Garden Transitions

With the seasons changing, my garden is going through some changes too.  The tomatoes are almost done producing for the season, the jalapeno plants currently have peppers on them - but I think this is the last batch of the season and almost ALL of my herbs are gone.  I'll hopefully getting more Fall/Winter friendly herbs in the next few weeks.  

Tomato Plants

Jalapeno Plants

Rosemary

Parsley

I lost most of my basil recently to something, but I'm not sure what!  I noticed the munches and holes in the leaves, but after talking to a friend and doing some research thought it was maybe the beginning of a fungus! While I was disappointed about that, I was even more upset when I found DROPPINGS on three of the leaves yesterday. These weren't tiny either so whatever is eating my basil is rather large! I got rid of almost everything because I didn't want to take any chances.  Sadly, I don't think it will come back this late in the year either.

I've mentioned my problems with aphid this year in previous posts. They first attacked my shallots, forcing me to get rid of them completely. I then noticed them on my chives, forcing me to get rid of them as well! While cleaning up my balcony yesterday, I saw the little suckers on not only the last of my green onions, but on my newly sprouted garlic too! GRRRRRRR!!! I was forced to get rid of the green onions, but I didn't want to sacrifice the garlic too so I just trimmed all the shallots down to the soil and am hoping for the best...

Last but not least, the carrots. I'm sure they're nothing but tiny little roots at this point, but I'm holding out hope that I'll get something from them! 

Fun With Pillsbury Crescent Rolls - Take 4!

Another adventure making something tasty using Pillsbury Crescent Rolls and this time it was: Amazing Apple Dumplings!!!!

The Ingredients

When I first read the recipe, I was a little scared because of the Mountain Dew, but the pictures looked great so I HAD to give it a go.

Was I happy I gave it a go?

HECK YEAH I WAS!

You can't taste the Mountain Dew at all and my friends were shocked to learn it was in there at all.  I even tried to get a few to guess, but no one came anywhere close. :)

So how do you get these amazing treats?

It's reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally simple and I'll show you the process to amazingness!

Peel and cut each apple into 8 slices.

Roll out dough and cut into 8 triangles.

Wrap all 16 slices and place in a 9x13 Baking Pan

 Pour melted butter, sugar, vanilla mixture over wrapped apples.

Pour 12 ounces of Mountain Dew over the entire pan.

Sprinkle with Cinnamon.

Halfway through baking!!!

Annnnnnnnnd DONE! 

Served warm with ice cream on the side.  :)

Sunday Night Dinner: Take 12!

And another quick post, but this time - not really because I feel bad, but because the dinner I made tonight was SOOOOO good I wanted to share! 

I knew I wanted to make asparagus because I hadn't made it in awhile.  I ended up making what's probably my favorite asparagus recipe, which is super easy - Roasted Asparagus. I add garlic, shallots, olive oil, salt, pepper, lemon juice and parmesan cheese.  I then roast it at 350 for about 18 to 20 minutes. Mmm mmm mmm!

In addition to the asparagus, I made homemade Scalloped Potatoes! I love baked dishes like this in the Fall. They're so tasty and perfect for the crisp nights. I switched some things up from the original recipe, but I'm looking forward to trying it the original way too.  

Last but certainly NOT least, I made Chicken with a Dijon Cream Sauce. Holy WOW! This recipe is so tasty and I will absolutely without a doubt be making it again!!!

So put alllllllll those things above together and you end up with a mighty tasty dinner that looks something like this:

Nighttime In The Garden

Busy busy busy - that's my life these days. I haven't had a calm weekend in a while and I don't see one in the near future either. Oh well.... 

The things I'm doing are fun, so I can't complain too much, but I feel bad because I think my blog suffers.

To keep me from feeling too bad - I thought I'd do a quick garden updated, with pictures taken AT NIGHT (because that's when I could fit it in...).

So without much said, here's a quick update with mostly just photos! 

