What's growing in my Fall Garden :o)

First thing I'm pleased that the Parsley and the Rosemary have taken off on the patio! I didn't want to touch ground and walk around the side of the house where the big Rosemary bush is ..so I planted one in a box to be closer to get from the kitchen.

Then as I step off the Patio I'm greeted by the box garden of Broccoli Rabe :o) and I'm smiling or I should say grinning from ear to ear ..(I love fresh greens :o) and the Peppers in the box that didn't do to well with the tomatoes cramping them have started producing a pepper here and a pepper there :o)

Then I take a few more steps over to box #2 and The Arugala seems to have really taken off and I snipped a piece to taste , boy was it yummy..a good bite to it ..salad here I come...and the special Kale that Mr H. sent me is taking off , I can't wait to see how well it does and how it taste's  (thanks Mr. H.) I'll bless you as I take bites :o).

Then I take a walk down to the Garden to check on my Purple Sweet Potatoes that I started from "Slips" that E.G. showed on his tutorial :o)  They are really doing nicely..I'm getting to be some farmer  (I should say We :o) I'm just proud I took two potatoes, and was able to make the little paper pots and once they were big enough put them into the ground..hope I have some potatoes under those leaves..the rain for the last four days has certainly helped them all..

The Boc Choy has really grown, thanks to Robin for encouraging me that they were fall growing and just wait..well, glad I waited..I'm waiting to see some white stalks before I pick any..Boc Choy is delicious..it's just a Chinese cabbage anyway ...seems I'll have enough cabbage. 
If you look further to the left , you see the rutabaga and a little further you can barely see the "mixed greens" :o)  If they all grow well we will have some delicious greens with corn bread :o)

Thanks again to Mr H. for the Rutabaga seeds , I made paper cups for them too and was glad it started raining as soon as I finished planting them, they were so small I wondered if I put them out too soon, so far they are healthy looking :o).. I expect them to continue growing well.. We love Rutabaga greens and root :o).

These are some Cabbage Collards that are on the Side Garden, they are something new this year ..no one I spoke to knows anything about them..I decided to try them since i had collards in cups already..So far it seems the bugs like them, hopefully it will get cold enough for the bugs to go away... nothing seems to help...I'll get Cecil to put some soapy water on them..maybe that'll do something.

The Red Cabbage seems to do very well in the Side Garden..there aren't as many nips on them as the collards..they did well in the side garden for the last three years..the Peppers on the end seemed to do better once it got cold and rain came down..but something continues to nibble at it and the peppers are so stunted they are a waste.:o(..
That's about it ..except I took a picture of the Garlic but it didn't show up :o(  it's doing pretty good for the effort I put into them..

Pickled Eggs with Beets and Onions :o)

Today is a dreary but happy day to finally get a lot of rain for the newly planted Fall Garden :o) and to also taste the pickled eggs that were done on Sept. 4th..now they are finally ready to eat and they are delicious (even the beets and onions have a good taste  :o) I also think they are a beautiful color :o)
Since it's raining and I had a full day at the Doctor's yesterday with one test after another, which most of you know tires one out , I need to just get some rest so for today....My aim is to do NOTHING!...

Smoked Beef Tongue

For a while there I thought I had entered into a bad dream!...Now I'd like to say
"Seek and ye shall Find"  or "Happiness is in your own backyard" ( where ever that is :o)
I'm so happy to report that I have two beautiful "Smoked Beef Tongues" and the day was saved by "First Cousin" who has become pretty good at helping me in a pinch :o)

I've added all the seasoning I wanted into the bottom of the pressure cooker so I can add the inside top to sit the tongue upon.

This is what the Tongue looks like out of the wrappings :o)  I'm salivating already..

This is the front of the tongue>..I did this so
you could see all angles :o)

Tongue squeezed into Pressure cooker

Tongue after being Pressure cooked One hour.

