Tomato Harvest

 I am posting these pictures to share with our friend Jason and anyone else interested in our harvest.  Jason is the wonderful guy we get our perfect eggs from.

The first picture shows our harvest of two days, on July 21st.  The second picture is after giving some away, adding more and after I used a bunch of the Roma tomatoes for sauce; which I will be posting to my blog tomorrow with step by step instructions for roasting and freezing for winter sauce.

The third picture is just a close-up of some of the red cherry, red plum and yellow plum tomatoes we have been harvesting daily.  I pick about 4 to 6 cups of these each day!

I covered the table with long lengths of paper towel.

42 inch round table, I was standing on a chair with the camera at the ceiling! 

the harvest changes daily

One two cup bowl and one 4 quart bowl

Spinach Salad with Orange Muscat Thyme Chicken and Tangerine Thyme Vinaigrette

A little break from tomato eating today!  I have lots of Anaheim Chili Peppers on the plants so I decided to use them in a chicken recipe today.  This is the result.
This is a very flavorful way to prepare chicken breasts.  Today I served it with a spinach salad but it would be just as delicious with a mixed field green salad or served cold in a pasta salad using the vinaigrette on the pasta as well.

Orange Muscat Chicken simmered in Anaheim Chili's and Thyme

• 3 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts, about 1 1/4 pounds
• 2 teaspoons Grapeseed Oil or Olive Oil
• 3 tablespoons Orange Muscat Champagne Vinegar (Trader Joe's)
• 1/2 tsp Sea Salt
• 1/4 tsp fresh Ground Black Pepper
• Zest and Juice from one small Lemon
• 1 Anaheim Chili Pepper, sliced, discard seeds and white membrane
• 3 cloves of Garlic
• 2 generous sprigs of fresh cut French Thyme
• 1 cup water

Season chicken breasts with sea salt and ground pepper.  Heat saute pan over medium heat and add the oil and seasoned chicken.  Cook for a 1 to 2 minutes and add the remaining ingredients.  Continue cooking for 15 minutes, basting the chicken breasts with the sauce.  Mash the garlic and chili pepper as it softens and continue to baste chicken.  Add about 1/4 more water if the pan is dry.  Cover the pan with a lid and reduce heat to a simmer.  Cook an additional 20 to 30 minutes until chicken is cooked through and the sauce has evaporated.  Chicken is ready when temperature reaches 180 degrees F (82 c) on a meat thermometer.  Allow to rest in pan, uncovered until ready to serve.   Makes 3 or 4 servings.  I used one breast on my salad today.

Anaheim Chili Pepper, about 4 inches long

French Thyme from my Herb Garden and small Lemon from our tree.

After 10 minutes of cooking

After 20 minutes, all the leaves should be off the thyme and the peppers and garlic soft.

It should look like this when all the sauce has reduced and chicken is cooked through, I placed the peppers and mashed garlic on top of the chicken.

Tangerine Thyme Vinaigrette (for one)

• 1/2 teaspoon fresh French Thyme, leaves only no stems
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh Chives, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh Lemon Juice
• 2 tablespoons fresh Tangerine Juice
• 1 teaspoon Honey Mustard
• 1 teaspoon Olive or Grapeseed Oil
• 1 teaspoon Honey
• Fresh ground Pepper
• Pinch of Sea Salt

Mix all ingredients together with a fork or mini whisk.  Set aside.

Completed Vinaigrette

Spinach Salad (for one)
Build your salad, by first slicing one chicken breast.  Begin cutting at the smaller end of the breast.  Place the spinach in the center of a large dinner plate, add the chicken spreading out like I show in the picture.  Toss the raisins, pecans and shallot over the spinach.  Drizzle all with the vinaigrette.  You may also add a few blades of chives and a sprig of thyme to the top if you  like.  This is a generous salad and could easily serve two.  Adding some rustic crusty bread would be a nice addition.

• 4 cups fresh Spinach, about 4 ounces
• 2 tablespoons Golden Raisins
• 2 tablespoons Pecans, roughly chopped
• 1/2 small Shallot or Red Onion, sliced thin, rings separated

Enjoy!

Full Buck Moon a Coming

This Sunday we will have a full moon. You can find out about all the names of full moons at the Framer's Almanac Site.

Summer is fading fast. Plan a nice dinner under the moonlight with the one you love.  Any ideas for dinner?

