How my garden grows . . . visualize whirled peas

How my garden grows . . . more stuff from the garden

New Brew Thursday - Rogue Single Malt Ale

Rogue is one of my favorite micro breweries.  They have variety of interesting beers with fun labels.  There's not a beer created by the brewmasters at Rogue that has disappointed me. There are, of course, one or two that I like less than others but that's not so unreasonable.


So it was with high hopes and great anticipation that I popped open a Chatoe Rogue First Growth Single Malt Ale bomber.  This ale is brewed with Dare malt, Revolution hops and Pacman yeast . . . pacman, I say! Waka waka waka


This ale is from Rogue's Chatoe series.  The beers in this group are labelled “GYO”, as in Grow Your Own.  The ingredients that go into these beers are grown by Rogue and contain one of each ingredient . . . one type of malt,  one variety of hops, and one strain of yeast.  Plus something they call "free range" water . 

I digress . . . Single Malt Ale is a fairly sessionable beer at 5.3% ABV.  It's a fairly light blonde ale that pours a cloudy amber gold with a nice creamy head.  It has a bready aroma that transitions nicely from nose to palate.   Citrus, fruit and bitter hops compliment the malt creating a smooth medium bodied beer . . . delicious.


I would recommend you grab one and give it a go.  This is a pretty darn good beer!


Make sure to visit Rogue's website and visit them on Facebook!

The best thing since sliced bread

It has been 100 years since Otto Rohwedder invented a machine that automatically cut loaves of bread into slices.  Prior to this, consumers would purchase whole loaves of bread from their local bakery and cut it up themselves . . . this invention paved the way for commercial bakeries to sell pre-sliced loaves of bread.


Five years later, in 1917, major fire broke out in the factory where his slicing device was being manufactured  . . . destroying the blueprints.  


Not discouraged, he continued refining his design.  Including modifying his machine in such a way in to keep the bread fresh by creating a device that not only sliced the bread but wrapped it, as well.  


This was the improvement that finally got the baking industry fired up about his product and sales boomed  . . . so much so that he could barely keep up with the demand.


But it wasn't until 1930 that he saw his greatest success.  Wonder Bread . . . you know the white squishy bread in the colorful packaging . . . hit the store shelves and became wildly popular.  There was no turning back . . . it was at this point when more sliced bread was sold than whole loaves.


The man was a genius!  I mean really . . . the invention of sliced bread is the thing against which all things are measured.  How many times have you heard or said . . . "that's the best thing since sliced bread!"?

Zucchini Bread Recipe

2 Eggs, Beaten

1 1/3 Cup Sugar

2 Teaspoons Vanilla

3 Cups Grated Fresh Zucchini

2/3 Cup Melted Unsalted Butter

2 Teaspoons Baking Soda

Pinch Salt

3 Cups All-Purpose Flour

1/2 Teaspoon Nutmeg

2 Teaspoons Cinnamon

1 Cup Chopped Walnuts (Optional)

1 Cup Dried Raisins (Optional)

Preheat the oven to 350°F.  In a large bowl, mix together the sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Mix in the grated zucchini and then the melted butter. Sprinkle baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour, a third at a time. Sprinkle in the cinnamon and nutmeg and mix. Fold in the nuts and dried cranberries or raisins if using.

Pour batter into an 9 x 13 baking dish and bake for 45 minutes - or - divide the batter equally between 2 buttered 5 by 9 inch loaf pans and bake for 1 hour.  Done when a wooden pick inserted in to the center comes out clean.

Print Recipe

Alley oop!!

I was watching the morning news while drinking my coffee when the sports report came on and said something about some player alley ooping the ball.


Never the sports fan I can't say that I ever associated the expression 'alley oop' with basketball.  


My first recollection of hearing or seeing this idiom was in relation to the comic strip of the same name.  The cartoon was first syndicated in 1932 but didn't reach the heights of its popularity until the 1960's.  I remember reading the old Alley Oop comic books that I discovered in my Grammy's attic and also in the  newspaper funnies.




So, after listening to the news I got to wondering what the origin of this pairing of words . . . alley oop.


It is a variation of the  French expression 'Allez! Houp!'   . . . the 'h' is silent . . . which roughly translates to , "Go on! Jump!" or "Off you go!".  It was an expression often used by French circus performers who would exclaim 'allez houp' right before they launch themselves into the air.


It is interesting to note the French influence in some Arabic speaking countries . . . specifically Egypt . . . where laborers says 'hailly hooph' when lifting a large, heavy objects. 

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 Zesty Italian Dressing Recipe

In honor of a harvest of fresh veggies from the garden that I'm making into a salad I thought it appropriate to dress the salad in a fresh homemade variety of a classic.  This recipe is the best I've found!

1 Cup of Vinegar

2/3 Cup of Olive Oil

2/3 Cup Vegetable Oil

2 Tablespoons of Water

1/2 Tablespoon Garlic Powder

1/2 Tablespoon Onion Powder

1/2 Tablespoon Honey

1 Tablespoons Dried Oregano

1/2 Teaspoon Ground Black Pepper

1/4 Teaspoon Dried Thyme

1/2 Teaspoon Dried Basil

1/2 Tablespoon Dried Parsley

1 Tablespoons Salt

1 Teaspoon Hot Pepper Flakes

Pour ingredients into a glass jar or bottle with a cover.   Cover and shake well.  Use or refrigerate for up to 90 days.

Print Recipe

How my garden grows . . . cucumbers, zucchini and peppers, oh my!

This weekend I canned 17 pints of cucumber pickles and 8 pints of zucchini pickles . . . that makes a grand total of 24 pints cucumber pickles and 12 pints of zucchini pickles.  


This morning I picked another pile of cucumbers . . . I guess I know what I'll be doing after work today.


The rest of the garden is doing well . . . the tomatoes are still green, peas are still peaing and beans are blossoming. 


The peppers are trying their bestest!  We've actually eaten a few of the Hungarian peppers and those suckers are spicy good!  We'll soon be having jalapenos and bells.  It would be nice if they all ripened at once because I'd like to pickle them, as well.