Canning and Putting Up Party

This blog was suppose to begin with a picture of a garden fresh blt, but I had already eaten it before I realized a picture had not been taken. The first sign of red tomatoes on the vine had me craving it and I had no self control when the delicious red tomato and bacon were sitting on my plate between two pieces of homemade bread. With all of the work that we have put into our garden this year, I wanted to take a day we could enjoy the fruits of our labor and can some of our bounty to enjoy this winter.

This garden has definitely been a family affair. My dad and husband have put in countless hours in the garden combating bugs, weeds, and other creatures. My mom has been ready to put up or serve whatever we harvest and we even have my grandparents who are in their 80's making pickles and putting up onions. This Saturday we all came together to work on the harvest and to enjoy some delicious food so fresh the dirt had to be knocked off of it.

We started the day by putting up a bushel of peaches. This brings the total to 1.5 bushels for the year but we love our peaches. We slice them, add a little fruit fresh, and put them in 3 cup bags that we then store in the freezer. With these you can make pies, cobblers, smoothies, enjoy them on yogurt, or use them in bread. And have no fear, before we froze them we enjoyed another round of peach ice cream and peach cobbler.

After the peaches were done we broke for lunch and had the famous blt's (again, sorry no pic). We also had some pickled beans that the Househusband and I had made earlier in the week. They were so easy to make and taste a lot like a pickle. All you do is cut up beans and whatever else you want to throw in. We added some onions and peppers. Then you mix together 5 cups water, 1 cup vinegar, 1/4 cup sugar, 1/4 salt. Pack the jars with the beans, pour in the liquid mixture, put the top on and let it sit in the frig at least 48 hours. Then they are pickled and ready to be enjoyed!

The afternoon was spent making salsa and putting up onions we had grown. Some of the onions were not storing well, so my grandparents chopped them up, caramelized them, and froze them in 1 cup bags. These are going to be awesome in soups or on hamburgers.

Mom and I spent the afternoon making our first batch of salsa. It has a good taste but was decided that we will be adding more tomatoes for the next round.

I have to stop for a moment and brag on my Mom. She is one of the busiest people I know and is preparing for my brother to get married this year and a new grandbaby and she still has managed to put up corn, hashbrowns, jalapeno jelly, sweet jalapenos, coleslaw, green beans, and blackberry jam. The lady wears me out.

While we were plugging away in the kitchen, the Househusband was out gathering more from the garden. We gathered up what he picked and our dinner included fried green beans and okra, zucchini fritters, corn on the cob, grilled squash, and last but not least peach cobbler.

As I was taking this next pic I was trying to ignore the fact that the Househusband was frying in 2 sticks of butter and bacon fat.

Needless to say by the end of the day we were exhausted. But it was great to spend the day together and have the satisfaction of being able to serve something we grew together.

Blog to you soon,
Lucy

Food Truck Night

A heat advisory and 104 degrees on the thermostat did not stop us from enjoying the second Food Truck Night in Tower Grove Park. http://www.saucemagazine.com/blog/?p=11553 Fifteen food trucks from St Louis lined up in Tower Grove opened up their doors and dulled out delicious foods ranging from tacos, pizza, crepes, cupcakes, and hot dogs. I enjoyed a delicious basil watermelon lemonade from Southwest Diner and a BLT crepe from Holy Crepe! I finished the evening with a Chunky Monkey Cupcake from The Sweet Divine.

We layed out a blanket and gathered with friend's for the evening. I wish I would've taken more pics of food and truck pics, but I was in the company of these precious babies which had me distracted. These cute guys, or as I like to refer to them as my daughter's future suitors, are about 8 weeks old and as cuddly as can be.

I am in the middle of canning today with the whole family so I better get back to work! Details and pics to come tomorrow!

Blog to you soon!
Lucy

Farmer's Market Season

Folks, if you are buying your fruits and veggies from the supermarkets right now you are missing out. We are smack dab in the middle of vegetable season here in Missouri and the Farmer's Markets are crawling with fresh, local, and often times organic produce. Since becoming interested (or maybe obsessed is a better word) with the slow food movement, I have been a huge fan of Farmer's Markets. To find a listing of Farmer's Markets in the St Louis area go to http://agebb.missouri.edu/fmktdir/view.asp?region=5. There many of the markets that are open at night during the week.

A couple of great ones I have ventured to this summer are the Maplewood and Tower Grove markets. Maplewood is on Wednesday nights from 4-7 and is located in the Schfaly Bottleworks parking lot. To have a stand at this market you must be local and organic. The CSA Paul is interning at has a booth there every week. http://www.earthdancefarms.org/

This past weekend we went to the Tower Grove Farmer's Market. http://www.tgmarket.org/ This market also consists of only local products. We bought some excellent cheese from Marcoot Jersey Creamery and Free Range Eggs from Prairie Grass Farms. We ended the morning with a grilled cheese from The Big Cheese and live music in the park.

And last, but certainly not least, I must mention the Farmer's Market in Bourbon, MO. Bourbon is a small town about an hour out of St Louis and the home of Paramount Apparel where I spend 40 hours a week saving the world one hat at a time. The town also has a precious Farmer's Market. There is a lady that sells organic grains including quinoa who I refer to as my dealer. Also for the past 2 years they have had peaches from Bader Farms in Campbell, Missouri. http://www.baderpeaches.com/ Last year I picked up a bushel and with my grandma and grandpa put them up and enjoyed them all winter. Last weekend I bought 1/2 bushel and put up 22 cups, made peach ice cream, peach bread, and a cobbler. Have I mentioned how much I love peaches? For all of you peach fanatics out there, this weekend is the Peach Festival at Kirkwood Farmer's Market. http://www.downtownkirkwood.com/peach-festival.asp

On another note, the Househusband needs a new nickname which I am currently working on. He is never at the house and hasn't seen a women's talk show in weeks. He is spending about 8 hours a week at the CSA he interns at, 24 hours a week working on an organic farm, and the rest of the time appraising. This leaves him very little time to do Househusbandly duties. However, he is bringing home tasty food weekly and is learning an unbelievable amount about growing food organically. In the meantime my house is a wreck and we are running from one place to another. But our hearts are full and my belly is growing and that is all that matters :)
Blog to you soon!
Lucy

Let the parties begin!

We found out yesterday that the baby we are expecting in November is a little baby girl. Oh my goodness am I going to be hard to live with. She already is the proud owner of a red and white striped bikini and a Boston Terrier t-shirt :) And oh the parties to be planned! Tea parties, birthday parties, and all sorts of girly events!

My family was coming up to go out to dinner with us, so I put together a small gender reveal for them. Following the nursery rhyme, "What Little Girls are Made Of," I put together a box with pink sugar cookies in it. In the cookies were little signs that said what little girls are made of. "Sugar, and Spice, and Everything Nice!" The lid of the box said, "It's a Girl!'

I wrapped up the boxes with a boy, and put everyone's name on the tag. Their name was in the color of the gender they thought the baby was going to be. Dad was the only one who got it wrong!

For dinner, we went to the Fountain on Locust in St Louis http://www.fountainonlocust.com/fountainonlocust.com/Fountain_On_Locust.html

I'll be honest, I picked this place for the ice cream. Best banana split ever! My mom had a sundae made of Zanzibar Chocolate and After Dinner mint ice cream that was also to die for!

At five o'clock in the morning on a day off I am wide awake with excitement. It is still surreal to me that I get to be a precious baby girl's mom. The first thing we bought when we found out we were having a baby was a bib that read, "Star of Mommy's Blog." Come November expect this blog to be flooded with pink :)