Baking – Nine by Eighteen

August Tomatoes

SabineAugust 31, 2025Leave a Reply

*August 13 (the plum and cherry tomatoes are from another gardener’s plot that I had been tending to while they were on vacation)*

I harvested the first tomatoes (Stupice) on July 23 and then a few more Stupice, Scotia and Ailsa Craig the following weeks. Things started to really get rolling by August 10. On August 17, I picked my first Green Zebra and Dr. Wyche’s Yellow (two of my favorite varieties). Since then, I have been harvesting about two to three pounds every other day.

There have been a lot of Caprese (and other tomato) sandwiches and tomato salads on lunch and dinner rotation, like this tomato and peach salad with whipped goat cheese, for which I like to use Dr. Wyche’s Yellow.

I also made two batches of slow-roasted tomatoes, which I packed in olive oil and froze. For this, I used mainly smaller red tomatoes.

My daughter made an amazing tomato galette the other day (using red tomatoes only), with home-grown garlic and basil. It has been an exceptional tomato season so far!

Notes for next year: The Ailsa Craig tomatoes were prone to cracking; Dr. Wyche’s Yellow, Ananas Noire and Black Krim to catfacing (not a big problem and also unavoidable with the strange weather earlier this summer); and Ananas Noire and Black Krim were prone to rotten spots. Brimmer was a bit crowded out by the other tomatoes and stayed small as a plant (but did produce a few very tasty tomatoes, like the large pink-red one in the picture of August 31). Same growth issue for Stupice, which was crowded out by the calendula flowers.

Pesto Time

SabineJuly 28, 20252 Replies

Made my first batch of “pesto” yesterday. I forgot to take pictures of the actual product (which is just basil, olive oil and salt for more versatility). I pureed everything and scooped it into an ice cube tray and covered it with more olive oil. This morning, I moved the frozen cubes to a ziplock bag. There will be several more batches, and I will make one that is an actual pesto with garlic, nuts (likely sunflower seeds), and cheese. Nothing better than to pull a couple of cubes from the freezer in the middle of winter to add to pasta or use as pizza base, focaccia topping or over chicken or fish.

Rhubarb Crisp

SabineMay 7, 20252 Replies

This past weekend, I made rhubarb crisp with the rhubarb from my garden plot. The first use of home-grown produce this season, yay! I used Mark Bittman’s recipe, but substituted sliced almonds for the pecans because of allergies in the family. So good!

First Harvest

SabineMay 2, 20251 Reply

*Rhubarb flower – so pretty I cut them and put them in a vase*

First harvest of the year! This is my new rhubarb’s third year and the plant is thriving. I cut the flowers for decoration and pulled a good number of stalks. So many more to go! I see a lot of strawberry rhubarb galettes in my near future (recipe here). After four years, I am so excited to finally grow enough rhubarb again for baking!

Focaccia Across the Seasons

SabineDecember 27, 2024Leave a Reply

*Summer focaccia (with home-grown herbs) before it went into the oven – June 7, 2024*

*Onion-rosemary focaccia with cherry tomatoes – September 9, 2024*

*Christmas tree focaccia – December 23, 2024*

Red Currants

SabineJune 28, 2024Leave a Reply

The red currants are ready, so I harvested around 4 cups this morning. Cleaned them (which despite using the speedy fork method seemed to take forever) and froze 3 cups in a Ziploc bag to be turned into red currant crumb bars later. None of my kids are in town at the moment, so I will make the crumb bars later this summer. I will enjoy the remaining currants macerated over yogurt or ice cream, or eat them fresh.

*… and the stems are ready for the compost*

There are still tons of currants waiting to be harvested. I will harvest and freeze more in the next few days.

Fall Sandwiches with Fresh and Pickled Garden Vegetables

SabineOctober 31, 2023Leave a Reply

*October 23. “Farmers Lunch” sandwich: arugula, Granny Smith apple, sharp cheddar, home-made pickled green tomatoes and grainy mustard on home-made onion focaccia.*

*September 19. Using up one of the last big (Striped German) heirloom tomatoes: Caprese sandwich with garlic chili mayo.*

*October 29.* *Burger with arugula, beef patty, home-made refrigerator pickles, heirloom tomato and red onion on brioche bun.*

*October 12. Zucchini grilled cheese with Gruyere, made with frozen grated and drained raw zucchini. Freezing the grated zucchini draws out extra moisture making it more flavorful (picture form July).*

Red Currant Season

SabineJuly 5, 2023Leave a Reply

Yesterday, I harvested about three cups of red currants. This hardly made a dent in this year’s bounty. The bush in our backyard has grown a lot over the past couple of years. This morning, I decided to make these red currant crumb bars for breakfast. They came out perfect.

Garlic Scape Pesto

SabineJune 18, 2023Leave a Reply

I turned the garlic scapes I harvested a couple of days ago into pesto: just store-bought basil, garlic scapes, olive oil and salt, homogenized with a stick blender and frozen in ice cube trays with a thin layer of olive oil on top. I then stored the cubes in a Ziplock bag in the freezer. They will last for several months. I am still using pesto I made last year. I find that leaving out cheese and nuts makes the pesto more versatile, for instance if I decide to use it on fish or shrimp. One cube packs a punch. I also used rosemary from my porch to make rosemary focaccia, which I had for dinner with a big home-grown salad.

Some Summer Dinners from the Garden – 2020

SabineOctober 7, 2020Leave a Reply

*Harissa-rubbed chicken breast over arugula, heirloom tomatoes, peaches and parsley with tahini dressing – Aug 12*

*Zucchini/parsley frittata with cherry tomatoes – Aug 13*

*Roasted chiogga beets and goat cheese over arugula topped with toasted pepitas – Aug 21*

*Pizza with garlic scape pesto, kale and roasted shallots (all home-grown), cherry tomatoes (not home-grown) and mushroom. Before it was topped with cheese and went into the oven – July 17*

*Not a dinner in itself but a dinner condiment – quick refrigerator pickles – Aug 22*

*Lemony zucchini and pepper stir fry with fresh herbs and Aleppo pepper*
*(served topped with feta over rice) – Aug 25*

*Kale pasta with sausage, peppers, garlic, feta and toasted pine nuts – Aug 27*

*Zucchini potato gratin with tomatoes and fresh herbs (all veggies and herbs except the potatoes were home-grown) – Aug 31*

*Roasted Ping Tung eggplant with goat cheese, pine nuts and parsley* *– Sep 13*

*Heirloom tomato feta sandwich with tahini and parsley – Sep 11*

*Korean bibimbap bowl with sesame Swiss chard from the garden – Sep 18*

*Thai basil chicken with hot Thai peppers, garlic and basil from the garden – Sep 24*

*Lunch: Egg on a bed of sauteed home-grown kale, tomato and garlic – September 28*

*Tomato tart with fresh heirloom tomatoes and roasted heirlooms on a bed of arugula pesto and cheese (all veggies except the arugula are home-grown)* *– October 5*

Not pictured: countless Caprese sandwiches, creamy cucumber salad (with sour cream dressing), Swiss chard frittata.