The Green Beans Are In!

Friday, August 22, 2008

Yes, that sounds a little odd. Those who have had a garden - any kind, any size - can understand the excitement, satisfaction and relief that something is finally being produced, after all the work you put into it.

So the green bean crop has come in, as have the sugar ann peas. It was the second planting - the birds ate most of the seeds from the first one, and the deer polished off what was left. That was before we expanded to fence around the garden to six feet high - which my husband now calls "The Gulag". :o) It's been a really late crop year in this neighborhood (we're in upstate New York). Everything's about a month late, and I'm sure it's due to the late frost we had two days after Memorial Day weekend. That's when I lost my 6-week-old pumpkins and cucumbers.

But enough griping! In about a month, I'll have about 50 more tomatoes, and about 30 more hot peppers! More than enough for chili and sauce, and of course, more Crazy Hot Salsa. When we get to that point, I'll post more recipes (unless my hubby beats me to it - he's a great cook). The only problem with both sauce and chili, and salsa for that matter, is that the recipe changes based on what you have available, especially if you're using whatever you've grown that year.

For the record, here's my preferred method of cooking: have a certain flavor in mind, and keep adding stuff until you get to that flavor. Yeah, it's really seat-of-your-pants, but it's fun. Unfortunately, it makes it really challenging to share my recipes!

I do have an easy green bean dish, a la my hubby - steam the beans; saute some pressed garlic in olive oil; throw the beans in when they are mostly cooked, but still crunchy. It's tasty and healthy, and the garlic makes the house smell yummy. Hubby's good at throwing things together and coming up with amazing dishes, some of which he'll probably post on his own blog. I'm more the baker of the family, although this week I'm the "preserves and jelly maker" - blackberry and white grape, respectively.

I'm definitely Suzie Homemaker this week!