Weekly Round-Up of Posts

It's been another busy week for me. I'm experimenting with my own productivity this week. So, I finished up a bunch of posts all at once and will link to them from this post.

Highlights of my week:

A neighbor gave us a dozen ripe yellow plums this week. So very kind. And the plums are super sweet.

I harvested what I think is a year's supply of garlic for our family. That's about a $25 value. This all began with a single 33-cent head of garlic about 15 years ago, saving and replanting a little more each year.

I transplanted a bunch of lettuce seedlings into pots and baskets, collecting seeds from some of the spent plants, including nasturtium and spinach seeds for planting next year. I also collected chive seeds to top a batch of rolls. The radish seeds are not quite ready. I've let a lot of radish seed pods develop, as I hope to make radish sprouts this winter.

I'm working on my garden plan for 2022 already. I keep a small notebook with what worked and what needs improvement, adding content as it comes to mind while working in the garden. Two plans for next year are to increase the size of our pumpkin patch and add another potato bed. Canned pumpkin is a more expensive canned vegetable, averaging about 90-95 cents per can compared with other veggies that I can get canned for about 50 cents per can. With the potatoes, last year we ran out of garden-grown potatoes in early February. Adding another bed will yield enough potatoes to serve them often in fall and winter, with some perhaps lasting into spring (especially if I cook, mash and freeze some or dehydrate slices).

We are experiencing the smoke from California wildfires once again. The light looks pink and even though there aren't any real clouds in the sky, the light is on the dim side. I'm wondering what this does for growing vegetables. The smell is smokey, but not terribly bad. We did have a few nice days between spells of this smoke-filled air. We spent a lot of time outdoors on those days. Dinner outdoors is such a lovely summer treat.

I found a way to make previously frozen, thawed and badly separated milk more palatable for my family. (There's only so much pudding they can eat.) I added some powdered milk (2 tablespoons) to a couple of cups of the separated milk and ran it all through the smoothie blender. The milk treated this way did not appear to separate while sitting in the fridge overnight like the rest of the frozen/thawed milk did.

And now, as promised, some weekend reading for you -- a trio of posts. Pick and choose (click on links), if they sound interesting to you. 

What else can you do with the abundance of garden zucchini? In this link, here's what I wrote this week about how I make stuffed zucchini, with a bunch of variations that I've tried and enjoyed.

A couple of friends emailed wanting a recipe for jello made with flat soda pop. I typed up how I made it in this post. 

I know, we're almost half-way through August, and I'm just now getting to writing up my grocery shopping recap for the month of July. I've included our list of items, with prices, stores and quantities in the link in this post. I've also added a few more items to our list of foods that will likely see large price jumps in the next year.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

Grocery Recap for July 2021 (plus another few items added to the possible shortages' list)

grocery shopping in 1938
photo source:
https://www.wbur.org/npr/139761274/how-the-a-p-changed-the-way-we-shop

In July, I began to feel the need to stock up on some staples again. I placed a few orders with walmart.com to be shipped to my house, made a pick-up at a Walmart store, and shopped in-person at WinCo, US Chef'Store (formerly Cash & Carry -- a restaurant supply) and Fred Meyer (while picking up gardening supplies). I spent a total of $293.58. (Of this, $10.75 was for foods for the 4th of July.)

Here's a comparison of what I've spent, month by month, in the last year. My spending in July is not bad, considering I stocked up so much.

Monthly food spending for last 12 months

Aug 2020   $92.18

Sept 2020  $182.30

Oct 2020   $304.52

Nov  2020  $189.45

Dec  2020  $77.98

Jan  2021  $54.07

Feb  2021  $184.66

Mar 2021   $152.77

Apr 2021  $447.19

May 2021  $285.53

June 2021 $127.98

July 2021 $293.58

Here's what I bought. You'll notice that I bought very little produce (the garden is prolific in July) and little meat. Most of what I bought was for my pantry stock-up.

