Wasting the day with Eggplant

If you are like me, you plant way too much eggplant.  Stunning to look at, not so much for eating here.  Yes, I do like a good batch of Baba Ganoush, but that doesn't use up much of it.  Well, if you have hours of time to devote (insert rolling of eyes here), there is always the big baked dish...

Eggplant Lasagna!

No, seriously... this took like 9 HOURS!  I had a really big harvest the morning after our visitors left, and it was another 115º day, so why not?!  I spent the better portion of the day making the sauce with the tomato harvest, not enough for a big canning batch, but was enough to make a big dinner.  After cooking down fresh sauce with lots of basil, oregano and other random additions, I tackled the eggplant -

First, slice your eggplant in whatever fashion you like, I had lots of it so I was wasteful and only sliced off the bottoms and sides with no seeds.  You then need to drain them.  I layered the slices with paper towels then weighted them down for with a heavy baking dish for several hours.

This is optional, but I dipped the slices in an egg wash & breadcrumbs, then lightly fried in olive oil.

Below is all the "stuff".  Eggplant, sauce, ricotta, mozzarella, parmesan & noodles.  I use the no-bake flat noodles from Barilla, as they really work well and don't rip and slide around like the rippled ones do, and I had an awesome coupon that allowed me to stock up!  You could also omit the noodles completely if you wanted.

Below, layer in any fashion you like.  Hey nobody said this was low-fat, just fresh!

I place my baking dish on a cookie sheet in case things bubble over into a hot mess.  About 50 minutes at 350º under foil, then 10 minutes with foil off to brown the parmesan sprinkled on top.  Let it rest for about 20 minutes before slicing, that's the key to keeping the stacked appearance on the plate - and when you spend 9 hours on something, you want it to look sort of appetizing!  This is really filling so I was able to transfer half of the below pan to a freezer dish for another meal, and a few slices to a small leftover dish for hubby's work lunch.

Serve up with homemade bread - you know, with all that spare time you have!  Of course, had it not been so hot outside, there would be no "spare time".  Big bonus, the kids ate it - they didn't actually see me peeling or slicing the eggplant so by the time they came in the kitchen it was fried already and I told them it was fried cheese :)

The rest of the harvest was preserved easily and quickly.  The bell pepper strips were frozen, and I made a quart jar of mixed veggie refrigerator pickles.  Below are Mini Bell Peppers, cuke slices, and long Sweet Peppers in a vinegar mixture with peppercorns, mustard seed & garlic cloves.  I still need to pickle the jalapenos today, but they will also be just a single jar of refrigerator pickles.

What are you doing to keep sane in the heat?  I'm thinking of abandoning the garden to its own devices, I seriously can't take it out there.  Today I'm really going to start cutting a pattern for an outfit for my niece, I've been wanting to do it for over a month.  Where do you think hubby went today?  The heat index is expected to be 110 again, we have 84% humidity and he left a little while ago with a friend to go on a little 30-mile bike ride!  Can't wait to see what he looks like when he gets home! :)

Getting back to the Garden...

I spent the day getting some things done in the garden that were being neglected the past couple of weeks. The weather has been strange this year, unseasonably cool (mid-80's) with very little humidity (definitely not complaining!) so things have been slower than I am used to. I have had some cherry tomatoes, but am still waiting on my first heirloom tomatoes! I picked a good week to let things go since the chores only took a day to get caught up! I pulled weeds, wove my tomatoes into their trellis system, and pulled out all my bolted lettuces. I had never let my lettuce get so tall before, they looked kind of like 3 foot Christmas trees for bunnies! Then this evening, I finally went on a Japanese Beetle Massacre, ugh! My grapes were covered with them, all piled on top of each other in their shiny green disguting-ness!

Here's the damage, the beetles are belly up on the leaves below!

Speaking of pests, I have been meaning to post a pic of my first Tobacco Hornworm. The night this happened, no kidding, I dropped my little cultivator and ran! If there were any neighbors looking on, they probably thought I had found an anaconda. I have seen these in books and was familiar with the PICTURES but nothing prepared me for a live performance! This happened while I was actually searching for whatever had topped my potatoes...earlier I had noticed that one of my potato cages looked like someone had taken a weed whacker to the tops. Those of you more seasoned than I will probably laugh at the fact that not only did I take pictures, I even videotaped this monster to show my husband what was living in our backyard!

