Labor Day has passed here in the US and it often feels like the end of summer even though the equinox is a few more weeks away. Here in southern Oregon it is usually hot and dry for another month but we have a system bringing thunderstorms in tomorrow and early next week with a drop in temps. I expect I will continue to get some cherry tomatoes from my plants into Oct. and then my clematis should bloom again along with the pineapple sage as the fall/winter rains start to set in sometime in Nov. This is the time of year when I peruse cookbooks and cooking sites for new ways to use the best of the summer produce. I thumb through various gardening books and scan Pinterest for ideas that might work next year. And of course, I come here every Saturday morning and get to mix it up with some of the best fellow gardeners around;)
Welcome to SMGB!
Good morning, Saturday Morning Garden Blog-Friends old and new! This cheerful long-running tradition appears every Saturday morning at 9am Eastern, and lasts well into the week as conversations percolate. A core crew of us reads every comment, as far into the week as it goes.
Anyone who likes to garden or talk about gardening or gardening-adjacent topics and whatever they devolve into…Jump on in!
I am a bookaholic and so is Mark. We have about 16 bookcases full throughout the apartment and until we purchased the last 4 a couple of years ago we had unpacked boxes out in the garage for the last um, 10 years? 🤔But now the shelves are full and we actually have room to grow. I prefer to buy used when I can from a local shop or one of my favorite online sources Better World Books. Recently I have found a couple of books through them that I had many years ago and was thrilled to reacquire! Here are some of them (I have tried to link to copies available through the above-mentioned Better World Books or fellow Kossack DebtorsPrison’s online shop).
The Complete Book of Herbs and Magical Gardens were the ones I recently re-acquired. Herbs in Bloom is one I previously had. I chose these three as I pull them out often for info and inspiration.
The two that I re-acquired in the above photo were ones that I had given away to a young friend who was just getting interested in herbs and gardening. But all these years later I found myself missing them so I went on a hunt and found them. Why? Let’s talk about them:
First is The Complete Book of Herbs by Lesley Bremness:
This dog-eared large soft-cover book is one of my favorite resources when trying to identify a plant when it is not in bloom. The photographs of the plant and various parts are extremely useful!
Take a look at this page on Sweet Violets:
The book open to a page showing the detailed photo and information on one plant.
Click to embiggen
The subsequent sections include one of recipes for the edible things as well as a detailed section on crafts such as making dyes.
Next is the smaller hardcover Herbs In Bloom by Jo Ann Gardner:
Got this copy at Portland Nursery in PDX when I lived nearby.
This one is more of a guide to plants with a lot of textual info and a focus on (as the title implies) herbs as ornamentals. I enjoy the information on many herbs that are not part of my usual culinary uses but are good for landscaping or filling containers.
Third from that group is Magical Gardens by Patricia Monaghan. It is a book aimed at pagan and Wiccan audiences but the info and practices within are generic enough that I think it is accessible to any looking for some spiritual inspiration in their garden. What really draws me back to the book (and the reason I decided to re-acquire it) are the various garden designs and themes. There are grass gardens to honor Ceres, or a catnip and catmint grove for Bast etc. Lots of ideas and plant groupings to ponder!
One that I re-acquired more recently is a book my Grandma sent to me for a birthday when I was young and getting interested in herbs.
Beautiful dust jacket with only a few bits of wear and tear.
All Good Things Around Us by Pamela Michael is a large hardcover full of lovely illustrated plants and detailed info on each one along with some recipes. Poring over the plants my young self was completely astonished to read about seaweed as something edible! Where I grew up we had only heard of things like sushi and it wasn’t until I was 17 and went on a trip to NYC that I actually tried some and discovered I loved it.
The pages in this one also have lovely illustrations alongside lengthy information on the history and uses. There are recipes for all sorts of things that sound like something you would see on the table for High Tea!
Ok, I could go on with the books but I will switch to the results of all that reading and growing to the best part: cooking and eating!
I got a cookbook called One-Pan Wonders a couple of Christmases ago and it is full of great recipes from the tv show Cook’s Country. One that I just made last Monday for the first time uses grape tomatoes and basil which I have right now, so here it is:
Sheet-Pan Italian Sausage with Peppers, Onions,
Tomatoes, and Polenta
from America’s Test Kitchen
Serves 4
Ingredients:
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
12 oz grape tomatoes
1 onion, halved and sliced thin
1 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and cut into ¼-inch-wide strips
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tsp fresh rosemary, minced
Salt and pepper
1 lb Italian sausage, sweet or hot
1 (18-oz) tube cooked polenta, sliced in half lengthwise
1 oz Parmesan cheese, grated (½ cup)
2 Tbsp fresh basil, chopped
Preparation Steps:
Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 450 degrees. Brush rimmed baking sheet with 1 tablespoon oil.
Toss tomatoes, onion, bell pepper, remaining 3 tablespoons oil, garlic, rosemary, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper together in large bowl. Scatter tomato mixture evenly over half of prepared sheet.
Place sausages and polenta, cut side down, on empty side of sheet. Roast until sausages are browned and reach 160 degrees, 25 to 30 minutes, flipping halfway through roasting. Remove sheet from oven and heat broiler.
Turn polenta over and sprinkle with Parmesan. Broil polenta and sausages until Parmesan is bubbly and beginning to brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove sheet from oven, transfer polenta to cutting board, and slice into 1-inch-thick pieces. Sprinkle basil over polenta and serve with sausages and tomato mixture
The plated meal was delicious! I scattered more basil and parm over the plates after serving.
Another good tomato one is Roasted Tomato Goat Cheese BLT’s.
When zucchini and yellow squash are cheap and plentiful I make this Summer Squash and Basil Pasta repeatedly:
You can see more of my favorites HERE, HERE, and HERE as well as checking out the What’s for Dinner? archive. Lots of good stuff from fellow Kossacks!
The bi-color Two Tasty Hybrid tomatoes that I showed in a previous diary’s comments did ripen and I brought them in to finish ripening on the counter. There was a third one that I brought in a couple days later and you can see the slightly lighter red shade along with some little baby cherry tomatoes from the Sweetheart of the Patio plant:
From the left: Sweetheart of the Patio are the two little cherry toms, the orange-red and the dark red and purple are the Two Tasty grape toms. A very dirty penny for scale.
The plan for this weekend is to trim my garlic chives, lemon thyme, and oregano back as they are getting a bit scraggly looking. The harvest from those will get used in the kitchen in some way yet TBD.
Thank you for stopping by and enjoying my rambling on about books and cooking! This is a great community full of folks who enjoy sharing their rambles too so if you have a question or want to brag then jump on in and comment away. I’m a West Coast late sleeper so I will be along in a little bit after publish time;)
Have a great weekend and happy gardening!
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