Tomatoes Everywhere!

Although the heat has all but killed all 2 1/2 rows of tomatoes we planted, we had a couple of weeks there where there were tomatoes running out of our ears. I made some fresh salsa which I inevitably got too hot for my taste buds each time but J rather enjoyed, then I decided to try turning those delicious red and yellow gems into spaghetti sauce. Since we also had zucchini running out of our ears, this seemed like the perfect use for this delicious garden gold.

Here are a few of our beauties.

I blanched and peeled the tomatoes. Blanching makes the skin peel right off and saves tons of time!

After you peel them, they look something like this.

Next I peeled and chopped an onion and a few cloves of garlic, then sautéed them in some oil until they were translucent.

Next I chopped the tomatoes and zucchini and added them to the pot, along with a variety of spices. You could add just about anything that you want, but I chose basil, thyme, rosemary, parsley, and oregano in addition to salt and some freshly cracked black pepper.

I let that cook for a while, then I added a can of traditional spaghetti sauce to thicken it up.

Somehow I forgot to take a picture of the finished product. Probably because I was distracted by a certain little one-year-old! But I did take a picture of the yummy tomato pie that I made to go along with the spaghetti. This is yet another delicious way to eat those summer goodies!

I was first introduced to tomato pie by a dear friend at the church where I served before become a stay at home mommy. She made this wonderful dish for the birthday luncheon that she and a few of my other friends had for me last summer. It is super easy and tastes FANTASTIC! All you have to do it take an unbaked pie crust and fill it with cheese. Mozzarella works great,  but any Italian cheese blend would be fine. Then you slice 2-3 tomatoes and layer them on top. Next, sprinkle the tomatoes with salt, pepper and basil, then drizzle with olive oil. Cover the edges of the crust with aluminum foil to prevent burning and bake in 400* oven for 25-30 minutes. Let it set for a few minutes before serving.

This was a delicious, refreshing summer meal. I hope you will give it a try! Bon Appetite! 

On a side note, we had even more tomatoes come in after I made this sauce. We really enjoy zucchini sauce, but rarely have it in the winter, so I decided to make a huge pot and freeze it in batches for us to enjoy this winter. It will be a special treat. I can't wait!

A Berry Yummy Surprise

A few weeks ago we went out into the back yard to check on the apple tree that we discovered growing in our yard a couple of months ago. We were disappointed to find that the apples were very small and were not ready to pick and eat. But while we were checking the tree we discovered a berry yummy surprise: blackberries!

The previous owners of our home had a wonderful structure that they had built for growing muscadines. We had considered tearing down all of the dead vines and planting some Concord grapes and raspberries eariler in the year, but we decided to wait and see what we thought of the muscadines since they were already planted. Unfortunately, the muscadines did not come back this year, and once again we almost cut down all of the growth on the structure a couple of weeks before our discovery. How happy we are that we hadn't gotten around to it!

I was excited to harvest enough berries that first evening to make a blackberry cobbler. We only had two cups, but I was able to find a recipe in my go-to cookbook, Dining with Pioneers. It is the first cookbook my Grandmother ever purchased for me, and the one that she used more than any other. The cobbler turned out wonderfully. If only there had been some vanilla ice cream in our freezer that evening!

We just gathered another large bunch of berries this evening. I see blackberry dumplings, another delicious blackberry dish my Grandmother used to make, in their future and in mine! I will let you know how it turns out.

Backyard (and Front yard) Fun

While E and I love play dates and visiting parks, attending Mother Goose and seeing the animals at the zoo during the week while Daddy works, we also really enjoy our special one-on-one time right here at our own home! E's little pool, his awesome sandbox, his water table, his Smart Trike, John Deere tractor, weedeater and lawn mower, wagon, and sticks and rocks in the yard have provided countless hours of fun and laughter. This week, we added a new addition to our home playground: a swing! Thanks so much to cousins D and Z for passing along their toddler swing! On Sunday afternoon while E napped, Daddy hung the swing in the big tree in our front yard. It was an instant hit! E LOVED swinging. And it was made even better by another visit from the Ice Cream Man and the purchase of a Bomb Pop!

With the addition of the swing, I am pretty sure that now we have all that we need to have a day full of fun right here in our own yard for now. Here are some pics that show you just what I mean!

Gatlinburg/Great Smoky Mountains Fun

After talking to folks who had been in and around Destin and hearing from an acquaintance that rental companies were calling customers and offering full refunds for Destin vacations because of the oil spill, we decided that it would be best for our family not to attempt the 8 1/2 hour drive. There was no way to know for certain what awaited us on the Florida coast, and knowing that E isn't the greatest long distance car rider (by long distance I am referring to anything over an hour...haha!), we decided to just stay home. Daddy still took a few days off of work for us to do some fun things around East Tennessee. As you saw in the last post, we spent some time with family in northeast Tennessee and went to a cookout in the extreme eastern part of Tennessee. Mommy and Daddy enjoyed watching fire works in all directions while sitting in Meow and Papaw's front yard. It is a great place to spend July 4th every year!

