Cucumber Lemonade

True confessions time.  We have too many cucumbers. I meant to plant a 50 foot row, and I had more seedlings than I intended, so I ended up with a 100' row of cucumbers. I know.  I should have just stuck with the plan, but I couldn't just murder the poor little dears.  Cucumbers are sort of a problem.  They need to be harvested at LEAST every other day. And the plants are prickly, so you have to wear long sleeves, no matter how hot it is. We grow cucumbers, but they are less fun than other crops. And one member of the family doesn't even like them.  But the first thing he said when the first uber-crop came in was, "Are we going to make cucumber lemonade?"

Oh, heck, yeah! Working in the greenhouse in the heat of the summer requires us to have cold beverages available at all times. And yes, we have to have something other than water available. I may write a blog on why, at some point.

Cucumber lemonade is delicious, refreshing, and a little unusual. The original recipe called for juicing fresh lemons, which is even more delicious than the way I make it with bottled juice.  But I make this EVERY DAY during cucumber season, so you will have to excuse me if I take a few short cuts. (Also, I doubled the original recipe, because of the quantities that we drink.)

One nice thing about this recipe is that you don't need to peel or seed the cucumber. Let the blender to all the work.

Cucumber Lemonade

2 Cups boiling water

1 Cup cane sugar

1 large or 2 medium cucumbers

1/2 C lemon juice (to taste)

1. Dissolve the sugar in the hot water, and let this cool in a half gallon pitcher or mason jar.
2. Chop the cucumbers and liquefy them in the blender. You can add water to the blender if you need to.
3. Strain the cucumbers into the pitcher with the sugar water. This will leave you with a pile of cucumber pulp (or foam, depending on how enthusiastic your blender is). You can toss the cucumber foam into the compost, but I usually just eat it with a spoon, since it seems a shame to throw all that goodness away. Or you could just keep the pulp in the lemonade.
4. Add the lemon juice and stir. 
5. Fill the pitcher with water. (The original recipe didn't do this, but it assumed that you were pouring the lemonade over ice, which would dilute it. We mostly drink it straight.)
6. Refrigerate.
   

Pickled Cucumbers

My mother's grandfather immigrated to the United States from Sweden.  When I was in junior high school, my mother decided to connect with her Swedish roots, and one of the ways she chose to do this was through food.  One of her favorite recipes was Pickled Cucumbers, or Inglada Gukor, as it says in the Swedish cookbooks.

Pickled Cucumbers

1 Cup cane sugar
1 1/2 Cups cider vinegar
1 large or 2 medium cucumber
salt
pepper
fresh minced parsley

1. Dissolve sugar in cider vinegar. Add a little salt, pepper, and some parsley for color. 
2. Peel cucumbers. Score the cucumbers lengthwise with a table fork, all the way around. Cut the cucumbers in thin slices. The marks from the fork will make a pretty scalloped shape. 
3. Put the sliced cucumbers in a 1 quart mason jar (or you can use a casserole dish, but my mother always used a mason jar). At this point I added some thinly sliced red onion to add a little color, but that is not original to the recipe.
4. Pour the vinegar mixture over the cucumbers. Put the lid on, and refrigerate for 2 or more hours before serving. (Some of the cucumbers will float out of the liquid, so I shake the jar every so often to make sure all the cucumber slices get in the brine.

Usually, we just had pickled cucumbers as a refreshing summer side dish. But they are also fun on a sandwich. Here is my new favorite lunch. This is toasted french bread, topped with hummus and sliced tomatoes, sprinkled with sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Add sliced pickled cucumbers, and garnish with microgreens. 

Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato Salad

Red, ripe tomatoes, fresh from the garden.  Yum! One of the nice things about tomato season is Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato Sandwiches.  Most of the year, we don't buy bacon, but come August....

Since we are trying to reduce the amount of bread we consume and at the same time increase the amount of greens we eat, salad seemed the way to go.

So here's how I make a 

Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato Salad

1 head romaine (or any lettuce that looks delicious), ripped or chopped into bite sized pieces

6 slices bacon, (regular, turkey, or vegetarian equivalent) cooked crisp and crumbled

3 hard boiled eggs, chopped

2 - 3 tomatoes, chopped

1 cucumber, peeled and seeded if necessary, and chopped

1 avocado, diced

Dressing:

2 Tbs mayo, or similar sandwich spread

2 tsp mustard

2 Tbs  milk or non-dairy alternative

Whisk the dressing ingredients together.

