Garden Gab, Vlog Style

I am trying something new.

I Vloged my Garden Gab this week.

Vlog=Video Blog

Please pardon the grass that needs mowing.

Please pardon the wild movement.

I am Not a professional, clearly.

And…….If there was any doubt about my being a native Texan,

after this Y’all won’t have ANY doubts.

Garden Gab, Vlog

^^^^^^^^^

Click the above  link and see my Vlog.

Be gentle, I’m a Vlog-ey virgin.

Don’t forget to enter the MyBlogSpark giveaway I’m hosting it ends tonight at 9pm central time.

Baked Squash Casserole, food from my garden

Come, join us for dinner.

Squash casserole is one of my favorite comfort food dishes.
When I was a teenager, my Mother and I would go to a restaurant called “The Black-eyed Pea” and order veggie plates. Plates full of broccoli rice casserole, fried okra, cheese-y broccoli soup and the most amazing squash casserole.
It was one of our favorite dinner spots, and one of my favorite teenaged memory clusters.
Once I was all-growed up (yes, I said growed up) I began trying to replicate the squash casserole.
Years and years ago I found a copy-kat recipe that I have altered until I was happy with it.

Baked Squash Casserole

• 5 -6 medium size Yellow Squash
• 1 cup Bread Crumbs plus additional 1-2 tablespoons for topping
• 1 stick Butter or margarine (melted) *I use light butter, and I usually use less than a whole stick*
• 1/4 cup of Brown Sugar
• 1/4 cup of Onion (chopped)
• 2 eggs (beaten)
• 1 teaspoon of Black Pepper
• 1 teaspoon of Salt
• 1 teaspoon of tarragon

Cut the ends off squash and cut each squash into 4 or more pieces.

Place the squash into a pot of boiling water, use enough water to cover the squash. Reduce heat and cook until tender. I cooked my squash fir about 12 minutes. Drain and mash.

While the squash is cooking, mix the beaten eggs, 1-cup breadcrumbs, melted butter, sugar, salt, onion, tarragon and pepper together in a bowl.

Combine the mashed squash with the crumb mixture.

Place the mixture into a casserole dish that has been lightly sprayed with a non-stick baking spray.

Sprinkle the top with the 2 tablespoons of breadcrumbs.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes or until lightly browned.
I used the broiler at 500 deg. For the last 5 minutes to give the top a nice crust.

I have Phun with iPhone Photos!

Garden Gab, Week 7

Is there anything better than watching things you planted blossom and grow? Well, okay watching my children grow tops watching my plants grow, but watching my plants grow is still pretty awesome.

The warmth has taken hold here in Texas. The temps are holding steady in the mid to upper 80′s. I’d prefer the 70′s, but the plants love the warmer weather.

Beans....

Peas...

Lettuce eat some lettuce
I know, I'm phunny

Lots and lots of flowering is going on.

Cucumber flowers

squash flowers

More squash flowers

Tomatoes

Watermelons

Peppers...

;

A bird's eye view, or at least a pool landing eye view

How is your garden growing?

Check out Check out Allie’s new house garden

To check out Greg and Katherine’s Arkansas garden

To visit a beautiful little Brooklyn garden

Related articles

• Garden Gab, weeks 5 and 6 (adashofdomestic.wordpress.com)
• Garden Gab, week 2, 3 and…. (adashofdomestic.wordpress.com)
• Rainy Day Garden Gab (adashofdomestic.wordpress.com)

Rainy Day Garden Gab

The wind blew away most of my seed markers.

Welcome to rain-apocalypse 2012

at least that is how the weather team on T.V. is treating it.   It’s  been raining here for a little over 12 hours.  Storming, wind howling, thunder booming, lightning flashing, big, cold drops of rain falling.

Since we just planted the garden, this is a blessing and a curse.   Water is great, a good soaking rain is great.

Puddles, not so much.

Yesterday we had high wind, crazy wind.  Crazy blowing away most of my seed markers wind.  This year the garden will be a little but of a surprise…. I can not remember where I planted everything. Ha!

Seeds are all about snorkeling, right?

Clearly we have some high and low areas....

Below the garden is a swamp....

My swamp.

These strawberries are survivors from last summer. They laugh at the water, they are already planning strawberry-topia 2

The raised bed is protected from much of the rain. The cats and birds are another story though.

There is no real update on my Grandmother, she is still hospitalized, they believe the mental confusion is due to a slight bladder infection.  She is fighting her treatment.  She keeps removing her I.V.

If you’re a prayer sort of person, I’d appreciate your prayers for her.

Getting ready for Spring Gardening

I’ve been fighting a really bad sinus infection. 4 days into the antibiotic and massive steroid prescriptions, I’m beginning to feel better.

While I’ve been hiding in my dark bedroom, my sweet husband has been getting my expanded garden ready for planting.

My mint survived the mild winter.

The raised garden bed. I’ve had to cover it because stray cats seem to think it’s a giant litter box.

Three out of four beds are tilled and ready for me to begin planting.

How’s your garden or garden prep going?

Monday, I’ve got a new MyBlogSpark giveaway for you.

