The Harvest Is In

Last August, while shopping at my local Ace Hardware, I spotted a forlorn six pack of plum tomato plants on a rack in their garden department. I don't have a vegetable garden but I do have several raised flower beds. Looking at that dried out six pack of young tomato plants, I thought "why don't I rescue these orphan plants?" I think the pack cost me .75 cents. A minimal amount. In fact, they might have even given them to me for free. I planted those six plants behind my zinnias, marigolds and herb plants. It wasn't too long until these six orphan plants grew into large, vigorous healthy tomato plants, covered with yellow blossoms. Now I'm reaping the harvest, at least 100 plum tomatoes. I'm here to tell you nothing tastes as good as one's own home grown tomatoes. If there is any problem, it is that they all are ripening at the same time. I'm inundated with bright red, plump plum tomatoes. Already I've made several batches of homemade tomato sauce. Again, does anything taste as good as your own tomato sauce? Nothing! For lunch I had some over rotini. For dinner, I browned cut up boneless chicken breast in olive oil and garlic. After browning, I put in half a cup of sauterne wine and cooked it down, incorporating the browned bits of deliciousness from the saute pan. I put some of that tomato sauce in the pan with the browned chicken and reduced pan bit and viola! A sumptuous Chicken Ron!

Getting Back In The Groove

Day Two of my regular routine since my six week stint of working full time. It is nice to wake up at my usual time of 6 AM and turning on "Morning Joe" and watch Joe Scarborough make a fool out of himself (one of my favorite past times) and watch his guests discuss the political landscape of the day. I love the freedom of rolling out of the bed when I feel like it. That's what retirement is all about, freedom. Even though I work part time, I still feel the freedom. That freedom was lost when I work full time. During my six week marathon run of working full time, my garden maintenance fell behind. Also, I wasn't able to make my usual daily blog entries. My other activities that I had to suspend was cooking and cleaning the house. All back on track now. Yesterday, I made an absolutely delicious dish from my crop of tomatoes. When I lived in Pennsylvania, I couldn't grow tomatoes because I lived in the middle of the woods. I didn't get enough sun to grow vegetables and whatever vegetables I did grow, the local deer population would quickly devour them. One thing I'm finding in my old age that my best recipes are the ones I make up myself. I just put in ingredients that I like. Yesterday's recipe was to brown several cloves of garlic in olive oil. Then chop two boneless chicken breast in medallion shape (done when the chicken breasts partially thawed.) Brown in the olive oil with the garlic and chopped onion. Cover with four cups of peeled plum tomatoes and a bunch of chopped fresh Italian parsley and fresh basil (from my garden.) Add one cup of Sauterne wine and simmer for about a half an hour. Serve over rice. DELICIOUS! At my age I have trouble digesting processed foods with a additives and preservatives. My "Chicken Ron" is the perfect meal for my sensitive stomach. Then I pushed my luck and made a fresh snacking apple cake. I had a recipe for a snack apple cake (8 inch pan size) but I didn't like the the usage of shortening. So, instead I substituted 1/4 cup vegetable oil and added a cup of sour cream. Again, DELICIOUS! In the summer I don't always have time to go to this kind of trouble to cook from scratch, especially cakes. But I do have a sweet tooth. I've tried different cakes that I purchased at the local supermarkets. None of them work. They don't taste good and they give my stomach a workout because of all the additives and preservatives in the store bought cakes. I ended the day with a nice walk through the development behind where I live. Now I am really getting back in the groove.