Thursday, June 9, 2011

To Hot To Garden

This morning it was raining for the first time in a while. The land really needs it. My garden not so much. We weren't supposed to get rain in the morning. I think there are two reasons why we did. First I watered the whole garden yesterday. Second my handyman was coming to stain the condo's front porches. This is the third time he has tried to schedule it and had to cancel from rain that wasn't supposed to happen.

But today they keep predicting very hot weather. They say Boston will probably beat its old record. So I'm staying inside. Tomorrow I'll have lots of heavy work to do, but we will be back to cooler temps. Instead of gardening things, I'll do a post on what I've been eating these last couple of days.

Preparing to cook dinner on the grill

I was talking to my son on Skype and for some reason we were talking about tuna melts. They sounded so good, so of course I made some, but I made mine on the grill. I grilled the bread. Then put on the tuna and cheese and let it melt. The reason there are two bowls of tuna is that one is mine and one is my husband. He doesn't like his tuna to crunch so it is just plain mayo. Mine has onions, celery from the garden, dill from the garden, and relish I made from last year's cukes. The mizuna is to top mine. since I love mizuna on my tuna sandwiches. In addition to the tuna melt I made some grilled mixed veggies. I cut up some of the green monster, garlic scapes, kohlrabi, Japanese turnips, and some mushrooms. Though the last wasn't from my garden.

Wednesday for lunch I was craving some beans. So I made an open faced burrito. I know you can't tell it is a burrito, but I swear there are beans and cheese below that pile of lettuce and cilantro from the garden.

Wednesday night my husband wasn't home and it was the first day of the farmers market. So I got myself some free ranged eggs, some hamburger patties, some scallops, and strawberries.

The scallops were turned into my dinner. It was the most amazing dinner I've had in a while. I made a lemon and peppers sauce (sorry no recipe, just tossed things together). I pan seared the scallops in some butter. Then deglazed the pan with some white wine and stir fried up the veggies with the sauce. I really must make this again, but sadly I used the last of the green monster up in this dish. I know he scared me at the start, but I've really loved eating him. I do indeed have to grow it again. It might be too huge for my garden, but it has the best flavor. And notice the peas? I picked my first peas yesterday. I just had to use them in the dish.

And talking about using something up as you pick it.The first basil was picked today. I had to pinch them to make them bushier and that basil will all be eaten. I made a grilled pizza for lunch. And for dessert?

Strawberry ice cream setting up

I turned those strawberries from the farmers market into ice cream. It may be too hot to garden, but ice cream sure helps.

29 comments:

  1. You clearly need to open a restaurant! Your plates always look so delicious!

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  2. Oh I wish you were here to cook for me. I'd happily keep you company while you are single and won't complain about crunch in my food:)

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  3. That all looks so yummy! And, it's been too hot here in Tulsa too. (lame, but at least the tomatoes love it)

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  4. I don't eat any fish or seafood, but even I have to admit that your food looks absolutely yummy! Can I just have the veggies, please? Oh, and the strawberry ice-cream...

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  5. WOW! Beautiful meals! Yay for those first peas! :)

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  6. Veggie PAK, when my last (and only) real job (being an artist just isn't a real job to me, too much play) I had got closed down, it was just after 9/11 happened. We were going to Isreal for my kids b'nai mitzvah. Well it got a little dangerous over there so we canceled and I ended up catering their party at our house. It was just too much fun playing with food the kids would like and trying it out. But I'm not a great chef. I can't imagine in my head and know how the flavors will meld. As an artist I can picture things and build things in my head. I can't do that with food. But I love playing and some of my experiments come out great. On rare occasions I even write them down and duplicate them. Then again some others come out just terrible. I've even tasted some and just tossed them right there and made hot dogs for dinner.

    Karen, hey come visit. I'll cook for you. Last time you weren't here long enough.

    Raechill, our cool front comes in tonight. I can't wait. I'm sure the tomatoes would be happier with this weather, but I'd rather not have it.

    Mark, lol that would be funny. My husband won't touch the veggies, but he would eat those scallops. I bet a grilled cheese and veggie sandwich would be good off the grill too. Hmmm maybe I'll try that soon. It sounds really good.

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  7. Oh my goodness! My husband would go for those scallops as well! Me, I'm allergic to mushrooms and all fish and seafood, so I'll just drool over the pictures LOL.

    I'm fascinated though, by your garden list. Tomatillos? We love them but I never thought we could grow them here! Do you raise them from seeds?

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  8. I'm not growing tomatillos this year. I was going to but I grew them last year and still have too much canned sauce. I just don't use that many. And they grow just fine here. I like to cage them just like a tomato plant. I just looked at last year's stats (though admittedly it was a warm year so good for them). I had two plants and they produced over 17lbs of fruit. They need about the same care as tomatoes do, but are less prone to diseases. I gave them an 18" wide spot.

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  9. Yum! Everything looks so good.

    It's brutally hot here, too. The girl (4 yrs) and I were in the garden today and we both had sweat literally dripping off of us in minutes. She said, "This is ridiculous. How do they expect for us to garden?"
    I concurred.

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  10. Thanks for the info! Two plants would probably be plenty for us, based on your numbers. I use them half and half with tomatoes to make salsa and gazpacho.

    Did you grow them from seeds or can you recommend a source for plants? I'd love to give them a try!

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  11. So when you need it to rain, you just call the handyman?

