Tomatoes, Cheese Ball, and a Broiler: Refrigerator Roundup

Fresh, summer, dirt-grown tomatoes are a weakness. They are good for only a few weeks, and then it's another year until they are available again. I can eat them breakfast, lunch, and dinner when they are in season. 

We had some cheddar cheese ball leftovers (I know what you're thinking: how on Earth did you end up with leftover cheese ball?! It happens.). Hunks of cheese ball on thick slabs of fresh 'mater, heated under the broiler for some cheesy-tomatoey goodness. Now that, is a summer breakfast. 

These are admittedly darker than I was aiming for, but they were warm and gooey and gone in ten minutes. 

Refrigerator Roundup = Leftovers. Reinvented. 

Where's the Box??

It's been a few weeks since I last posted a box update - oops!. Late Summer veg production is in full swing, and I've been working to preserve as much as possible. This week's box is much like the last couple, so without further preamble:

This week's box contains: watermelon (an orange one!), sweet corn (8 ears), edamame soybeans, slicing tomatoes, bell peppers, Spanish onions, pickling cukes, basil, Romano beans, and heirloom tomatoes.

I don't have a pretty picture since the lighting was bad - we had storms in the area Friday afternoon, and I'm still totally reliant on natural sunlight for pictures. I have flash available, but the color is ug-ly! And I've not sprung for the light shed yet.... so....

Rather than share mediocre images, here are a couple shots of the pickling madness that's consumed the kitchen.

Hot pots on the stove!

Here's the big blue canner, the stock pot with pickling syrup, and a small saucepan with rings & lids behind. Notice I've learned you can use the handle of the stock pot as a handy spoon rest ;-)

Vinegar, sugar, jars.

I discovered last year the difference between apple cider vinegar and apple cider flavored vinegar (the flavored stuff is really bitter). Being fairly thrifty, I understand wanting to save on the fancy stuff, but when the real thing made from apple cider is only $1.79/gallon.... what would be the point of using anything else.

Bread & butter pickles ready to shelve.

So far we've been through 25lbs of cukes to make bread & butter pickles (slices and spears), sweet cucumber pickle relish, and garlic-dill cucumber pickle spears. Next came pickled beets, pickled watermelon rind, and cranberry-red onion relish. I've never had pickled watermelon rind before, but it sounds interesting; more on that later. With so much produce available right now, I have plans (reckless hopes?) to put up more, much more.

Have We Forgotten That Much?

Recently I've come across some posts that claim new facets of thrift or utility. I read them only to be underwhelmed. Since when was making cut-off shorts from over-used long pants a novel idea (via Lifehacker)? The other day brought the epiphany that you could cook and freeze your own version of pre-made hot breakfast cereal (via Serious Eats).

Are we collectively losing the original instructions, or are parents unable to pass them on? (not to entirely blame the parents - many 'young folk' are not interested in anything that either does not entertain, connect to the outside world, or contain a battery).