Cherry Tomato Plant

Bonnie Girl Tomato Plant

Jalapeno Plants

Carrots

Green Onions

Garlic

Chives

Which are no longer around actually...
 because I found them infested with aphids today! :(

Basil

Flat Leaf Parsley

Rosemary

Sunday Night Dinner: Take 11!

It's been awhile since I've done a Sunday Night Dinner post, but I've missed them, so it's back - at least for tonight, but I may make it more of a regular thing.  

Even though none of my recipes are techically "Fall Recipes", pretty much anything I've been making recenly has been "Fall-y" to me. :)

Tonight I made three amazing dishes, two of which I'd never made before and the other was modified from a usual favorite!

The main part of the meal was a chicken dish. I've made many lemon chicken dishes and many rosemary chicken dishes, but I never even thought to combine the two. Well, I did that tonight when I made Rosemary Lemon Chicken. It was very moist, tender and flavorful. I'm looking forward to the little bit I have leftover, which I plan to enjoy in a salad for lunch tomorrow.  

Please forgive me. I forgot to take pictures of ANY part of the chicken dish. I always seem to forget SOMETHING. I hope I get it together eventually...

Next was an old favorite - roasted red potatoes. I always toss them in olive oil and some spice with some fresh garlic cloves, but tonight I kicked it up a notch. I did the usual, but I added some golden pearl onions and fresh minced rosemary too!

And finally, I was trying my hand at a new vegetable dish as well. I made Brussels Sprouts with Lemon and Garlic. While it was very tasty, I may cut back on the lemon juice just a tad. I loved the tastes, but it was a little strong for others.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Chaaaaaaaanges!

Yup, more changes in the garden folks! Nothing major, just a little bit of transplanting and a little more research on things that are still coming for Fall and Winter!

The first change that occured was the transplanting of the Flat Leaf Parsley. I am hoping with a pot all on it's own, it will just take off and produce, produce, produce! If not, I hope it does at least as well as it was doing in the big planter.

After transplanting.

Now after trimming back bad/dead parts 

and good parts to use for dinner!

The next and final change of the weekend was the transplanting of my thyme. While it did great for a long time, it was recently starting to struggle. I kept most of the living parts and got rid of the rest. The roots were huge and I did my best not to damage those at all.  The thyme now shares a hanging window-box with the rosemary.

Speaking of the rosemary, it is doing AMAZING. It keeps growing and growing; and even when it's a little wilted it perks right back up with a lil bit of water. 

The basil is growing like crazy too. I'm loving it and hoping it lasts for awhile. I can't remember how late into the year I had it last year, but until I run out I'm going to find multiple ways to use it!

The jalapenos are still doing well, but I'm almost positive they're done blooming for the year.  I still have quite a few peppers on the plant right now and am looking forward to using them. It's been a great year for them and I can't wait to grow them again next year!

My tomato plants on the other hand didn't do as well.  While the cherry one produced quite well, it was nothing in comparison to last year's plant. I still have quite a few tomatoes on this plant, but after they're gone I think it's done. And the other one...the Bonnie Girl was a fail. As I said before, I highly doubt I'll do a big tomato variety next year. They just don't produce like I'd hoped.

And the ones that do produce, don't ripen correctly! :( 

The green onions are still thriving and I'm just waiting on the last ones to get a tad more thick and hearty. Soon though, these will be gone too.

The new garlic though, that is juuuuuuuuust beginning. I only planted 5 cloves this time around, but for some reason, I noticed there are now SEVEN sprouts. Hmmmmmmmm this will be interesting.

The new carrots seem to be doing well too and it will be time to thin them very soon. I'm a little worried about the depth of the container now. Oh well...short carrots are yummy too.

The lime tree is HUGGGGGGE and now has at least five little limes in various stages. C'monnnnn limes! 

And lastly, the strawberry plant that I wasn't really paying attention to because I didn't care if it died or not (I know - baaaad Robyn!), incredibly started blooming randomly again and now has the begging stages of two small berries.