Freemotion's food journal: Expanding the gardens, pics p 53

freemotion

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With all the stress of the approaching hurricane, then tropical storm, then just a rainy day with some breeziness at the end, I needed carbs! Well, wanted, not needed. So dh made us both a big veggie shake and later steamed up some carrots and buttered them so we could enjoy the three-cheese mac'n'cheese I was about to make.

I found some whole wheat penne and four lasagna noodles in their boxes on the shelf leftover from some long-forgotten meal. I was too tired to make noodles this time after all that storm prep and anticipation of expensive storm damage. I got out my old cookbook and made an old-fashioned and very simple version.

I boiled up the pasta, breaking up the lasagna noodles into shards. While they were cooking, I shredded up some cheese....some cheap store-brand cheddar for meltiness, lots of homemade feta for flavor and saltiness, and some 5 year old Gouda from Holland for luxurious and deep flavor. I put a layer of pasta in a greased (lard) deep glass pie plate and a generous layer of shredded cheese with a heavy-handed sprinkle of black pepper. Another layer of pasta and an even more generous layer of cheese and pepper and then about a cup or so of milk poured carefully around the edge of the dish so as not to disturb the layers. I scooped the milk off the top of a gallon jar that was over two days old so I'd get mostly cream. Baked at 350 F for 30 minutes and YUM! Cheesy wonderfulness! My cookbook said it served 6, which is why people were slender in the 40's. The two of us polished it off easily. It would have been much better with crumbled crispy bacon on top. That version will have to wait until a couple of weeks after hog harvest day.

No pics, we ate it too fast!
 

JRmom

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I had a carb feast myself this weekend... tuna noodle casserole.

Your garden is GORGEOUS!!! I can't wait to get my fall/winter stuff in the ground.

I have also never had any luck with green peppers, they just don't thrive, and I didn't even try any this summer. But I read a tip a month or so ago that said the trick is to bury at least 3/4 of the plant in the ground. Can't wait to try this next summer.
 

ohiofarmgirl

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My cookbook said it served 6, which is why people were slender in the 40's. The two of us polished it off easily.
thats what i'm talkin' about baby! whoooot!

:)
 

abifae

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Mmmmmmm.... That sounds so worth the carb coma....

:D
 

freemotion

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I realized that I never reported the storm damage to my garden.....the corn and tomatoes were knocked down and almost a total loss, or so I thought. I picked a few green tomatoes today and a handful of red ones to snack on. The corn.....I was able to stake some of it back up, but the next big rains, about 8 more inches, took most of that down again. Today I went in to see if I could salvage any of it, and found almost a five gallon pail's worth that will get removed from the cobs and dried, as it wasn't quite ready yet. There are at least a dozen large ears on the remaining standing stalks, so there is hope for seed for next year.

I also picked a large number of black walnuts that are still green, off the trees, to dry the green husks to powder for my goat dewormer. I am almost out of the batch I did two years ago.

The does followed me around and enjoyed the falling walnut leaves and the corn stalks and husks.

I still have beets and chard, sweet peppers and jalapenos and cayennes that are ripening and I pick them now and then. The last of the bush beans are left to ripen on the plant for seed for next year. There is some hope for a few of the napa cabbages that the groundhog didn't seem to like as much.

Got some pumpkins in the oven roasting to puree for soups and sauces, and some hunks of corned beef (the stuff I made from grass-fed sirloin....yum!) boiling for supper tonight and over the next few days. Tonight....maybe mac'n'cheese with corned beef bits, and brocolli and the fresh tomatoes.

We are both pooped from lots of extra work we were able to pick up over the past week, plus squeezing in all the regular stuff here on the homestead. We are going to have a special treat tonight....going to the movies! Farmageddon is playing nearby and a bunch from the WAPF meet-up group are going tonight. Should be a nice distraction, can't wait!

We are both stressed and in need of a distraction....that must be why I'm making mac'n'cheese again! I just realized I made it when I last posted here....I assure you, it is only the second time in the past year, we usually eat more veggies and less grains....honest! :p
 

Wifezilla

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Yeaaahhhh....riiiggghhhhttttt......

LOL

I guess since I had some popcorn today I can look past your mac & cheese indiscretions :D
 
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