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We spent a day in Glacier last weekend, just going for a drive with the dog and the camera. This national park is beautiful, and pretty much in our backyard so we go hiking and camping every summer in different … Continue reading
Here in the Wilson home we recently did a Q & A with the new guy on the block, namely Jackson Wilson. The interview went pretty well so I thought it would be nice to share and a good way for you, our long distance family and friends and blog visitors, to get to know him.
Q. So Jackson, how old are you now and do you go by any other names?
A. Oh I’m almost four months, have been living here with mom and dad for two months now, but it seems like it’s been about a year or two. It’s a pretty cool place. They call me Jackson, but I’m a.k.a. Colonel Jack, Jack, Super Stud, Mister, Dude, and Buddy, they throw all kinds of names at me and think I’m catching on.
Q. I noticed you needed a nap in between our interview, are you pretty tired because you’re growing so fast?
A. Yeah it wipes me out sometimes. I’ve gone to the vet and found out I’ve been growing 4 pounds a week. That’s about a half pound a day! I now weigh about 35-40 lbs.
Q. What are some of your favorite things?
A. Treats, of course. Also play time with mama and dad, meeting new people and other furry four-legged guys that bark. I try to play with all of them but some of ’em are old and boring, kinda snobby, and just want to ignore me, snarl, and growl. But I don’t mind I just keep trying to play with them and get them to act young again. I also love fetching toys, love sleeping, smelling all the smells (especially of all the birds near home… pheasants, doves, geese), deer poop, horse poop (love that stuff but mom doesn’t let me eat it when I want), going for walks, running and exploring around the big wheat and straw fields by the house. I’ve just started to like going for rides in mom and dad’s truck. I really love anything that comes out of the laundry basket, socks, clothes, and shoes are good too. These teeth have been bothering me lately so I really enjoy hard chewy things in my mouth, but I get in trouble most of the time when I get a hold of those things.
Q. So you now live with your mom and dad, as the only child? Do you have a favorite yet?
A. Well I’m pretty much a mama’s boy right now, I spend most of my time with her. She takes me walking and running every morning and evening, feeds me, and takes good care of me. The ol’ Man is really cool, he’s my kind of guy. He isn’t here at home everyday, but when he gets home after a few days it’s really exciting. He takes me out in the fields and I find bird scents all over, he takes me off the leash a little more than mom, and he plays the best game ever with me using a fishing pole and a real bird wing at the end of the fishin’ line. The wing smells like a real bird and I get to chase it, but have to listen to him say “Whoa” a lot, so I stand still and wait ’til he says “Fetch It”. I’ve actually bonded to both of them pretty good already. It’s a good life.
Q. So they say you’re a Bird Dog, have you been hunting yet?
A. Yeah I’m a Pointer. Like I said, dad plays the game with me and the bird wing and is teaching me things to get ready to go hunting. We haven’t gone yet but I really can’t wait. He’s elk hunting right now but right when he’s done we’ll go get on some birds. It’ll be a great family thing to do, I think we’ll start this Fall already.
Q. What have you recently learned in life?
A. Been catching on really good to a lot of the commands. I now totally know ‘Whoa’, ‘Come’, ‘Sit’, ‘Stay’, ‘No’, ‘Fetch It’, ‘Get It’, ‘On Your Bed’, and ‘Heel’, thanks to the treats and the games that mom and dad play with me all the time. Oh and I know “Where’s daddy?”, mom says that to me and I go look for him. Mom also says “Go potty” when we’re outside and just started to catch on, I usually squat and pee when she says that if there’s a treat in her hand. Also learning to hold my bladder and go pee outside, getting really good at that.
Q. Would you like to give a shout-out to your extended family, anything to say to them?
A. Yes I would love to see them soon, just tell ’em to come over anytime and play. I haven’t met some of them yet, so hopefully soon!
Can I think of any more not-so-nourishing ways to eat this vegetable?? Well probably, but we won’t go there for now. My mom always made fried zucchini when I was growing up and I love it. I don’t deep fry it, and neither did she, but we do a bread crumb coating and pan fry it. They’re so good as a part of dinner or a little appetizer. I made a lot of them last night and they’re pretty darn good the next day as a leftover snack too.
