A MILLION SWEETS!

What to do with a Million Sweets,

Sweet Million Tomatoes that is!!??

My patch almost literally has produced a million, or more, of these sweet gems.

The rest of my garden hasn't amounted to too much but that's

not the case for my tomatoes.

The plants grew so large and became so heavy with

their fruit that the spindly cages bent under all the weight!

I bravely stepped into the mangled mess and the plants

and cages attacked me - eek.

My flip-flops got tangled and the cherry tomatoes 

went flying as I slowly went down, hitting the hard ground

roly poly - ouch! 

The first picking went directly into

my freezer.

So easy - just wash, destem and place on parchment lined

cookie sheets to freeze.

Once frozen - put these frozen

"marbles" into freezer bags for

use in future sauces, adding

a fresh tomato taste.

The next picking - even larger, really made me think of what to do

this time......

Before

I decided to slow roast this batch.

The tomatoes and several cloves of garlic were sliced in half and

drizzled with olive oil, seasoned with sea salt and pepper, and spread onto parchment lined cookie sheets.

The roasting took approx. 2 1/2 hours at 250F (stirred at the half point). Smelled so good! These can be kept in air tight containers in the fridge for up to 5 days or frozen for yummy soups or sauces.

After

Some of the fresh  ones were tumbled in seasoning and made for

a wonderful addition to the fresh veggie tray as an appetizer.
This Tumbled Tomatoes recipe was served to us by our friends in Mexico
and are so refreshing and delicious.

Tumbled Tomatoes

1 Tbsp. Herbs de Provence - Presidents Choice carries this (I picked mine up in Mexico)

1 tsp. Coarse Sea Salt

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1 pint of cherry tomatoes

Mix herbs with the salt and garlic powder - pulverizing it in a mortar and pestal or salt grinder.

Wash the tomatoes in cold water, drain but do not dry. Place the tomatoes into a large bowl (or container with room to tumble). Toss tomatoes with the herb salt mixture until evenly coated. Refrigerate, tumbling occasionally until water is evaporated. Once water is evaporated, the herb salt mixture forms a light crust on the tomatoes. Serve chilled. This keeps for several days in the fridge. The drier and crustier the coating - the better they taste!

Now, what will I do with all the "big brother" tomatoes?
I see a few jars of stewed tomatoes and fruit relish in the next few days.

Till next time ............ Happy Labour Day everyone.....enjoy the day!

Music in the Fields

What a fantastic venue for a weekend of

Country themed music

in Lucknow, Ontario this past weekend!

The skies threatened but held off

as performers such as Gord Bamford, Brett Kissel, Tim Hicks,

Lindsay Ell, The Road Hammers, River Junction Band,

Whitney Rose, and my favourites High Valley and Dierks Bentley,

belted out their top songs to an enthusiastic crowd of 

some 7,000 fans!

The camping was literally in the adjacent fields,

with crowded camp sites of tents, trailers, busses, and

all sorts and sizes of RV vehicles!

Most of the time the "fields were alive with the sound of generators" - ugh!

We did feel a little smug with our wee Escape trailer

that required no hydro or generator to function for this event.

The solar panel and propane

provided all our needs for

lights, pumping water, refrigeration and cooking.

It worked beautifully!

The canned sausage was

delicious and made for a 

quick meal between sets.

The evening performances went well past midnight but we

"old folks" persevered and enjoyed the coolness of these last

summer nights.

After all, we had a cozy warm bed waiting for us in the field....

Till next time, what was your weekend like?

The Early Bird gets a Cream Bun

Recently while camping we were

told about a wonderful bakery in the nearby town of

Goderich that makes homemade Cream Buns 

(I think they actually call them Cream Puffs).

They are famous and you must arrive 

early, before 10 a.m., if you want to score

any of these little gems from Culbert's Bakery.

Needless to say, we weren't early birds

on the day we took a quick trip into town.

(We were on holidays and didn't move too quickly

in the mornings.)

We did, however, enjoy the delicious tarts that are

also made there.

While making pizza dough for our Sunday Supper

I had a craving for Cream Buns, sparked by that

recent close encounter .... why not make them since I've

got the yeast out anyway?

As my pizza dough proofed I set to work to find the ultimate

Cream Bun Recipe.  I found a New Zealand style recipe online

which I slightly modified....

