#Summer bounty

[alex51324]

It's this time of year again!

This has been my go-to recipe for "OMG what am I going to do with all this zucchini" season for 3 years now! Notes:

I've never seen a solid block of provelone for sale; the sliced kind works fine. What I do is stack up the slices, cut them into quarters, stack the quarters, and then press it into a block that holds together well enough to grate it. You could also just chop the slices up as small as you can. You just need it in a format where the heat of the pasta will melt it.

Similarly, the part about zucchini smaller than 8 ounces is a loose guideline; smaller zucchini are better in just about every application, but use what you have.

Fresh basil is worth it if you can get it, but if all you have is dried, it'll work.

The point of the microwaving of the zucchini is threefold: to partially cook it, to get some of the water out, and to shrink it down enough to fit in the skillet. Don't skip this step.

Relatedly, you will be astonished at how much the zucchini cooks down. 2 pounds of zucchini to 12 ounces of pasta seems like it's going to be a big bowl of zucchini with occasional pasta accents, but it's actually not that much. You can even go a little heavier on the zucchini if you have it to use up.

I usually do linguine instead of spaghetti; you do you.

[briargeese]

Straight from the tree, warm from the morning sun, the peaches are ready and the birds and bugs won't beat me to them this time.

[parveens-kitchen]

A Guide to Freezing Fresh Strawberries

“Preserving Summer’s Bounty: A Guide to Freezing Fresh Strawberries”.Preserving the vibrant taste of fresh strawberries is a delightful way to enjoy the essence of summer all year round. In this guide, we’ll explore a simple method for freezing fresh strawberries to ensure they maintain their individuality and are ready for a variety of delicious recipes. Freezing Process:1. Wash the fresh…

[wellsrachael]

Sauces and Condiments - Raspberry Fruit Spread without Pectin This easy raspberry fruit spread only needs 3 ingredients - raspberries, sugar, and lemon juice - and no pectin. Perfect to preserve your summer bounty.

[hedgewitch-homestead]

Early Harvest -- Late Summer -- Lughnassad

So is the summer sky.

Like a bonfire,

even the sun burns intensely

and shines with a golden light.

Even Nature

is made of pure gold,

Like the fields of wheats

and the crystal clear water at noon.

This is how It greets Summer

and the golden hour.

Poem (C): Me

“Nude Nymphs dancing to Pan’s flute around the fire” (C): Joseph Tomanek

“A beaming Sunset” (C): Wojciech Weiss

“Olives trees with yellow Sky and Sun” (C): Vincent Van Gogh

“The Sower (Sower with Setting Sun)” (C): Vincent Van Gogh

[landscapesscenerypeopleplaces]

Among the vines In den Reben by Franz Engels

[itsthislake]

“The Summer Day” by Mary Oliver.

HAPPY LATE BIRTHDAY ACE!!

Support me on ko-fi! ♥

[viatafrumoasa-lifebeautiful]

Happiest of birthdays to the hubby who loves peppers, and inspires us to find and grow more, both quantity and variety wise! Last year he experimented with pickling peppers with kombucha vinegar. This year we dried and ground the beauties into our own special blend of delectable spiciness. Here's to another year, sweetie!

[elminx]

Should I make pie filling again?’?

It was really good. On the other hand, there are a million possibilities with blueberries and I want to try them all…

I do like pie a lot, though.

Canning Blueberry pie filling

Twice already this summer (when I was faced with too many strawberries and when I had surprise cherries), I have wanted to can pie filling. Nature is all backward in this regard: all of the abundance of summer berries lines up perfectly with hot weather where it is absolutely unbearable to turn on the oven to bake a pie. Canned pie filling is the perfect solution though - sweet berries preserved for the colder months when nothing in the store is good for eating anyway.

Unlike apples which I have made into pie filling and canned before, most canned pie fillings need something extra, something that I have never used before: Clear Jel. Clear Jel takes is a type of canning-safe cornstarch that you add to pre-thicken your pie. Most thickening agents, like store-bought cornstarch, are not safe to can with as they can create lumps that keep the product from being processed properly and can lead to spoilage.

I was intreuged and vowed to look into it further, but promptly went on with my life.

Enter Nan, my friend's girlfriend, and the part owner of the sour cherry trees that I turned into jam and cocktail syrup. She bought 10 pounds of Clear Jel to turn those cherries into pie and offered me a ball jar full. Why not?

If there was a pocket in my life made just for future pie making, this Clear Jel has been burning a hole in that proverbial pocket. Finally, last Thursday, my coven mate and I got some pick-your-own organic blueberries and it was time to can some pie filling!

After sifting through two quarts of blueberries, destemming, and drying them, we had the requisite 14 cups that our recipe required. We par-boiled them for 1 minute, draining them and reserving 4 cups of the liquid. (We drank the rest - would recommend, it was very refreshing - similar to birch water except that it tastes like blueberries)

The water went back onto the stove along with 3 cups of sugar and a cup of clear jel. We whisked away until they were combined and the mixture had set to a consistency that was very similar to pudding. This was a great time to add our intention - we focused on generalized protection which is my go-to for food preparation.