  

This a  picture of the skin being removed

Now to have some delicious sliced smoked tongue with some garden greens and some nice whipped sweet pototoes :o)

fi

This was taken last year , September 17 is Avery's Birthday (today). She will be 2 years old...time flies.
I'm waiting for pictures of the party :o)
She favors me a lot as a kid :o) (Sandy hair, deep voice, and cute as a button :o)

Avery is not liking that big live Elmo character and found safety in Mommy's arms :o) The video showed her backing away..but blogger wouldn't let me post it. :o(

Corn from the Farmers Market :o)

Turning this bushel of Multi color (yellow and white) Corn into my own canned Creamed Corn :o)

Where can I find it

I don't care how old you get, there are some taste you can't satisfy with substitutes!
I've learned to make or do without lots of childhood foods or substitute them for new tastes..but here in NC.. i haven't been able to find a "Smoked Beef Tongue". What happened did people forget how to make them...I don't think the younger generation even knows about them..anyway...anybody know?


UPDATE:
I am so surprised at the negativity about "Smoked Beef Tongue" . Surely some must  have heard of it ..it's a European type dish from way back. Have we become so far from the Peasant road :o).  There are many dishes today that have peasant origin. People had to do what ever it took to feed a family mostly of 10 or 12 birth control wasn't heard of in any way.None of the animal was wasted, even the guts< people won't admit to eating them also...I say "get hungry enough"...Oh well! as for me  "I'll eat "Smoked Beef Tongue" if I can find it...and I'll send in a Picture :o)

My Eggplants

This year was my first in trying to grow Eggplant! The first I picked a month or so ago were small, and if I remember correctly were just a wee bigger than these! I was told to let them grow ..Now I'm wondering if I let them "grow" too long!  Two are the pretty dark purple shade, but very small, the others seem to have a golden hue  are they "too old", should I just compost them, or ignore the color and cook them as usual ?  Okay Robin, you can jump in here :o)  Today was a good day for Cecil to put the Collards down the "P" Row seems they were getting a little leggy..The Rutabaga and Kale are standing up like little soldiers after the big rain we had..(and needed badly).
UPDATE:  I tried an easy  recipe I found online and tried it out on two of my eggplants, the rest went into the compost ( although one was soft ,it looked pretty good inside) I have to say it was pretty tasty, had a taste similar to mushrooms and Cecil enjoyed seconds ( what else is new :o)..  I'll be making that dish again..Tonight we had it with Italian sausages and spaghetti. Didn't take time to take a picture.

This was a Sunday Evening effort long waited for."PICKLED EGGS"

Here's hoping that the video  will work , if not just picture the pot boiling with a dozen eggs in it  :o)

Here is my pot of spices boiling.. and the recipe:
1 cup of white vinegar, 1 Cup of Pickling spices, 5 garlic cloves sliced,
1 cup of Brown sugar and one Jalapeno pepper (seeds removed).

I'll add the spice mixture into the jar (once it cools) where I have layered the  Eggs, onions, and beets ( to give the eggs a purple color :o). I won't be able to taste the "Pickled Eggs" for at least a week.. I think the longer it sits ( in the fridge) the better it gets :o)

All the Spices added to the Jar..Now the most important part "WAIT". ugh! I may have to sneak a taste. I've had this on my mind to do for quite a while, and today was the perfect day for it...I had bought extra eggs not realizing I already had a dozen tucked in the bottom tray :o).

Fish Fry

Today was a good "Fish Fry" Day :o) , First cousin came over with lots of good fresh fish from the market and we had a "Double Whammy" of a fish fry..we first had fried fish for Lunch..watched on the computer where I had loads of DVD's full of family pictures and events...first time Cecil decided to stay and see them, he usually runs away...but this time he stayed and seemed to enjoy himself and would say "I didn't know you had that picture or I didn't remember this or that...we had a good family time with laughs and jokes about everything.. This is half the fish that was left from Lunch the other half is in the frying pan and we will have it for Dinner after 3 hours of gabbing. The rest goes into the freezer for another day. First cousin has my recipe so now she thinks she is as smart as me...I needed to rest so I let her have the crown for now.