Monday, Pat and I had our first homegrown tomatoes. They were small but oh so good! You see, I grow them indoors. Each fall I chop off some good looking pieces of tomato plants and bring them indoors and root them in water. They root rapidly and with great enthusiasm. Then I plant them in big pots and grow them in my west window. I seem to have the best luck with Roma tomatoes, but I'll try anything once. They don't do much until the end of December and then something happens and they start to go nuts. I pollinate the blooms with a paintbrush or a Q-tip, pretending I am an indecisive bee. Going from one to the other and back again. Two of my plants are not happy and have just a couple of tomatoes on them and the leaves say, " excuse me but I am weary of growing!"
The Roma tomato though has 14 tomatoes on it so far and 2 are starting to turn. I wish I had a south window but alas I do not. These tomatoes keep our hearts happy until Spring and zucchini time. However, by the time the garden tomatoes are ready, we are ready to be tomato gluttons once again and marvel at the luxury of having plates full of red and yellow tomatoes and 2nd and 3rd helpings, if we desire. We laugh about our winter ecstasy of a tiny tomato cut into quarters so we get 4 bites out of a tomato that could be eaten in one bite. A bit of a good thing is better than none.
Speaking of zucchini, I found a really good fast recipe for zucchini fritters in an Amish cookbook that I only tweaked a little and Pat and I love it.
Cast Iron Skillet Zucchini Fritters
2 c. grated zucchini, skin and all
2 medium carrots, peeled and grated.
1/2 c. chopped onion
1 c. flour
salt to taste (about 1/2 teaspoon)
Cavendar's Greek seasoning to taste (about I teaspoon)
Mix all together and drop by spoonful, then flatten, into hot vegetable oil.
Brown until crisp on both sides.
Serve immediately.
It may seem strange to add all that flour but it soaks up the juice from the watery zucchini and makes a nice firm patty. Since I added way more onion (we love onions) and added the Cavendar's and cooked it in a cast iron skillet I renamed it.
The cookbook I found it in is:
Cooking with the Horse and Buggy People II
from the 207 women of Holmes County, Ohio
We have a lot of Mennonite people in the area and they have a small store where you can buy some things in bulk and others in small packages that they portion out the bulk into at the store. You can also buy a few cookbooks and other interesting things. I bought some pretty cookie sprinkles lately.
For those of you who don't like onions, do like I do with garlic, start out with a tiny bit and then work your way up to more. Onions are known to strengthen the nerve synapses so they can better carry messages to your brain. And garlic has great benefits regarding preventing colds and infections so....I am learning to use garlic.
Funny how if you grow up not eating certain foods you have to make yourself eat them and other foods, you love the first time you taste them. I adore all olives and some say that it is a genetic trait to prefer them. The first time I ate Mexican food I loved it, even though I'm a baby about too much heat. (What's not to like about pinto beans!) And the first time I ate Greek food, I knew I was really part Greek! But, durian fruit, who ever decided that it would be good to eat had no sense of smell or taste, in my book. And why would anyone ever think of eating an octopus! Did they catch one and just think it gross and threw it in the fire and then some brave soul say hey, it smells good, let me taste it? And then they all decided to taste it and pronounced it good? And currently chefs, are using squid ink in their cooking and people are eating it and smiling after a bite with black teeth and lips and tongue! Please! I think durian might be preferable! Anyway. Happy eating what ever you like! Spring is coming!
I think I am going to try more heirloom seeds this year. The best two catalogs I have found are Seeds of Change and Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. Both are good reading, too. I'm going to place my seed order in Feb. after my old age check comes in. They say you should actually order in January, but in January I'm not quite ready to garden yet. February though, I've had it with winter! Bring on Spring!
The Roma tomato though has 14 tomatoes on it so far and 2 are starting to turn. I wish I had a south window but alas I do not. These tomatoes keep our hearts happy until Spring and zucchini time. However, by the time the garden tomatoes are ready, we are ready to be tomato gluttons once again and marvel at the luxury of having plates full of red and yellow tomatoes and 2nd and 3rd helpings, if we desire. We laugh about our winter ecstasy of a tiny tomato cut into quarters so we get 4 bites out of a tomato that could be eaten in one bite. A bit of a good thing is better than none.
Speaking of zucchini, I found a really good fast recipe for zucchini fritters in an Amish cookbook that I only tweaked a little and Pat and I love it.
Cast Iron Skillet Zucchini Fritters
2 c. grated zucchini, skin and all
2 medium carrots, peeled and grated.
1/2 c. chopped onion
1 c. flour
salt to taste (about 1/2 teaspoon)
Cavendar's Greek seasoning to taste (about I teaspoon)
Mix all together and drop by spoonful, then flatten, into hot vegetable oil.
Brown until crisp on both sides.
Serve immediately.
It may seem strange to add all that flour but it soaks up the juice from the watery zucchini and makes a nice firm patty. Since I added way more onion (we love onions) and added the Cavendar's and cooked it in a cast iron skillet I renamed it.
The cookbook I found it in is:
Cooking with the Horse and Buggy People II
from the 207 women of Holmes County, Ohio
We have a lot of Mennonite people in the area and they have a small store where you can buy some things in bulk and others in small packages that they portion out the bulk into at the store. You can also buy a few cookbooks and other interesting things. I bought some pretty cookie sprinkles lately.
For those of you who don't like onions, do like I do with garlic, start out with a tiny bit and then work your way up to more. Onions are known to strengthen the nerve synapses so they can better carry messages to your brain. And garlic has great benefits regarding preventing colds and infections so....I am learning to use garlic.
Funny how if you grow up not eating certain foods you have to make yourself eat them and other foods, you love the first time you taste them. I adore all olives and some say that it is a genetic trait to prefer them. The first time I ate Mexican food I loved it, even though I'm a baby about too much heat. (What's not to like about pinto beans!) And the first time I ate Greek food, I knew I was really part Greek! But, durian fruit, who ever decided that it would be good to eat had no sense of smell or taste, in my book. And why would anyone ever think of eating an octopus! Did they catch one and just think it gross and threw it in the fire and then some brave soul say hey, it smells good, let me taste it? And then they all decided to taste it and pronounced it good? And currently chefs, are using squid ink in their cooking and people are eating it and smiling after a bite with black teeth and lips and tongue! Please! I think durian might be preferable! Anyway. Happy eating what ever you like! Spring is coming!
I think I am going to try more heirloom seeds this year. The best two catalogs I have found are Seeds of Change and Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. Both are good reading, too. I'm going to place my seed order in Feb. after my old age check comes in. They say you should actually order in January, but in January I'm not quite ready to garden yet. February though, I've had it with winter! Bring on Spring!
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