Corn Tamale Cakes w/Pulled Pork Loin, Salsa, Guacamole and Sour Cream

One of my favorite things about gardening and Farmer's Markets is the inspiration in the kitchen. I don't just love to cook, I adore it. I read cookbooks and recipes like many people read novels, magazines or newspapers. And I love to create something new, healthy and delicious for my family. On the menu tonight is a personal favorite of mine, Corn Tamale Cakes. They are so easy and so delicious. You can top them with any protien you have on hand, tonight I just happened to have some leftover pulled pork loin. You could also use chicken, grilled flank steak or black beans (a great vegan option and my personal favorite).

Here is a look at the Tamale Cakes we had tonight:

To make these cakes, you only need a few simple ingredients:

1 box Jiffy or other corn muffin mix, prepared according to package directions

2/3 cup corn

1/3 cup green onion, finely chopped

1/2 cup cheddar or pepper jack cheese, shredded (optional, I didn't use it this time)

Fold corn, onion and cheese into prepared muffin mix. Heat non-stick skillet to medium low heat and spray with non-stick cooking spray. These cakes cook like pancakes. Spoon 1/3 cup mounds into skillet and cook until set. Flip and finish cooking.

Serve hot, topped with your favorite meat or beans, diced tomatoes, fresh salsa, guacamole and sour cream... and lots of jalapenos! Enjoy!

This recipe is especially delicious in the heart of growing season. Fresh corn, onions, homemade salsa and homemade pickled jalapenos... absolutely delicious! I hope you try it, too!

A Great Husband and The Lazy Days of Summer

I know I've mentioned that James is patient and very understanding. But when your wife is red headed, freckled and bound and determined to dig in the dirt on one of the sunniest and hottest days you can remember, what does a GREAT husband do?

Mine got the EZ-UP Canopy and created shade over my work area so I wouldn't fry in the sun. Aww! Seriously, he saved me (and himself) from the crabby, whiny, miserable, beet red creature that usually comes in from a day in the sun. Yes, I use sunblock, a LOT of it. But I still burn... terribly! All that said, this planting season was a lot less painful  - for everyone involved!

I also have to mention that not everyone in our family is nearly as enthused about this endeavor as we are. Madilyn, Bexley (our four-legged child) and Conner were all too spent from playing to have anything left to contribute to planting. It brings to mind the story of the Little Red Hen. I know once this garden is up and growing, once all the sweat equity has been fully invested and it is time to harvest, these three will be more than interested! For now, I'll let them relax in the shade ;)

The Beginning:

 The first thing I had to do this year was prepare the beds. Most of the work had already been done, I just had to add more organic material, rake and weed. I also planned to attach the string grid that I left off last year. 

Now comes some of the 'my way' part of this gardening endeavor. I am not going to be plagued by lackluster, puny plants this year. I did my due diligence last season and hunted down organic compost from several sources under the premise that this would make my plants thrive. Thrive, they did not. Sometimes some good old fashioned tried and true experience comes into play. My mom swore by Miracle Grow and so did our elderly neighbors, the Burtons, who just so happened to have the biggest tomatoes and cabbages I've ever seen. Unrivaled by anything since, as a matter of fact. I am not looking for abnormal, just healthy and prosperous. So, I also invested in some Miracle Grow Vegetable and Garden Soil. Couldn't hurt. I added a 2 cubic foot bag to each 4x4 section of the large bed and one to the 2x10 bed. Then I added Osmocote granules, too. Phil Swindler at Swindler's Florist and Garden Center gave me some to try in our flower beds last year and my petunias and perennials were stunning. So, I grabbed a jar of the garden and vegetable variety and mixed it in the soil as well. Please know, I am all for organic gardening -organic anything for that matter- but in my experience, I haven't had success without some fertilizer other than compost, manure, etc. Those are all in my soil mix, too, and I don't plan on using any pesticides. So, we'll see how it works. 

"2011 Holcomb Family Garden Plan"

As I had mentioned in my first post, I have "often pointed out but never diagnosed OCD." So, this is the part of gardening I LOVE. I took the failed plan for last year and re-worked our current plan based on the seeds we had, plants I knew I could get at this point in the season and on what I'd like to can and preserve at harvest time. Here is a rough shot of my plan. 

