JUST A CHAT

Hello dear friends!  You won't believe it!  We finally received some rain!   Can't tell you how exciting it was to see wet pavement when we awoke.  I'm sure the plants must feel the same way.  It's been a very strange year garden-wise; everything was so slow to germinate and now everything is ahead of schedule.  At this rate, we'll have everything harvested by the beginning of September.  Our phlox and stargazer lilies are in bloom at the moment.

They usually don't bloom until mid-August.  And look how big and orange our pumpkins are getting!

We harvested our garlic this week, which never happened this early before.

Ran made these lovely drying trays from pallets and a window screen we found in someone's garbage when we were out for a walk. We're more observant  when out on Sunday night aka garbage day eve. I tell you garbage day is like Christmas to us!  We found so many incredible things over the years, from antique doors,windows and lighting fixtures to furniture.   Early in our marriage we found a wonderful old headboard that we used for many years. We did shabby chic before shabby chic was a style.  People throw out some amazing things, just for the sake of getting something new, I think.  That's why creativity is the best superpower a person can have.  What a pleasure it is to make something from nothing.  Speaking of, one of the projects I'm currently working on, is making a crazy quilt shawl.

I got the idea from an old movie I was watching.  I thought it was a shawl, but it turned out the character actually had a crazy quilt wrapped about her.  No matter.  A shawl sounded like a fun idea.  It's a slow process.  Whenever someone gives me a present tied in a silk ribbon, I add it to the shawl.  Sometimes I find old stained linens at garage sales for a dime and remove the lace and add it.  There's old ties in there, too. I even reused the chintz pocket of an old threadbare jacket.  Whenever I'm bored I get out the many skeins of floss that I've collected and do some fancy stitching on the seams.  When will I finish?  I don't know, just enjoying the process.

One work-in-progress is fine but two drives me to distraction.  So I am diligently working on finishing my knitted shawl.  I had hoped have had it finished this week to show you, but canning got in the way.

I canned sweet pickle relish, jalapeno peppers and my somewhat famous oven roasted spaghetti sauce (judging upon the number of readers of that post).  Also made up a couple bottles of garlic-dill vinegar.  See the bottle on the left-hand side?  That was a tequila bottle that some party-goer had thrown out in our yard last week.   It's a dandy bottle that looks a lot like an old apothecary jar.  I'm a major bottle collector. Whenever someone gifts me with an expensive store-bought jam or condiment, I'm typically more pleased with the jar then the contents.  On the rare occasions when I need to buy something from the store, such as artichoke hearts and maraschino cherries, I  buy the one that comes in the most interesting jar even if it cost a few extra pennies.  I use them for my homemade  herbal concoction and  mixtures.  So how's that for crazy?

In last week's comments, we were brainstorming on ideas to use up zucchini.  I forgot one of our favorites, mock crab cakes.  It's an old recipe that's been around for a while.  If you don't think of them as actual crab cakes and just a pleasant meatless meal, I think you'll be happier with them.  Here's how I make mine:

RECIPE FROM THE GARDEN

Zucchini Crab Cakes

2 medium zucchinis
1/2 tsp. salt
 1 tbsp. mayonnaise
1 C. bread crumbs (I use Italian seasoned ones)
1 1/2 tsp. Old Bay seasoning (or any other seafood seasoning)
1 egg
1/2 tsp. pepper
dash of hot pepper sauce (optional)
oil for frying

Shred the zucchini.  Place the shredded zucchini in a colander and stir in the salt.  Let stand for one-half an hour to drain out the water.  Take your zucchini and place it in a tea towel and squeeze out the excess water.  You should end up with  about 2-3 C. of zucchini.  Stir in the remaining ingredients except the oil and form into patties.  Fry patties in the oil until golden brown.  Serve with tartar sauce.

I do so love reading your comments and suggestions.  One person asked how she subscribe to Hope and Thrift, so now there's a link at the top of the page for doing that.  I think that's the correct term, "link".  I 'm terribly ill-equipped to write a blog, I'm afraid.  I never learned  how to link back when blogger didn't make it easy for you and my pictures sometimes don't appear where I want them to go.  It took my son and husband to get the "subscribe" button up there on the page after I made a mess of it.  I never would have been able to, that's for sure.  That's  why all your suggestions on how to make this blog better are appreciated.  I do truly love to read your comments also.  So if you have a suggestion, an idea, a question, or just want to stop by to say hello,  you are most welcome to do so. 

THRIFTY THINGS WE DID THIS WEEK


Harvested garlic

Harvested peppers, tomatoes, eggplants, green beans,  blueberries, raspberries and zucchinis.

Canned sweet pickle relish, jalapenos and spaghetti sauce.

Saved the seeds from the tomatoes for next year's garden.

All of our meals this week came from the garden and pantry.

Baked our own bread to make panzanella  Delicious!

Received a rebate for some dog medicine.

Bought some pantry  staples such as brown sugar, bread flour and rennet in bulk at the bulk food store.

Bought coffee and tea and the scratch and dent Amish store for a few dollars.  What a blessing that store is to us!

Dried our clothes out on the line. One thing a hot dry summer is good for.

Well, that's about it for this week.  I hope you all will have a terrific week!

Hugs
Jane