Lollygagging in Lisa's Larder- July

July should be called “fill the pantry month”.  I have spent the majority of my time in the kitchen processing garden goodies.  Liz has been amazed at how the tomatoes multiply onto the counter each day.  I get something creative done with a batch and then low and behold there are just as many the next day.  I even took a day off from work a few weeks ago & processed an island-full of tomatoes and peppers.  The kitchen was clean for 24 hours this past weekend…but as I was told- there is a lot going on in this kitchen so I should not expect it to stay clean.  As Patrick says, if the kitchen is clean all the time, I am not using it and we built it to use so keep on making a mess.  So come along and see the new things done this month.

TOMATOES………………in lots of forms

Spaghetti Sauce--- which we use in abundance.  I was able to make the sauce using our own grown onions, peppers, garlic and other spices.  

Salsa---- another item we use in cooking in addition to the classic chips and salsa. I make mine pretty mild, which does not thrill Travis.  He will just have to add extra Jalapeno when he opens a jar.

Tomato Soup-----this puts Campbell’s to shame.  It is not concentrated so all we have to do is open a jar and heat it up.  We always add a splash of half and half to it to make it a bit creamy.  Great for a quick winter meal with a sandwich. 

Dried cherry tomatoes--- these are little flavor bombs.  I use them on pizza, in casseroles and in stir-fry. I started drying these last year when we had a volunteer tomato plant that produced thousands of cherry sized tomatoes.  Needless to say a few dropped on the ground last year and we had a dozen or so plants volunteer again this year.  We let 2 of them live and they are now beginning to ripen.  YUM.

Plain tomato sauce and tomato paste are in the works for this weekend.  I have cooked the tomatoes and run them thru the food mill but I have not had time yet to cook them down so that will be Saturday’s or Sunday’s project. 

Green beans----- I think Patrick and Liz are sick of green beans.  The ones that don’t get put in jars are showing up in all sorts of other dishes or eaten plain by the potful.

Veggie soup-----the mix of all things garden.

Pickles-----we ate a lot of them fresh in cucumber and tomato salads and then we made pickles.  We don’t eat pickles on a regular basis but we do enjoy them so we got a few jars made.  The baby white cucumbers are the only ones I grow.  The chickens enjoyed the ones that got too big.

Basil by the basketful-----translates to lots and lots of pesto in the freezer.  I think Patrick got nauseous from the overpowering smell of basil.  The cut stems also make a beautiful bouquet in the middle of the table.

Dried Jalapeno----drying them is the easiest way to save them.  They get used in cornbread, salsa and any dish that needs a kick.

Grape juice-----We don’t have grapes so I bought some at the farmers market.  These should be ready in a month or so after they are completely infused.  I hope Wyatt likes it. 

Least you think everything went into the pantry; here are a few highlights of fun foods we got to eat this month.  We started the month off celebrating my birthday.  I opted out of birthday cake and chose pie instead.  So Mom and I each made one. 

Raspberry almond pie-----good for dessert and then breakfast the next day. It is a fruit after-all.

Key lime pie------can you say RICH?  It was delicious but we won’t be consuming many of these if we want to fit in our britches. 

Beer can chicken-----a good way to use up leftover cheap beer. The grill is always a welcome tool in the summer.

Zucchini-----stuffed and grilled

In open-faced ricotta squash pie----- This was sorta like a pizza, sorta like a pie but any way we cut it; it was delicious.

And in bread----I used almond extract in this zucchini bread as a nice variation.

Stuffed pepper-----Mix up some Chorizo sausage and leftover rice and you have a great stuffing for peppers.  Chorizo sausage is a Mexican sausage that has a great kick to it.  I make up a lot of these in the summer and put them in the freezer for winter consumption. We love “fast food” some nights and pulling these out of the freezer fit the bill.

Pizza-----always good for a Friday night. Topped with whatever is around.  Great place to use those dried tomatoes. 

Grilled chicken----placed on top of a plateful of green beans, orzo, grilled peaches and feta cheese.  Patrick spotted this recipe in my Better homes and Garden magazine.  Had nice flavor and the grilled peaches were a delight.

Edamame’s-----by the basket.  We blanched these and put them in the freezer.    They are great as a side veggie but also make a good appetizer if you sprinkle them with balsamic vinegar and broil them.  The second harvest of these were turned into a delicious, colorful stir-fry that I failed to take a picture of.

Blueberry pancakes----with fresh maple syrup.    These were delicious with Vermont maple syrup.  We doubled the batch so there are some in the freezer. 

Berry parfaits-----we are harvesting blackberries so we made yogurt parfaits one night. Mixed in a few blueberries and raspberries along with my weekly batch of granola.

Blackberry gin fizz------makes a fun cocktail on a hot summer day.  We cooked, sweetened and then strained the seeds out of blackberries.  We mixed this blackberry juice with fresh lime juice, gin and club soda.  A fun, colorful, summer-time drink.

Are you still with me? I am amazed.  Actually, I was amazed at how much I had done this month because I felt like I was always throwing dinner together so I could get onto something else. 

And then tonight our new table and chairs were delivered.  It is shown here without the 2 extra leaves and two extra chairs.  This is how we will leave it for everyday use.  When we have more people we will add the leaves and then it can sit 6-8.  We are really excited about this arrival. 

Until next month, enjoy!