12 bananas, 6 @ 46 cents/lb, 6 @ 48 cents/lb (Walmart and WinCo)

6 20-oz canisters raisins, $2.94 ea (Walmart.com)

bundle celery, 88 cents (WinCo)

5-lb bag carrots, $2.48 (WinCo)

4 gallons 2% milk, 1 gallon whole milk, $2.79 ea (WinCo)
pint whipping cream (for making ice cream), $1.87 (WinCo)

5-lb bag shredded cheddar and jack blend, $12.15 (US Chef'Store)
2 5-lb bags shredded mozzarella, $11.85 ea (US Chef'Store)
10  1/2-gallons 2% milk, 3  1/2 gallons whole milk, 99 cents/ea (Fred Meyer)

24-oz package pork bacon, $5.98 (Walmart)

2 27-oz packages pepperoni slices, $7.47 ea (Walmart)
2 dozen eggs, $1.15/dozen (WinCo)

2 10-lb bags all-purpose flour, $2.50 ea (Walmart.com)
5 10-lb bags sugar, $3.92 ea (Walmart.com)
2 gallons vegetable oil,  one at $5.60, one at $5.70 (Walmart.com)
4 5-lb bags all-purpose flour, $1.22 ea (Walmart.com)
4 boxes graham crackers, $1.23 ea (Walmart.com)
6-pack 32-oz spaghetti pasta, $7.92 total for 12 lbs (Walmart.com)

2 3-lb boxes macaroni pasta, $2.12 ea (Walmart)

4 32-oz raw honey, $7.93 (Walmart.com)

5-lb bag corn meal, $2.36 (Walmart.com)
26 oz canister salt, 40 cents (Walmart.com)
2 16-oz bags whole almonds, $4.96 ea (Walmart.com)

.55 lb bulk cocoa powder, $1.42 ($2.58/lb), (WinCo)
2 16-oz jars chicken bouillon, $2.74 ea (Walmart.com)
2 16-oz cornstarch, $1.08 (Walmart.com)

4 boxes toasty oats cereal, $1.23 ea (Walmart)

3 bags chocolate chips, $1.78 ea (Walmart)
2 bags mini chocolate chips, $1.98 ea (Walmart)
32-oz beef bouillon, $3.98 (Walmart)

25-lb bag regular rolled oats, $14.50 (WinCo)
25-lb bag lentils, $14.96 (US Chef'Store)
large container ground cloves, $14.98 (US Chef'Store)

88-ct corn tortillas, $2.39 (US Chef'Store)

4th of July
hot dog buns, 85 cents (WinCo)
2 packets Kool-Aid (1 red, 1 blue -- 4th of July jello), 18 cents ea (WinCo)

deli potato salad, $3.98 (WinCo)

whole watermelon, $5.56 (33 cents/lb), (WinCo)

This was the month that I was preparing to defrost 2 freezers, which meant I didn't have a lot of space to keep much in the way of stock-up freezer items. In August, I hope to stock-up on meat.

More foods to add to the possible shortages and price increase list

A few more foods have come to my attention that may see significant price increases in the coming year -- bacon, flour, and almonds. Last week, I read an article about Prop 12 in California which will ultimately drive pork prices up. Read it here. I read another article about the devastation of our regional drought to the wheat crop in Washington state. I suspect flour prices will jump, as Washington state is one of the 4 major producers of wheat in the US. This article is here. When wheat scarcity hits, many will turn to other grains, which could drive those prices up as well. And again with California in the news, almond growers in CA are tearing out their almond orchards due to record drought and water restrictions. 80% of the world's almonds are grown in the US, with California producing more almonds than any other state. The article on the almond growers can be found here. 

I can live with less bacon, and I'm also happy to eat turkey bacon. The wheat crop may be better in 2022, who knows. But the almond orchards being torn up could lead to longterm higher almond prices. This will in turn affect the price and availability of almond milk.

