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| Spaghetti Squash playing hide and go seek |
This week's special gift: dried tomatoes and Elderberry Jam. Elderberry jam is very very good on saltines. The salt and the seeds go together really well. There were also eggs this week.
Today's Grapes are Thompson Seedless and Flame and it's a bumper crop this year.
Melons are here, this week there were several watermelons and lots of Italian Cantaloupe. If you have a PALE Green watermelon with NO stripes and you are able, please save the seed for me. This is best done by spitting them on a piece of wax paper, parchment paper or a paper plate. Thanks. This is a rare watermelon called Grover Delaney. When the seeds are dry, put them in an envelope and put them in your box.
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| Squash is coming |
Microwave : Poke the squash all over with a fork. Microwave on Full Power 5 to 10 minutes depending on size of squash. Fork should easily pierce the peel and flesh if done. If it doesn't continue to cook and try in 1 minute intervals. Let it sit until cool enough to handle. Cut in half lengthwise and scoop out he seeds, and proceed with recipe.
Roast or Bake
Preheat oven to 350, Cut squash in half lengthwise, scoop out seeds. Oil or butter a baking dish. Place the squash cut side down and bake until tender when pierced with a fork. 20 - 45 minutes depending on size. With some squash I put a dab of butter in the middle and put my convection oven on roast and cook them cut side up!
Spaghetti Squash with Pepper Cream
1 Spaghetti Squash cooked and removed from shell. String it out with a fork and put in a butter casserole dish. (2 Qt).
Take out a medium size frying pan and melt 3 T of butter in it and a splash of olive oil. Add several chopped and seeded peppers (hot, mild, bells, etc). (I used 3 mild and 2 hot). Add 1 chopped garlic and 1 chopped torpedo onion and cook for about 4 minutes until translucent but not brown. Add 3 T. of flour to this mixture and stir until the flour is cooked and the fat is absorbed by the flour. (About 3 minutes). Now slowly add 3 C of half and half to the flour. Add 1 and 1/2 C. Shredded Jack Cheese.
Cook for about 4 minutes or until the cheese is melted. Mix the sauce into the squash. Sprinkle with a little more cheese. Bake 375 for 30 minutes. Salt and Pepper to taste.
When I'm out of peppers, we have this with pepper jack. Try adding nutmeg to the cheese sauce. This is also good with Cheddar and other cheeses.
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| King George |
George and the Mountain LionI have often waxed poetic about George the Rooster, a king amongst roosters. This day is dedicated to George, I hope he went were all Great Roosters go to roost. For the last several nights the hen house has been hit by a marauder. Each night several hens and young roosters have gone missing. After the first night we locked up the pen and couldn't figure out what in the heck was picking off our chickens.
We have recently seen coyotes, but coyotes don't normally jump a 5 foot fence and climb into a chicken house. Leo also dispatched 3 possums in the barn. They normally pick of the very young, but these are not wee chicks anymore.
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| Young Lion |
Alas for George and his flock, only 3 chickens survived, so there will be no more eggs this season.
One of these is a new hen from this year, and one is older than I am (well in chicken years). Thankfully we still have the traveling chicken road show, four hens and George's son, Charles Stewart (Chuck Stew) to carry on George's excellent genetics. May he be as competent a rooster as George was.
Apparently, the Mountain Lion busted in through the wire near the roof to develop his own access to our hens. We'll move the last 3 hens in with the Traveling Chicken Road Show.
So long George, you were the best rooster I have ever met.
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