As you can tell, I need to practice

making consistent rounded buns!

This recipe makes 12 rather large

buns - I think 24 smaller ones would

be perfect - next time I'll try that!

For a rookie cream bun maker,

they turned out not too bad!

They aren't Culberts but

the farmer was heard muttering,

"one isn't enough" as he 

came into the kitchen for a 

second helping.

He suggested holding the icing sugar - not a fan!

Note - the pretty T-Towels

I used for this photo. They were a

sweet gift from dear Kathy from

"Memories and Moments"

who sent these to me by special 

delivery! Bev - thanks again!

Here's the recipe in case you'd like to try making these sometime.

I'll keep practicing to get them just right  ... trouble is - who will eat them???

Cream Buns – New Zealand style

This makes 1 dozen large buns 

2 tsp. yeast

½ Cup lukewarm water

1/3 Cup plus ½ tsp. sugar, divided

½ Cup warm milk

1/3 Cup melted butter

1 tsp. salt

1 Egg – slightly beaten

Approx. 4 Cups all purpose or bread flour

Glaze – Equal amounts of sugar and water (I used 1 oz. of each)

Freshly whipped cream (unsweetened) – for filling

(I ended up sweetening mine slightly with sugar and adding a bit of vanilla and 2 Tbsp. of vanilla instant pudding to stabilize the cream)

Icing sugar for dusting and jam for garnishing

Stir together the warm water, yeast, ½ tsp. sugar. Let stand till yeast begins to get bubbly.

Mix the milk, melted butter, and egg together and then add it to the yeast mixture. Add the 1/3 Cup sugar, salt and 1 Cup flour. Mix, adding the remaining flour ½ Cup at a time. Knead till smooth (may be slightly sticky). Let rise till double in bulk.

Punch down and let rest for 5 minutes. Cut into 12 equal pieces – rolling in hands to make nice round buns. Place them onto a greased cookie sheet. Cover and let rise for approx. ½ hour or until doubled in bulk. Once doubled, preheat oven to 350F and bake for approx. 20 minutes or till golden brown. While they are baking, prepare the glaze by mixing the sugar and water in a sauce pan – heat to boil and remove. Brush glaze onto warm baked buns – cool. 

Cut the buns almost through on an angle, fill with whipped cream and dust with icing sugar and garnish with a dollop of jam – ENJOY!

Next time you're in Goderich check out this bakery 

and, oh yes - go early!!!!

Thanks again Kathy for these lovely T-towels! I always think of you when I use them.

Till next time .......... join me with a cuppa' and a cream bun.

Escapees

A week "off the grid"

was a wonderful break!

We loaded up the Escape and went on the lamb

to one of our favourite Great Lakes - Huron!

It didn't take us long to

settle in, get out the books,

build a fire, put on our

camping hats and

enjoy our surroundings.

The bikes were unloaded 

and ready to ride!

Our first meal is typically

a marinated steak.

We had to try out our new

BBQ and it worked 

beautifully.

The roasted potatoes and 

beans from our garden were

also cooked on the grill

as was the lightly roasted

romaine lettuce - thanks to Lovella

for this idea!

The skewer dinner was

also a hit! 

The chicken thighs were marinaded
while we biked, hiked, and relaxed.

Easy and delicious Marinade:
1/2 Cup Olive Oil
1/4 Cup Lemon Juice
4 cloves garlic - minced
2 tsp. honey
1 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. salt
(I used half this recipe for 6 thighs)

One evening we served a 
simple wieners and chili
with guacamole - everything
tastes extra delicious when you dine 
outside on the picnic table!
I noticed that the food even
photographs better outside.

Can you tell by now that
the camping meals were
the "main" event???

There were high winds resulting
in roaring waves, much to
the delight of some brave
wind surfers!

Our evenings were long and relaxing
with beautiful sunsets and campfires......

The warm glow of those 
campfires is what's getting me
through these cool Fallish days
of late since we are
back home - sigh!

We sure feel privileged to have spent some down time
by the lake in our sweet
little Escape!

We are truly blessed.......



Back home on the farm there are lawns to mow, gardens and veggies to attend to,
a new baby great nephew to meet and many more blessings to come!!!

