It's been raining off and on all weekend. The sun is out now and it's more than a little steamy. If the rain is still gone in an hour or two, I'll be on the tractor. I started doing yardwork yesterday but couldn't finish.
Between the rains Saturday afternoon, I was able to pull up the 2010 CrabAppleLane spring vegetable garden. The tomatoes have been done for a a few weeks but I wanted to let the peppers fill out a little more. I'm not a big fan of bell peppers normally. They're usually a little too thick when you buy them at a store, when they come on a pizza, or when they're in a dish at a restaurant, particularly Chinese dishes. Homegrown bell peppers are a whole other thing. Commercial bell pepper varieties have a much thicker skin because they've been developed that way so they can travel better. Homegrown peppers are thin-skinned and have a much lighter and sweeter taste. In the bowl below: "Big Early" bell peppers. On the rail: "Italia" sweet peppers. There is almost no difference in taste, texture, or size between them. They're both delicious. We haven't decided what to do with them yet. We may stuff them or we may add them to some scrambled eggs but we're most likely to add them to a huge batch of Patsy's sausage rice casserole. I'm fine with any one or more of those options.
Last of the CrabAppleLane 2010 spring crop - July 25, 2010
It was an average year for CrabAppleLane tomatoes and peppers. It got too hot too early and there was too much rain toward the end of the season. I don't think the eggplants did well at all. I haven't done a fall garden in many years but I think I will this year. Patsy and I both love homegrown baby Brussels sprouts so there will surely be a lot of those planted. I'll throw in a row of broccoli and maybe some red and green cabbage, too. Patsy makes good coleslaw.
I like to rate the songs in my iTunes library. I haven't done it with all of them yet but I've got a substantial number of them rated. Five stars is the highest. Today's iTunes shuffle is from the Four Star list.
There are probably a few funnier things about the upcoming NFL season but the New York Times Fifth Down Blog picking the brash, loudmouthed Jets to finish third in their division behind the Patriots and Dolphins is pretty good. The QOTD plugs into that. Thank you, Judy. :)
46 days until football season ...
5 song iTune shuffle from the CrabAppleLane Four Star playlist:
- Mean Mistreater - Grand Funk Railroad - Live Album
- Heartless - Adrien Reju - A Million Hearts
- Space Truckin' - Deep Purple - Machine Head (Roger Glover Remixes) [Disc 2]
- Behind With The Rent - Mark Knopfler - Kill To Get Crimson
- Boogie With Stu - Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti [Disc 2]
Quote of the Day
Is there enough oxygen in Cortland, N.Y., to sustain all the Jets’ talk?
Judy Battista, NY Times
Blog of the day is here.
Quote from said blog: "I wrote about this soup two years ago when I first found the recipe in the New York Times. Since then, I've made it many times, making a few tweaks here and there. It's definitely remained a favorite – in fact, it's one of two soups that I constantly go back to. You know, the ones I know I can really nail."
Looks like a lot of work. Also looks fantastic. I've never heard of smoked paprika. Might have to try it. -Rob
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All of those pepper options sound good to me. Had they survived the rabbits, mine would have mostly been consumed in salads and spaghetti sauce.
Patsy made a spectacular salad with fresh tomatoes and fresh peppers a couple of weeks ago. If we still had tomatoes, that's what we'd be doing.