White Beauty Tomatoes

Well, these made quite the impression. I can't remember what they tasted like at all. (So much for documenting and reporting- sorry!)Lewis says they were very meaty and delicious. They were easy to slice and had a wonderful aroma to them. They did seem to take forever to ripen. I do remember that they were very heavy, solid.

Burgess Stuffer Tomatoes

This tomato was a real surprise. I hadn't really though to pick a tomato solely for the purpose of stuffing, but it suddenly seemed like a great idea when I was plant shopping.

And it turned out to be a pretty good decision. Although we wound up with more of these guys than we could eat or give away. Our one Burgess Stuffer plant produced so many of tomatoes. This pink punch bowl probably holds about 20 tomatoes, and it seemed like it was full all summer! I've never handled a tomato quite like this. They are very light and nearly hollow. It feels like you are handling a bell pepper. And when you cut them open, they are much like a bell pepper, too. There is a small, intensely sweet mass at the center. But they aren't called stuffers for nothing. There is no meat or juicy stuff to scoop out. We ate so many of these with tuna salad in them that I'm not sure I ever want tuna salad again!

We also tried a recipe I found in an old-fashioned cookbook. Sounded better than it tasted, although I think we could work on it some more. The recipe said to place one egg in each tomato, top with spices of our choice and bake. We chose cheese. What? Cheese isn't a spice? Do you know anything that goes better with tomato or egg? Hmm?

Well, they seemed to take forever to bake. Maybe the layer of shredded cheddar kept them from cooking faster. Maybe we don't know what a baked egg is supposed to look like. Who knows? They weren't bad- sprinkled with a bit of salt and pepper. I might try it again sometime. See if I can work perfect this recipe. It sounds like it should work. Maybe I will fill the tomatoes with scrambled eggs next time...

Black Scroll Flowers Embroidered Pillowcases

This is the Swirl Flowers from Bucilla. As I discussed way back in... oh my gosh, June? I decided to stitch this one in all black. I am so pleased with the results.

This may be one kit where I should have used regular, divisible 6-strand embroidery floss, rather than my preferred cotton perle #8, which is thicker. The stitching is rather close and I'm afraid some of the details have gotten lost. Eh. Live and learn.

I still really love the all-black flowers on the crisp white pillowcases. Very modern.

Recliner Thief

I got pushed right out of my recliner the other night. Oliver completely took over. Doesn't he look comfy?

Hershey's Special Dark Chocolate Cake

Some time ago, mom bought this box of Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa powder. As you know, I've long been a fan of the box mix and a whiz at doctoring a box mix, so I don't often make cake from scratch. I'll admit, it is better, but I used to make cake more frequently than I do now. (They were baked goods fiends at my old job.)

Well, someone in mom's office brought in this cake one day and mom just loved it, asking for the recipe. She was told it was the one from the back of the cocoa can.

So, I decided to to make this last week, partly for mom, partly to take a few slices to my friend Jessica, who just had her baby, and partly because I had a hankering for some serious chocolate.

Straight from the back of the Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa box.

Well, let me tell you, folks. This is a good chocolate cake recipe. And the icing recipe isn't bad either. But together... it is a bit much. I was afraid it might be. I called mom to see if she wanted something light and fluffy to go with this rich dark chocolate cake. Maybe whipped white or peanut butter? No, she assured me, it sounds like a lot, chocolate on chocolate, but it is good.

She only took two pieces.

Now I'm stuck with about 1/3 of a super sweet cake!

Zucchini Let-Down

Have you ever heard of not having enough zucchini? Sounds like I'm being sarcastic, doesn't it? Well, our crop was pitiful this year. As I mentioned earlier this summer, our zucchini crop wasn't doing so well. In fact, only two plants ever did anything at all. The others just died off.

This one has a big bloom on it, but so far has not produced anything. I doubt it will because we just had our first hard frost this week. This other plant has two small zucchini struggling to grow.I was worried about what the frost would do to literally 50% of my zucchini crop, so I dug some old windows out of the basement (my stash for wavy 1930s glass) and propped them together, making a temporary cold-frame.

Come to think of it, this would be a great place to get stuff started earlier next year...

Well, we'll see if my little zucchini make it. I'll have to pick them soon, regardless.

I'm just disappointed. I had such high hopes of freezing squash to use all winter. I even bought this nifty crinkle cutter from OXO. As it turns out, it works very nicely on cucumbers. And I think Lewis really enjoys using it!

Black Heirloom Tomatoes

Here it is, nearly November, and we are still talking tomatoes. November is the time to be talking turkey!

Ah! My favourites, the black tomatoes. I am now determined to plant a black tomato every year. So heavy and flavorful and meaty, almost no juice or seeds. Just absolutely the most perfect slicing tomato. This is what the grandparents mean when they talk about what tomatoes used to taste like. I can't say enough good things about them.

I think the only bad thing I can say is that I didn't get enough! The plants are not heavy producers, so maybe I'll get two black tomato plants next year. That way I'll have more to share, and maybe I can convince other gardners that these black tomatoes are worthy of space in their gardens!

White Cucumbers

Last fall, my friends and I visited the beautiful Landis Valley Museum, just outside of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. It is a really neat restored and recreated small village and farm, with tons of interesting stuff to see. I understand they are always doing demonstrations and things. The Union Army was there the day we visited. We could have spent several more hours exploring, but we were tired. As with all good museums, we ended the day by perusing their gift shop. Where they sell heirloom seeds. Yeah. You know that was trouble. Those little paper packets hold so much promise! It is easy to go overboard. In fact, the white cucumbers were the only seeds I managed to get started at all this year.

Maybe I got them in too late. Maybe they didn't get the right sun/temperature/soil conditions. Maybe I left them on the vine too long and they got too big. Or maybe white cucumbers just aren't as good as they sound. We were not impressed with the flavor. They looked pretty, though.

Yellow Pear Tomatoes

I guess I wasn't sure what to expect from these, having compulsively picked up so many varieties of tomato at the plant nursery. As it turned out, they are a sort of cherry tomato. Sweet, yes, but the can't even begin to compare to my Sweet Millions.The plant is a heavy producer, we had way more of these little guys than we could eat. The were very pretty in salads and salsa, but you could easily get that color from a more flavorful tomato. I won't plant this variety again, but I'm glad I tried something new.

Sweet Millions Cherry Tomatoes

A bowl full of cherries!

Cherry tomatoes, that is. Our all-time favourite sweet summer snacker, the Sweet Millions variety of cherry tomato is one we didn't even plant this year. But enough volunteers came up to keep us well supplied for tomato-basil-mozzarella salad. And we still had enough to share with our neighbor.

But I can tell you, I will definitely plant this variety- on purpose- next year. Picking through the tangle of volunteers sprawled all over the ground was no fun. I have half a mind to try them in the hanging baskets on my porch...