http://stephargaret060.cabbycentral.com/ gardening, recipes, my world en http://stephargaret060.cabbycentral.com/2009/03/24/freezing-spinach.html We ate spinach all winter by clipping off the outer leaves. Now spring has arrived as well as the spinach is enormous, so time to freeze. So far I have put up 12 quarts as well as my freezer is full. So that shall have to do… It is amazing how spinach cooks down. If I come residence with a big grocery bag full from the garden, I manage to freeze approximately 3 quarts. Harvest spinach Wash leaves as well as trim stems Heat a very large pot of water to a boil Fill clean sink with icy water. Add about 2 colanders full of spinach leaves packed to boiling water. Stir once turn on timer on behalf of 2 minutes  as well as stir again. When timer goes off take spinach out of pot with tongs. Drain lightly as well as add to sink. Put 2 more colanders in boiling water as well as put on timer. Stir spinach in sink, take out with tongs as well as put  into a colander as well as let drain. Take 2nd batch out of pot with tongs, drain as well as chill in icy water sink. Put  drained spinach in colander into a 4 cup container. Put these 4 cups in a labeled 1 qt zipper freezer bag with “Spinach as well as date.: Take out air as well as lay flat in freezer to freeze quickly. Repeat … http://stephargaret060.cabbycentral.com/2009/03/24/freezing-spinach.html Tue, 24 Mar 2009 09:53:02 -0400 stephargaret060 http://stephargaret060.cabbycentral.com/2009/03/22/sambar-spinach-and-dal-vegan.html I came residence again today with a huge bag of spinach from my garden. The freezer is full. I have frozen mucho spinach this winter. This is Austin as well as I have been harvesting the spinach I planted in October since December. I couldn’t eat another spinach salad or any more steamed spinach so I made this Indian dish. Ingredients toor dal 3/4 cup  fresh spinach 8 cups tamarind paste 1/2 tsp. oil 2 tsps. mustard seed 1 tsp urud dal 1 tsp chana dal 1 tsp. sambar powder 4 tsp tumeric powder 1/4 tsp salt 1/2 salt 1.Put toor dal in 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover as well as simmer on behalf of 30 minutes until soft. 2. In a wok or cast iron frying pan heat oil. Add mustard seed. When they pop add urud dal as well as chana dal. Heat until chana dal turns brown. 3.Add spinach with 1/2 cup water. Cook on behalf of a minute until spinach wilts. 4. Add tamarind paste as well as sambar powder to spinach mixture. Cook on behalf of 3 minutes. 5. Add tumeric powder as well as salt. Stir 6. Add spinach mixture to toor dal as well as take to a boil. Turn off heat. Stir as well as serve. This recipe makes 5 half cup servings as well as has 120 delicious calories per serving. http://stephargaret060.cabbycentral.com/2009/03/22/sambar-spinach-and-dal-vegan.html Sun, 22 Mar 2009 22:49:55 -0400 stephargaret060 http://stephargaret060.cabbycentral.com/2009/02/11/valentines-day-austin-and-planting-potatoes.html My onions  red, white as well as yellow Granex are in the ground since mid January as well as now I am planting my white as well as red Kennebec potatoes on behalf of harvest in late May. President’s Day is too late to plant in Austin as well as Valentine’s day is the last best day to plant. Some people put them in in late January. I am harvesting my leeks right now as well as really enjoying frying them up with potatoes . We are still eating brocolli, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, red as well as green cabbage, spinach, collards, kale, lettuce, beets,  carrots,  rutabaga , spinach, turnips as well as herbs-cilantro, parsley as well as dill- from the Fall garden. However the rutabaga as well as cauliflower are now all harvested. I went to Carol Ann Sayle’s Boggy Creek Farm talk last Friday as well as learned that water can split the cabbages. As we got rain I guess that did it. I thought it was rats as well as was happy to know that it wasn’t. http://stephargaret060.cabbycentral.com/2009/02/11/valentines-day-austin-and-planting-potatoes.html Wed, 11 Feb 2009 13:07:54 -0500 stephargaret060 http://stephargaret060.cabbycentral.com/2008/11/23/how-to-freeze-broccoli.html I never thought I would freeze broccoli because of the fact that I never thought I would have too much to eat. But I do , so I did. Who would have thought? After the process the broccoli was a lovely bright green color. I don’t love frozen broccoli so it shall be interesting to see if residence freezed is any better? Put on a big pot of water to boil. Wash broccoli. Cut stems into 1 inch pieces as well as cut the florets leaving them large.  