Gazpacho Recipe

Lunch alone today after spending the weekend with my husband for his birthday seemed to be destined for sadness on my part so I decided to make a bright colorful lunch for myself and dined on the patio with the kitties close by.

My kitchen counter is covered with bright red, green and yellow tomatoes so I needed to find something to make that would use a lot.  The result is Gazpacho Soup. 

It is very low in calories; this bowl had only 42 and less than 1% fat.  I included a Lavash Bread roll up using some of the leftover Chicken Fajitas I made for Tony's birthday lunch from yesterday. 

My version of Gazpacho Soup

64 oz. Low Sodium Chicken Broth (Pacific Foods )
18 oz fresh from the garden Red Tomatoes, diced
10 oz fresh from the garden Yellow Tomatoes, diced
4 oz each of Sweet Red Pepper, Sweet Yellow Pepper, Cucumber with skin and White or Sweet Onion, diced
1 oz of Spring Onion or Scallions, sliced thin
4 to 6 Garlic Cloves, minced
2 Tbsp. Balsamic or Red Wine Vinegar
1/2 tsp. Sea Salt
2 tsp. ground Cumin
1/2 to 1 tsp. ground Chili Powder (I used Ancho )
1/8 cup Parsley, Cilantro and Basil, minced
Dash of Hot Sauce (I used Cholula )

Mix all ingredient together in a 4 quart bowl.  Adjust seasoning to your liking and refrigerate overnight for best flavor.  I sometimes add more seasoning after this.  Serve cold garnished with an herb sprig and diced avocado if you like. 

Hint: if you toast the ground Cumin and ground Ancho chili powder in a small skillet for a minute or two it will add a nice rich flavor to the soup.

This bowl is one of several that I picked up at an estate sale.  I paid all of $2.00 for six of them.  It was perfect for my lunch today and made my soup look very special.

Caprese Salad

Our Heirloom tomatoes are really producing now that the weather is sunny.  Yesterday I made this Caprese Salad for our lunch.  It was so pretty I took a picture of it.

Red, Green and Yellow tomatoes dressed with one of my favorite olive oils, Meyer Lemon Olive Oil;  I used a Buffalo Mozzarella cheese from Trader Joe's and Genovese Basil picked fresh from my garden.  Finish with a sprinkle of sea salt and some fresh ground pepper. 

My Morning Pickings

Here is what I picked from my garden today.  Lots of tomatoes coming in now.  The sun is finally shining again.  We have been covered with a Marine layer for the last few weeks and I was beginning to wonder if I would ever see the sun again.  It has set the tomatoes back a bit, I think. 

Banana Legs Tomato, Pickling Cucumbers, Anaheim Chili Peppers, Unknown green/yellow Tomato ( might be a Burpee Pineapple Tomato), Estiva Tomato, and Purple Calabash Tomato. Sun grape red Tomato and golden Sweet Hybrid Yellow Grape Tomato along with a  Cherry Tomato.  Also a few Debarao Plum Tomatoes.  This plant is loaded and looks to be a winner.  I am so impressed with Estiva too, the plant holds at least 6 tomatoes on each stem.  It is a medium salad tomato.  I will repeat these two next year for sure.

Heading out to pick Patty Pan and Zucchini Squash, Basil and Tomatillo's next.

I have been so busy in the garden this month.  Hope you all are having a productive summer! 

Lace Cap Hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla). A Full Strawberry Moon Tonight!

Today I am sharing a few pictures of my Lace Cap Hydrangea.  I have had these plants about three years now, I purchased one gallon plants from Buena Creek Gardens, a local nursery.  I relocated them to a new bed and they are a bit leggy this year, but the flowers are beautiful and the plant is loaded with buds.

I planted these in my pink garden, along with some succulents with similar colors. These are looking so pretty at night with the full moon coming, they are glowing in the moonlight.

I added four new darker pink plants just last fall. I am happy to see the blooms on these already.  These are about two feet tall now.  I think as they grow larger the flower heads will spread out a bit more.

If you must prune your plants

Enjoy your weekend gardening friends!

We have a full moon this weekend and I read that we have a Lunar Eclipse also.  I love a full moon!

Vegetable Garden Update, Sage Plants, Morning Doves, Thai Basil

Look who I found in my garden this morning!

Two Baby Doves.  I was walking along the top of our bank and almost stepped on them.  I slowly backed away and went for my camera.  All the pictures I took look the same because they never moved!  They match the pine needles; there are some dead branches are the ground near them that they may hide in when need be.

