Eggplant Pizzas

If you like eggplant, you will really like this recipe. I was going to make classic eggplant parmesan but came across this recipe and I am so glad I found it.

 Slice and eggplant into 1/2 inch rounds.  Sprinkle them with kosher salt and let them sit on paper towels for 30 minutes.   Meanwhile, make the sauce.  I, of course, forgot to take a photo of this step.  Cook 3 cloves of diced garlic in a bit of oil in a sauce pan.  Add 1 large can of diced tomatoes, 1 tablespoon of sugar and 1 tablespoon of Italian seasoning.  Stir and cook over medium heat until the sauce starts to thicken.  Add S&P to taste.  Pat the moisture off of the eggplant, brush with a bit of olive oil, and bake them at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

 Remove the eggplant from the oven and sprinkle the slices with Italian seasoning.  Spread some sauce on each slice.

 Top the sauce with some shredded fresh basil.  Add shredded mozzarella and provolone cheese.  The better the quality of your cheese, the better the end result.

 I added a bit of shredded pepperoni too.  Place these under your broiler until the cheese bubbles and begins to turn golden.

What I Bought

It's the height of summer here.  Hot and humid days are upon us.  Though I do not like this weather one bit, it does make me want to make jam.  I bought 8 quarts of blueberries at the Amish market and turned them into some blueberry/lime jam.  We ate a bunch of them plain too. Is it hot where you are?

I bought 4 large bags of bing cherries too.  Cherries are my favorite fruit.

Everyone was selling Ancient Sweets at the market.

Fresh beets which I pickled.

And more corn.  The corn is wonderful this year.  Are you eating corn on the cob yet?

I put my pumpkins out on my cooktop.

These tomatoes are from my garden. We are eating tomatoes with every meal.

I bought this rolling pin from and Amish guy that makes these and cutting boards.

I roasted the peppers.

If you have never made these, you should give them a try.  The are delicious.  http://octoberfarm.blogspot.com/2011/08/turkish-roasted-peppers.html

Here is the recipe for the blueberry jam:  http://octoberfarm.blogspot.com/2010/06/flowers-in-teddys-garden-and-blueberry.html

Spruce Forest

 After we left the Amish market, we visited this charming village.

 It is an artists enclave.

 They not only sell their creations but they teach classes and give demonstrations too.

 All of the buildings sit beneath the majestic spruce trees.

 The iron smith had some great pieces for sale.  The gate was priced at 1400.00.

 The wood smiths studio.

 You can see just inside, he had beautiful pepper mills for sale.

 This is a bird carvers shop.  He lives upstairs.

 Sculptures for sale.

 It is such a serene setting.  The village is nestled right at the base of huge mountains.

 These are some of the nicest log cabins I have ever seen.

 A basket studio.

 An old headstone. Click for a closer look.

 A weaver's studio.

 The pottery studio.

Inside one of the cabins.

An Amish Market

 We drove in pouring rain yesterday to visit an Amish market.

 Farms in our area are really producing now.

 Giant kohlrabi, cabbages,  all kinds of broccoli, onions and tomatoes.

 This gentleman just parked his buggy.

 His family is selling peaches.

 Flowers for sale.

 Notice that the little boy wears no shoes.

 Bookkeeping.

 The Amish always sells lots of baked goods.

 They also sell lots of canned items.

 A pie maker.

 Friends.

 Amish children walking to the market.

Did You Hear Me Scream

So here I am sleepily checking my garden this morning, leaning in and picking ripe tomatoes when my eyes focus on this odd looking tomato......arghhhhh!!!!!  It was no tomato....it's alive!  A tomato hornworm and a huge one at that.  There were actually three.  OMG....I have the hornworm creepies really bad.  I feel like things are crawling on me.  Do you have these on your tomatoes and if so, how do you get rid of them?  I am no longer sleepy.  I don't like my garden anymore. Now you know why I like winter so much.  I want my mommy.

I went to another new market and bought the first Chambersburg peaches.  I hope peaches don't have peach hornworms.

Freshly picked raspberries.

A giant head of cabbage.

And pickle cucumbers.

I forgot to take a pic of this white corn before I cooked it.  It sure was good though.

So, I peeled a bunch of garlic.

And cut a bunch of dill.

And made pickles.

Now I will have to wait a few days to see if I was able to duplicate the ones I bought at the country market.

They look good.

It was cool last night so I built a fire.  Roasted hornworms.  That has a good ring to it.