Related articles

• Raised Bed Gardens! (familyphotographyandfood.wordpress.com)
• The Garden…A place For Solace, Surprises & Friends (lilsuburbanhomestead.wordpress.com)

Totally Tardy 7 Links….

Over a month ago, Andrea of From the Bookshelf gifted the 7 links challenge to me. Heh! I’m quite tardy to the 7 links party. Sorry about that Andrea!

I’ve been writing posts on A Dash of Domestic since March. 6 months, 197 (now 198) posts, so many new friends.

According to the rules of the challenge I am supposed to list 1 post for each of the following categories and then pass this challenge on to 5 people.

Seven posts…

1. Most Beautiful Post: My Red tortilla chicken soup, the red tortillas are so pretty.

2. Most Popular Post: My most popular (via views) Canning Apple pie filling

One word? Yum!

3. Most Controversial Post: I don’t think I have any controversial posts.

Instead…enjoy this funny picture my husband took.

Never turn your back on a little red duck!

4. The Most Helpful Post: How to convert a recipe to/from a slow cooker.

5. Post that was surprisingly successful: Things I should not say, according to my teen. (This post has the most comments)

6. Post that did not get the attention it deserved: My homemade Cranberry sauce. This cranberry sauce is requested by family and friends all. the. time.

7. Post you are most proud of: The Evolution of a Domestic Engineer, the article is only partly on my blog. The full article is here. I wrote it for Women Worth Knowing.

It was both overwhelming and fun to look through all my content to find the perfect articles for this post!

Now to tag 5 other foodie bloggers.

I am trying to tag bloggers who (hopefully) have not had a chance to participate in the 7 links challenge yet.

She cooks, He eats

Family of Foodies

Paul of Sons of Thunder *who gave me a Versatile Blogger award! Thanks very much!*

Savory Simple

Sweet Caroline’s Cooking

Have a wonderful Tuesday!

Garden Gab…the end is near.

The MyBlogSpark giveaway has ended. The winner was comment #18

“Good Cooks :

Your banana bread looks very yummy, Thanks Jamie, I would like to try it with oatmeal raisin cookie.”

Say hello to Samah on her blog, Good Cooks.

I will have another giveaway soon, because giveaways are fun!

Anyhoo……Happy Friday my friends. It has been a few weeks since I have updated you on my garden.

See all my earlier Garden Gab posts here.

I’m afraid my gardening is winding down. My raised garden box is sinking-sideways into the earth. The super hot, relentlessly dry summer, combined with water restrictions created large cracks in my backyard. Don’t worry, my house foundation is perfectly fine thanks to soaker hoses.

I tried to show the crazy lean in a picture. I’m not sure I did it justice.

I swear, I'm holding the camera straight. Notice the lean?

Pardon my grass, it needs to be mowed. So, hopefully you can see…my raised garden bed is sinking. My husband is working on my expanded garden space, but it won’t be ready for Fall planting so, I’m probably done gardening until the Spring.

I cut the okra down. Since my garden is sinking I have been removing the plants. The only plants left in the raised garden? The (unexpectedly) hot peppers. The royal purple bean plants. The purple hull peas. And, of course, Strawberrytopia.

The royal purple bean plants are very small still, they flower but have not produced any beans.

The mint plant is still doing well. It has not taken over the side garden. I believe the heat probably stunted its growth.

The carrots are still small-ish, I think maybe I planted them too close together?

Now for the really exciting part. The purple hull peas? Growing lovely little peas. The pea pods start out looking like strange monster claws.

Rawr.....monster claws

The monster claws grow longer and wider, the peas within grow and swell the pods. Then they look like this…

They grow peas that look like this…

There are not enough peas for a meal yet, but I’m very excited about the purple hull peas! They are the only reason that I have not completely gutted the garden box yet.

How is your garden growing? Are you planting this fall?

Don’t forget that Allie and I will have a new set of canning posts for you on Monday. We would LOVE IT if you would link up with us!

Have a super weekend!

Red Tortilla Soup with Chicken

I love soups…love them…gobble them up. Soups freeze well, they taste better on day two or day three, I love soup. If it’s a Tex-Mex soup….even better.

Tex-Mex is one of my true food loves. Maybe it’s because I’m from Texas, maybe it’s just because Tex-Mex is Awesomesauce.

If you’re in the northern part of the United States, you may not have ever had true Tex-Mex. I’ve been to Pittsburgh, and although Pittsburgh has a fabulous sandwich with cole-slaw and fries in it (Bravo!) the Tex-Mex or Mexican food isn’t wonderful. (Think pasta sauce on an enchilada…) Meh.

Anyhoo…

We went to Taco Cabana over the weekend. If you’re unfamiliar with Taco Cabana…I’m sorry. Taco Cabana is an awesome Tex-Mex food chain (better than Taco Bell or Taco Bueno, but not as good as a “True” sit down restaurant).

Their cheese enchiladas come wrapped in these beautiful, red corn tortillas. I begged and pleaded my way into the purchase of 2 dozen uncooked red tortillas, for my tortilla soup. The cashier thought I was crazy, kept telling me they’d be uncooked…hard… “Didn’t I want fresh steamed ones?” Nope… I want the non-steamed red ones please! I convinced him.