I harvested some Patty Pan Squash today, second time in less than a week.  This plant is next to the bird bath and receives extra water from the overflow from our feathered friends bathing. 

Tiles are 4 inches across.  Perfect size squash!

Picked some more onions; I am not going to dry these, but will keep them in the refrigerator. 

Also in this picture is about a dozen Banana Legs Tomatoes I picked; these are a yellow paste tomato.  I picked these green because the bugs are moving in! 

This one is called "Debarao" an heirloom Red plum tomato, the plant is loaded with fruit.

Above is Dr. Lyle an heirloom Pink Beefsteak.

This is Estiva a hybrid from France.  The plant has already given me red tomatoes.  It is an early variety that I will repeat next year.

Purple Calabash an Heirloom Tomato

Thai Basil Plant, I love the purple flowers added to the top of my salads, they look so pretty.  If you add these flowers to white wine or white balsamic vinegar, it will turn it a pretty lavender color.

Sages I planted in the Spring look wonderful. I will dry some to use for Thanksgiving Day.

Owlet Update, 3 Owls in the Tree

I finally was able to get a few good pictures of the 3 Owlets. I hope you can see them. There is one on its own in a bunch of pinecones and then two are together in one photo. Enjoy!

Look how sweet he is with his head turned sideways. 

Can you see him?  This is the smaller one.

This picture was taken the first night they arrived in March 2010.  This shows the two of the three owlets and one parent.

Parent on lower branch with two owlets over to the top right

Tomato Progress Report, About Face Rose and Rose Sugar Recipe

The cage is doing a great job at keeping the vines in check.  Next year I will make another one of these to use in the other raised bed.  I also am including a few volunteer tomatoes that came up under one of the orange trees.  One is a current cherry tomato and not quite sure what the other is yet as the tomatoes have not formed.  I have at least 23 plants and have added some cuttings so I might be at 25 now! 

Check out my earlier posts when we first planted our tomatoes in this homemade cage.

8 plants here. 2 Brandywine, a Debarao Red Plum, a Victoria VFFN Hybrid Red Paste, Puple Russian a plum shaped purple black tomato, Dr. Lyle a Pink Beefsteak, Heirloom Carbon a black salad, Erica D'Australia a large red Beefsteak.   Also have Anaheim Chili Peppers, Green Onion, Basil varieties are Lettuce Leaf, Thai, Cinnamon, Lemon and Licorice.

Sprite a  Red Cherry Tomato on this end, also Estiva a new hybrid from France which is a red salad tomato. Heirloom Cherokee Purple tomato and a Green Zebra.  Shallots in the middle and a small round Heirloom Zucchini Plant, rounds out this full bed!

A Purple Calabash Heirloom tomato and a Pineapple Tomato from Burpee seeds.

Small Red Salad Tomato with the new Red Cage, I think this really is helping.

Volunteers! There are about six, some to the left and right of this one.

Golden Sweet Hybrid Yellow Grape and Sun Grape a Hybrid Red.

6 Heirloom Pickling Cucumbers, a German Johnson Tomato, an Early Girl VF Tomato, a large Tomatillo on the right and 4 Straight Eight Cucumbers are all in this bed.

Patty Pan Squash a volunteer in the herb garden.  It looked so healthy when it came up that I went ahead and kept it here.  It gets lots of water from the bird bath and I am sure the birds are keeping it picked clean of bugs.

This is a golden paste tomato called Banana Legs.  The plant is only about a foot tall and is loaded with tomatoes. 

A few of the Onions I havested this morning and 4 Pickling Cucumbers.  I also had about a dozen yellow pear tomatoes, but they did not make it to this picture.  Hand to mouth!

2005 AARS Grandiflora Rose

"About Face"

This rose blooms continuously throughout the summer.  A real workhorse.

"We bring roses, beautiful fresh roses, dewey as the morning and colored like Dawn."   -Thomas Buchanan Read

"Rose Sugar Recipe"

Alternate layers of somewhat dry rose scented geranium leaves and sugar in a clean glass jar.  Cover the jar and set aside for several days in a cool, dry place.  The sugar will absorb the scent of the leaves.  Remove the leaves before serving the sugar.  This is lovely sprinkled on fresh strawberries and served along with some good Greek Yogurt.