Toss the lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, and avocado with the dressing. Top with the eggs and bacon.

This makes a pretty, delicious main dish salad.

Blueberry Zucchini Bread

We sometimes go on vacation with DH's family.  Since he has 7 brothers and sisters, all of whom are married with children, many of whom, but not all of whom come to the lake, it is really hard to estimate how much food to bring and prepare. On the last full day, there were still a couple of zucchini and a half gallon of blueberries in the freezer.

Blueberry Zucchini Bread

1/4 C butter, melted
1/2 C cane sugar
1/2 C brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 1/2 C flour (whatever kind you like)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 C grated zucchini (lightly packed, not drained)
1 C blueberries, fresh or frozen

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
• Mix the butter, sugars, egg, and zucchini in a large bowl.
• Add the flour, baking soda and salt. Mix just until combined.
• Fold in the blueberries.
• Put the batter into a greased 9"x5" loaf pan. Bake at 375 degrees for 55 minutes 

This was what was left of it by the time I found the camera and got back to the kitchen.

Broccoli Cheese Strata

I keep trying to grow beautiful broccoli.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.  I like using the ugly heads for casseroles. The broccoli is still delicious, and nobody can tell it used to be weird-looking.

Broccoli Cheese Strata

1 Tbs. olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

3 cups chopped broccoli

1 carrot, grated or julienned

1 garlic, minced

1.5 tsp fresh oregano, or 1 tsp dried

1 tsp fresh thyme, or .5 tsp dried

4 eggs

1 1/2 cups milk

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

6 slices stale bread, cut into large cubes

1 cup grated mixed Italian cheese

2 Tbs grated Parmesan cheese

Heat the olive oil in a skillet. Add the onion, broccoli, carrots, and garlic, and stir until the onion is soft and the broccoli is fork-tender. Add the oregano and thyme.  Stir until fragrant, then take off the heat and set aside.

In a bowl, beat the eggs.  Add the milk, salt, and pepper and stir until combined.

Spray an 8" square casserole dish with olive oil cooking spray. Arrange half the bread cubes into the casserole, followed by half the vegetables then half the Italian cheeses. Then add another layer of the rest of the bread cubes, followed by the rest of the vegetables, then the rest of the Italian cheeses. Pour the egg mixture over the top.  Sprinkle the Parmesan over the top.  Cover, and let sit for 4 hours or over night.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45-55 minutes, until a knife stuck into the center comes out clean.

Migraine Smoothie

Yeah, this is only a farm recipe by chance.

This is how my morning went:
11:00 drop off the taxes at the post office
11:13 aura starts
11:14 aura has doubled in size, stomach starts getting queasy. Start making smoothie
11:18 finish making smoothie. aura has doubled in size again. start chugging smoothie.
11:19 finish drinking smoothie
11:22 drink earl grey caffeinated tea
11:36 aura gone! no headache.

Another headache averted.

Here's how the Migraine Smoothie started. We met a man with  When I said I was getting a migraine, a man I knew told me that the research he had seen showed a correlation between low potassium and migraines. He had a PhD in Human Nutrition, so it seemed credible. He offered to make me some potassium pills with some pharmaceutical  potassium that he had. I took the pills and took a nap, and when I woke up the migraine was gone, but my mouth tasted metallic.

When I told our nurse practitioner about this she was very concerned.  Apparently, too much potassium can stop your heart. I'm pretty committed to keeping my heart beating at a steady rate for many years to come, so I decided to NEVER DO THAT AGAIN.The nurse practitioner told me that magnesium is also implicated in migraines, so she recommended that I take magnesium. There's a powdered form you can put in a drink that is useful both for fighting migraines, and relaxing at bedtime.

You can't actually eat enough bananas to cause heart issues. Here's a BBC article on Bananas and Potassium.  The thing about migraines is that you are racing the clock. My goal was to use food as medicine to alleviate the headache as quickly as possible. I wanted potassium, magnesium, and calcium (which I had read was good for headaches, if not specifically for migraines).

A banana has 422 mg of potassium or 12% daily value and 27 mg of magnesium or 7% daily value.

