Persimmons

The nights are getting colder. The leaves are starting to change. Halloween is almost here. And the persimmons are ready! Woohoo!

When we first looked it this house, I knew we had to have it when I saw the huge eat-in kitchen and the amazing pantry. (Okay. The giant utility room was nice too!) But when we walked around the yard and saw that there were *3* persimmon trees ... well, it was a done deal. I grew up with a persimmon tree in the yard and had been missing all those homemade persimmon puddings. Yum!

Unfortunately, since we've been here, one of the trees has blown over in a big storm but the other two are producing like crazy this year. The girls picked up persimmons yesterday and we were able to freeze enough persimmon pulp to make about 5 persimmon puddings. I'm hoping to freeze as much as I can this year. In the past, many (if not most) have gone to waste before I'd get motivated enough to do anything with them.

Persimmon pulp has always been a somewhat rare commodity and I've been afraid to "waste" it trying some new recipe that might or might not be as tasty as our tried-and-true persimmon pudding. This year, I'm planning to freeze as much as possible and finally getting around to trying some of the yummy-sounding persimmon recipes I've found online.

Here are some recipes I'm considering. If you've not had persimmons (the small, American ones, not the larger Asian varieties), this is a great time to try them. The pulp can often be found in your grocery store or at your local farmer's market during this time of year.


Prize-Winning Persimmon Pudding from the Mitchell, Indiana Persimmon Festival

Persimmon Applesauce from The Modern Beet

Persimmon Muffins from From Our Home to Yours

Ginger Persimmon Preserves from PersimmonPudding.com

Persimmon Chocolate Chip Cookies from PersimmonPudding.com

Persimmon Jam

Persimmon Sauce

Brown County (Indiana) Persimmon Fudge from OurBrownCounty.com

Farmers Market stuff

The youngest daughter and I made a run to the Farmer's Market this weekend. I didn't really need anything. We were just looking for something special to do together and the market just happens to be one of dd's favorite places in the world. We've been going since she was a baby and she always loves looking at all the fresh fruits and veggies and oohing and ahhhing over all the beautiful flowers and of course picking out the perfect old-fashioned candy stick. She was excited about her Pina Colada flavored candy but I was more excited about what I bought!

The tomatoes and peppers looked great. Mine have long since petered out. (Apparently you have to water them *every* day and pull the weeds and stuff. Hmmm. LOL!) Since I had no plans for them, I spent the day checking out blogs looking for a god idea. I found several:

Salsa Fresca from The Smitten Kitchen

Green Tomato and Jalapeno Jam from Steamy Kitchen

Cherry Tomato-Studden Jalapeno Corn Muffins from Mango & Tomato

Seared Scallops with Jalapeno Cream Sauce and Mexican Red Tomato Rice from Foodie

Homemade Tomato Salsa from Tammy's Recipes

Simple Cooked Tomato Salsa from Simply Recipes

There were lots of plums this week. I've actually never had a plum before so I'm really excited to try them. But what to make? My ideas:

Plum Bars from Cook & Eat

Plum Coffeecale with Cinnamon Streusel from Apartment Therapy

Black Plum Clafoutis from Orangette

Grilled Ribs with Plum Barbecue Sauce from MattBites

Plum, Feta and Fresh Mint Panini from Not Eating Out in New York

Apples too now. :-)

Ina Garten's Apple Turnovers

Simplest Apple Tart from Smitten Kitchen

Applesauce from Simply Recipes

Baked Apples from Kitchen Parade

Lemon Ricotta Pancakes with Sauteed Apples from Smitten Kitchen

Summer's Bounty

Summer is in full swing here ... finally. This summer has been wetter than normal as well as cooler than usual. The lake was too cold to swim in until July and Lily's lips still turn blue if we stay in too long. Teperatures have been in the 90's this week and it really feels like summer ... and school's ready to start. What's wrong with this picture? Sure makes me want to reconsider the whole homeschooling issue!


The tomatoes are delicious. That homegrown, juicy taste of heaven you get when you eat a tomato that you've just picked that's still warm from the sun. Mmmmm! I've had plenty of cherry tomatoes but the regular tomatoes aren't really cooperating. I've had a few but they seem to be coming on finally. Too wet and cold earlier perhaps. I am starting to have a pretty good idea why some of the tomatoes aren't looking very photogenic. I have a new friend. We both really like homegrown tomatoes. ;-)



The grapes look incredible. They are starting to turn! And it does look like there will be plenty for me as well as enough to share. I can't wait to make jams and jellies. I never had jelly from the store until I moved away from home. My mom was always putting up food. I can still remember the strawberry jam and the grape jelly. Mmmmm!




I finally have a little eggplant. Just one so far but after all the exciting eggplant recipes I've seen lately, hopefully we'll get a few more before it's over. (A Southern Grace's baba ganoush comes to mind!)







I'm very excited about this one. Know what they are? Persimmons! We have two persimmon trees on our property. It was a very sad day when the third one got struck by lightning and landed on the new baby persimmon tree. Indiana persimmons are like the greatest thing ever. I grew up looking forward to family gatherings when one of my relatives would bring a persimmon pudding. Topped with whipped cream ... we're talking heaven on a plate! It's been awhile since I've had some and I can't wait until I can make my own this fall!

