Tag Archives: vegetable

the.worst.zucchini.relish

This is a recipe for the worst zucchini relish ever. I entered it in the state fair last year, and of the 3 zucchini relish entries, I did not place. Not even 3rd. It was that bad. The only nice thing that could be said was “beautiful jar” – the thing I had no actual hand in making. I find this hilarious.

 

My husband on the other hand loves this stuff. He puts it on pizza, hot dogs, sandwiches, etc. We sent a jar to my father in law, and I believe it was gone within a week. So, who really cares what the fair folks say, eh? (Though I totally entered a jar this year…just to see.)

  • Grate 10 cups of zucchini into a bowl. Chop 3 -4 bell peppers (red makes for the nicest presentation later) finely, as well as 2 1/2 cups onion. Mix with 5 TB salt and allow to sit in the fridge overnight.
  • The next day, rinse and drain the goods that sat overnight. Add to a pot.
  • Add 3 cups sugar, 3 cups vinegar, 1 TB dried dill, 1 tsp coarse ground pepper, 1 tsp celery seed, and bring to a boil
  • Boil for 30 minutes – start the water in your canner.
  • Pack hot sterilized jars with relish, add sprigs of dill along the side to pretty it up.
  • Water bath for 10 minutes, and viola! The worst zucchini relish ever.

I don’t usually like relish myself (I’m a picky pickle or pickled eater) but think this is pretty good stuff. Give it a try. I bet you’ll agree. And if you want to come judge the category at the fair, let me know!

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awesome.squash

The squash plants on the sidewalk at my storefront are insanely huge and I love it. Yesterday a customer stopped at the door “Hey! This is squash! Did you know this is squash? You have squash here!” Like perhaps these ginormous plants arrived and I was oblivious…? Either way, it was funny and today I harvested one of the largest yellow guys before he gets too big and seedy. To date we’ve eaten 3 and they have all be pretty amazing. I saute them with some chopped onions and a little of my homemade butter. Yum.

squash

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to.ma.to

I can’t believe how excited I was to see the first little green ball on one of the tomato plants…! And after further inspection there are quite a few more starting on other plants. So. Excited.

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cute.cuke

Our garden makes me giddy. There, I said it. I love poking around the pots in the morning and at night and seeing what has happened through the day (it’s a little like watching paint dry but more fun!!). We’ve got lots of things working to push their fruit out, and today I harvested the first cucumber! The variety I purchased is meant to be pickle size, so I picked it today and can’t wait to give it a munch tonight.

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I have 4 squash plants as well as 4 peppers (and a lone cucumber) outside at my storefront where they bask in some serious direct sun at the end of every day. I have been getting loads of compliments about how awesome and healthy they look (I clap and giggle of course) but overheard the best compliment yesterday. A man stopped to tell his friends how impressed he was that someone was clever enough to plant flowers under greenery – “It creates such a lovely play on space!” Now, think about it….get it? They were squash blossoms. I love it. I’m still laughing about it, and taking the compliment on my revolutionary gardening techniques all the way to the bank.

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carrot.crazy

I bought 10 pounds of carrots this morning as I was sure we were almost out, but then stumbled upon a 5 pound bag on top of the fridge as I was scrounging for the dehydrator. Whoops. Carrots have a tendency to give me heartburn if I eat too many, and I knew the bag on top of the fridge needed to be used asap, so using my clever thinking cap (and 4 trays not being used to make more of the delicious faux smoked salmon) I chopped most of them up to dehydrate too. The little carrot kernels they become are great when thrown into soup or just munched on their own (in trail mix? why not!). Cut them into 1/4 inch discs and spread on the tray so they don’t touch and let them do their thing (at about 145*) for approximately 6 hours. Some of the smaller pieces were done around the 4 1/2 hour mark, but at 6 hours I’m still weeding through some of the thicker ones.

I used the remaining pound for some amazing and delicious roasted veggies. Peel and cut each carrot into thirds, and throw 2 heads (yes, full heads) of peeled garlic cloves in with a handful or 2 of brussel sprouts and 1 quartered onion, into a lasagna pan with the carrots. Drizzle with olive oil, some salt and pepper, and ‘roast’ for 25 minutes in a 425* oven. I can’t believe how good it is. All of it. So simple, so good for you (as long as you aren’t too heavy handed with the olive oil), and delish.

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(image via onehundreddollarsamonth.com – an awesome blog)

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