Big tomatoes

This year we have had a huge tomato crop.In the Upper Garden Julia planted her tomatoes, which she started from her saved seeds from previous years tomatoes  Celebrity, Brandy Wine and Big Boy.

In the  Lower Garden Jane planted several verieties like Early girl, Celebrity and several verieties of Italian tomatoes
for her pastas.
 Julia and Stosh  were  picking the huge, ripe tomatoes from the gardens, cutting them in small pieces for Jane, who, was canning endless amount of jars for that extra special, wonderful tomato juice.

We also had plenty of that wonderful crop to share with our friends.
We also had plenty of green tomatoes to salvage from the expected frost.  Here is the recipe, that one of Julia's friends, Susan gave her:

•               Slice washed and unpeeled tomatoes nice and thick and pat dry

•               Heat oil--she likes olive oil--in fry pan, not too hot

•               Dip tomato slices one at a time first in flour, then in beaten egg, and then in cracker crumbs

•               Note: Mom says her family likes the taste of the tomatoes, so she doesn't use too much seasoning, but suggests adding salt or pepper or onion powder to flour, to taste; can also use a little Parmesan cheese or use herb or cheesy crackers for crumbs

•               Place in hot oil and fry til brown and toasty, turning carefully as needed

•               Remove and set on a paper towel on plate or cookie sheet

•               Serve immediately or keep warm in oven

I like them alone or as a side with ham or a pork chop.

Tomatoes

Slice washed and unpeeled tomatoes nice and thick and pat dry Heat oil--she likes olive oil--in fry pan, not too hot Dip tomato slices one at a time first in flour, then in beaten egg, and then in cracker crumbs Note: Mom says her family likes the taste of the tomatoes, so she doesn't use too much seasoning, but suggests adding salt or pepper or onion powder to flour, to taste; can also use a little Parmesan cheese or use herb or cheesy crackers for crumbs  Place in hot oil and fry til brown and toasty, turning carefully as needed Remove and set on a paper towel on plate or cookie sheet Serve immediately or keep warm in oven

Beets for barszcz

Every year we plant red beets for our traditional Wigilia.  This year we got the most beautiful beets ever!
They were big and very, very dark red. We don't know what we contribute the success to, whether the location ( Upper garden), the weeding, plentiful of rain, the selected variety or covering them with crates to protects them from the deer.
Jane also is working on making "kwas", which is fermenting the beets for the required sourness.
I also like to cook them as a vegetable, accompaniment for my main meal.  

Friendship Bread

On my visit to Phoenix, I met Zosia and her family. Zosia is a good friend of Anna, with whom I came on the boat from England to America 60 years ago. Anna and I kept friendship ever since.

Zosia presented me with her "Friendship Bread" starter and recipe. I followed it day by day and on the 10th day, I baked it and took it to Irene's friends who are now my new friends on Facebook! We also called it "Time Cake" since although it has many ingredients, the main ingredient is your time!

Zosia's daughters

Special tips:
- Do not use any type of metal spoon or bowl for mixing.
- Do not refrigerate.
- If air gets into the bag, let it out. It is normal for the batter to rise, bubble and ferment.

DAY 1: Do nothing. (This is usually the day you receive the starter batter.)
Day 2-5: Mush the bag once each day.
Day 6: Add to the bag: 1 cup all purpose flour, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup milk, then mush the bag.
Day 7-9: Mush the bag once each day.
Day 10: Follow the instructions below:

1. Pour the entire contents of the bag into NON METAL bowl.
2. Add 1 1/2 cup flour, 1 1/2 cup sugar, 1 1/2 cup milk. Mix.
3. Measure out 4 separate batters of 1 cup each into four 1-gallon Ziploc bags. Keep starter for yourself and give the other three to friends, along with copy of this recipe. Date the bags with marker. (Should this not be passed to a friend on the first day, be certain to tell this friend which day the bag is at when presented to them.)
4 . Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
5. To the remaining batter in the bowl, add:
     a. 1 cup oil
     b. 1/2 cup milk
     c. 3 eggs
     d. 1 cup sugar
     e. 2 tsp cinnamon
     f. 1 tsp vanilla
     g. 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
     h. 1/2 tsp salt
     i. 1/2 tsp baking soda
     j. 2 cups flour
     k. 1 cup craisins or raisins
     l.  1 cup walnuts or Texas pecans
     m. 1 large box instant vanilla pudding (but I skipped all those chemicals and it turned out fine).

6. Grease 2 large loaf pans.
7. Pour the batter evenly into the pans. You can sprinkle with mixture of 1/3 cup sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon (optional).
8. Bake 1 hour. Cool until bread loosens from the pan (about 10 minutes). Turn out onto a serving dish. Serve warm or cold. .

Now serve the bread to your friends, and if they like it, give them the starter and this recipe. They say only the Amish know how to create the starter, so if you give it all away, you will have to wait for another friend to make it if you would like to have it again!  If you keep starter for yourself, you will be baking every 10 days. The bread/cake is very good, and so it is good for making new friends!

Favorki

4 eggs yolks
1 egg
1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 c. confectioner's sugar
2 Tbsp. rum or brandy
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/4 c. flour
3 c. veg shortening for frying (oil)

In a large bowl combine egg yolks, egg and salt. Beat on the highest speed until mixture is thick and drops softly from the beaters, 7 to 10 minutes.
Beat in sugar, a small amount at a time. Beat in rum and vanilla extract. Remove from mixer.
Fold flour into mixture by hand until incorporated.
Turn dough onto generously floured surface. Knead dough until blisters form on the dough, about 10 minutes. Add small amount of flour as needed to surface to keep dough from sticking.
Divide dough in half. Cover one half with inverted bowl, towel or plastic wrap to prevent from drying.
Roll out other half of dough as thin as possible, about an 8x12 inch rectangle. If the dough resists, let it rest for a few minutes and resume rolling.
Cut dough into 2x4 inch rectangles. Make a 2 inch slit from center to almost to end of each dough strip. Pull opposite end of strip through slit to twist the dough. Repeat with the remaining dough.
In a large skillet, heat vegetable shortening until it reaches 350 degrees F. on the deep-fat fry thermometer. ( This is important, if the oil is too cool dough will absorb too much oil, if too hot
the pastry will burn on the outside and will not cook inside.)
Add a few angel wings at a time and fry until golden brown on both sides.
Remove and drain on the paper towels. Repeat, frying a few favorki at a time.
cool completely and dust with confectioner's sugar. Store in a airtight container.