chocomouse
Sat. Jul 18th, 2026
What a crazy gardening season! I have had blossoms on the bell peppers for a month, but they are not setting fruit, because of the heat. I must have, on my 6 Celebrities, about 40 tomatoes, each over 2" in diameter, some 4", but green of course. And plenty more coming. I have several heads of broccoli almost big enough to eat. Yet, we ate our first lettuces tonight. None of the spinach, kale, scallions germinated, and almost none of the beets.
I tried a new recipe, with several changes, for dinner tonight, penne with leftover thin sliced pork, broccoli, bacon, and a sauce made of half and half with parmesan. The flavor was excellent, but the texture of the sauce was off, I suspect because I used a pre-shredded parmesan instead of fresh.
I baked two loaves of our daily bread, but used a cup of First Clear instead of a cup of AP. I see no difference in flavor, texture, rise. I think I'll save my expensive First Clear for rye breads! I also made peanut butter cookies and added chocolate chips to the mix; one of my husband's favorites.
That's interesting. What proportions of first clear to whole wheat did you use? I'm going to try it in my buttermilk-maple-oatmeal-wheat next week. That recipe calls for 4 cups of AP or bread flour, and I usually sub for 1-2 cups of the AP either 2 cups of whole wheat, or 1 cup of rye or assorted whole grains and seeds. I think I'll start by subbing in just 1 cup of first clear for 1 cup of AP. I hate to waste my expensive first clear if it isn't going to make a difference!!
Dinner last night was grilled salmon, potatoes roasted on the grill, and leftover cole slaw. We're hosting a large family gathering today, so I'm doing a lot of cooking. I made a chicken-grape salad, and pickled cauliflower. I'm about to start a ham and cheese macaroni salad and baked beans. The temp for today is forecast to be 97, so I don't know if we'll have a fire to cook hot dogs and s'mores or skip that. Farm-fresh corn is available here now, but we don't eat it. It is advertised as "local" but that means three hours away, probably in MA; we'll wait for real local, 20-30 minutes away or less, from one of the many farm stands. Baker Aunt, it sounds like you make good use of your farmers' market!
Thanks, SWirth. I didn't have this thread in my files! Do you still have a big garden, or have you cut back in recent years? Since I retired, two years ago today, I've had six major surgeries -- but finally, this summer, I'm doing well. And so is my garden! I hope are well.
I make this type of salad frequently during the summer when all the ingredients are ripe in my garden. I use a Greek style dressing of olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, and oregano. Sometimes I sub cider vinegar or red wine vinegar, and I might add a touch of sugar. Sometimes I just grab a bottle of store Greek dressing. Sorry I can't give you any measurements, I do it by taste.
This morning I made the Oat-Flax Buns again -- love this recipe. That's the last baking I'll do for a while. It was 91* this afternoon, will be in the 90s for the next five days, possibly reaching 100 on Monday. That's unusual for Vermont.
I pay 8.95 for 3 pounds at KAF!
Mike, I use first clear flour in almost all my rye bread recipes. It really does help with the rise, and I think it adds to the flavor also. I should try it with other breads. Did you get the 50 lb bag at a restaurant or kitchen supply store? I get mine at KAF, but it comes only in a 3 lb bag, or maybe it's even a 2 lb bag, can't remember.
Last night we grilled country style pork ribs, with potatoes roasted on the grill with herbs from the planters on the deck and garlic olive oil, and a green salad. Tonight we'ew grilling on the smoker chicken thighs, with broccoli and a gemelli with veggies (store-bought, carrots, peas, corn, green beans, plus celery, onion, and green pepper) salad. I'm using up the last of the frozen soup veggies in the freezer. I mixed up a dressing for it using mayonaise, chopped garlic, French's yellow mustard, and some mustard labeled Dijon, which is very very dry, has little flavor, and is very thick with whole mixed mustard seeds.
I've finally done some baking. Yesterday I made chocolate chip cookies, and maple-walnut scones. Of course, I used our own maple syrup with "no added sugars"!!! I put about 1/4 cup of syrup in the dough, and brush on more syrup before baking.
chocomouse.
The Vermont Maple Sugarers' Association has been fighting this for several months, and we may be winning the battle. The FDA is now agreeing that we do not add sugar to maple syrup (not the real stuff, "pure" syrup, although of course we do know there are some businesses that try to pass off their "syrup" as pure maple syrup). And the FDA only meant that eating it is adding sugar to your body! Yeah, right! So, why doesn't the bag of white sugar say "sugar added"?? I think now the FDA has agreed to remove "added sugar" from the label, and is working on some other way to warn buyers to limit their intake of sugar. I'll read that article, too. Thanks for posting the link, Mike.
Baker Aunt, that happened with my green beans a few years ago too! They were pole beans in a seed package labeled Blue Lake bush beans -- long, stringy vines that just overran several other rows. A mess to walk through, and we didn't get a good crop of beans. My garden looks awful, way behind compared to previous years. That's partly because I planted late and partly because we've had no rain, although I have watered a little. I do have blossoms on a couple of tomatoes and some peppers. Of course, you know that weeds don't need water to grow, right?
I have taken good care of my flowerbeds this year and they look wonderful. We are predicted to get some rain today and tomorrow, slow, steady rain not just passing storms; I hope the forecasters are right.
Joan, those sound perfect! I love making cold salads for summer meals and eating the leftovers for days.
