Eggplant Patties with Parsley, Garlic & Parmesan

This recipe is my favorite eggplant dish, probably. It is from Marcella Hazan's, "Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking." I finally found it online so I didn't have to retype it!

About 2 lbs eggplant
1/3 cup unflavored breadcrumbs, lightly toasted
3 Tbs parsley, chopped fine
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 egg
3 Tbs freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese
salt and pepper
vegetable oil
flour, spread on plate

Bake whole washed (untrimmed) eggplants at 400 F until tender (about 40min., test with toothpick). When cool, peel and cut into large pieces. Place in colander and let juices drain for about 15 min. (squeeze a little). Chop the eggplant very fine and combine with breadcrumbs, parsley, garlic, egg, cheese, salt and pepper. Shape into patties about 2 inches by 1⁄2 inch thick.
Heat 1⁄2” oil in frying pan until hot. Coat both sides of patties in flour and slip them into the pan without crowding. Cook until nice dark crust forms on each side. Transfer to drain on paper towel lined platter. Serve either hot or lukewarm.

Variation with onion and tomatoes (I've never tried this one): Saute 1 1⁄2 cup finely sliced onion in 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil until colored deep gold. Add 1 1⁄2 cups chopped canned Italian tomatoes, with their juice. Simmer until oil floats free, about 20 min., and season with salt and pepper. Add eggplant patties and heat through.

Not my photo. Picture from here.

CSA, Week 16

Back to work cooking local & fresh meals! I just read "In Defense of Food," which reminds me of part of the reasons I do the CSA. The motto of the book is: Eat Food. Not Too Much. Mostly Plants. It's a very interesting book, and if you'd like to get the overall gist of the book, read highlights here. So, our CSA for the week looks like this:Green Beans, Tomatoes (small & big), yellow & green bell peppers, corn, onion, banana peppers, 2 types of potatoes, lemon cucumber, purple eggplant, cantaloupe & some sort of white eggplant. Yesterday, a purple eggplant, combined with a tomato & basil from the garden plus goat cheese became a tasty sandwich. And today I'm making some potato soup for dinner.
I've scoured the web for info on the white eggplant, but can't find out anything about it. Anyone seen these guys before? A few years ago, we received a white eggplant, but not this "finger" shape. In the above picture is also the lemon cucumber.

Estes Park, Colorado

We are getting settled back in after a wonderful trip to Estes Park, CO. We got to do lots of hiking, climbing (well, Lance did) & hanging out with our friend Tommy.
Lance got to climb The Diamond, pictured above our heads & also below!
Picture of The Diamond from here.

Babies

My babies are getting bigger! Ethan is starting another year of preschool in a week. His teacher was also my teacher when I was his age, so I have all sorts of nostalgia going on. Katie Belle is so fast & crawling up everything. She's not still for a single minute of the day. Can't believe how time flies!

CSA, Week 14 (15 Missing)

Pictured above are last week's veggies. And I did not get a picture of this week's veggies & gave most to my mama. This week's share (Week 15) was very similar. So last week we received cantaloupe, eggplant, green beans, pattypan squash, green peppers, onion, tomatoes, cucumbers, peaches, squash, corn & potatoes. SO Delicious! The CSA looks alot different than it did this spring!

Allergy Story, Part 3

I wanted to give an update to our allergy story (Part 1 Here and Part 2 here) since people often ask about how Ethan is doing. Thanks so much for your support & concern for him throughout the years. I hope that watching our story has helped you realize (if you didn't before) that parents of children with food allergies are just like you. We're not crazy & overprective. We dream of a normal childhood experience, complete with fun birthday parties, trick-or-treating, eating out, etc. We would never want this for our children, and hope every day that our children outgrow them. It is a challenge every day. I am so thankful that I've been given so much support by you, my family & friends. So...Now onto my FAQ's:

How is he with Milk & Eggs these days? He’s not able to drink a glass of milk, or eat scrambled eggs, quiche, etc. But he can tolerate milk and eggs used in foods. At the beginning of our good news, we jumped right into the unrestricted diet full-force. That was just too much on his little system. So we have pulled back. So we just try to go light on milk/eggs, but don’t have any real fears anymore about these foods.

How does he feel about it? People often expect him to feel like some whole new world has opened up to him, but he doesn’t really know any different. LIfe is very different, but mostly for me. It does make it a bit more difficult to explain, “You aren’t allergic to milk anymore, but you can’t drink a glass of cow’s milk.” The explanation was much simpler before. He just got it.

What will happen if he drinks a glass of milk? With large quantities of eggs/milk, now he gets very congested & has tons of snot & difficulty breathing (due to nasal congestion). His eczema flares up.

What about the Nut thing? He still has never ingested any type of tree nuts or peanuts. We’ve only had the skin test, so we will go back in for the blood test at a later date. We just have to schedule it, which I’m reluctant to do, because it’s pretty unpleasant.

What’s Next? The doctor thinks he will completely outgrow the milk/egg allergy. He said to just try every once in a while to give him eggs or a glass of milk to see how he responds. I gave him a little milk in May, and he was congested for 3 days. Last week I tried milk again & he seemed to handle it well. The nut allergy is likely lifelong.

What about Katie Belle? We haven’t had any testing done for her, but she has not had any reactions to foods yet.

Throughout the course of my blogging experience, I have had lots of people ask me questions. I'm so happy to help out anyone who is dealing with thie personally, or who wants to get a greater understanding of it. The whole concept is very overwhelming at first.