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  12. Wow, everything looks very, very good. Sorry about the handiman and the rain. Hope that works out soon for you.

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  13. It got up to a whopping 65 degrees here today ...my peppers, tomatoes and tomatillos are tucked in with their hot water bottles now after shivering all day ....

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  14. Yummy! What a luscious spread you have had. And your farmers market sells scallops!

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  15. WOW!! I can't decide what looks the best... but with our hot weather I think I would have to choose the STRAWBERRY ICE CREAM!!

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  16. Becky, you are TOO FUNNY. I think she must have been going to have him back this PM because we got lambasted with 60 mph winds, trees down, and RAIN this PM LOL.

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  17. Just got over 10 lbs of strawberries from a local farmer. She was going to deep 6 them. Ice Cream - What a great idea!!!
    I planted two tomatillo plants. First time. Let's see how they do.

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  18. Looks so yummy! I love scallops - that dish really looks scrumptious!

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  19. Oh yum ice cream. I am reading your post while waiting my husband to get ready and drive us to the market. Ohh...I hope there are scallops, you make me crave for some.

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  20. Everthing looks so appetizing Daphne! These past couple of days have just been too much, heat wise. I hope that you got the relief that we got last night..oh the cool air is such a relief!

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  21. More wonderful dishes. Believe it or not we had grilled pizza on Tuesday with fresh basil! Great minds think alike.

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  22. Well, it is a good thing I just finished eating breakfast or I would be in the kitchen looking for something to eat after looking at all your yummy concoctions! Great use of your garden produce and your local produce finds from the farmers market. Hope the porch gets painted eventually.

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  23. Megan thanks

    Ribbit, some days it is just better to stay inside. Well except for a short trip to the BBQ to make food.

    Cathy and Steve, I do warn you with those numbers, my garden soil is very deep and is half compost. Things really seem to grow here.I've gotten much better yields in this garden than in my last one. I grew them from seed. I usually do because it is so hard to find good plants around here. Or varieties you want grow. Or plants at the right time.

    becky3086, it seems to be the case. He was hoping to paint this morning as the earlier storms had dried up, but nope. It rained again really hard last night.

    Tempusflits, thanks

    Deb, we we got a nice cool front that came through last night. Sadly we are still humid and in the high 70s. If the humidity would go away then it would be really nice. Tomorrow is only supposed to be 70F so it should be really pleasant. For me though not the plants.

    Marcia, I can't wait for the next farmers market for more scallops. And yes we have a fish seller. One year we had a lobster seller too, but I didn't buy any. Arlington has a pretty decent market. This year I'll be picking up fruit, eggs and meat all summer long.

    Debbie, it was pretty tasty for dinner. Yum.

    Cathy and Steve, yup he was coming in the morning to paint. No such luck. Ah well.

    johanna, wow 10 lbs I would have so much fun with that. I'd make sorbet and jam. Mmmmmm. I tend to make sorbet more than ice cream since I'm lactose intolerant, but I had some cream in the fridge that wasn't getting used so ice cream it was. Good luck iwth your tomatillos.

    Charm, thanks

    Diana, I'm just waiting for next week when I can get them again. It is hard to find good scallops but the fish at the market is really good. I just have to remember to bring a lunch cooler with me to bring them back.

    Robin, we did. The heat broke. It is still muggy as heck, but below 80F so not too bad.

    Jody, I so love grilled pizza. I seem to want it every day for lunch. It used to be salads, but I seem to have moved on. What am I going to do with all that lettuce?

    Laura, I was really bad last night though. I had popcorn, white wine, and strawberry ice cream for dessert. No veggies at all.

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  24. Everything looks good, but OH MY GOODNESS, it has been so disgusting hot here, that ice cream looks super super yummy and refreshing! I don't usually like berry ice creams, but that looks tasty! My daughter would love it too, she loves strawberry ice cream!

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  25. You know, I have some tomatillos in the kitchen right now - I'm going to see if the seeds are mature enough to sprout. Might not be, but I don't have anything to lose. ;)

    Our garden is also very much compost, mostly homemade, and very rich, humusy soil. I've been growing tomatoes in containers -- we have four little Cavalier King Charles Spaniels who would raid the tomato patch, so this is our way of keeping the tomatoes for us.

    Thanks for all the info... I'll let you know what happens! If this doesn't work, I'll buy some seeds on line.

    But I was thinking of you today.... I made my husband a salad from our gardens - lettuce, herbs, and fresh strawberries!

    Cathy

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  26. Daphne, I've been so busy this week that I haven't had time to read my Buddy Blogs until now. Are you good with this rain? I saw on noaa.gov that it's crazy just north of Boston. We're nasty wet down here but nothing like you. Be well, my friend. PS - I have a flower on my PEPPER so I think on some Monday, I can join the PARTY! :-)

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  27. Shawn Ann, Strawberry has always been one of my favorite ice creams.But then I love so many of them.

    Cathy and Steve, you can always try. Tomatillos mature yellow.So if they are yellow they are mature enough for seeds to be saved. I wonder if a green one would work.

    Wnedy, oh I loved the rain. We have had an inch of rain these last tow days. We could use some sun now. Sadly the forecast doesn't call for it. I'll be whining about the clouds and the rain in a couple of days.

    Toni, I feel that way when I see so many others' posts. I love good food.

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  28. Wow! All of that food looks amazing!!

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