Measure about 5 cups. Fill sink with cold water. Dump cut broccoli into boiling water as well as boil for 4 minutes.  Take broccoli out of pot with tongs .  Put hot broccoli in cold water as well as swish around. Take broccoli out of water . Mark freezer bag with date . Drain any excess water off broccoli as well as put into bag. Get any excess air out of bag as well as freeze.        http://stephargaret060.cabbycentral.com/2008/11/23/how-to-freeze-broccoli.html Sun, 23 Nov 2008 18:54:10 -0500 stephargaret060 http://stephargaret060.cabbycentral.com/2008/11/30/growing-lettuce-in-the-fallwinter-in-austin.html My fall/winter garden is going terrificly except on behalf of the lettuce. The lettuce I planted in October is coming up too slowly. Next year I shall plant in September.  Right now we are eating salads with green leaf lettuce and spinach. This could be worse but I would like more lettuce as well as less spinach. I started some seeds in my backyard  in a 25 gallon black pot so if it freezes I can cover them with a blanket as well as still have some fresh lettuce. But these I started in early November as well as they are just babies. Next year I shall follow the advice of the folks at Angel Valley commercial farm who say their best varities are red leaf, romaine, green leaf as well as butterheads.        http://stephargaret060.cabbycentral.com/2008/11/30/growing-lettuce-in-the-fallwinter-in-austin.html Sun, 30 Nov 2008 14:56:50 -0500 stephargaret060 http://stephargaret060.cabbycentral.com/2008/11/30/groundnut-stew-vegan.html With an abundance of sweet potatoes in my pantry I have been combing recipe blogs on behalf of what to do with them all. Here is a simple groundnut stew that uses sweet potatoes. It makes 4 cups. Groundnut is the common African word on behalf of peanut. 1 medium sweet potato 1/2 onion 1 TBSP canola oil 1 tomato 1 turnip 1 carrot 4 TBSP tomato sauce 2 TBSP peanut butter 1 cup vegetable broth 4 cups chinese cabbage Peel as well as cube sweet potato Chop onion. Heat oil as well as saute the onions as well as sweet potato cubes. Dice carrot, turnip as well as tomatoes. Add diced carrots, turnips as well as tomatoes to pan in conjunction with the vegetable broth. Cover as well as cook on behalf of 5 minutes or until carrots are soft. Mix combined the tomato sauce as well as peanut butter with a little hot broth as well as add to the pot. Add cabbage as well as pepper as well as take to a boil.  Lower to medium as well as cook covered  for 5 minutes more. Shut off heat. Keep covered on behalf of 10 minutes Serve.        http://stephargaret060.cabbycentral.com/2008/11/30/groundnut-stew-vegan.html Sun, 30 Nov 2008 21:12:43 -0500 stephargaret060 http://stephargaret060.cabbycentral.com/2008/11/11/how-to-freeze-chinese-cabbage.html My chinese cabbages are huge as well as delicious. the cabbage I harvested today weighed in at 2.2 pounds.  First I found a recipe on behalf of Kimchi as well as started that. Then I decided to freeze the rest.  1.25 pounds of chinese cabbage makes approximately one quart of cooked greens. Put on a 1.25 gallons of water to boil. Was  1.25 pounds of chinese cabbage. Cut  in 2 inch strips. Fill sink with cold water as well as ice cubes. Dump cut greens in boiling water, stir and boil for 1.5 minutes. Take greens out of pot with tongs and/or slotted spoon. Put hot greens in sink as well as swish around on behalf of 1.5 minutes. Take greens out of water. Mark freezer bag with date as well as type of greens. Drain any excess water from greens as well as bag. Get any excess air out of bag as well as freeze        