Calista's Cabbage

OK--so almost every 3rd grader in Utah and Idaho received a little cabbage plant and the end of school in May from Bonnie Plants. The kids are encouraged to plant their seedlings and then see what kind of a giant cabbage they can grow. They're supposed to take a picture with their cabbage and then send it in. A random person is picked from each state (?) to win a $1000 scholarship.

Calista took this challenge seriously and, after three different locations, her cabbage ended up in a corner of our garden. It did great!!! It must have been all the love she gave it. She named her cabbage Cory (after one of her best friends) and would spend time talking to it and loving it.

We finally decided it was time to pick it and weigh it. It came in at about 19 pounds. She took some cute pictures with it, and now we face eating 19 pounds of cabbage. Whew!!! So far we've had Chinese cabbage salad, egg rolls, Okonomiyaki (a Japanese food similar to egg foo yung), Yakisoba (Japanese stir fry with cabbage and noodles), and stuffed cabbage leaves. That might sound like a lot of dishes involving cabbage, but we still have over half of the thing left. Any other cabbage suggestions? Compost, maybe?

Perhaps next year we could get a pumpkin plant instead.

Have a good one!!!

Erin

Summer Tomatoes

Woo-hooo!! Finally this year, our tomatoes have been ripening all through the summer--not just the last week of the summer. Tonight, we had to pick a bunch so the plant wouldn't topple over. The plants, themselves, never got very big, but they have produced lots of tomatoes. Yea!!!

This is one of my favorite summer recipes--it's the BEST made with fresh tomatoes from the garden, fresh basil from the herb garden, and a little olive oil and vinegar. And, to top it all off, it's super fast and easy, too.


This recipe came from my friend Tori several years ago. I think she got it from an old Bon Appetit magazine (July '91).

Tomatoes and Pasta

1 lb. tomatoes, diced

4 oz. mozzarella, cut into small cubes

1/2 cup fresh basil, torn or finely chopped

6 TBS. olive oil

2 TBS. Balsamic vinegar

fresh garlic, crushed (one clove is usually plenty)

1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

toasted pine nuts (about 1/4 to 1/3 cup)

12 oz. pasta (I usually do a shape rather than a noodle)

Cook pasta. In the meantime, mix the remaining ingredients in a large bowl. When the pasta is done, drain and immediately toss the hot pasta with the other ingredients in the bowl. The heat from the pasta warms the "sauce" and just slightly melts the cheese. YUMMY!!! Serves about four.

Let me know what you think!!! I think I'll make some on Monday.

This is my herb garden at the first part of the summer. I love my herb garden. It's one of my favorite things. It's planted where there used to be a pond. We kept the pond when we first moved in, but it was ugly and every kid that came to our house wanted to throw rocks into it. We cleaned it up and filled it in with soil about seven or eight years ago and it has been an herb garden ever since.

The first herb in there was the sage plant, a gift from my mom. It's been there since the beginning. Every spring I trim it down to within an inch of its life, and it beautifully fills back in. The other herbs we have this year are....parsley, rosemary, thyme, mint, oregano, tarragon, basil, and chives. In the black bucket on the left, I planted cilantro, which didn't ever come up and I've never been able to grow. Then I tried planting dill. Several of the dill seeds sprouted, but after each one got to be about 1 inch high, something would eat it. Right now there's one surviving dill plant--guess that's better than nothing. In the foreground, by the flower pots, I tried planting lavendar for the first time. It's growing but very, very slowly.

I love being able to just pop out to the little herb garden and pick whatever I need for a recipe. And several of the herbs will last long through the fall, even after it freezes (sage, rosemary, thyme). If I were to give any advice about planting an herb garden, I would start with the hearty herb, like sage, rosemary, thyme, and oregano. But be careful with oregano because, really, it's a weed and will take over. I've cut mine back numerous times. And if anyone has any suggestions for growing cilantro, just let me know. Maybe I'll post a couple of my favorite herb recipes over the next couple weeks.

Have a good one!!!

Erin