Release date is set for April 10th – whew.

Mama, are you sure these are the best peas?

************************************************************************** Link to my KNRS (Radio Show) webpage for Fried Green Tomatoes and other Green Tomato recipes.

RECIPE: GREEN TOMATO BREAD FROM ANDREA

3 eggs                                                                                                                             1 C. oil                                                                                                                              2 C. sugar                                                                                                                      2 C. Green Tomato Puree (add a small amount of water if needed)                           1 T Vanilla                                                                                                                         3 C. Flour                                                                                                                          1/2 tsp salt      1 C. chopped nuts (optional)                                                                        1 C. raisins (optional)

Mix eggs, oil, and sugar. Add green tomato puree and vanilla.                                Sift dry ingredients together and add to other ingredients.                                           Add nuts and /or raisins if desired.

Grease and Flour two 9×5 loaf pans. Divide batter evenly and pour into pans.                                                                                                                                                                                Bake at 350° for 45-60 minutes

**** The Joy in the Garden far-from-official test kitchen tried this recipe recently and it makes a very pleasant sweet bread that has a mild citrus-like “tang” to it. Great way to use those green tomatoes!!! No, the loaf doesn’t end up green…it’s a lovely golden yellow. Two spoons way up! ++

The JIG test kitchen has also noted, along with several other “test kitchens” that a leavening agent is not in the original recipe (we aren’t sure why, maybe we received the recipe incorrectly). After several experiments (using anywhere from 1 to 3 tsp of baking powder), adding 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder seems to be the correct amount to bring a lovely texture (lighter than pound cake, heavier than sponge cake) to this otherwise heavy bread. The batter is quite runny but does not, in our humble opinion, require any extra flour.

SOME MIX-IN IDEAS FOR GREEN TOMATO BREAD:

Mini choc. chips= a sweet dessert cake

Pecans= very nutty flavored

Raisins = chewy, great if you like raisins, I like dry Currents better.

Lime zest = wow, my favorite! I used 1/2 tsp. for a small loaf. – My son says he likes the ‘crust’ best so small loaves increase the crust area. He also says it is great as a ‘coffee cake’…..he doesn’t dunk, just eats [the bread] with [the coffee].

GREEN TOMATO BREAD TIPS FROM LISTENERS: Freezing the puree ahead of time will save you from having the green tomatoes ripen on your counter top while you wait for the spare time to make this treat. If you freeze the puree in 2 cup quantities it will be pre-measured and ready to go for a batch of bread.  Just whir the green tomatoes in a blender (a food processor would probably work, too) with little or no added liquid.

At any rate, Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours everywhere!

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The Friday before Halloween we all went on an outing to a Farm/Nursery  about a half hour out of Pittsburgh for hay riding and pumpkin choosing.  It was a last minute decision and we arrived just 2 minutes before the hay riding part was closed for the day.  Being the very last folks there, we had the entire two trailer hay ride to ourselves!!  Little Wren was bundled warmly with her pumpkin hat barely showing above the soft blankets.  Linus had his rubber boots (might be muddy) warm coat (need a new one, he’s really grown since last winter) large gloves (won’t be needing new ones for a couple of years) and a camo scarf and hat.

Up onto the trailer and off we bounced.  Really bounced.  I think hundreds of pounds of a few dozen more people usually kept the trailer a little more securely grounded.   A lovely ride through the woods and we were dropped off at the end of a long field of pumpkins and the tractor driver said, pointing way across the patch, “I’ll pick you up over there.”  Since it was a far piece to the other side, we decided the best big pumpkins were at the other end of the row ………closer to where the tractor/trailer would be parked.  Three large, plus one Wren-sized, pumpkins later  we clambered back aboard the Bumpy Express.

For me, the most impressive part of the venture was the 10X50 foot bed of iris that ran along the parking lot.  whooeeee!  A dozen or more varieties of Reblooming Iris.  And not the muddy colors of the first generation rebloomers.  These were gorgeous.  Yellows, lavenders, purple, whites of all combinations and they had sweet fragrances.  Got to get some of these – can you imagine?  This late in the garden and the standards and falls of magnificent Poor Man’s Orchids right there in your garden.  Ahhhh.

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As this page progresses you will find pictures of gardens filled with glorious plants of all kinds.  I’ll share links and many places to learn more about gardening with joy in your own garden, be it one pot of geraniums or the back 40.

Wasatch Communtiy Gardens Check out their calendar for the upcoming fall events.

At the Red Butte Gardens, fall activities continue.