Fried Green Tomatoes

The weatherman said it was going to freeze. Here was my dilemma - I live so close to Lake Ontario, it was possible we would stay above freezing while 1 mile inland might freeze - so do I take my chance on not freezing and leave my tomatoes on the vine or do I pick them? 

  


Then comes the question - what do I do with all those green tomatoes?  I could let them ripen indoors, sure they'd turn red but they wouldn't have any flavor. They'd just be a tasteless red thing in my salad - like those things we use all winter just to add color to our salads. Then I got an Epiphany - FRIED GREEN TOMATOES!  YUM

I forget to make these all summer, or maybe I just don't want to pick my green tomatoes. I'd rather pick them ripe and slice them into a sandwich.
Here's how I make my fried green tomatoes:
Fried Green Tomatoes
mix yellow cornmeal with spices (I like salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and oregano)
slice tomatoes about 1/4" thick
dip tomato slices in beaten egg, then dip in cornmeal mixture
fry in a little bit of hot oil until crispy on each side
serve with a dab of mayonnaise

And there you have a delicious end-of-summer treat when the weatherman says your garden is going to freeze - oh and by the way, mine didn't freeze.  I left a few tomatoes out there but they are still green.

Epsom Salts for your garden

I've been reading a lot about using Epsom Salts in your garden on other blogs so I decided to share what I've been learning. They aren't just for sore muscles anymore!
I've used them on my green peppers for many years - I never knew why they were good for them, I just heard that they were.  Well, here's why:
Epsom Salts are magnesium sulfate. Magnesium and sulfate provide many benefits to your plants

• helps seed germination by strengthening the plants cell wall
• helps the plants produce chlorophyll
• helps plants absorb fertilizer such as phosphorus and nitrogen
• many gardeners believe using Epsom Salts make their plants bigger and greener and produce more flowers

How to use:

• Mix 2 Tablespoons into 1 gallon of water. This can be used to water potted plants, including houseplants, and outdoor plants in the garden once a month.
• Mix 2 Tablespoons into 1 gallon of water and use in a sprayer to water your plants.
• Before setting plants into the ground, put 2 Tablespoons of Epsom Salts into the hole or sprinkle 1 cup per 100 square feet of  garden over the soil and work it in before planting.

Tomatoes tend to become magnesium deficient during the growing season resulting in yellowing leaves and less fruit production.  Water every 2 weeks with the Epsom Salts mixture or work 1 Tablespoon of Epsom Salts per each foot of plant into the soil around the base of the plant.

Peppers also suffer from magnesium deficiency. Treat as for tomatoes but feed twice a week.

Roses benefit from feedings of the Epsom Salts and water mixture.

Shrubs- work 1 Tablespoon per 9 sq. feet of shrub into the soil over the root zone.  Repeat every 2 weeks.

Your lawn can also benefit from spraying with the water mixture or putting Epsom Salts in a spreader.

I'll have to wait until next spring to give this a try. It seems like a no-fail way to give your plants an all-natural, low-cost boost.

Wedding guest basket for reception bathrooms

My nephew is getting married soon and my sister wanted some guest baskets in the bathrooms at the reception so I volunteered to put them together.  My daughter and I had fun roaming the store aisles looking for anything that someone might need in those little "emergencies" that pop up.  
Included in the girl's basket are:
hairspray, deodorant, feminine pads and tampons, combs, static guard, band-aids, Tums, dental floss, mini disposable toothbrushes, Advil, nail file, hair scrunchies, clear nail polish, tweezers, wet wipes, and a  lint roller. The men's basket has the same items minus any "feminine" stuff.  
Each bathroom will get a can of air freshener and a box of tissues. The girl's bathroom will also get some pretty smelling soap and hand cream.

I lined the baskets with fall fabric. With the girl's basket, I cut a large circle of fabric and let it hang over the sides and glued a fall ribbon around the outside edge, finishing with a big bow.  For the men's basket, I folded under the edges of the material and hot glued it to the inside edges of the basket.

I'm joining A Delightsome Life's A Return to Loveliness party this week.  An early morning paddle on Nick's Lake in Old Forge, New York always brings loveliness to my life, and peacefulness, calmness, and happiness.  Although I don't like summer leaving us, a trip to the Adirondacks in the fall always makes for a joyful, restful camping trip.  This picture was taken last year. We aren't able to make it up there this year and the leaves are at peak right now.  I'll have to be content with memories of years past.

Join in on the party here - A Return to Loveliness

Green beans - who knew?

While walking around my yard the other day, I found a green bean bush I hadn't yet pulled up. There were still beans on it in various stages of life. I picked a couple and ate them on the spot but then I picked one that had dried and turned white. I split it open and found to my wonderment - dried beans! Now, it makes sense that if you leave the beans on the bush long enough they will dry - but I've never heard of anyone cooking the dried beans - or do dried green beans go by a different name?  I don't know why this discovery surprised me, I'm an analytical thinker so I should not have been surprised by dried green beans.  Things need to make sense to me and this makes sense!  I'd be interested to hear what you have to say about them - have you ever used dried green beans or do you manage to eat all your fresh beans? Maybe they turn into magic beans and grow like Jack's beanstalk!

tomatoes and salsa

Like everyone else, I have an abundance of tomatoes. Fortunately, the blight has not hit my plants yet this year.  How cute is this little red colander?  It was a birthday gift from my daughter. She picked up on my fondness for it when we were at T. J. Maxx.

Along with all my tomatoes, I picked a bunch of green peppers and got some huge bulbs of garlic from my Dad. I was also given a bag of onions and I had some leftover corn on the cob. Put all those together and what do you get?  SALSA!!

I cut everything up and put it in my crockpot, set it on low and let it simmer for about 4 hours.  After it cooled down, I strained off most of the juice (which I made vegetable/hamburger soup with) and froze my salsa to enjoy this winter.  For now - I will eat fresh, uncooked salsa!

A perfect moonlight garden night

Last night's full moon and warm temps made for a perfect moonlight garden night.  I wasn't able to get outside until 11pm. I wandered through my gardens in the moonlight, deadheading some flowers. I sat and listened to the multitude of crickets chirping and enjoyed the warm summer breeze brushing against me.  Unfortunately, I had to get up very early this morning otherwise I would have sat out for a much longer time.  Nights like that are what inspired me to write a children's story titled The Moonlight Garden.  Here is the very first paragraph of my story -

On warm summer nights with the moon shining bright, gardens magically come to life. There’s music and dancing, light shows and more. Come with me into the garden with its many wonders to explore.

Now if I only knew how to draw better so I could illustrate it with the images running through my brain!