::Fried Zucchini::
1 c. flour
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 c. bread crumbs
1 or 2 large zucchini, 1/2″ thick slices
optional:
1/4 c. grated parmesanWith three bowls set out, fill one with the flour, one with two eggs, and one with bread crumbs (and parm if using). Season the flour or the bread crumbs with s + p.
Roll each slice in flour, then eggs, then bread crumbs, and set on a baking sheet or plate. Heat a large saute pan (non-stick, cast iron, or stainless) over medium heat, coating the pan with about 1/4″ of olive oil/vegetable oil. When oil is hot and a pinch of bread crumbs gives a good sizzle, set the coated zucchini in the pan. Don’t over crowd the pan, cook them in two batches if you have a lot. Let sizzle and brown, about 5-ish min. on each side. Only turn over once. Line the same baking sheet or plate with paper towels and set fried zucchini on it to cool. Each slice is done when it’s golden brown on each side, and if you press on the center a little and it’ll give.
Tips:
–Use one hand for rolling the slices in the dry ingredients and the other for the wet egg layer, to minimize fingertip clumpage.
–1/2″ thick slices work best, firm on the outside and tender in the middle.
–When removing from pan and setting on paper towels, set the recently-cooked-side down, rather than turning over, so that the oil doesn’t soak back into the zucchini, but runs down into the paper towel.
These are served best with a little marinara or some aioli, but also just right without any dressing. Cheers!
As much as I’ve been enjoying zucchini lately you would think it was the only vegetable we grew in our garden this year. However, our zucchini plants were not quite as productive as I was hoping. I have managed to harvest some from the garden, and supplemented that with visits to the Farmers Markets. In my recent liking of putting up food for the chilly winter months, a lot of it has been grated and set in the freezer. Now I can pull out a little package of this good stuff all year long, and make one of my favorite cakes.
My Aunt Connie’s Chocolate Zucchini Cake has been enjoyed by the family for several years now and every time I have a piece, it brings me right back to summer weekends at the family cabin. So far I’ve made this a few times in the last month, I can’t stop!! It’s so perfectly moist, spongey, and chocolatey, and hey it has a vegetable in it so it can’t be that bad to eat it everyday, right? =)
The recipe is featured on my cousin’s blog, where she also includes her ‘healthy’ version. This is definitely one of my few favs when it comes to zucchini, and when it comes to cake. I think my hubby said it best when I first made it, “This is the best thing ever invented”. =)
::Chocolate Zucchini Cake::
-compliments of Aunt Connie-2 1/2 c. flour
1/4 c. cocoa powder
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. ground cloves
1/2 t. salt
—
1/2 c. butter, rm. temp.
1/2 c. canola or safflower oil
1 1/2 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla
1/2 c. sour milk (add in a tsp of lemon juice to milk)
—
2 c. grated zucchini
optional:
3/4 c. chocolate chips
1/2 c. chopped walnutsCombine dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. In another bowl, cream the butter, oil, and sugar, then beat in the eggs and vanilla. Stir in the sour milk. Stir in grated zucchini, fold in the dry mixture, spread into a 9×13 dish, and sprinkle chocolate chips and/or walnuts.
Bake at 325 F. for 45 min., or at 350 F for 35-40 min.
Enjoy! But I warn you, it’ll be your new favorite.
Carrying on with the zucchini theme in the kitchen, I must share one of my absolute favorite things to do with the garden goods, specifically the blossoms from the squash plants. They’re not the healthiest little treats to make with your garden produce, but a treat indeed, and a good use for the blossoms.
I pluck my squash blossoms and when I have at least a dozen good ones, I fill them with a ricotta-mozzerella cheesy goodness, roll them in flour, egg, and bread crumbs, and pan fry them. If you have zucchini blossoms in your garden and never end up eating them, and stumble upon this blog post, you’ve got to try it! They’re even better with a little marinara to dip them in, but I usually am so eager to eat them I don’t bother with heating up the sauce. =)
::Stuffed Squash Blossoms::1/2 c. cream cheese, softened
1 c. ricotta cheese
3/4 – 1 c. mozzarella, grated
1/4 c. parmesan, grated (optional)
1 egg yolk, (optional)
1 T. fresh basil, chopped
pinch of s+pIn a mixing bowl, beat together the cream cheese, ricotta, egg yolk, basil, s+p, and stir in the mozzarella and parmesan. Use a pastry bag or a quart size ziplock bag, folding the top of the bag over your fingers and spoon in the cheese filling. Cut the point off the ziplock to squeeze the filling into the blossoms. (The cheese filling can be any combination of cheeses you like, even using just ricotta and mozzarella works well).