And yes, I did stock up on more bacon, flour, and almonds when I read this news. Some of these purchases fell in August, so they'll be reported in a month.

Recipe for Making Jello Salad with Flat Soda Pop

After last Friday's post, I received a couple of emails requesting a recipe for making jello with flat soda. So, here's my best estimate of what I used.

Jello Using Flat Soda Pop

3 teaspoons of unflavored gelatin

1/4  cup cold water

2 cups of flat fruity soda (I used orange soda, but I also have a half bottle of flat fruit punch soda waiting for more jello)

2 tablespoons lemon or lime juice

3 tablespoons of granulated sugar (to taste)

In a small dish, softened the gelatin in the water until all particles of gelatin are translucent. Once softened, melt the gelatin/water in the microwave in short bursts (15-20 seconds) until it is melted and liquid.

Stir the melted gelatin into a bowl with the soda, citrus juice, and sugar. Continue stirring until the sugar is completely dissolved. Chill for 4 hours or until set.

When mixing fruit into jello for a salad, I partially chill the jello before adding the chopped fruit. The fruit seems to remains suspended in the jello better if its (the jello) is more gloppy when stirring in the fruit.

The Many Variations of Stuffed Zucchini

Are you struggling to find new ways to use your excess zucchini crop? I've tried a variety of recipes and ideas over the years. I already mentioned the success of my zucchini chips, using the dehydrator. Well, here's another family favorite that even my zucchini non-enthusiast loves -- stuffed zucchini.

Zucchini can be stuffed with bread or cracker crumbs, cooked rice, cooked meat, shredded cheese, herbs, salt and pepper then baked into a yummy side dish or even light entree.

The easiest for me is to simply cut one slice of dense bread into tiny cubes, toss with chopped zucchini that I scooped from the insides to form the shell. I add 1 minced clove garlic, 1/3 Parmesan/mozzarella cheese, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper, 1 teaspoon oregano, thyme or savory. Then I stuff this into hollowed zucchini halves (sprinkled lightly with salt) and drizzle the whole stuffed zucchini with olive oil. I bake at 375 degrees F for about 25 to 30 minutes, or until the filling is lightly golden.

Because I don't pre-cook this filling in a skillet before stuffing, I only use about 2/3 of the scooped out flesh in the filling. Using all of it yields a soggy stuffing even after baking.

I use a melon baller to hollow out squash,
leaving 1/4 to 1/2-inch walls.
I chop the balls of zucchini
and add to the filling

hollowed shells sprinkled lightly with salt

before baking I drizzle with olive or veg oil

golden filling and slightly firm squash
 after baking

Here's another recipe that calls for the addition of a small amount of cooked meat. These can make a light dinner entree all on their own.

Sausage-Stuffed Zucchini 

4 small or 2 large zucchini (about 1 pound)

1/2 lb Italian sausage (pork or turkey, bulk or removed from casings)

2 tablespoons minced onion

1/2 cup of bread crumbs

2 to 3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

1 teaspoon dried oregano

dash red pepper flakes

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

salt (for the empty zucchini shells) 

Also, if using turkey Italian sausage, 1 to 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil for sautéeing the meat, zucchini pulp, and onion.

Split the zucchini into halves, lengthwise. Scoop out the flesh, leaving about a 1/4 to 1/2-inch thick shell. Sprinkle the shells lightly with salt. Place on an ungreased baking sheet.

Chop the scooped out flesh. In a skillet, cook the sausage with the chopped zucchini flesh and onion until meat is cooked but not browned, drain (if needed) and toss with the bread crumbs, parsley, oregano, red pepper flakes, and Parmesan cheese.

Fill zucchini shells with the cooked mixture. Bake at 375 degrees F for about 25 minutes.