On Monday, we traveled to Gatlinburg where we visited the Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies. E was fascinated by the sharks, rays, fish, penguins and other sea creatures. We are so glad that we purchased a membership so we can visit many more times this year! While he enjoyed the fish in the tanks at the beginning of the aquarium, he REALLY enjoyed the moving walkway through the underwater tunnel. He pointed at sharks and smiled most of the way through. The rest of the time, he was snacking on Goldfish and enjoying his juice. Here are a few photos of this first trip. We have been having camera issues, so there aren't as many pics as we would like, but these will provide a little glimpse of our day.

After visiting the aquarium, we returned to our house to prepare for a visit from Uncle A, Aunt B, and Cousins D and Z. We made a quick trip to the grocery store and picked up the house a little in anticipation of their arrival. They came on Tuesday afternoon, and we headed down to Sweetwater to explore the Lost Sea. With the help of our guide George, we wandered through the cave down to the world's largest underground lake. Once there we boarded glass bottom boats and enjoyed watching some rainbow trout feed. After our cave expedition, we enjoyed some delicious Mayfield ice cream before loading up and heading home. While the boys and their Daddies played outside then enjoyed bath time, the Mommies snuck away for a shopping trip.

Wednesday morning was full of playing before we packed a picnic and headed for the Great Smoky Mountains. We found the perfect spot to picnic and play in the stream at Metcalf Bottoms picnic area. The boys had tons of fun splashing in the creek, attempting to catch fish, throwing rocks, and actually catching a few crawdads. Here are a few videos of our fun together at Metcalf Bottoms.

Z "Fishing"

E and Z Enjoy Throwing Rocks Together

D Takes a Break from Exploring

Catching Crawdads

E and Mommy in the Creek

B and Z in the Creek

D and Z Explore the Creek

After our fun at Metcalf Bottoms, we made a stop by the aquarium before everyone headed back to their own homes. El had a blast with his cousins. He was completely worn out!

Although playing in the sand with everyone would have been tons of fun, as you can see, we made the most of the situation at hand and had a great time right here in East Tennessee. There is so much to do right here in our own back yard. We are hoping to take more advantage of that in the future...even when there is no oil spill to interfere with our original plans! This week just reminded me once again why East Tennessee is, in my opinion, the greatest place in America to call home!

Happy Birthday, USA!

We had a fun-filled day celebrating America's Birthday! Our day began in NE TN, where D and Z (and A and B of course) took us to an awesome city park that has a lovely creek that runs right through it! Our time at the creek started off with some unanticipated excitement as Aunt B spotted a baby copperhead sunning itself on a rock in the middle of the creek. Uncle A and one of the city employees chased it away (in an attempt to catch it I should mention) making the area safe for play once again. There was splashing, picture taking, fish watching, and of course watermelon. After all, can the 4th of July take place without watermelon? Not in my opinion!

Here are some pictures of us playing in the creek.

The Brown boys explore the waterfall.

Time for a photo

Aunt B and Z looking for fishies

Aunt B with Z and D

Mommy and E

Our Little Family

After the picnic we loaded up and headed down to Meow and Papaw's house so that we could go with them to some friends' house for a cookout. They have several dogs, a pond with frogs, and lots of rocks to play in! One of the dogs was hit by a car some time ago and lost one of her front legs. She gets around remarkably well. They became instant buddies. Here are some pics of our time at the cookout.

Playing with Shakiera, the 3-legged dog

Dog!

Playing in the rocks with his trucks

Corn on the cob! The perfect cookout food!

A Garden Update

It was only about 2 1/2 months ago when we began our gardening adventure. Back on Earth Day, we planted 2 1/2 rows of tomatoes, some bell peppers and tomatoes, and 2 rows of squash and zucchini. You may recall that this is what it looked like then.

It was hard to imagine then that we would ever actually get to the point of harvesting produce. Well, the plants have grown tremendously. We have been enjoying squash and zucchini for several weeks now. We have also been sharing them with family, friends, and neighbors. About a week or so ago, the tomatoes started coming in. We have harvested about a dozen yellow tomatoes, 8 or 10 Better Boy tomatoes, a couple of dozen Roma tomatoes, and hundreds and I mean HUNDREDS of cherry tomatoes.

Here are some pictures of the garden now.

E walking past his favorite plants, the cherry tomato plants.

This particular evening was the first night we had any of these yumm-o little tommy toes that were ripe. I picked one for him and let him taste it right there in the garden. The next thing we knew, he was helping himself to more. Unfortunately he chose some green ones which weren't quite as tasty. Here is a pic of E after his tommy toe tasting.

