Harvest

It's a beautiful weekend. Windows are open and I am starting to see hints of Fall coming our way.

Remember last year's post at about this same time?

Cammie and Justin are home this weekend. Tomatoes and peppers are a-plenty so here are the plans for this weekend:

• Cammie and I are canning pepper jelly (recipe in my Ball Blue Book), two different batches, habanero and chipotle. This jelly is great on Rosemary oatmeal crackers
• Making White Bean Tomato Salad.
• Mixing up Sassafras Iced Tea

White Bean Tomato Salad

• 1 can of Cannellini, Navy or Great Northern beans, rinsed and drained
• 2 beautiful tomatoes, diced
• 2 T. olive oil
• 1 t. lemon juice
• 2 t. white wine vinegar
• 1 t. minced garlic
• Salt and pepper to taste
• A little chopped flatleaf parsley

Gently mix the beans and tomatoes together in a medium sized bowl. Stir together the next four ingredients in a small jar or bowl, then pour over tomatoes and beans. Mix gently and let sit for five minutes. Add salt and black pepper, then taste; if your beans do not have much salt, you may find it needs more.

 "Hints of Fall" out in the yard, early this morning.

The Carousel Barberry is starting to change colors on the end. It will be a brilliant sight when the whole bush is a flame.

The Copper Frost Birch is also starting to show some color.

The bark peels and becomes salmon colored later in the Fall.

  

Sedum will bloom this week.

Black-eyed Susans thriving

.

This is my favorite. The Heavenly Blue Morning Glory vine will bloom until the snow kills it. I am eagerly waiting for blooms to appear. When it does bloom, it will deserve a dedicate post of it's own.

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Simply Salad

These sprouts are Simply Salad Alfresco seeds from Stokes.

The seeds were planted one week ago in the 24"w x 8"h terra cotta pot.

This seed is a multi-seed pellet which means 3 seeds are encapsulated in a pellet that breaksdown in the soil. The pellet is easier to plant because it is uniform in size and larger than the individual seed.

A pack of seeds is about $5.75.

See how all the sprouts are closer to the center. At a later date, I could plant more seeds around the outside and keep the "age" of the plants varied. We will have lettuce all summer long.

These seeds will be ready to harvest in about 3 weeks.

It will look like below when it is ready to cut and eat.

The greatest thing is how decorative it is. Looks good on the patio AND will give you many, many salads.

I grow multiple containers whose planting is staggered.

Each time you cut salad greens, cut it about 2 inches from the dirt. 

It will continue to regrow.

To add to the salad for flavor, I grow flat leaf parsley on the edge of the patio.

I planted a black plastic pot in the ground filled with good soil.

You know why I use the pot?

 So Don would not think it was a weed and mow over it.

I 'll leave you with a picture of the pink Naked Lady lillies.

They go from under the dirt to this picture in 5 days.

They are called Naked Lady because the leaves of the plant grow in Spring, then wilt and die.

A few weeks later, the flower grows out of the ground.

 

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Happy Cows

This week I traveled to Chippewa Falls, WI,

 along with the other 12 Surgical Services Directors in the Hospital Sisters Health System for the annual meeting.

The meeting spanned over two days.

In the evening,  Loren and Dori  took us to the Leinenkugel's Lodge and Beer factory. 

It was very interesting,  very green, they refilter and reuse water. .

When finished with the grain, farmers use it for livestock feed.

Wisconsin has "happy cows"? No wonder.

 ,

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Saturday's Tomatoes and PB2

Thanks to my FB friends, I am trying new recipes for the abundance of ripe tomatoes.

Helen's Gazpacho

 
1 medium cucumber
1 med onion
1 medium sweet pepper--any color green, yellow, orange
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
1 46 oz can tomato juice
2 cloves garlic minced
1/2 tsp. cumin
salt & pepper to taste
olive oil----drizzle over individual serving
balsamic vinegar----drizzle over individual serving
 
 
Coarsely chop the cucumber, onion, pepper.  Add tomatoes & seasoning (garlic, cumin, s&p).  Refrigerate.  Drizzle olive oil and balsamic vinegar on top of serving.  A dollop of greet yogurt on time is good too. Makes one gallon. Keep refrigerated.
One cup of it has:
63 calories with 3.5 grams from fat (with added olive oil) , 7.4 carb, and 1.6 protein.
 

P.S. Love! love! love! PB2.

 

I made no bake chocolate peanut butter cookies on Sunday and sent 1/2 of the batch home with Cammie & Justin.

Chocolate Peanut Butter No Bake Cookies

Makes 66 cookies

1 cup: Honey
1 cup (dry): PB2
1 cup + 1 Tbsp: Water
1 cup: Dark cocoa
1 cup: Sunflower seeds
1/2 cup: Coconut (shredded)
1/2 cup: Unsweetened chopped dates
I threw a little oatmeal in there too, but I can't tell you how much, just until the cookie dough held together well. I am going to try Rice Krispies next time.

Methods/steps

Mix PB2 with water until smooth. Mix honey and PB2 in sauce pan over low heat. Add cocoa powder and mix well. Add rest of ingredients and stir to combine. Mixture will be very thick. Use a small scoop or tablespoon to measure and roll dough into ball or press them into muffins tins and make little coins.  Refrigerate or freeze.

There is also a chocolate PB2. That's next.

Traditional	PB2
2 Tbsp – 190 calories	2 Tbsp – 45 calories
Calories from fat - 130	Calories from fat – 13
Saturated fat – 3 grams	Saturated fat – 0 grams

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Needed: Canine Attorney

U.S. District Court
Sallenbach District of Wisconsin
Civil Docket for Case #1
Sassy
vs.
Rocky Sallenbach, minor
Erik Sallenbach, legal guardian
Filed 7/19/2011
Cause: Public Nuisance

Docket Entry:

The plaintiff has filed a public nuisance claim with the following counts against defendant(s)

Leaving the premises without permission causing undue stress and mental duress.
Entering the residence, of which the defendant is unwilling to recognize he is an outside resident.
Impersonating another animal (rooster) and rising at an unauthorized hour.

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Barn Shop Raising

Ever hear of a barn raising? We're going to have one. A shop raising, I mean.

Yes, this is slightly bigger than our building.
Once the footings and foundation are done, we'll take a October weekend (cooler weather), extra beds and plenty'o'meals and raise that shop.

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