Grocery Budgets?

Hey People. I've got a question for you! Would you participate in my little poll? How much do you spend on groceries? Because I go over my budget every month. I'm trying to determine what is reasonable for a family of 4. So if you are feeling bold, leave me a comment. Or, would you sign in as "Anonymous" and tell me how much do you spend each month? I'd also be interested in knowing how many kids you have, if you have to buy diapers or formula, and if you have pets included in that budget.

Thanks in advance!

Outtakes

Every time I look at this series of photos, I laugh. Ethan was sitting in my lap during the rodeo in Texas. I decided to try to take a picture of the two of us. So I thought I held the camera out, aimed accurately, and took my picture. But instead, it came out like this:So I told Lance to get out of my shot, and I aimed again, and took what I thought would be a better picture: For REAL?!? Get out of my picture, and stop looking Brain dead! So I try again. At least I got myself in the picture this time:And finally, I resort to elbowing him out of the picture. It still didn't work:I laugh every time I look at Lance's faces. You know what Lance has to say about it? "I'm sorry you're married to an idiot."

Creative Dad

So I come home yesterday morning from a run, and Ethan, Katie Belle & Daddy were doing CRAFTS! And it was an awesome looking one! How cute is this little aquarium? My boys did a great job, I do believe.

CSA, Week 13

CSA, Week 12

This week's CSA: Wax Beans, Potatoes, Cantaloupe, Tomato, Yellow Tomatoes, Onion, Green Bell Pepper, Squash, Cucumber, Cabbage, Eggplant, & Corn.

Oh My: This squash recipe is awesome. Summer Squash Custard with Goat Cheese. Make it today & let me know what you think! Yum.

Happy Birthday Katie Belle!

My little girl is one tomorrow! And what an ridiculously perfect July weather day it was for a birthday party!! Seems like just yesterday that we were welcoming her into this world!Look at this beautiful cake that my sis-in-law Libby made!And it was yummy too!Katie Belle loved the balloons too!

Ethan's Chair - Before & After

Lance & I just refinished a chair frequently referred to around here as "The Chair Lance Hates." I bought this (and another just like it) for $5 at a garage sale. Everyone who saw it thought it was so ugly. But after almost 3 years, we finally got around to it!It actually took more work than I thought and it's still a bit rough around the edges. But I think it will look awesome in Ethan's room. Thank you God for spray paint.

Church Veggies

The church garden is producing like crazy right now. So in addition to my garden, and my CSA, I also have veggies blessed by God. :)

There is nothing that beats the freshness of summer. Pictured are a few from the church garden from last week. The church garden is now growing TONS of hot peppers, banana peppers, bell peppers, okra, herbs, (still green) tomatoes, squash, zucchini, & cucumbers.

The weekly menu now includes: corn chowder with white cheddar, pesto, squash casserole, grilled zucchini, okra with tomatoes and stuffed banana peppers!

"Check out my Muscles!"

CSA, Week 11

In this week's CSA box, we got green peppers, tomatoes, eggplants, onion, purple hull peas (or are they pink eye peas? anyone?), potatoes, corn, cantaloupe & garlic.

This week, I'm thinking these things look yummy: Pink Eyed Pea with Smoked Paprika, Texas Style Fresh Field Peas, Ratatouille, Eggplant & Ground Beef Casserole or some eggplant patties, from "The Essentials of Italian Cooking."

I'm looking for a tomato sauce recipe. Last year I used this one, but I'd like to try a new one. Anyone have any good recipes for tomato sauce

Be on HGTV

Every once in a while, I google something like "Be on HGTV" because who doesn't want a room makeover for free? (I'm really needing to pull some rooms together, but budget & inspiration are on hold!)

Anyway, today I found that HGTV is looking to feature some outdoor living spaces in Nashville. We have none to show (I don't think a rehabbed playset counts), but if you do, click here to find out more.

Looks Like New!

Lance has been working hard on some home projects the past few weeks. First, he installed some irrigation in the flower beds & veggetable garden. And yesterday, he finished freshening up our playset, which was looking a little sad & worn. Also, the ladder had broken a few months ago, so Lance put in a little climbing wall! Here's the before:After a pressure wash, and a few coats of solid stain, and some climbing holds, it looks like a brand new playset!!

Canning Lessons

My good friend Marge is helping me get together some "canning lessons" for anyone interested in learning. She's got some expert friend on hand who can come give us expert advice. Before she asks, she wanted to see if there would be enough people interested.

So...Wanna learn to can? If so, drop me a line! If there's enough interest, we'll get a lesson together. Hopefully we'll get this pulled together pretty quickly, since the tomato season is beginning locally! More info to come!

This Ain't My First Rodeo

Just getting home from my Granddad's 96th birthday in Texas! We had a great time! Traveling with kids is quite a chore! I hope we don't have to do that again anytime soon!!! Here are the two kiddos, first time meeting their great-grandfather. (Here's my granddad way back when. I always thought he was the handsomest granddad ever.)
And then we went to the 4th of July Parade. His FAVORITE part was the tractors. Go figure.
Me & my babies
My Uncle Don is a Corvette fanatic. For as long as I can remember, he's had one which he keeps super-shiny & clean. Ethan is having more fun than he's letting on.
>We went to the rodeo & Ethan got himself a light "saver." He loved it so much he fell asleep with it in his hand!
Ethan, his dad & papa (my father) watching his cousins on the mechanical bull.