Garden dinner

I volunteered to make dinner tonight.  I guess I wanted something edible.  I bought some meat today, seasoned it well and cooked up about a pound of meat for five of us - six if you count the one little slice that was given to the baby.  I'd have loved to eat that much myself but not this time.  Somehow I just got paid (once a month) and after I figured out my bills for the month of September I'm already about broke.  I'm finishing paying the bills for our trip back east and since I pay all my bills in full, September is going to be lean.

Back to dinner.  Since it was me doing the cooking I was going to use food that I like.  This means food that I either grew or is part of my food storage program.  Tonight it was mainly food that I grew. 

I called the grandkids outside and taught them how to dig up potatoes.  I told them that you can get a little shovel to help but that you have to go slow so you don't slice up potatoes as you go.  Granddaughter went into the barn and got a square headed shovel.  One with a handle that was about three feet in length.  It's a small shovel.  No, that's not what I mean.  One of your toy shovels.  Of course they can't find any of their toy shovels and they weren't getting one of my Marshalltown's.  I found a piece of hard plastic laying on the ground that would work.  I showed them how to dig up about a half inch of soil at a time while searching for potatoes.  They thought it was great fun and each dug up one potato plant.  Fortunately for us we aren't going to live or die by the quantity of potatoes from each of those two plants.  Normally a plant can produce 6-10 potatoes.  We got about ten total and only three or four were decent size.  It was enough for each of us to have one good sized serving but no seconds. 

We also picked some eggplant.  I just cut it into strips, cooked it in juice from a couple of tomatoes that I smashed, added Italian seasoning (my favorite with eggplant) and garlic.  I only cooked up two eggplants.  Should have cooked up three. 

We had home made grape juice to drink.  I'm trying my hand at turning some of the juice into an alcoholic beverage from the kit I got at Think Geek.  The last one I made out of apple juice was good but rather dry.  When the sugar in the juice turns to alcohol the juice gets less sweet.  Maybe I should add sugar or honey?  We'll see how this turns out.  If TSHTF having alcohol may not be such a good idea.  Still, I don't mind having a drink with dinner some nights.

The boy wanted more.  Sorry, eat an apple if you are hungry.  Funny, he didn't pick one of the store bought apples that Army daughter bought.  He picked home grown.  Army daughter told her husband that I should cook more often since I cook healthy.  What does that mean?  That I don't make enough for seconds?  No, that it tastes good and it's good for you.  That's because it's home grown.

Have to write about breakfast this morning.  I cut up four apples.  Fried them in a teaspoon of butter, then added some walnuts and a little cinnamon sugar.  It was delicious. 

We have so many eggs that we are going to have to make noodles and angel food cake.  The two go hand in hand.  We use yolks when making noodles and whites when making the cake. 

I have a bunch of thoughts going through my head but too tired to write anything else.  Have a great night!