I’ve had a lot of peppers from the garden lately, and as much as I like to eat them, after a while I kind of want to shake things up a bit. Yes, there can be too much of a good thing.
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Old Fashioned Peach Ice Cream
Ah summer, I don’t quite know what to do with you. You’re hot and sweltering and uncomfortable. Yet I love what you give me. I guess I’ll keep you for now.
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Peas (Pisum sativum)
I disappeared once when I was about three. My parents frantically searched the house looking for me, only to find me in the garden… eating all the peas.
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Whiskey & Onion Beef Tri Tip
I had you at whiskey, didn’t I?
Harvesting Grape Leaves
I have come to realize that so many of the foods I was **ahem** “not fond of” were ones that started with less than fresh ingredients. Count dolmades, a Greek delicacy made with grape leaves, as one of them.
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Ultimate Summer Garden Spaghetti Sauce
I used to make a “simpler” (read: plain) version of this sauce and the boys loved it. Then I decided to get crazy and add other vegetables. My boys cried. Then they ate it. They forgave me.
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Dragonflies & Damselflies (Anisoptera & Zygoptera spp.)
My sons grew up believing that dragonflies would stitch their ears closed, courtesy of a fourth grade teacher they were all fortunate to wind up having. It took a while before they would uncover their ears when one would fly by.
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Garlic (Allium sativum)
I can’t imagine life without garlic, nor do I think I should have to. That would just be cruel. Thankfully, it’s easy to grow, so I don’t think I’ll have to worry!
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Artichoke (Cynara scolymus)
If you drive along some parts of the central California coast, you are likely to see wide swaths of the landscape covered in artichoke plants. In fact, this is pretty much the only place in the U.S. where commercial artichokes are grown.
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Plum Jam (No Added Pectin)
I have three varieties of plum trees in my yard. The earliest to ripen is the Santa Rosa. They look and smell so luscious, and then you bite into one. PUCKER!!!
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Stone Fruit Oven Pancake
With summer officially here, the stone fruit season is now seriously underway. Apricots, peaches, nectarines, plums, and all the hybrids in between, are dropping off trees and showing up in markets. Gobble them up now, they don’t last long!
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Strawberry (Fragaria ananassa)
There is a reason most supermarket strawberries don’t taste all that great. They aren’t ripe when they are picked. Fix that problem by growing your own!
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Freezing Berries
Every so often I manage to squirrel away some of our berry harvests when little boys (or the Old Man) aren’t looking. I want to make sure my little treasure trove will be safely tucked away for later use.
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Watercress (Nasturtium officinale)
Not only is this a ridiculously easy plant to grow, but it’s tasty, nutritious, and can be used as a functional part of a water feature in your landscape. Score one for versatility!
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Storing Root Vegetables
Nothing says “tasty” like a carrot pulled from the refrigerator that proceeds to flop over like a spaghetti noodle, right? Hmmm… maybe not so much.
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Carrots (Daucus carota subsp. sativus)
Orange carrots are so ubiquitous that it’s easy to think that they have always been the norm, yet they are actually the Johnny-come-lately’s of the carrot world. White and purple are really the old timers.
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Swiss Chard (Beta vulgaris)
If you love leafy greens, you can’t go wrong with chard. Talk about easy and reliable! My garden seldom goes without this delicious staple in the ground.
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Mostly Greek 