TicTac

@Smithy - One of my favourite peppers, (along with Poblano's and Serrano's to give you a sense of my taste/heat tolerance) - these can be fairly hot, but certainly not overbearing and have a nice flavor to them. Last night I made tacos and ground one of these up with some salt, then added lime, Vietnamese coriander and green onion - made for a fantastic and tremendously beneficial (to the taco, and my taste buds) addition.

High Guy's often come up with the most delicious concoctions - random, but delicious. .....Not that I would know anything about any of that........

By in large the garden this year is doing fairly well, though oddly enough one of my zucchini plants along with one of my cucumber plants have decided to simply stop growing and begin wilting completely. Upon further queries with other local gardeners I’ve heard similar tales the season… Perhaps plants too can contract Covid?! On a more positive note my ground cherry plant is booming And an absolute bumper year for the aurora peppers

Pickles are an art form, nothing simple there! 😛 What ratio do you use of vinegar to water? Any sugar? I love middle eastern pickles, the spices are far more interesting than the typical 'dill pickle' we see in NA!

Smart Kid. Mushrooms and potatoes are perfect together...not to mention that I spied bacon bits and a cream sauce....he's onto something!

More info @shain! Looks great. Love pickled veg. I made Jaymes's squash recipe after @Shelby helped me out. Took her advice and omitted the sugar (would have most likely done that anyways, fresh veg is sweet enough!) - really nice dish. I can see truffles making their way into it on a special occasion!

Minus the mouse poop! 😛

I get the lack of appeal of that alien looking centerpiece, but trust me, it tastes just as good as the rest of the flower! Oddly enough one of my plants just started drooping all of its leaves in the last couple of days, no signs of disease or rot, just is not willing to perk back up or produce much of anything (a couple male flowers per day)...not really quite sure what to do. My farmer told me they most likely have no more energy left and to water less on the plant and circle some compost around the base, water around that. Bit of a finicky plant, this zucchini is!

I have been eating these for 30 years and never encountered a bitter pistol or stamen. When the flowers are less than 1-3 days fresh, the innards tend to begin to go south first, so one might check for that under certain circumstances. I would highly recommend crispy pancetta diced small, ramps or garlic scapes blended with ricotta and good olive oil - stuffed. Then dredge in a mix of rice flour and cornstarch slurry. Saute in a small amount of high temp smoking oil and enjoy!

Hard to tell from the photo, but are you removing the 'innards' of the flower?! If so, those are the best (and sweetest) parts! Lastly, if you are swimming in a glut, I would suggest sauteing them whole and then dress as a topping - you will be able to cram far more on that way!

@Shelby - with your glut, you should try for some zucchini chips! Bet they would be good.... I did your (or Jaymes's) squash recipe the other night, kids dubbed it 'healthy mac n cheese'!

I have fell down the home-made tortilla rabbit hole. And I love it. The tortillas I am able to make with this Maseca corn flour are delicious! I ordered a tortilla press from Mexico (cast iron) and am wondering about my cooking apparatus - At the moment I am just using my carbon steel pan which holds heat very well, but a large flat slab of metal would be easier...for sure.

Your haul is impressive @Shelby!!! I know one thing that you are going to be making with those great looking zukes! I made a batch of Shelby's pickled squash and they were really fantastic. Gave me a bunch of ideas for further iterations. Picked about a dozen very large zucchini blossoms today, added to the other couple dozen, we will be stuffing and frying tonight! Couple snap peas eaten right at the bush by the little ones, and 2 husk cherries as well were quickly consumed. Aurora peppers are having a bumper crop this year.

Happy Birthday! Sorry to rain on the parade, but your crabs look dead to me - utterly delicious; but dead, nonetheless - 😛- probably better that way for the GI tract! @Franci - Great tip on the frozen flowers. Not sure I would ever have enough to freeze, but something to remember for sure. I probably could freeze some of the 2 dozen or so I have in the fridge ready to be fried tonight....but; why on earth would I!? lol @RWood - I have used goat cheese to stuff as well, comes out nicely too. I would urge anyone with a plant to try cooking some of the younger leaves. They are really delicious (and I bet super healthy too!).

Fantastic! Did you stuff them or just battered? One thing I learned this year as I continue to expand my zucchini/squash knowledge...the female flowers (with the fruit below them) need the male flowers to pollinate and grow that fruit (duh!). Taking no chances and wanting to eat flowers too, I have been meddling with mother nature and put on my scientific robe as I steal (what I have dubbed the Zuchenis) the little stamen in the flower (the bit covered with pollen) and then go and impregnate the females. It has worked 80% of the time this season and then I can without bad conscious, eat the male flowers, knowing they have served their purpose! Not to mention that Zucchini plants love to get a good hairleafCut! The growth on these things is unreal.

Now that I look closer I see that indeed there are bits in the sauce! Furthermore after I re-read my post and see how it could read like I was being a bit of a dick. Apologies if so... no harm intended! That's a pretty good deal I would say. I do not have one of those fancy truffle shavers, one trick I learned was to use a microplaner. Works nicely.

Gorgeous truffle! Great find. Curious as to what that costs 'down under'? Only comment is that you did not use enough! I would say perhaps thinner if you can manage, and about 4-5x as much Then we are talking!

While I do not eat Doritos, we do sometimes take them camping.... Why you ask? Well...let's just say that they burn for a long time and make great fire starters! lol

If you eat tomatoes, you eat MSG!

I have long held this belief. I am slowly converting my front 'lawn' into a veggie garden. Lawns are horrible for the environment. The emissions created by lawnmowers and negative impacts of fertilizers, pesticides and other similar chemicals is astounding. So much so that my wife and I have a running joke of the number of times my neighbour (obsessive about his lawn) will cut his lawn vs how often I will cut mine (for context, I have cut it twice so far this entire year vs. the 10-15 times he has, his!).

Egg Fried long grain rice - tobiko sprinkles

@JoNorvelleWalker Slice the jalapenos and salt them really well, let sit then rinse dry. Plunder some limes from your vast horde and cover with juice. Makes a great addition to many things and lasts quite a while.

Thanks @heidih! Truth be told, this was leftover grilled squid from the previous night - when I saw how fresh it was at the market I had to get a bit extra assuming I would concoct some oddity with it. It was either this, or squid fried rice. Apparently decade's old rolling skills are transferable....

Contrary to what one would typically think (myself included), even larger mid size leaves are fine to eat. Just like nettles, I suppose - the bristles break down completely upon contact with heat. The spines of the leaves certainly retain their texture more than most leafy veg I have encountered. It takes on a bit of a nutty taste when toasted in the pan. And I am guessing it's good for me too 😛

Light summery meal - Vietnamese squid cold rolls - MYO (make your own - or in my case, make 2/3 kids then my own!) fresh herb/peanut sauce, quick shredded carrot/cabbage pickle, mung bean noodles, griddled squid, zucchini sauté (garlic scapes, baby zucchini, zucchini flowers and leaves), green things (green onion, cilantro, deer tongue lettuce, shiso leaf, mint) - Nuoc Cham not pictured. assembled. rolling skills 😉