Other meat, cheese and seasoning possibilities: 

• chopped and cooked chicken with sage, black pepper, cheddar (white would be nice) in place of oregano/Parmesan/red pepper flakes
• browned breakfast sausage with sage, thyme and/or marjoram in place of oregano with or without cheese
• browned chicken and apple sausage with sage and white cheddar in place of oregano/Parmesan
• browned ground beef, chili powder, mild cheddar in place of oregano/Parmesan

Leftover crumbled cornbread can be substituted for the bread crumbs in any of the above combos.

Leftover cooked rice

Zucchini halves can also be stuffed with cooked rice and seasoning mixtures, with or without meat. I don't know about you, but I rarely make the exact amount of rice that my family will eat at one meal. Leftover cooked rice can be mixed in with cooked ground beef, some Italian or Tex-Mex seasonings and salt/pepper, then stuffed into zucchini shells. Top the cooked stuffed shells with either marinara (Italian) or salsa (Tex-Mex) plus some shredded cheese.

Leftover cooked polenta

Leftover cooked polenta also makes a good grain base for stuffing summer squash. Break up the cooked polenta, add some shredded cheese, chopped zucchini flesh, and maybe some diced red pepper. The resulting filling will be tender and flavorful.

notes:

When I plan on stuffing zucchini, I look for those that are about 11 to 12 inches long and 2  1/2 inches in diameter. These seem to cook evenly and quickly, while still providing plenty of stuffing capacity. 

My family prefers a firmer zucchini once baked. If you prefer a softer texture to the vegetable, you can steam the empty and scooped out zucchini halves in the microwave for a minute or two before filling and baking.

Quick message from me

Hi friends,

I just wanted to let you know that I'm trying something different with my schedule this week, so I'm not posting. I'll be back with posts on Friday.

Have a wonderful week! Enjoy the Perseids if you get a chance.

Lili

Can We Talk About Food Saves? Gelatin and Fruit Salad Using Flat Orange Soda

I've been slowly cleaning out odds and ends in the fridges. It appears that I have a daughter that loves soda, but never manages to finish a two-liter bottle. This orange soda has been sitting in the fridge for a few months. I finally got around to using it up in a jello salad.

I punched up the flavor with lime juice and sugar, mixed with softened and melted unflavored gelatin, and folded in some fresh fruit. The gelatin salad was delicious and we managed to use up a banana that was too ripe for anyone to want, a pear that had fallen off the tree, some blueberries, and that last 2 cups of orange soda. All in all, a win for saving food!

In the comments, please share your best food save from recent weeks.

This Week I Am . . .

• working on my fall deck garden. I cleared out another planter, mixed in compost and got it ready for some autumn kale.
• peeling, slicing and dehydrating apples. A sweet friend dropped off a large bag of her tree apples for my family. In addition to dehydrating, we've also been eating a lot of the apples fresh every day.
• harvesting green beans, blueberries, kale, chard, rhubarb, salad greens, cucumbers and summer squash. This is peak garden time. Lots of variety every day.
• enjoying these long sunny days. I'm not usually a morning person. But this time of year, I can't help but get up with the birds once the sky looks light.
• admiring the beauty and fragrance of the Oriental lilies in bloom in my yard.

So, how about you? What are you doing this week?

Cheap & Cheerful Meals for the Tail End of July

 

Hi friends. Happy Friday! And it's the last Friday of the month of July. How did your week go? I hope you found time to enjoy yourself as well as took care of your work. 

What we ate around here this past week:

Breakfasts: 

homemade raisin and spice granola, blueberry muffins, toast, homemade yogurt with raspberries, blueberries or blackberries, chicken gravy on toast, juice, milk, coffee

Lunches:

leftovers, cream of sorrel soup, turnip and vegetable soup, mixed green salads, hummus, crackers, cheese or peanut butter sandwiches, cookies, graham crackers, raisins, blueberries, eggs, sausage, zucchini chips

Dinners:

Friday
peppers and olive pizza, dolmades with yogurt sauce, sautéed summer squash, cookies

