Thanksgiving Menu

The first year that I did my own Thanksgiving I tried to do everything kinda fancy. My mistake was that I didn't think about cost, time, or oven space. I also completely spaced breakfast and appetizers to keep everyone sated until dinner was ready. The only fancy thing I am doing is the turkey. I am going to brine it and stuff it with apples, and the gravy is of an apple cider brandy variety. I made this same turkey and gravy that year and it was delicious.

I also feel like one of the best parts of Thanksgiving is familiarity and tradition, so this year I am using some of mine and Joseph's grandmothers' recipes.

Breakfast
French toast (I am hoping Joseph and Sol will be in charge of this)

Appetizers
Cheese Ball
Braunschwager Ball
Salsa cheese dip

Main Course
Herb Roasted Turkey With Apple Cider Gravy
Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Shirley's Stuffing
Green Bean Casserole
Broccoli and Cauliflower Salad

Dessert
Silky Pumpkin Pie
Dutch Apple Pie

Today's Harvest

Pepper City

This is an image of my Chinese Five Color Peppers, which were slow starters. I don't think they get very big, but after some discontent with my green chiles' and jalapenos' lack of fire I am very happy. These little suckers pack a punch! I had a tiny nibble off the end of one, and was drinking milk in tears.
I am also getting a lot of bell peppers. I am going to make more stuffed peppers this weekend with ground beef (last time they were vegetarian, but delicious!), because they re-heat well and are pretty simple.
I am also getting a couple of green zebra tomatoes every couple of days. They are citrusy and pretty; probably my favorite tomato. Some brandywines are almost ready and I can say this is my best tomato season ever. Soooo glad I left Taos, if only for the tomatoes.

Vacation Bounty

I left for vacation for 10 days to see my grandparents and friends in Missouri. Thanks Mom for buying me a flight home. :) This is what I came home to, so I have a lot of freezing and salsa-making to do! I am also attaching a picture of my grandparent's yard to show my western friends what a little rain can do.

Only enough time for pictures

Zucchini, zucchini and more zucchini

My cousin Stephanie sent me some zucchini seeds, and I had no idea what huge producers they are. Along with the summer squash which is producing like mad too, we are going to be eating a lot of gourds. Tonight I am going to make zucchini bread and try out a zucchini lasagna recipe. I wonder how long it will take before I start unloading this stuff on other people.

Gourd Heaven

Well, it's just getting started, but I think our main big crop is going to be gourds. Pumpkins and squash were about the only thing we actually got to eat out of our garden in Arroyo Hondo last year. So.... I planted this year like the plants were going to get the same size as they did last year. At 2,000 ft. lower in altitude. They are much bigger plants and are producing much faster than I could have anticipated. Last year at this time I think we were just getting our pumpkins started and we had more than we could handle. Right now we already have a dozen pumpkins or so growing and there is still more than four months left in the growing season. Even our winter squash is starting to produce. Also the tomatillo plants are getting so big they're falling over and the tomatoes need to be staked. Yee-haw. I'm ready.

Yet Another Visual Update

What's Up Doc?

I might have pulled these too early, but I've never grown carrots and I couldn't wait to try them. I can't quite remember if these are purple cosmic or parisienne, but they are delicious and spicy; almost like a radish. I roughly manipulated the images because they were really bright, but I didn't mess with the color.

Dinner

Joseph's mom bought us some chicken breasts, so tonight I decided to cook up some garden food that won't last much longer. I marinated the chicken breasts in lime juice, rosemary and fresh sweet and lemon basil. The beets were boiled until fully cooked and then marinated and roasted in balsamic vinegar and herbes de provence. The peas were a little tough because it has been hot and then they sat in the fridge for a few days. These were prepared by roasting with oil, salt and pepper. Okay, but not great. Overall a tasty dinner. I love beets and luckily we have more in the fridge and more in the garden. Next I need to learn 101 ways to cook zucchini; looks like were gonna have lots.

