Thankful (for the garden) Thursday

I love food! 

I really appreciate home cooked food and especially fresh veggies from the garden.  Lately watching Diners Drive-Ins and Dives really motivates me to want to whip up some magical  creation in the kitchen.  Thankfully I have an amazing father-in-law that plants a magnificent garden each year for the family. Not only does it save money, but it's amazingly delicious! 

I asked Jack (my father-in-law) how long he had been doing a garden.  He said he really couldn't remember when he started, he just always remembered either working in one with his family or making his own.  The number sixty-eight did come up during that conversation.  That's a long time and a lot of experience!  

Jack takes Evan, the youngest kiddo, to work in the garden during the week while I'm at work.  It is so precious knowing Evan is either working in the garden, riding in the tractor, or using a screw driver to remove dirt from the tractor wheels (that's what Randal said Evan did yesterday hee hee hee).  

 The tender tomato plants are being protected by the cylindrical thingy-majiggs right here.  I think I noticed this morning that he's removed them now. 

Randal grew up on a dairy farm.  Jack and Darlene had a dairy as well as chicken houses while Randal and his sister were growing up.  Randal had many responsibilities even as a kid helping on the dairy.  As a ten year old he had to get up at three in the morning on Saturdays to bring the cows in for milking.  He was about thirteen when he started actually milking.   I wonder how many ten year old kids these days could say the same thing? The whole point of all that information was to point out that the barn in the background was used for the dairy.

Right now we've got tomato plants, new potatoes, lettuce, green onions, peppers, squash, cucumbers, and corn growing.  Oh MY MY MY... we love this stuff!

 

This is the bag of goodies Jack and I picked out of the garden.

From the garden to the sink, got to wash those babies up now.  

They look so pretty and clean.   Those are two new potatoes we picked to see if they were ready to pick in the near future or not.  Looks like they're ready!

I decided to make my husband a happy man and fix one of his favorite garden recipes...wilted lettuce.  Never made wilted lettuce before, but thanks to my mother-in-law I was able to pull it off.

Recipe: 

• Lettuce cut into pieces
• Fresh garlic
• Fresh green onion (bulb and stems)
• bacon
• olive oil
• balsamic vinegar
• salt and pepper

Directions:

Wash veggies and let dry completely 

Cut up garlic and onion and lettuce ~place in a large bowl

Cook about 6 slices of bacon and crumble up ~add to bowl of veggies

In a skillet heat about 1/4 cup of olive oil 

Drizzle desired amount of balsamic vinegar over the veggies

Heat the oil until it is almost smokin' hot

Pour the hot oil over the veggies and make sure to toss and cover all the lettuce

(Randal tossed while I poured )

 Finally, salt and pepper

Make sure to have everything else you are preparing for your meal ready, because you will want to eat the wilted lettuce promptly. 

I prepared mashed potatoes and grilled chicken to pair with our wilted lettuce.  What made it even more yummy was the sun dried tomato cheese sauce to pour over them! 

 I had some heavy whipping cream left over from making home-made Alfredo a few days before that I needed to use.  Cream sauces are not good for you I know, but man they sure taste good!

 

In a sauce pan I added a few tablespoons of butter, some olive oil, and the extra garlic and onion I didn't use for the wilted lettuce.  

I brought the mixture to a boil and let simmer for a  few minutes.  

Next I added about  a cup and a half of heavy whipping cream.

I whisked the ingredients together until smooth. 

I added about a fourth of a cup of Parmesan cheese and continued to whisk.

Once the mixture simmered for about 8 minutes, I added about two tablespoons of 

sun dried tomato spread.

 

Not the best picture and a little messy, but I assure you I gained a few pounds after eating this, because I couldn't stop!

Okay, so we didn't get a picture of the plated meal.  We may or may not have been a little too excited about eating to take the time...okay we were! 

But you can picture: a side of prepared wilted lettuce.  A chicken breast and a heaping spoonful of mashed potatoes, drenched in the creamy sudried tomato cheese sauce.

Oh we were happy campers after that!

Randal really appreciated the meal after he spent all day in the tractor baling hay with his dad.

 Jack's rakin' and Randal's balin'.

Here's what a bale of hay looks like in case you didn't know...just kiddin'!

Just being random here, but my dad made me this little pantry when I was in college.  The door use to be a cedar door frame with chicken wire.  The door kind of fell of recently and I got tired of seeing canned goods all falling over from being rummaged through, so I improvised. I made this little curtain without sewing a stitch! 

And the flowers below I just picked up at Sam's because Gerber Daises are my favorite, and they make me smile.

  

Hope everyone is enjoying sunshine where you're at! 

So, what are you cooking from the garden lately? I'm always up to try a new recipe!!!