

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Christmas pig is in hog heaven. Amana (yellows) are small this year, but prolific, and great canners. I'll try and can some of these whole.

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One or two days in the window and they look like this.

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A new picking Saturday, sorted and cleaned to ripen further in the windows.

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These are new this year---Yellow Boys. OH, num. can't wait to make something with these. 

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Asian eggplants. We have six plants and they are nuts...with long fruit. We've already had 3 meals with them. I'm going to do some herby Eggplant Lasagna with the Yellow Boy tomatoes with maybe only two layers of noodles. I'll freeze this. Hopefully I can do this early next week. and share the recipe.

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I also grow my own herbs...cilantro, parsley oregano and basil are shown here. We have sage, Thai basil, peppermint, marjoram which is huge. We also have a huge crop of Swiss Chard greens that I will blanch and freeze in bags this week .

Last Friday we canned Zucchini in Stewed Tomatoes. See that in my next post.

How's your garden doing?  

All the opinions and photographs in this blog are my own. I have not been paid or reimbursed in anyway for my opinions, posts or any products shown or anywhere I shop.

Thanks always for visiting. 

I will try and respond to every comment and answer every question.

Sharing at these Ad Free blog parties-with ads not in the middle of the blog (I'm going to try and see if this is possible)

Over the Moon Party
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Metamorphisis Monday
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Thank you for your cooperation, Sandi Magle

Sandi

Deep Dish Rhubarb Pie and a Cheat!

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HomeMade Rhubarb Pie

My Family loves HOME MADE PIE...above any other food.

We have two rhubarb plants in the backyard that have been struggling. I picked rhubarb this morning, since it was again so hot---I was afraid I would lose the new crop.

Rhubarb Pie (adapted from BettyCrocker's Pie and Pastry Cookbook circa 1972.)

The color is so bright.

Who wouldn't love pie on a hot summer day?

I cool this and let the pie settle before eating.

Our kids didn't come! So we had to have some after supper.

Hubby scooping the vanilla ice-cream, a rich Illinois brand we picked up, not really full of sugar calories, but LOTS of fat calories...sigh. 

We tried not to be hogs...secret of the cheat is pieces for the  top crust.

Rhubarb Pie (adapted from BettyCrocker's Pie and Pastry Cookbook circa 1972.)

2 8-9" deep Pastry Pie Shells (frozen store bought) one was cracked in pieces, so I used those pieces for the top...that's the cheat!

Mix together in a bowl
1 cup of sugar
1/4 cup of all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp of cardamon (optional)
1 capful of vanilla

 Whisk the above together to break up the vanilla and mix thoroughly.

4 cups of fresh rhubarb-Clean and dice into 1/2" cubes

Spread one half the rhubarb in the bottom of one pie crust.
Sprinkle 1/2 of the sugar combo across evenly.

Layer other half of the rhubarb
Sprinkle the rest of the sugar combo on top. (This will be heaping but will cook down)

2 Tbsp of butter dotted evenly over the top.

Break or take broken bits of the second pie shell and inter-lace across the top in a haphazard pattern to mostly cover the top. You can be creative here---just leave open spaces for the Pie to breathe.

Attach strips of foil curving over edge of the pie pan and tucking tightly under the edges. Bake on a pan to catch drippings.

Bake in 400 degree oven for 45 min.
Pull off foil and bake 15 min. longer or until crust is evenly browned and the filling is oozing out of the sides and bubbling in the middle.

Easy enough to warm in microwave...serve with

ice-cream, cool whip or a light sour cream(NUM)!

ENJOY!

TIP: As in the above recipe,  I also use 1/3 less sugar in everything I bake. If more moisture is needed I add unsweetened applesauce for missing sugar in recipes about 2/3 part applesauce to 1 part sugar.

All the opinions and photographs in this blog are my own. I have not been paid or reimbursed in anyway for my opinions, posts or any products shown or anywhere I shop.

Thanks always for visiting. 

I will try and respond to every comment and answer every question.

Sharing at these Ad Free blog parties-with ads not in the middle of the blog (I'm going to try and see if this is possible)

Wonderful Wednesday Party
Talk of the Town
Share Your Cup
Home and Garden Thursday
Friday Favorites Link
Friday Feature Link
Home Matters
Over the Moon Party
Pink Saturday

Grammy's Grid Food Friday

Thank you for your cooperation, Sandi Magle

Sandi