Friday's Harvest

My dog got sick, really sick, and I didn't water the garden for one day. In that day I lost a catnip plant, marjoram, sunflowers, and lavender. It could've been way worse, but I am really wanting some rain now. Plants just seem to prefer it to the hose. Regardless, I got 14 beets out of the garden and we still have some in the fridge we haven't eaten. I figure I'll just cook them all tonight and eat them for snacks. I could probably live off of beets.

Saturday's Harvest

Well, I had no choice but to pick this stuff. Otherwise the plants either would have burnt up or sucked all the water out of the soil in no time. It is supposed to be over 100 degrees today, tomorrow and pretty darn hot for the rest of the week. Looks good out there though....for now.

A little visual update

Everything is pretty toasted in these pictures. It was nearly a hundred degrees here today and is supposed to get worse. Watering at night and/or in the morning seems to help the plants make it through intense days. The squash and zucchini plants are huge (nearly knee level) and the sunflowers are past waist high. The pumpkins are also starting to travel across the yard!

Salad

On Tuesday night we grilled hamburgers, baked potatoes, and made a delicious salad. I marinated and roasted garden beets in balsamic vinegar and herbes de provence and caramelized them in the oven. The spinach, lettuce, and peas were from the garden as well along with a bit of chopped basil from one of the window boxes. The peas were lightly blanched and marinated in olive oil, lemon, and mint. The salad also had some chopped walnuts, hard-boiled eggs, and feta cheese. It was great! Tonight we are grilling steaks, making mashed potatoes, and serving it with sauteed beet and spinach greens from the garden.

Leaf Miners

My sunflowers started getting these weird spots on the leaves that had little larvae in them. The larvae were making little loops and trails from the inside of the leaves, and I had no idea what was going on. Then I realized it was happening to some of my beets too. Turns out they are leaf miners, which can be fly, moth, or beetle larvae that live and feed on leaves until they pupate. I love the word pupate. So, I went to the ever-reliable internet to see what I should do. One site said use pesticides, or pull the plants and burn them. I was not going to do either of these drastic things. Further research led me to find out that once the bugs pupate they leave, and the damage to the plants is purely cosmetic. I can't believe some crazy person tried to get me to poison or burn my plants for a little cosmetic damage.

Pea Harvest

First pea harvest of the season. I don't know how many more we will get because it is getting pretty hot here, but there are still a lot on the vines. The ones I planted alongside of the house don't seem to be doing as well as the others and I think it is because the soil wasn't dug very deep there. It is very exciting though, because I've never planted them before, and Jo-Jo really likes them. This first batch we are just eating raw as a snack, and they are perfect that way. They are so much sweeter than peas I've had before. Next year I'm going to plant lots more.

Beet Harvest

Well, harvest seems a little too large of a word, but I couldn't wait to pick these. There are more that are almost ready, and I picked these now because I read if you let them get too big they get woody. Anyway, that's my excuse. We also ate a sugar snap pea last night and it was the sweetest, most delicious pea I've ever had. Yummmm.

Peas, peas, peas

My peas are growing great, and I cannot wait to eat them. I guess I should actually wait till the peas get pea-sized, though. Everything else in the garden is doing well too. Some of the beets should be ready soon...mmmmm....my favorite. I had to replant some sunflowers and lima beans yesterday because the dogs trampled them all. It is really hard to plant stuff along our back fence where cars drive. The dogs prefer a clear view to bark their heads off at the one neighbor that drives back there. I want to make it work, though, because if the lima beans climbed the fence it would mean a little more privacy and it would save the rest of the garden from the intense setting sun from the west. I have been warned it is a killer when it gets really hot. I also gave a second try to cantaloupe and lavender, the former which got trampled and the latter I think I planted too early.

Are mushrooms god?

So, I just started typing "a little bit of everything," and that is the title the computer suggested. Anyway I am posting a bunch of pictures of everything, because it is changing quick.