Carefully hold the blossom and pry it open on one end, squeeze the cheese into the blossom. Have three bowls ready, one with flour, one with 1-2 eggs lightly beaten eggs, and the other with bread crumbs. (Can always add in a handful of grated parm in w/ the bread crumbs).
Toss the stuffed blossoms lightly in the flour, then the egg, then bread crumbs, one at a time. When they’re all coated, set in a hot pan evenly coated with olive oil/canola oil. Let sizzle and get golden brown on all sides, turning carefully every two-ish minutes. Remove from pan when golden and crisped on all sides.
Enjoy! And let me know if you have made these before, or if you’re going to give it a try. =)
I’ve been in a zucchini mood lately, which works out well since I’m getting a bit of it from the garden and farmer’s market. We enjoyed this dish last night for dinner, and though it’s a bit of work, it’s well worth it. It’s a fun, delicious, Italian dish. I’ve made Zucchini Potato Pancakes before, and those are great as a side in your dinner but this big pancake with angel hair pasta serves well as a main course, and makes really good leftovers. This recipe was in a Cooking Light magazine I was flipping through while getting my hair done last week. So I went home, looked it up online and whipped up one big pancake. =)
The only things I switched up in the recipe was the 1/3 c. flour that is called for, I replaced with 1/4 c. bread crumbs and 1/4 c. flour, and only did a little pinch of baking powder, and did more parmesan. I also should have used my nonstick skillet but used the stainless saute pan, and rather than flipping it I cooked it til brown and crisp on the bottom then finished it in the oven at 450 for 20-25 min. 
Well the food photography was done indoors and at night, so the pics don’t make it look as appetizing and delicious as it was, but this with a little green salad really is perfect! YUM! =)
Last weekend I made and canned Dill Pickles for the first time. I don’t know why I didn’t do it last summer, it’s pretty easy and I’d love to have enough canned pickles for the whole winter and not have to buy them.
I picked up the pickling cucumbers from a local farm at the Farmer’s Market, made up the pickling spice mixtures, made up the brine, and although the recipe from my Williams-Sonoma Art of Preserving book said to slice them into 1/2″ slices, I wanted long pickles so I quartered them lengthwise.
I ended up getting five jars, which I was pretty disappointed by since I had several jars ready for canning and 7 lbs of pickling cucumbers sliced, but ended up running out of brine, and out of white vinegar to make more brine. I think the recipe has a shortcoming in how much brine it calls for having boiling and ready, but it could be from the way I cut my pickles.
Anyway, now we have to wait two weeks to let them set and develop flavor, so I’m anxious to pop open a jar and try them… and can more pickles. =)
::Dill Pickles::
(adapted from The Art of Preserving, adjusted to my liking for 8-9 pint jars)5 lb pickling cucumbers, each about 1 1/2″ thick, quartered lenthwise
6 c. distilled white vinegar (5% acidity)
4 T kosher salt
6 c. water6-9 dill heads
16 cloves garlic
40 peppercorns
10 T. pickling spice::Pickling Spice::
2 dried bay leaves, crushed
3 T mustard seeds
2 T coriander seeds
1 t whole allspice
1 T mixed peppercorns
1 T dill seeds
1 t red pepper flakes
Combine and store in an airtight container for up to one year.Quarter cucumbers lengthwise and set aside.
In each of the 8-9 sterilized and hot pint jars, fill with 1 dill head, 1 T pickling spice, 2 garlic cloves, and 5 peppercorns. Heat up vinegar and salt in a nonreactive saucepan/dutch oven and add the water. Bring the brine to a boil, and keep at a boil, until ladling into the jars. Fill the jars with the cucumber slices as tightly as possible, filling to within 3/4″ of the rims. Ladle the boiling hot brine into the jars, to 1/2″ of headspace. Remove air bubbles, wipe the rims, and seal tightly with the lids.
Place the hot jars (work quickly so your jars are still hot) into the boiling water bath and process for 11-12 minutes (for 4-5k’ elevation). Set aside jars for two weeks to allow flavors to develop. Store in a cool, dark place and enjoy within a year.
Source: myrevelment.com via Heather on Pinterest
cooking all the thyme 