From Garden to Table

Today, when it wasn't raining I was busy weeding and finding some ripe goodies. I picked:
3 cucumbers, a quart of cherry tomatoes, 10 tomatoes (mix of red and yellow), 2 squash, 2 zucchini, 4 ears of corn. Clay and I leave to go out of town tomorrow so I wanted to use as much of this as possible for dinner. I fixed a Tomato Zucchini Casserole (Thanks to my sister Katie for this recipe!!) I rarely fix a casserole that my husband and I really enjoy eating and this one worked! Then I just sliced up some cucumbers and cooked some corn for the side dishes. Clay made a caprese salad also. We finished it off with a peach cobbler made from peaches that Clay's boss gave us. I will need to work on perfecting that dish a little.

Here is the recipe for the Tomato Zucchini Casserole
1 1/2 c grated cheddar cheese
1/3 c graded Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp dried oregano (I used about 1 tsp fresh)
1/2 tsp dried basil (I used a little over 1 tsp fresh)
2 cloves minced garlic
salt and pepper to taste
2 medium zucchinis (slice thin)
2 tomatoes (slice thin)
1/4 c butter
2 tbls finely chopped onion
3/4 c fine bread crumbs

*I used one squash in place of a zucchini and one yellow tomato, which made it very colorful!

Preheat over to 375, lightly butter 9x9 pan. In a large bowl combine both cheeses, herbs, and garlic. Season with salt and pepper then set aside. Arrange half of the zucchini slices in the pan, sprinkle with 1/4 cheese mixture, arrange half of the tomatoes and sprinkle with 1/4 cheese mixture, then repeat layers. Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in onion and cook until soft and translucent. Stir in breadcrumbs, cook until they have absorbed the butter and sprinkle on top of casserole. Cover loosely with foil and bake for 25 min. Remove foil and bake until the top is crusty and the veggies are tender, which takes about another 15- 20 min.

Clay and I did freeze some corn a couple of nights ago. The process consisted of shucking the corn and pulling the strings. Then rinse just a little and steam for seven minutes. Right after they steam dip them in ice water and immediately remove to a dishrag or paper towel to dry. I let them dry for at least two hours and I replaced the paper towels as needed. I probably could have used a drying rack if I had one! Then we cut the kernels off (about 3/4 deep on the kernels) and used a vacuum sealer to get the air out of the baggies. First time using a vacuum sealer that a friend gave us and we love it!