I'm a Geek and a Glutton

Now, when I say that I'm a geek, you may picture me as looking like this:

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Or possibly, this image came to mind...sans the moustache:

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(However, if you have read more than one blog, I'm sure neither of those images came to mind.)  But, it was a clever "hook" was it not? 


And, when I say I'm a glutton, you may think I look like this:

Well, when it comes to chocolate, there may be a lot of truth to that one.


However, I am really a geek for vegetables and a glutton for punishment. This is how I came to that recent conclusion.


Even though I have a garden, it only produces enough for one meal at a time, so Hubby and I usually find ourselves at the local farmers auction in order to get enough food to can.


When I arrived at the auction, and saw all the beautiful vegetables, my mouth started salivating. The colors were so vibrant, the aromas so sweet. Well, not all of the aromas are sweet. Most of the suppliers are Amish, so mixed in with the sweet aromas of fruit and freshly baked bread, is horse manure and sweat. (Most Amish do not use deodorant.) I just wandered around saying, "Oh! Look at those beautiful beans!We need those!"   "Try to get those gorgeous peaches. We need those, too!" What I didn't come up with, Hubby did.

Lovely veggies and fruit

Vibrant colors

Freshly baked bread and goodies! YUM!

Amish don't like having their pictures taken. I try
to honor that, but sometimes, I can't help myself.
So, I have to take a shot on the sly.
I try not to get their faces.

One of the good aromas - onion rings!
One moment while I wipe up my slobber.

A quiet moment

Hubby in action! Total concentration!

Here's a little snippet of the sounds...

So, that is a short explanation of my geekiness. And, now about my gluttony. 


I could be called a glutton for vegetables. but you may decide that I am a glutton for punishment.


Are you sitting down? Well, believe it or not, this is what we brought home from the auction. I warn you, the sight may be quite shocking!

The last of the tomatoes, waiting patiently to be loaded.

This is how the pick-up looked.
There's another layer underneath.

Contrary to what you might think, this is not a produce shop.
This is our basement when everything was unloaded.

Aren't the colors beautiful??

Purple beans.
I was very disappointed to see the purple disappear
as the beans were processed.

Lovely peaches for Peach Cobbler this winter.

Beautiful carrots!

So pretty! So lovely!

Are you a vegetable geek??

I was just a little busy last month!

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Snap! Snap! Chop! Chop!

Well, hello, there! I'm back from my unscheduled and unexpected break from the blogging world. I'll fill you in on what that was all about in a later post. It's very exciting. You won't want to miss it!


But, today, I will be busy in the kitchen. Hubby went to a produce auction last night, and brought home a bunch of goodies for me to can. I would much rather be freezing the beans, because I like them so much better than canned beans, but, I also want to have some food that can be stored on the shelves instead of the freezer. You know, just in case we lose electricity in the middle of winter, or something.

Here is the recipe I'm using for the banana peppers. (It's a secret family recipe, so don't tell anyone I gave this to you!)

Dad's Vinegar Solution for Banana Peppers

1 gallon white vinegar
1 gallon distilled water
1 cup salt
8 cups sugar
4 teaspoons dry mustard


Bring to a boil then remove from heat and let cool. Meanwhile, slice and seed peppers and put in hot jars. Pour cold solution over peppers. Then add 1 teaspoon olive oil to each quart jar. Seal with a hot lid.


Allow to marinade in cool, dark place for at least three weeks.


This recipe will do about 1/2 bushel of peppers.


Try it! You'll like it!

Here's a couple pictures of my unfriendly kitties. Spooky-Dude No Tail runs fast and far away, but he's still keeping an eye on me.

 Sahshe lets me get a little closer, but not too close! Spooky-Dude Half Tail wasn't around for the photo op!

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Garden Report

The garden continues to grow, and I've been very busy with canning this past week. Unfortunately, it hasn't been do to the great amount of vegetables that our garden has produced.

We have been getting our vegetables from a local produce auction.
All this garden work, and we still have to buy veggies!!





We pulled up the potatoes last week. It was quite fun, actually. Kind of  like digging for buried treasure.

We also pulled up the onions. They weren't growing, so I ended up with a bunch of small onions. I decided to pickle them. That was a long and tedious job from start to finish. I don't even like pickled onions!









       Before and After Pictures


Our cabbages are very small, and I'm afraid they will all be eaten by bugs before they are big enough to be
harvested.

The broccoli plants are big and leafy, but NO BROCCOLI. The eggplant is growing, but so far, no evidence that I will actually have eggplant. The same is true with the Brussel sprouts. I put the garden out a little late, so maybe they will come on eventually, but I'm not too hopeful.

The banana peppers are doing OK.

And, I'm starting to get tomatoes.

Here's the first installment of my work so far.
Top row: Sandwich Spread - 30 pts.
Middle row: Green beans - 8 pts.
More Sandwich spread;
Banana Peppers - 3 pts.;
Pickled onions - 3 pts., 8 half pints;
Squash - 4 qts. (left over from last year)
Bottom row: Potatoes - 8 quarts.

That is what has been keeping me busy this week. How about you?

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