Saturday
hummus, fry bread, carrot sticks

Sunday
barbecued burgers, beet greens, tossed garden salad, cookies

Monday
eggs with chives, turnip greens, roasted root vegetables, rice and gravy, rhubarb crisp

Tuesday
chicken in thyme gravy, rosemary mashed potatoes, beet greens, leftover rhubarb crisp

Wednesday (my daughter prepared this)
beef with broccoli, chicken and vegetables, rice, egg rolls

Thursday (my other daughter prepared this meal)
scratch macaroni and cheese, turnip greens, summer squash, stewed prunes

This past week, I finally got around to thawing the chest freezer. Sometime in September 2020 I froze several jugs of milk in the chest freezer. One of the jugs split a seam and leaked 3/4 of a gallon of milk all over the bottom of the freezer, cementing anything sitting on the bottom of the freezer in place. I wanted to just get that cleaned up, but with a full freezer that's not terribly easy. I waited until that point in summer where we'd gone through most of our frozen foods from last summer's garden and foraging, but it was still early enough in this year's harvest so I wouldn't have as much food to stuff into other freezers. That moment came this week. It was a nuisance, but much more do-able that I'd thought it would be. So now I have this pristine freezer all organized and room to spare. How long do you figure this will last -- 3 weeks, a month? It doesn't seem to take too much rummaging to mess up the organization. But at least I now know exactly what we have in there. And yes, there were some surprises.

Last Friday, I was out of pepperoni for our weekly pizza. So I scrounged in the freezer and found some frozen pepper strips and opened a can of olives, yielding a pepper and olive pizza for the family. This week, I have pepperoni again for our favorite pizza topping. Plus, I'll be baking a blackberry pie later this morning. While cleaning out the deep freezer, I came across several bags of frozen blackberries from last year's foraging. Blackberry season is just about to begin for this year, so I need to do some quick baking, and jam and syrup making. So, tonight -- blackberry pie. I also came across a bag of dried prunes. And you guessed it, we're coming close to ripe plum season again. Stewed prunes were added to the menu this past week and will be on coming menus as well. I also came across several bags of blueberries. I made some blueberry jam and baked some blueberry muffins. Cleaning the freezer is a bit like a treasure hunt. I found so many odds and ends that will add to our upcoming meals.

When I wasn't cleaning out the freezer, I was in the garden or organizing our pantry. It's always about food for me these days.

How was your week? What was on your menu?

Got Zucchini? Make Zucchini Chips

I don't have the overabundance of zucchini that many gardeners seem to get. However, I have a daughter who is not wild about zucchini. So I am always looking for new ways to prepare this lovely summer squash that will appeal to her.

Enter zucchini chips. I got the idea when she bought herself some vegetable chips and was actually enjoying them. Then I discovered that many other folks make zucchini chips with their dehydrators, air fryers, and ovens. Since I have my dehydrator out and running this month, I decided to give that a try.

Here's what I did:

I sliced fresh, washed zucchini between 1/8 to 1/4-in thick and placed them, plain (no oil/no seasoning), on the dehydrator trays, up against each other but avoided overlapping. I set the dehydrator to 135 degrees F (the setting for fruits and vegetables) and left it for 3 hours. After 3 hours, I switched the trays around for uniform drying. After another 5 hours, the slices were dry.

I tasted a couple and really liked them. I could eat the whole batch myself, I think. It's late in the evening, so I'll season and add them to tomorrow's lunch. I think these will be a hit.

My zucchini chips are very thin. I started with 1/8 to 1/4-inch slices. I may try slicing the zucchini a little thicker for a sturdier chip next time (the kind that could stand up to some dip). The only downside to thicker chips is longer dry time. We'll see how they turn out. And just so you know, bigger zucchini is actually a plus, here. The slices shrink up considerably, so a fatter zucchini would yield more generous sized chips.

I didn't use any oil, but a light spritz of the trays with cooking spray might be good, especially for super thin edges when not getting a full slice.