After consulting the trusty "Good Bug, Bad Bug" book for eradication tips, I almost gagged when I read "pick them off by hand, cut in half with knife, there is no known pesticide..." GROSS! Needless to say, I cut off the whole branch, and after using it for my photo shoot, put it in a Ziploc and into the neighbor's trash can, lol! Of course, my husband, upon seeing the video emails me from the ship and says "are you sure that's the only one?" So it's back out to the garden and I only found one more, but it looked like a bird had been pecking at it since it was dried up in the dirt so I left it. I just checked again tonight and I didn't see any, although now I know that if you see one with white sacs attached to it, leave it...those are beneficial parasitic wasps that will hatch and kill it for me!
Thanks, Kelly for reminding me to post the hornworm pics...maybe I can prevent someone else from a heart attack the first time they see one, lol! This one's for you 8)

Not much to speak of for the harvest the past week, a few Pinot Noir Peppers and Purple Rain Eggplant (the tomato and carrots were "harvested" at the farmer's market!) Tomorrow should be a decent picking day, I noticed while doing other chores that I have alot of bell peppers, and a few cukes and cherry tomatoes ready, along with another 40-60 jalapenos. I wasn't prepared to preserve anything today, so I figured it was better for them to sit on the plant rather than on the counter until tomorrow! I may let the jalapenos go to red this time, since I already have 2 gallon sized bags and several jars pickled of green jalapenos.
And, last but not least...tonight is my first night without one of my kids! The youngest, Finnegan is spending the night with daddy at the Children's Hospital for a "sleep-study". It is very strange without him here...and quiet! I am sure Sailor/Farmer/Husband will take pics for me after they get him all hooked up to the probes for me to post. Finn was looking forward to "being turned into a robot" and I am sure he will do fine, especially since Daddy will be there sleeping on the couch in his room. I can never get any sleep when I am in a hospital, and my husband seems to be able to sleep wherever he lands, so he was elected for this gig!

Lazy Day in Pictures

My garden is in limbo right now...everything is growing, but not yet ripe for picking! I figured today would be a good day just to show pics of what's happening in the garden. The clouds finally cleared and got some decent (not great, as I am not a great photographer!) pics of the plants. It's hot here and humidity supposed to climb way up this weekend, so I am planning on some indoor activities, and possibly being able to put up some jalapenos from the garden by this weekend. I'm not much for heat and humidity, so I won't be out there any more than necessary! Enjoy...

Pinot Noir Bell Peppers

Purple Rain Eggplant

Tomato Beds with Eggplant in foreground

"Aerial Shot" of garden...from atop the kids' fort! Some of the beds were just reseeded with squash and edamame where the peas were ripped out.

The sometimes boring but always pretty marigolds.

Out of control Mammoth Dill in the Jalapeno bed

Purple Vitex that I am training into a tree...

Blackberries

(the resident boss mockingbird is watching me as I take this one, I know what he's thinking...)

"NO BERRIES FOR YOU!!"

The Butterfly/Bird Garden...although the first flush of blooms has disappeared, waiting for next group of plants to bloom

Miscellaneous free lily that came in a veggie shipment!

Crepe Myrtles are in full bloom now

Another shot of Crepe Myrtle tree

Five-Leaf Akebia vine...all the mockingbirds live here!

My new Fig Tree! Due to my uncertainty of how long we will be at this house, all fruit trees are now in containers so they can migrate with us.

Salvia

We have tons of butterflies with the new butterfly garden, hopefully I can get a better shot soon

And no garden post is complete without a shot of one of the Garden Dogs...here is one of my Aussies after "herding the hose"! This involves her chewing the nozzle open and then attacking the spray...yes, we are on our 3rd nozzle due to this game of hers. I guess if there's no chickens or sheep, water is the next best thing for a bored herding dog!