http://stephargaret060.cabbycentral.com/2008/11/11/how-to-freeze-chinese-cabbage.html Tue, 11 Nov 2008 22:36:57 -0500 stephargaret060 http://stephargaret060.cabbycentral.com/2008/10/13/freezing-okra.html I personally am not tired of okra but my family is…so I have started freezing it. Maybe they shall appreciate it in the middle of the winter. I have frozen it 2 ways. First  I prepared okra as if we would be eating it on behalf of dinner as well as then froze it. Cut okra into  half inch slices, approx 5 cups. Mix okra with 1/4  tsp salt , 2 pinches of pepper as well as 2 TBSP. of cornmeal. Put 2 tsp of canola oil in a cast iron 9″ frying pan. Heat up the oil on medium high Add okra as well as fry on behalf of about 4 minutes while stirring occasionally. Put into separate glass bowl to cool. Put 4 cups in 1 qt. freezer bag as well as put in freezer. The 2nd way I froze it was whole. Wash okra as well as cut off tops. Blanch in boiling water on behalf of 3-4 minutes subject to the size of the okra, small/large. Quickly put in ice water. Drain. Add 4 cups of okra to one quart freezer bag. Pop in freezer.        http://stephargaret060.cabbycentral.com/2008/10/13/freezing-okra.html Mon, 13 Oct 2008 18:44:11 -0400 stephargaret060 http://stephargaret060.cabbycentral.com/2008/09/15/harvest-moon-2008.html I have been trying to plant by the moon these past couple of years. I know that the week at the end of the full moon is the best time to plant root vegetables as well as to transplant, but what I didn’t know until yesterday is that both the full moon as well as the new moon are barren days. so instead of planting yesterday, Monday, I waited as well as planted today, the day at the end of the full moon. I put in 22 broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage as well as cauliflower. It is till hot in austin so I shall have to observe them carefully which means going every day to the garden. Broccoli.    Marathon, Calabrese, Watham, as well as Packman Cauliflower   Snow crown white as well as Cheddar-orange Cabbage  early red express as well as green vantage Brussel Sprouts  Oliver http://stephargaret060.cabbycentral.com/2008/09/15/harvest-moon-2008.html Mon, 15 Sep 2008 23:05:31 -0400 stephargaret060 http://stephargaret060.cabbycentral.com/2008/09/05/tornados-and-hail-hit-austin-may-14-2008.html The weather station says that the tornado touched the tree tops but never touched down on the ground. Also the hail over 1.5 inch diameter was the biggest ever recorded in Austin. Sunshine Community Garden sustained minor damage. My tomatoes plants with small tomatoes lost a lot of green tomatoes. The larger plants had damage on individual fruit but the fruit was not knocked off. The leaves on the squash, cucumbers, eggplant, peepers, chard, etc were somewhat shredded but they should come back. I picked beets but couldn’t used the leaves becuase they were too shredded.   The National Weather Service reported hail as large as four inches in diameter a few miles north of downtown Austin, service forecaster Pat McDonald said. Rose added that it may be a record size on behalf of hail that landed inside city limits. National Weather Service officials say they don’t think a tornado touched down in the city. They point to radar images of the storm, which indicated it was a super cell with punching winds that blasted a wide area stretching about from Lake Austin to East Austin as well as 35th Street to just south of the Colorado River. But insurance adjusters as well as a professional storm tracker say some of the tree damage suggests the presence of a tornado that dangled across the treetops on behalf of some distance but never touched down. “If you look at the epicenter of the storm track, the way the trees are topped, twisted off rather than blown, that indicates a tornado rather than straight or sheer winds, or a microburst,” said Mark Nelson, a meteorologist as well as consultant who surveyed as well as photographed damage in Central Austin on Thursday…. http://stephargaret060.cabbycentral.com/2008/09/05/tornados-and-hail-hit-austin-may-14-2008.html Fri, 05 Sep 2008 21:14:39 -0400 stephargaret060