With plan in hand and an unyielding determination to BUY LOCAL (a soapbox I'll ascend at a later date) , I headed out to Moore's Gardens, off Antioch Rd. in Clinton County. It is truly an oasis in the middle of miles and miles of farm land. I wish I had taken a picture to share - I'll make sure I take one on a future visit and post. The flowers and hanging baskets are B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L! And they have some really nice fountains and such. I would have normally gone to Swindlers Florist and Garden Center in Wilmington for their unmatched selection of heirloom and unusual tomatoes (as well as flowers, hanging baskets and organic compost... even the elusive Vermiculite) but they were closed for the holiday. That said, I will go there and finish out my tomato collection. You just can't beat their variety anywhere around... even at the big garden centers in Cincinnati. Swindlers and their partnership with the ag program at Wilmington College has the tomato market hands down.

Back to the plants. I was on the hunt for a pretty basic Roma tomato plant. Romas are perfect for salsa, a good red sauce and canning... not to mention my famous bruschetta ;). Not a gallery opening goes by at my dad's gallery without my bruschetta. So, with all of that anticipation on these little pear-shaped tomatoes, I wanted plants that were sturdy and strong, a little larger than the average bear. Alas, there were no Roma plants anywhere I'd been.Then came Moore's. Not only did they have Romas, but they had big, thick, full Romas, covered with fruit. Some almost half their full size. YAY! And since I bought four of them, I got a great deal. Another benefit of supporting local business - the ability to negotiate! 

 All told, we got a four huge Roma plants, onion sets and a flat plus two packs of green, red and orange peppers, jalapenos, cabbage, broccoli and Brussels sprouts (which I absolutely cannot wait to see grow!).

All in all, not a bad start.

Oh, and for those of you who are interested, here is what 

Brussels sprouts look like fully grown. Pretty wild, huh! Like I said, I can't wait!

Finally

Well, another Spring has come and almost gone and with it brings another garden. Well, at least the hope of another garden. I have been told many times that you can't grow kids and flowers at the same time and, up until this season, that old tale has proved itself true. In my case, at least. Ever since I was a small, my parents had a garden, a big, beautiful garden. Summer never passed without home-grown tomatoes, cucumbers, radishes and, in the earlier years, strawberries, along with whatever else we fancied to plant. And there just isn't anything  much better than a home-grown tomato. Hands down!
Fast forward to last summer. As we danced on the edge of yet another planting season with great expectations, we signed up for and attended a seminar on Square Foot Gardening, leaving with the book, excitement and big, big ideas. My often pointed out and never diagnosed OCD thrived at the planning of organized grids, each perfectly square and with each plant in a neat, orderly and predetermined place.I got out the graph paper and labored with my handy, dandy SFG book. I planned a 10' x 16' x 2' L-shaped bed along the fence corner to attach a trellis for climbing plants like beans, cucumbers, sugar snap peas and mini pumpkins. (Yes,  I said mini-pumpkins) Then there was the main bed, a 4' x 12' home for gargantuan tomatoes, lettuce, beets, carrots, onions...lions, tigers and bears, OH MY!
Needless to say, inspiration was very much dampened by  the reality of my crazy busy life. After much effort, many trips to Lowe's, a seemingly endless search for Vermiculite, a tremendous amount of patience by James and trips all over the county for several different types of compost (required by the SFG method), we ended up with the 4' x 12' bed and the 10' x 2' piece of the planned L-shaped bed. Along the way, we also lost the weed fabric that is supposed to line the raised beds because it just was too much hassle and, no matter how much I wanted to believe it, I just couldn't see tomatoes or decent carrots growing in just 4" of dirt... um, I mean, Mel's Mix. Long story short, we had one and a half of the planned beds and absolutely no motivation left. And we still needed plants. We ended the season with 12 unhealthy, poorly producing tomatoes and 8 pepper plants that produced one lowly pepper. Another failure year in our gardening quest. The only highlight of our SFG attempt was that because of our failed garden, we spent many mornings at the local Farmer's Market, corralling our kiddos from one baked good booth to another, while picking up some of the best local produce and meat this area has to offer.
So, for those of you who are interested, here we go again. This season holds promise that no other previous season has held. The beds are already built, except for the final leg of our L, and the soil mix is already hunted down and in the beds. We just have to top it off with some more organic material, rake out the weeds and plant. I have great hopes and an iron-clad determination this year. And I'm going to do it my way. Yes, Mel, your SFG method is wonderful. I will take what you have taught me and sprinkle in a little of what I've learned from my mama, my brother (king of the garden) and my own experience. Add in some Osmocote, Miracle Grow vegetable soil, organic compost, some help from Mother Nature and a little good old fashioned elbow grease and I just might be the one holding the blue ribbon at the county fair!