Have you made zucchini or any other vegetable chips?

Thought You Might Like to See Another of Our Native Edibles Here in the PNW

Oregon Grape Low Bush

Oregon Grape (Mahonia aquifolium)

If you haven't spent much time in the Pacific Northwest of the US, you may not have come across this plant before or known that its berries are edible. Locally, it's simply known as Oregon Grape. As it is not a true grape, it's also sometimes known as holly-leaved grape or berberry. I would guess it gets it's name "grape" due to the long hanging clusters of dark blue berries it presents each summer. The edges of the leaves are serrated and prickly, much like holly leaves.

Historically, Oregon Grape berries were a part of the traditional diet for indigenous people of the PNW. Having tasted them myself, it's hard to imagine eating such tart berries as they are. However, I've used them in making very delicious jelly. They're high in pectin, which means I can make a jelly with just the berries and sugar.

Today, Oregon Grape berries are a common fruit for foraging in the PNW. But in my neighborhood, most of the landscapes have the bushes in abundance. The plants grow well in semi-shaded areas that receive abundant rainfall and require virtually no attention. I'm familiar with both the tall and low bush varieties. The tall bushes grow to over 7 feet high, while the low bushes stand about 2 to 2.5 feet in height. We have both growing on our property. These plants have been here since we bought the house 26 years ago, and in some cases, they've seeded new plants. We've never done anything to care for them, that's how easy they are to keep. 

In spring, the bushes are covered with yellow blossoms. And every year in early August, the berries size up, ripen to a dark blue with a whitish bloom, and are ready for me to make a small batch of jelly. The jelly is rich with spicy overtones, like an improved grape jelly. My own kids knew this as "grape jelly" for their PBJs when they were little.

I'm watching the berries this week and next. The birds love them as much as we do, so I have to be quick to grab what I can when they're ripe.

Working On My Fall Deck Garden

a trough of turnips just started

I've been clearing out early season vegetables from some of my containers so that I can plant some vegetables for fall and winter harvest. In my zone, most vegetables stop growing in early October. If I start cooler season vegetables now through mid-August, the plants should be mature enough to harvest by the time the light levels are too low for more growth. I won't be harvesting everything in October, however. Most of the plants I've chosen for fall and winter will "hold" in my deck garden for early to mid-winter harvest.

The deck is on the south side of the house. Right now, it gets part sun and stays cool due to deciduous trees. Once the leaves fall, my planters will receive full sun through winter. For now, the containers are a couple of feet away from the house wall. When temps cool more, I'll push them completely against the house to protect the plants from hard frosts. 

The vegetables that I've chosen for my fall garden are kale, cauliflower, turnips, beets, Swiss chard, lettuce, spinach, arugula, and green onions. Some of these vegetables will die out in early November (lettuce, green onions), but most of them will still be harvestable, with protection, through winter.

I love the idea of a four-season garden. Lacking a walk-in greenhouse, I'll have to be satisfied with a fall and early/mid-winter harvest from my fall deck garden. 

Did You Know Carrot Leaves Are Edible?

For those of you who are growing your own vegetables, do you use the leaves to your carrots? Carrot greens are edible and have a mild and pleasant taste that is like a cross between carrot and green herb.

I have 2 deep pots filled with carrots this summer. I cut a stem from a couple of carrots every time I gather greens for salads. Since I still want my carrots to continue sizing up, I try to not take more than one stem per carrot and also try to space out how often I cut from a particular carrot. The green leaves can be used up till harvest.

The stem itself is tough, but the tiny frond-like leaves are tender enough for salads. Carrot leaves can also be added to soups, pesto, rice, dressings, stuffings, and dips. 

I picked an assortment of lettuce, watercress, nasturtium leaves and blossoms, chive blossoms, and carrot leaves for this salad mixture to go with leftover dolmades for our lunch on Sunday. The carrot leaves added visual, textural, and flavor interest to the salad.

