Resting doesn't mean stop eating!

In order to preserve some energy I've been having "Subway" sandwich's a few times here of late...not being used to "the easy way"  in our house it's hard to just sit and rest regardless of how much you need too. I made "mind plans" you know the ones you get into your head just when and how you would do it so you get it done without a lot of  work :o).. I had Cecil lift that big frozen ham out of the freezer and put it into one of my stock pots..filled it with water and added all my spices, vinegar,Habenero peppers, garlic cloves , onions, rosemary. Cuban oregano..and maybe a  couple more spices I didn't mention...let that soak over night (while it defrosted)  then in the morning I drained all the spices poked holes in it and put it back into the water.after a couple hours..salted and peppered that ham..threw all the spices over it and cooked in in the oven about three hours ..took the Aluminum cover off and let it continue cooking ..All I can say it's  delicious..I didn't take a very good picture of it.. I had to debone it  (almost a 3 pound bone in it :o(  and then try to 'mold" it into slicing form..it will be better tomorrow.,,for sandwiches :o)

I was watching the show "Down home with the Neely's" and they made some fries that sent me reeling ...I wanted some :o)  So I pre boiled a few potatoes..drained them and added my spices,Pancho and olive oil and cooked them in the oven on the top rack while the ham was cooking...I "thought" I had prepared enough for the next day leftovers..well, do I have to tell you they were good and Cecil  spared no mercy partaking of them :o)  ( I helped too :o). 
Even trying to take it easy , I was on a roll :o).

Cecil went to the garden and picked up a couple of Boc Choy's for me and I prepared them for our veggie..I'm really enjoying Boc Choy and feel like a farmer when I harvest them for dinner...They won't last much longer ...I'm so glad I planted them...and next fall I'll plant double :o)...

Fried Green Tomato's, store bought

I hope this video works, if not , I'm sorry! I wanted you to see those delicious green tomatoes bubbling in the pan :o)...I didn't have any left in my garden so I had Cecil try one of our favorite little stores..Hooray they had some...maybe he will be able to get more tomorrow..:o)

These three little tomatoes made us happy  :o) and wanting more of them..

Cecil on his knees, two fold :o) Thanking God for this crop and picking the first fall crop of Broccoli Rabe (they were planted September 5th) :o)The greens were happy to see the rainfall and grew ..like we say "out of the box" :o) We couldn't wait to taste them..they didn't get the little blossoms on them, but who wanted to wait :o)...You see the little white pan..he picked two of them for my big red pot..and I made a pan of my "Special Corn Bread" ( with everything in it :o)  and we munched until we were full as two little pigs.

This pan is not showing how many greens were picked, but it's two pans squashed down and I used that big red pot to put them into for cooking..this is my harvest for this week.. I'm beginning to think there is no end to canning :o).. I haven't stopped yet!

Playing "Catch up "  Do any of you remember when that box bush in the middle (under the flowers) was replaced by a larger dying boxwood? and I thought it would never "catch up" ?  Cecil decided at that time to trim the old bushes down and give them new life . ..Well , at the time I agreed ..but I was devastated when I saw how short he cut them down and I thought..I'll have to think of something else to replace them..Time and more time they began to grow and now they have out shined even the New replacement :o). The new grown one is the deep green on the right :o)

You can barely see the Boxwoods on the left  (I didn't take a good picture :o(  but if you look closely on the ground you can see them they look small here but they are as tall as the first picture, and I'm happy about how well they have grown and are still growing ...we will now make sure to  keep them below the window boxes. Cecil is leaving me enough space in front of them for my Alyssum, they grew on one side and not the other :o( Spring I'll try again or do some transplanting..

Apple Butter and Canning still going on

Some one gave Cecil some Apples that were getting very soft and I knew we wouldn't be able to eat them up before they got softer or spoiled ..so I decided to cut them up...cook them with seasoning of sugar, cinnamon,nutmeg and a little lemon juice.. It didn't take them long to cook at all..my motto "Waste  not want not".

That's where my old fashioned Chimmo ( spelled incorrectly.) came in handy without putting up the "Champion" I'm glad I didn't give this old tool away ..it has come in handy this year a few times :o)
it didn't take long to save those apples into something we would be able to eat and enjoy..we had at least three jars, during the cooking and then sampling :o) we ended up with one and a half pints of Apple butter..:o) it was smelling so good we almost tasted it all up :o)

I'm supposed to be resting, l would have hated to lose a blessing by not trying ...(best excuse I could come up with). tomorrow "laundry"..Cecil will help me, I put things in piles and that makes it easy.
Have a nice weekend..Saturday promises to be just right..for pleasures...
Today is Cecil's Birthday and we were to go out to dinner ..but like always something  gets in the way...oh well! we will make up for it during the week.. Anyway I was treated to a slice of egg custard pie :o) to celebrate and it was delicious.
My daughter was in New York and went to one of our favorite places in the world "Katz" if you have never been, you've missed out :o(  here are a few shots of that trip, don't forget to read his shirt :o) He is one of the two brothers that own Katz.

Then there is also "China Town" sights and foods to behold :o)
China Town..ducks and Chickens seasoned and mouth watering appearance.

Don't they look scrumptious! :o) wish I could tear off a piece and chomp down on it :o)...
Nothing like a tasty duck..

Boc Choy

I'm a little happy to report that the Boc choy is growing well ( thanks Robin, glad I waited)  I might have to take the rest of them all up soon...these were the poorest looking specimens..I took up today just to see how they were doing ...I'm sure the rest are much better...I'm going to just do a quick shrink on the rest of them for the freezer soon.

I was running water on these to soak the dirt out of the bottoms..
I  tried to show the paper cups that I made to put the seeds in were still somehow still attached in the dirt (do a close up and maybe you can see bits of the cup) :o) you can see the roots are very strong looking..some of the leaves were yellow and that's why I took them up.
I salteed them in some butter and olive oil and they still had a good taste...and these were the worst looking ones..

Harvesting Puff Mushrooms

September is the time for "Puff Mushrooms" to appear..and you must get them before bugs begin to nibble and contaminate them for eating..So Cecil was quick to secure these and I prepared them right away..brushing away dirt etc..and then peeling and slicing them up.  It takes a bit of brushing and peeling before you can get them sliced up and ready to saute with some butter and a little oil ..then let them cool on a pan and 


put them into the freezer on the tray for easy removal to a freezer bag and use when ever you like in eggs, soups etc. Once they are frozen it's an easy job to break them apart ( some butter sticks to them, but most I use them with require a little butter and or oil. I think I'll make some omelets first thing..
The tray sits nicely in the freezer covered with Suran wrap. Once it was frozen I just put them into a Freezer bag.