Happy Dance!

I’ve never seen red corn tortillas anywhere else, although when I searched online Walmart claims to sell them. I have never seen them at Walmart though.

They are not necessary to make tortilla soup, but they sure are beautiful.

An adapted Pioneer Woman recipe via her post on Tasty Kitchen

Ingredients

• Cooked chicken diced or shredded (about 2-3 cups) *omit for Vegetarian soup*
• 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
• 1 teaspoon Cumin
• 1 teaspoon Chili Powder
• 2 teaspoons Garlic Salt
• 1 cup Diced Onion
• 1/2 cup Diced Green Bell Pepper
• 1/2 cup Diced Red Bell Pepper
• 1/2 cup Diced Yellow Pepper
• 3 cloves Garlic, Minced
• 1 can of yellow corn or fresh corn (1 & 1/2 cups)
• 1-2 cups of white or brown rice (uncooked)
• 1 can (10 Oz. Can) Rotel Tomatoes And Green Chilies (or 1 can of diced tomatoes and 1 can of green chilies)
• 4 cups Chicken Stock or Veggie Stock for Vegetarian soup
• 3 Tablespoons Tomato Paste
• 4 cups Water
• 4 cups Black or Pinto Beans (frozen, canned or freshly cooked)
• 3 Tablespoons Cornmeal Or Masa*
• 5-8 whole Corn Tortillas, sliced into strips

Heat olive oil in a pot over medium high heat. Add onions, peppers, and minced garlic. Stir and begin cooking, then add the spices. Stir to combine, then add the chicken and stir.

Add the Rotel (tomatoes and green chilies), chicken stock, rice, corn, tomato paste, water, and beans to the soup pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer for 45 minutes, uncovered.

*Mix cornmeal with a small amount of water, it will make a paste. Add the corn meal paste into the soup, then simmer for an additional 30 minutes. This will thicken the soup.

Turn off heat and allow the soup to rest for 20 minutes before serving.

Five minutes before serving, gently stir in tortilla strips.

I fried half of the strips to make a crunchy topping.

Place the soup in mugs or bowls and serve with

• cheese
• crisp tortilla strips
• avocado
• salsa
• hot sauce
• sour cream

or anything you like to top your soup with.

Enjoy!

Kabocha squash- an unusual suspect

Yesterday I showed you my lovely squash.  Don’t get cheeky, I’m talking about these squash.

Can Texans say cheeky and get away with it?  Here’s hoping the answer is yes!

I oven roasted the kabocha squash,

which I keep mispronouncing as kobayashi…

making me think of Mr. Kobayashi,

making me think of  The Usual Suspects,

which makes me smile…

which is why I keep mispronouncing the name.

I’m funny that way.

Anyhoooo….

Back to the kabocha squash.  My sweet bloggy friend Allie sent me a link to Tiny Urban Kitchen who had a post on roasted kabocha squash.

I followed the recipe except…no truffle oil, I used olive oil instead of vegetable oil and I added pumpkin pie spice to the seasoning list.

Why did I add pumpkin pie spice?

Well,

1. I adore pumpkin pie spice, I use it as often as I can.
2. The squash looks like a green pumpkin, once you cut it open it smells sweet, sort of fruity, sort of nutty, a little like a pumpkin-ey cantaloupe.
3. And last reason, just because I can. 

Before

After

Here’s what you would need to roast a kabocha squash.

Oven Roasted Kabocha Squash
1 kabocha squash
1/4 tsp salt
pepper (to taste)
2 T vegetable oil (I used olive oil)
truffle oil (optional)
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Grab your ingredients and head on over to Tiny Urban Kitchen.

The baked squash has a velvety, buttery texture.  The skin is totally edible.  It is very tasty.  I will buy a kabocha squash again.  My daughter says it tastes like dessert.  That’s fine by me.  Dessert it is.

My three squashes and the end of summer

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend.  Here in the United States and Canada, today is a holiday.  It’s Labor Day.

If you’re not from the United States or Canada, here’s a little info on the holiday. This info is via Wikipedia and Answers.com

Labor Day.

The first Monday in September, observed as a holiday in the United States and Canada in honor of working people.

Traditionally, Labor Day is celebrated by most Americans as the symbolic end of the summer.

In high society, Labor Day is (or was) considered the last day of the year when it is fashionable for women to wear white.

I’m not sure if September will mark an end to the dog days of summer, but it’s supposed to be the end of summer.

 

  That also means, the end or near the end of summer squash, so Friday when I went to the Farmer’s Market I picked up a few varieties of squash.

 

The yellow/green squash are over sized 8-ball squash I think. Think zucchini squash.

The green pumpkin shaped squash is Kabocha squash.  Allie at Forgotten Beast  blogged about this squash last week.  It is a winter squash, not a summer squash.

The white squash are Pattypan squash. Funny little things aren’t they?

Here is a cool resource page for squash.

 

I hope you have a wonderful day!  I’m off to swim and enjoy the holiday!