After the clear jel had set up, we added in some lemon juice and our blueberries and the mixture was ready to can. It had taken on this gorgeous dark red-purple hue that I associate with blueberries.

I'm not going to go into the safety and specifics of water canning because that's a story all its own (though I can if you want me to in the future). We ended up with 3 full quart jars or blueberry filling and one 3/4 full. One jar is going to be saved for a blueberry concoction for our annual Friendsgiving celebration in the fall because that is how we witch.

And let me tell you - this filling is THICK. Dora and I made the leftovers into a beautiful blueberry crisp for her partner's birthday last Tuesday and it was absolutely divine. Not too tart, not too sweet, just all of the wonder of peek summer blueberry goodness.

Now I'm on the search for a good supplier of organic Clear Jel because this is a thing that I will need to keep in my house for all future canning projects going forward.

[tofreezetime]

she'd say I deceived you

[myanimediary]

I・Я・I・A ZЁIЯAM THE ANIMATION

ENG Title: Iria: Zeiram The Animation

JP Title: イ・リ・ア ゼイラム ジ アニメーション

Action・Adventure・Sci-Fi OVA・6 episodes Year: Summer 1994 Studio: Ashi Productions Character: Iria ( イリア )

[alex51324]

A Fun, Easy, and Seasonal Recipe: Tomato Pie

If you live in a similar kind of climate to me (northeastern US), then right now (August) is a fantastic time to make a tomato pie. Here's the one I made for tonight's dinner, with the filling all set up and ready for the top "crust":

The filling is tomatoes (I used a mix of red and yellow), scallions, fresh basil (mixed green and purple) and this time I added a bit of sweet corn. All of this is placed in a premade pie shell. (Feel free to use a homemade one, but the frozen crust is what makes it easy.)

Here it is with the top "crust":

The top "crust" is just shredded cheese mixed with mayonnaise to bind it together.

Here it is all done:

Instructions:

You only want to make this if you have access to really good tomatoes--homegrown or locally-grown ones, that smell nice and tomatoey and have a deep color when you cut into them. I used two big ones, each about the size of a baby's head--you want around three cups, after chopping and draining.

A while before you want to bake your pie, chop up your tomatoes and put them in a colander. (Make sure you have a bowl under the colander.) Sprinkle with salt and give them a stir, then let them sit. Stir every now and then. (You my also want to pour the liquid out of the bowl while you're at it, depending on how your colander sits in your bowl.)

I'd say let them sit at least an hour; more is fine too. You want to get as much excess liquid out as you can; otherwise your pie will be too wet.

Meanwhile, slice up your scallions--I used two, but you can adjust according to how much you like scallions. (Regular onion will also work, if you don't have scallions--just chop it up small.)

If your tomato supplier has fresh basil, it's worth it to get a big handful of that. Wash and dry it, then pick the leaves off the stems. Stack the big leaves and cut them into ribbons with (clean!) scissors. (The fresh basil is really nice in this, but dried will work. You could even go with an Italian seasoning mix, if that's what you have--the tomatoes are the star of the show here; they're the only thing you need to be picky about.)

Sweet corn is optional--today was the first time I've tried it in this dish--but it's good! I used 1 largish ear of corn; just shuck it and cut the kernels off with a knife. (If you have leftover corn-on-the-cob that's already cooked, that would probably be fine, too.)

Once the tomatoes have drained, mix in the corn kernels if you're using them. (I stirred mine in right there in the colander.)

Put the tomatoes (and corn, if you're using it) into the pie crust. I used a store-brand frozen one, the kind that comes in its own foil pan, which makes cleanup very easy.

Sprinkle the scallions (or onions) and basil on top. Shake on a little black pepper, too, if you want.

Now for the top crust! You want about two cups of shredded cheese (the pre-shredded in the bag is fine for this recipe) and 3/4 of a cup of mayonnaise. The cookbook I went off of says 1 cup cheddar, 1 cup mozzarella, and 2 tablespoons of parmesan--but you don't have to stick to that; adjust it to what cheeses you like/have on hand. This time I just used a bag of Aldi brand "Italian Blend," which is mozzarella, parmesan, and Provelone.

Just stir together the cheese and mayo in a bowl until the consistency is even, then spread it on top of your pie filling.

Pop it in the oven for 30 minutes at 350 F, and you're done! The pie is fantastic straight out of the oven, but it reheats OK, too.

[textless]

[c0smiccom3t]

Crash Doodles! (From old to recent)

[rrrauschen]

four late stalinist films, four red tinted cuts between scenes; a cinema industry drenched in blood

(1) Boris Barnet, {1950} Щедрое лето (Bountiful Summer) (2) Vladimir Petrov, {1951} Спортивная честь (Sporting Honour) (3) Nikolay Lebedev, {1952} Навстречу жизни (The Encounter of a Lifetime) (4) Vsevolod Pudovkin, {1953} Возвращение Василия Бортникова (The Return of Vasili Bortnikov)

[kalza]

Another entry for the, "Summer Prompt Event," on the Duros Hoes Discord server. I went with a combination of, "A day at the beach," and "Beachside lounging," since they were very similar anyway.

Just Cad taking a little vacation. He deserves it. He's just vibing.

I low-key want his shirt though....