Here is E next to the zucchini plants. They are about the same height.

Here is a picture of one of the delicious zucchini that we enjoyed!

We have harvested a few bell peppers as well.

And tomatoes...Romas and Yellow tomatoes almost ready to enjoy!

Since these pictures were taken, the Roma tomatoes have really started to ripen. One of our favorite things to do with the Romas is to make margherita pizzas. Here is our recipe in case you want to give it a try.

Margherita Pizza

*One prebaked pizza crust

*7 oz. pizza sauce

*4-6 Roma tomatoes

*2 c. shredded mozarella or Italian cheese

*Several leaves of fresh basil

Brush the crust with olive oil. Spread the pizza sauce over the crust. Thinly slice the Roma tomatoes and place them evenly over the crust. Top with cheese. Bake according to pizza crust directions, about 10 minutes or until cheese is melted and tomatoes are warm. While pizza bakes, cut basil into strips. Remove pizza from oven, sprinkle with basil and enjoy!

Eat Free Chikin

Chick-fil-a recently celebrated Cow Appreciation Day where you could dress up like a cow in order to receive a free combo. I was very excited about this day! I thought for weeks about how I turn E into the cutest calf Chick-fil-a at Kingston Overlook had ever seen. I was able to create his little costume out of materials we already had a home. I took a plain white t-shirt and used some fusible backing to attach some black fabric dots for cow spots. I also cut out some black spots and pinned them to a pair of khaki shorts. I then took an old puffs container and cut off the bottom to make a cowbell. I colored the bottom of the canister with a silver sharpie then attached a black and white piece of ribbon to the bell with a safety pin. Next, he needed a tail. I took 4 strands of white string and wrapped them with a 5th piece of string to create a tail. I left the bottom of the strings lose to create a fly-flicker on the end of the tail. Then I made him an "Eat Mor Chikin" sandwich board using a cereal box, construction paper, sharpies, and string. Finally, I made a handkerchief for his head using some white fabric and more black fabric spots, then I took some black eye shadow to give him a little black nose.

Since I had spent so much time on his little costume, I didn't have much time to spend on Daddy's and my costumes. I cut out some black spots that we pinned to white shirts and khakis, and we colored our noses with black eye shadow.

Here are some pictures of our cute little calf. If there had been a contest, I think he would have won!

A Fiesta for the Tastebuds

It has been a while since I shared a recipe, so I thought I would try to fit in a few of our favs in the next few posts. One of our absolute favorite meals is Mexican-Style Shredded Beef. This is a delicious crockpot recipe that was an instant hit. It is super easy and extremely versatile! It can be served as nachos, burritos, or quesadillas to name a few options. Tonight we enjoyed it as nachos alongside a yummy bowl of taco soup.

Mexican-Style Shredded Beef

1 beef chuck shoulder roast (about 3 lbs.)*

1 T. chili powder

1 T. ground cumin

1  T. coriander

1 t. salt

½ t. ground red pepper

1 c. salsa or picante sauce

2 T. water

1 T. cornstarch

Cut roast in half. Combine chili powder, cumin, coriander, salt and red pepper in small bowl. Rub over beef. Place ¼ c. salsa in slow cooker. Top with 1 piece of beef. Layer ¼ c. salsa, remaining beef, and ½ c. salsa in slow cooker. Cover; cook on LOW for 8 to 10 hours or until meet is tender. (You can also cook on HIGH for about 4 hours I have found.)

Remove beef from cooking liquid; cool slightly. Trim and discard excess fat from beef. Using two forks, shred meat.

Let cooking liquid stand 5 minutes to allow fat to rise. Skim off fat. To thicken liquid blend water and cornstarch. Whisk into liquid. Cook on HIGH until thickened. Return beef to slow cooker and cook 15 to 30 minutes until hot. Adjust seasoning if desired.**

Serve as meat filling for tacos, fajitas, burritos, or quesadillas. Leftover mixture may be refrigerated up to 3 days or frozen up to 3 months.

*I have used bottom round roast at times. It shreds easier and has less fat.

** It doesn’t have to take this long. The meat doesn’t necessarily get cold, especially if you cover it after you shred it. And the liquid is also hot which warms the meat.

-I make up quite a bit of rub and just use what it takes to cover the roast I am using. Since we have this meal quite frequently, I have found that it saves time. Feel free to play with the ratio of spices. My mom adds more red pepper and even uses cayenne pepper. I usually stick with this ratio because I don’t do hot well! Also, I don’t really measure the salsa. I just use enough to cover the bottom to begin with, then enough to cover the next layer of meat. Then I will usually throw in the rest of the jar. It probably makes a little more liquid, but you can just adjust the corn starch amount as needed.