Three Sisters Fritters

I tried a little something new for dinner this evening.  A few weeks ago, I made some vegetable fritters and used corn and finely shredded summer squash.  They were okay but everyone decided they needed taken up a notch.  So... tonight:  Three Sisters Fritters.
I mixed together:
1 can of black beans (rinsed and drained)
the corn off 3 ears of leftover corn on the cob
two tiny yellow squash (about the size of a lemon each) finely shredded
1 small red onion, finely diced
half a ripe jalapeno pepper, finely diced
half a hot wax pepper, finely diced
salt and pepper to taste (probably a teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper)
about a cup of shredded cheddar cheese

To this mess I added:
3 eggs
1/2 cup of flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

It was all stirred together to make a thick batter and dropped by large spoonfuls onto a hot, oiled griddle.

Cook til browned on one side, flip it over and cook till brown on the other side.

I served it with a side of fresh tomato salsa.  Sour cream would have been delightful but I didn't have any.

Delicious!  A great vegetarian option.  We're doing our meatless day (usually Monday) today since we'll be having burgers tomorrow.


We made a day trip to my parents today and returned loaded with produce.  We have much, much garden-y goodness!  My parents gifted us with a huge crookneck winter squash, a buttercup squash, 4 honeydew melons, a huge canteloupe, a bag of apples and a bunch (I haven't looked!) of frozen applesauce (Mom was running out of room in her freezer).
I then came home and picked 4 gallons of tomatoes, half a dozen cucumbers, some summer squash and a watermelon.

Whew!  Good thing tomorrow is a holiday because I think I'll be busy!

Tomatoes!!

Woo hoo!!  The tomatoes are finally starting to come into their own for the season. 

I have 12 pints of diced tomatoes in the canner and the counter is full of tomatoes that will become sauce tomorrow.  

Whew!  I was worried I wouldn't get much this year.  I still know I won't have a 36 quart year but we'll get enough to see us through.  Good thing too, with tuition and expenses to get Justine moved into her apartment, finances are going to be 'interesting' for a few months.

Halfway through!

So... my eldest son (I17) and I have been running together off and on since spring.  I have been plagued by a knee injury and ended up taking it pretty easy this summer. But, in the beginning of August, we started running again, using a wonderful training app called Zombies, Run! that tells you a story of survival during the zombie apocalypse while putting you through interval training.
This evening we finished week 4 of the 8 week training for a 5k.  Once we finish this, we will probably move on to the next app that has numerous 'missions' you can run.  I've found it fun and motivating and you never know what's gonna happen next- except it generally involves being chased by zombies!  of course, right up my alley!!  And I'm finally at the point where it feels GOOD to run again and not so much like work or "Oh, God! I'm gonna die!!"

In other news, the tomatoes are finally kicking into high gear so I guess I'm going to be spending my Friday night canning tomatoes while the boys are off at the first high school football game of the year.  Oh well, it will keep me out of trouble.

Canning joy

You know that feeling you get when the amount of tomato sauce you have made exactly fills the number of jars you can fit in your canner?  Oh, Yeah!

But, it looks like it's gonna be a skimpy tomato year.  They just aren't doing very well.  But, boy, oh boy, I've got cucumbers and summer squash!  Only 4 quarts of dills made so far but we've been eating a lot of cukes.
The potatoes are dug and there are hot peppers in the freezer again!


And, yeah, I know, I've been gone for a long, long time.

But, I've got my darling girl moved into an apartment in another state, finished some outdoor and indoor projects, been running some more and been really, really busy at work.