What To Do With It Now?

     This morning's garden trip was inspiring. We are finally getting tomatoes to ripen and the peppers are looking great in spite of hail damage last night. In the garden and hauling it all home I felt motivated towards my food preservation goals. My sweet daughter is home so I had babysitting and a clean kitchen to dump it all in. Nathanial is a good babysitter but he doesn't think the kitchen should be fussed over. We'll save his talents for thinking of me and saving grass clippings for mulching the garden. Still, once inside my inspiration got lost in the piles of other things that also need my attention. Never mind, I'm pulling it together.

•  Basil - ready for a run of pesto. Maybe you've made it before but I thought I would show in a future post how we do it.
• Green beans- actually most of these beans will be shelled as they are more mature, the tender ones will get snapped and together I'll can a batch of shelly beans.
• Eggplant (the photo is a bit dark but these are a fingerling type not the large variety)- no thoughts on preserving here- immediate consumption as soon as I find a Thai recipe for eggplant with basil.
• Tomatoes- back outside on the deck railing to sit and finish ripening in the sun...tomato biscuits soon.
• Cucumbers- the last 3. The vines have completely died. No pickles this year.
• Okra- not enough to get excited over yet, but will get tossed in a summer stew.
• Zucchini- no way! Waiting for that cook book "101 Ways to Eat Zucchini ". Notice I said eat not cooked necessarily. I love to munch on it raw.
• Peppers- hhmm, all I know is the dark green ones are the bell peppers. Who else plants things at the last minute and forgets to make note of it in their notebook? The Plan: roasted peppers preserved in vinegar, salt and olive oil.

        Now, to get busy!