Happy 4th of July!!!

Happy 4th of July to all you Americans out there! Hopefully you all will be enjoying better weather than we are here. Every year, the 4th is hot, humid and dry, dry, dry. Not so much this year. Our family has a tradition of running a race that our local running club sponsors every year on the 4th of July. This year we even got grandma out there to watch and a cousin came to run. Hopefully we'll have a few more family members involved next year ... if the weather is better. Pouring rain and 63 degrees! What's up with that? Usually we want to come home and jump in the lake. This year, we jumped into warm showers and put on our flannel pajamas! Hopefully it will clear up a bit (and warm up a lot!) before our family cook-out tonight.

The race went well despite the rain. Youngest dd won a huge trophy for second place in her 5 year and under age group with a time of about 9 minutes for a one mile race! And even better, she got to shake hands with the new Mayor! Older dd ran an amazing time. Her fastest yet, but unfortunately this year she moved up an age group and so even though she's only in 5th grade, she was competing against high school freshmen. :-(

The rain may not be great for running but hopefully my herbs will appreciate it! This year I've done all my herbs in containers. By next year I hope to have an actual herb garden laid out. Here I've got marjoram and lemon thyme and they seem to be thriving. I've also planted some dill (though it's not doing so well.) I planted a ton of basil this year. I can't find it fresh around here often so I wanted to have plenty this summer since I'm on a Caprese Salad kick. I've planted regular thyme, thai basil, mint, cilantro, parsley, chives and a few others that I can't think of at the moment. Plenty to keep me experimenting in the kitchen for the rest of the summer!
I planted some lavender a couple of years ago and it's really taken off. It's a shame I don't really know what to do with it. I just love the beautiful purple blooms and it keeps coming back bigger and better every year.

Grapes!

One of the things I loved about this house when we moved here (13 years ago this week!) was that it had a grape arbor out back. The grapes were dark purple and sweeter than any grapes you'd ever buy in the store. The first couple of years I made jellies and jams but then between new babies, cancer and heart conditions (not to mention sports practices, scouting and homework) the grapes were quite neglected.

My dh got really motivated this year and designed a great arbor for the grapes. Rather than the two simple rows of fence which we originally had (and which had fallen apart through the years), the new arbor is designed to get the grapes up, off of the ground and make them much, much easier to pick. There are still quite a few weeds left to pull and a few more grapes to tie up but so far it looks great! It's going to be beautiful when it's done.

The grapes are looking good. We were afraid all the moving them around and ripping out part of them might have damaged the plants but it doesn't look like it. There are grapes all over the place! More than enough for our family to use.















Since we've started the project, the grapes have really taken off. Here you can see they are already starting to grab onto the wires. :-)











And here's the best part. With this new design, the grapes are hanging down from overhead, ready -- and easy-- to pick. Way better than before when the prior owner had planted berry bushes (thorns and all) between each grape plant. Picking grapes used to involve lots of blood loss.

I can't wait for fall! Anyone have any good jam or jelly recipes? I did find one that has lots of potential: Great Grape Sorbet from Su Good Sweets. Mmmmm! I can't wait!

Garden Veggies

Our area has been hard hit by the flooding recently and it seems like things can't dry out because it just won't stop raining. It doesn't seem like it's almost July. It's more like spring with all the rain and not particularly hot temperatures. (The lake is still icy cold and I haven't been brave enough to get in, even though the kids have.) Good news: Summer is here! And it's finally starting to feel like it. Heat indexes in the mid-90's last week. Temps reaching into the 90's later this week. And hopefully, a little less rain. But while I've been complaining about the weather, my garden has been enjoying it. I thought I'd share some pictures of how my garden has been progressing. I really don't have much of a green thumb at all. In fact, it'll be a small miracle if I'm able to harvest much this year!

The cherry tomatoes are looking a little ragged. Not sure if they are too water logged with all the rain or what, but at least they are producing. And they taste delicious! Hopefully the hot, sunny days forecast for the next week or so will help them out.

The regular tomatoes are looking good as well. It won't be long before I'll have some juicy, homegrown tomatoes to throw on the hamburgers! Once the other tomato plants catch up, I see some Fried Green Tomatoes in my future. A rare treat I haven't had in years. I can't wait! I've planted two in large containers near the house and two small plants back in the garden (where they often languish because I forget to carry enough water out there.) I'm looking forward to making lots of tomato recipes this summer that will taste sooo good with those homegrown tomatoes. Mmm!


The zucchini plants are starting to blossom! I can't wait til the plants start to produce. I hate paying for zucchini at the grocery store when I know in a few more weeks I'll have more than enough out in the garden! Since one of my new favorite side dish is Kate's Zucchini Rounds, I shouldn't have a problem using up all that surplus squash!

The eggplant is holding it's own, not looking all that great but still alive and the I think that the Habanero Peppers are on their last legs. Hopefully a little sunny weather will bring them back. The Jalapenos are lookin pretty good, but appaently not verry photogenic. (I didn't get a good shot.) Each plant has lots of blossoms and several tiny peppers already. I see salsa in my future!