Wow the first week of September has flown by. Weeks always seem to go fast when there’s a holiday involved. I have a busy weekend so before I get sidetracked, here are some fun links for your weekend reading.

Two weeks worth of delicious late summer/early fall meals can be found at Busy Family Meals, definitely worth checking out.

Research yields NEW Fat Fighting Tips or confirms old ones. Find out what foods or food combinations can really help control your weight.

Witches Finger Cookies- Gross out everyone at your Halloween party with this deliciously gross treat.

Don’t forget about the Zucchini Cobbler- A delicious way to use up some of those extra zucchini laying around on your countertops.

Speaking of zucchini, have you checked out 20 Ways to Use Zucchini?

Check out these mammoth Kentucky Beefsteak tomatoes! Mine are not quite that large.  

Happy weekend reading, gardening, and cooking!

Zucchini Cobbler Image (c) L Gerlach all rights reserved

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I have the winners of the children’s butterfly gardens from the Butterfly Exhibit at the Smithsonian. The winners were selected by random.org. If I was a tech savvy person I could provide a screen print, but I’m not so you have to take my word on it.

The first winner is Sheri F who said,

I always used to love seeing the butterfly exhibit at my zoo when I was little. It was so fun to have them flying all around you.

The second winner is Jane Marie who said,

My grandson would love to have this. He is two and this year started following his mom around the garden and trying to catch flies which of course means butterfly. He also likes to water plants with a small watering can. When she told him he had to come in the house now he politely held up his hand in a stop position (imitating his mother) and said Stop, Im cleaning.

Thanks to everyone who participated, and a huge thank you to Butterflies and Plants: Partners in Evolution, for sponsoring the contest.

I’ll be in touch with the winners in the next day or so to let get their mailing address.

I’m sure we’ll have more contests coming up in the next few months, so if you don’t want to miss out make sure you subscribe to the feeds.

Image via the Smithsonian butterfly exhibit

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My sister gave me this delicious way to use up some of those extra zucchini laying around on your countertops. It tastes like an apple cobbler (you could easily substitute apples for the zucchini later in the fall). The crust is crumbly and crunchy.

Zucchini Cobbler Recipe:

Ingredients:

Filling

• 5-6 cups of chopped, peeled, seeded zucchini
• 1/3 cup lemon juice (the juice of about 2 lemons)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. nutmeg

Crust

• 2 cups flour (I used a 50/50 blend of white and whole wheat)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

To make it:

1. Preheat the oven to 375.` Cook the zucchini and lemon juice for 15 minutes on medium in a covered skillet, or large covered saucepan.
2. Remove the mixture from the heat, and add 1/2 cup of sugar, and the spices.
3. Make the crust mixture by mixing the flour, sugar, butter, and cinnamon together in a bowl until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs.
4. Take 1/2 cup of this mixture and stir into the zucchini mixture.
5. Take 1/2 of the remaining crust mixture and press it into a sprayed 9×13 pan. (A 9×9 would probably work too)
6. Pour the zucchini mixture into the pan and top it with the remaining crumb mixture.
7. Bake at 375` for 30-35 minutes.

This recipe takes a little time, but it’s worth the effort. My whole family enjoyed it.

You could also chop the zucchini and freeze it 5 to 6 cups to a bag to pull out later in the fall and winter and make the cobbler. Better yet make some extra zucchini cobbler and throw it in the freezer now, then just thaw and eat later.

More recipes from the garden.

Zucchini cobbler image (c) L Gerlach all rights reserved

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The results are in and it looks like most of you grow a little bit of everything in your garden (42%). Which didn’t surprise me one bit. When you have gardening in your blood you can’t help yourself (I try to explain that to my husband).

25% of you are practical and only grow fruits and vegetables in your garden.

17% of you go for beauty and only grow flowers in the garden. None of those ugly vegetable plants in your flower beds!

13% started with flowers, but now you’re seeing higher prices at the grocery and adding some fruits and vegetables (decided those veggie plants aren’t so ugly after all, and they taste pretty good too).

1 person just grows weeds. Ummm, that would be me by the end of the gardening season. It seems to be the only thing growing in my Ohio garden right now. We haven’t had a good rainfall in over a month, but it hasn’t stopped the weeds.

Check out this months poll in the side bar. Where do you get most of your produce?

Garden image (c) L Gerlach all rights reserved.

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My grandparents had a huge garden when I was growing up. My grandpa took me for a walk through the garden to show off his prize winning produce. When I got older he still took me for a walk through the garden to give me all the produce I could carry in my arms (or everything he could talk me into taking). They grew a garden large enough to feed the whole neighborhood. 

My grandma used to can everything. One of my favorite things was the pickled red beets. I still love to grow beets every summer, just so I can can a few for red beets and pickled eggs during the fall and winter.

Here’s my grandma’s recipe:

Wash your red beats, and trim the tops leaving about 2″ of top and root on the beet. Cook the red beets in a large pot for about 25 minutes, dunk them in cold water to cool them off after cooking. Remove the skin, it should peel off easily, if not cook them a little longer. Cut up the red beets and put them into the canning jars, leaving about an inch at the top of the jar empty.

The recipe below is for 1 quart jar of beets. Multiply it by however many jars of beets you have.

1 cup cider vinegar

1/2 cup of water

a dash of salt

1 1/2 cup of sugar

For the whole batch (up to 6 quarts):

2-3 cinnamon sticks

1 teaspoon of allspice

6 cloves

Mix all the ingredients above together and bring to a boil. Pour the mixture over the sliced beets in the jars. and process at a boil for 30 minutes in a hot water bath. Check the cans after they have cooled to be sure they’re all sealed. Put any unsealed containers in the fridge and use within a couple days.

Image via Stock.xchng

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