I'm making a real effort to use as much as possible from my garden this summer and through fall. This means I need to be resourceful and look to the different parts of plants that are edible.

Have you tried carrot leaves?

Cheap & Cheerful Menus for Late July

I made rosemary vinegar this week. It's simply fresh rosemary in distilled white vinegar. I'll allow the flavor to infuse over the next 4 to 6 months before using it. I love how herb vinegars look when they are first made. The vinegar is crystal clear, and the herbs still have their green freshness. 

Another end of a week. My how fast this summer is flying! 

A lot of very ordinary meals around here. But that's okay -- my family likes ordinary (after all, they like me, and I'm ordinary). Here's what we ate:

Breakfasts this week included toasted O's cereal, homemade yogurt, berries, homemade blueberry muffins, homemade bread, toasted, eggs, milk, juice, and coffee/tea. I just haven't had it in me to make pancakes or waffles. I'll have to do something about that now that the blueberries are ripening.

Lunches were more varied. I sometimes picked greens from the hanging baskets and garden for salads, and sometimes I made soup from the garden (sorrel one time, turnip stems and carrot another). We also had peanut butter or cheese sandwiches and hummus/crackers. Plus, we ate leftovers from dinners for lunches. There has been no shortage of cookies for quick desserts. Yesterday, I made some chocolate chip shortbread rounds -- very yummy!

Here are the dinner menus:

Friday
homemade pepperoni pizza, watermelon, roasted broccoli, rhubarb crisp

Saturday
TVP meatballs and spaghetti, green beans, blueberries and raspberries, cookies

Sunday
hot dog cookout, homemade buns, sauerkraut, carrot sticks, canned corn, garden salad

Monday
eggs with chives, sausage, brown rice and chicken gravy, sautéed summer squash, roasted turnips, sautéed turnip greens, vanilla rhubarb sauce

Tuesday
pasta, broccoli, and cheese, cookies

Wednesday
7-11 pizza (my daughter bought this), garden salad, blueberries and raspberries, cookies

Thursday
meatloaf, fresh bread and butter, stuffed zucchini squash, vanilla rhubarb sauce

I have a couple of meals that I make each week. My family doesn't notice the repetition and doing so eliminates some planning. As examples, I make the same basic meal every Monday and Friday. I always know that Monday's dinner will be eggs, rice, gravy, and whatever vegetables and/or fruit that we have. Friday is always pizza night at our house, with side dishes that vary. This week, I'll be making stuffed grape leaves again to go with the pizza. I noticed some of our grape leaves are the perfect combination of size and tenderness. I am all out of pepperoni, so I'll be rummaging through the pantry and freezer to find pizza toppings.

What was on your menu this past week?

Historical Gardening: An Unusual Method of Making Pickles

melon-mangoeing: an historical technique of pickling a stuffed vegetable or fruit.
image from video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UhB4iOl-PA

This post isn't to suggest that any of us make pickles in this way. But I just found this very fascinating.

There's this pickling technique that was used in pre-1900 prairie vegetable gardens called melon-mangoeing -- no association with actual mangoes, however. A type of melon, which was very bland in itself, was hollowed out, filled with finely chopped cabbage, peppers, and onions, then sewn shut and submerged in a brine until the outside and inside was pickled. Melon-mangoeing became a popular method of preserving other vegetables as well, such as peppers and even sweet fruits like peaches.

I heard about this technique in a documentary about vegetable gardening in 1800s Minnesota. The video is about 30 minutes and available on youtube, here: Prairie Yard & Garden: Growing Vegetables in the 1800s, put together by Pioneer Public TV (pickling technique shown around the 11:30 mark and again around the 25:20 mark.)

I'm an historical gardening and cooking geek, so this documentary was right up my alley. I thought some of you might also find the entire video as engaging as I do. Enjoy!

If you do watch the video, please share your thoughts, here, in the comments.