1 Cup of orange juice (with calcium) has 420 mg of potassium, 27 mg of magnesium and 30% DV of calcium. 

1/2 Cup Traditional plain Greek yogurt has 230 mg of potassium, 23 mg of  magnesium (6% DV)  and 35% of the daily value for calcium.
These are the core items that make up the migraine smoothie. Everything else is optional. You don't want to rummage through the pantry looking for flax seeds or run out to the garden to gather strawberries. Fast is good.

Migraine Smoothie

1 C orange juice

1 banana

1/2 C plain yogurt

1/2 C fresh or frozen (the cold may be helpful for the headache, too) berries (optional)

1/2 C leafy greens,  such as spinach, kale, collards, chard, lettuce, sorrel (optional)

1 tsp seeds (sesame or flax, optional)

Put everything in the blender. Do not stop to measure. Just dump it in.  The exact ratio doesn't matter. This is more a nutrient delivery system than a culinary masterpiece (although it is quite tasty). Turn the blender on as high as it can go. Blend on high for at least 30 seconds.

How to dry herbs

Your CSA share came, and you've got more herbs than you can use this week. Or the parsley in the garden is out of control, and about to bolt. What's a person to do?

Dry them! Herbs that you dry yourself are so much better than what you get in the store.  You can tell just by comparing the colors.

Here are 3 ways to dry herbs.  Each has its advantages and disadvantages.

Dried Herbs Setup

For all methods of drying herbs, you have to start with clean, dry-ish herbs.

Wash your herbs and dry them.  To dry them you can

• pat dry with a towel
• shake them off
• let them go for a ride in the salad spinner

1. Dry Herbs in the Oven

Turn on your oven to the lowest setting.  I use 175 degrees.  Put a paper towel down on the bottom of a baking sheet that has edges. Put the herbs on the towel in a single layer. 

Put the baking sheet in the oven for 2 hours. Check the herbs.  You want them to feel crispy to the touch. If they aren't quite done, give them some more time.

2. Dry Herbs in the Microwave

Put a paper towel on a microwave safe plate. Take the leaves off the stems, and put the leaves on the paper towel.

Microwave on high for a couple of minutes, checking AT LEAST every 30 seconds. You want them to feel dry to the touch, but if they start to smoke, or if the color starts to turn dark, they will be burnt. Basil is particularly likely to burn because of the tender leaves.

3. Dry Herbs in the Dehydrator

Take the leaves off the stems, and put the leaves on the screen for your dehydrator. They need to be in a single layer.

Put the trays into your dehydrator.  Use the herb setting, or 95 degrees. They might take 12 - 24 hours. They are done when they feel brittle.

Finishing Up Your Dried Herbs

Let the leaves cool.  This lets them release the last of the moisture. Crush the dried leaves between your hands or run them through the blender if you like them recipe-ready. Or you can store them without crushing them if you would like. They retain flavor better if the leaves are stored whole.

Seal the herbs in an herb bottle or plastic bag. You don't want to let any humidity in at this point.

And you are done! You can add herbs to all sorts of delicious foods all year long.

Comparison of Methods

I like using the oven because it does a lot at once, and you don't need to watch the herbs so carefully to make sure they don't burn. Also, the preparation is quicker, because you don't have to take off the stems. You can just rub the leaves between your hands and take the stems out at this point. The down side is that the oven uses a lot of energy and heats up the house.

I like to use the microwave when I only have a small amount to dry. The microwave seems to preserve the color better, too. The problem with the microwave is that the herbs can go from damp to burnt very quickly. Also, the microwave cannot do very much at a time.

The dehydrator is nice for large amounts. It also has a timer, so you can have it turn off after whatever amount of time you guess is correct. The dehydrator has some disadvantages, in my opinion. The biggest one is the variability of the time. Is it 12 hours or is it 24?  If the dehydrator turns off in the middle of the night, and it is really humid, the herbs can rehydrate, and you have to start again.

Why am I not hanging my herbs up to dry in the kitchen like grandma used to?

1. If they are hanging up, they are easy to forget.
2. It is so humid here in the summer, that I am afraid they will mold.
3. It can be really dusty here,
4. Bugs.  Flies.  Stinkbugs.  Enough said?  No?  I had to take a stinkbug off of one of my seed trays this morning, so I know they like the fresh greenery.   Yuck.

So dry your herbs and add flavor and nutrition to your meals all year.