Now that I'm back "on the grid", I need to catch up with all of you!

Till next time - how are you enjoying these last few weeks of summa'?

Cloud Bursts and Fried Green Tomatoes

We've had SO much rain lately but I finally had a day

that I could get into the garden to do some much needed weeding.

The sun shone warmly, the humidity was high and I enjoyed

pulling the weeds and seeing the garden's progress!

As I was happily weeding,

the skies turned dark

and thunder was heard in the distance!

Ugh .... not again! 

We've been experiencing torrential rains

once a day or so for the past few weeks.

Within minutes - the clouds

opened up and it literally drowned

my freshly weeded garden.

The tomatoes are
so heavy that they are bending
the cages.
Since they are not quite ripe
I decided to pick a few 
and try making
Fried Green Tomatoes!
I was inspired to do so after 
reading one of my favourite
bloggers where she had
tasted some of these on a recent
vacation to South Carolina.

While the farmer
barbecued the steak (our reward for a busy and productive Saturday)
I set to work to make these
tasty treats!
It was easier than I expected!

I simply dredged the slices in
seasoned flour, then dipped them into a whisked egg and finally coated them in Panko bread crumbs.
It only took a minute or two on each side to fry them in vegetable oil - so yummy!

Now, back to my soggy garden ....
I actually got stuck almost lost my flip flops while taking the pictures of the green tomatoes!

Thank goodness for the rain barrel to wash my feet ...

Have you ever had or made Fried Green Tomatoes?
They really are worth the effort .....

Till next time .......... happy Civic Holiday Weekend to my Canadian friends and families.

All on a Summer's Eve...

A hot air balloon

gently floating by 

the farm.

Reminding me that

these are the days of Summer.

Sunsets streaming through

the back yard arbour on

freshly mowed grass.

Summer evenings (and 

monster mosquitos).

A garden doing it's 

best to produce

fresh edibles in spite

of a late start and sparse germination.

Summer's promise...

Summer blooms .....

Sweet stir fried snow peas 

from a friend's luscious garden.

Summer's treats.

Happy Summer's Eve to you .................

Bench Memories

It's been a busy, full and fun week!

There was a lot of shopping and

an unexpected "Tea Party"...

Beautiful quilts....

An interesting Amish Sale Day

consisting of homemade everything from

donuts to quilts to baking to kettle popcorn

to almost anything you can think of!

The children caught my "lens" - they are so

adorable with their ice-cream stained faces ...

and oh, the horses - amazing!

I loved this vintage

threshing machine with it's  

folk art painting.

There were rows and rows

of "treasures".

Rows of horses and 

buggies!

But one of the best treasures of all

were these church pews that my friend Jan spotted!

They are the pews from our old church!

Apparently the congregation that had purchased

the building have replaced them with new ones.

We were so excited and waited hours till

the auctioneer finally came to that 

special row - because we just had to 

have one or two of those.

The skies were threatening but

we used our best bidding strategy

and were able to acquire a few at 

a very decent price.

Like the farmer said, "Now what do we do with them?"

Time will tell, but we just couldn't leave without one, right?

These are the benches of memories where we sat for our

weddings, our baby dedications, baptisms, summer bible schools,
four part harmony, where we shared our most sacred moments.

Did I tell you - it's been a busy, full and fun week?

Thanks to our dear friends Dave and Jan, Larry and Debi and Bill

It's been terrific!

Bench memories made?

Till next time ...... our hearts are full.

Week of Blues

There's been a bit of blue stuff going on this week!

Mulched the flower beds around my blue house....

Started making a "blueish"

table runner for my

friend who is coming for

a visit next week....

The piecing only took me a few

hours - but the quilting

is going very slow....

What was I thinking!!!!??

It was a blue rainy Monday

that got me started on

this project....

I really have to learn how

to "machine" quilt!

Even after watching umpteen

Youtube videos on how to do it,

I'm still afraid to try it on a 

"real" project - ugh!

The best blue thing that happened was

when the farmer found me this awesome

bike on Kijji!!!

I love it and am on the hunt for a sweet little

wicker basket parcel carrier.

It's my new blue touring vehicle....

What's blue in your life these days?

Hope all is well where you are "blueming"

Here's to a new week with blue skies and wonderful visits with

dear friends from Kentucky .....