The Exact Same! Except Totally Different!

With the official start of fall last week, I've started to feel a resurgence of interest in my garden. Most of the summer it was too hot, or too wet, or too bug-infested for me to spend the proper amount of time and attention on my little plot. Who knows how much awesomer it could have been if I'd actually worked on it...at all...during July and August?

My tomatoes are basically toast at this point, and I'm not talking about bruschetta. The wet spring made them all catch early blight, and I didn't think they would make it. Well, most of them have survived, although at this point they are so sick that none of the fruit will ripen. It starts to rot around the stem before the fruit ever gets ripe. So needless to say - in the spirit of NO WASTE! - I'm making green tomato chutney today.

Here's the original recipe I based my version on. Only thing is, I'm missing a lot of the ingredients! So here is my as-made version:

2 - 3 lbs green tomatoes, chopped

1/2 Spanish yellow onion, chopped

1 T olive oil

1/4 c brown sugar

1/4 c white sugar

1/2 c apple cider vinegar

1/4 t ground ginger

2 T fresh rosemary, chopped

Heat oil in a large saucepan. Add onion and saute until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the rest of ingredients, bring to a boil, then turn heat down and simmer for about 45 minutes, until mixture is thickened, tasting a few times and adding more of anything to taste. Remove from heat, let it cool, then store in the fridge.

I'll be using it on a pork loin roast for dinner tonight. YUM!

Homemade Pumpkin Spice Latte

OK, this isn't quite as wonderful as Starbucks, but given that I would have to drive 20 minutes for a fix, here's the do-it-yourself pumpkin spice latte I made this morning. Much cheaper AND fewer calories.

Strong, dark coffee - 8 oz

Milk to taste (I used 2%; whole milk would have made it a lot creamier)

Pumpkin pie spices to taste - about 1/4 teaspoon

2 packets of Splenda

Like I said, it's not an exact match. But it will do the job!

For The Record...

Irritant Contact Dermatitis and Allergic Contact Dermatitis are two different skin conditions.

Irritant CD occurs when you get prickled or scratched by something - let's say, a squash plant's spines - and the scratches get red and itchy and swell up. After a day or so, the swelling goes away and you've got little scratches which heal up as scratches do.

Allergic CD is often associated with poison ivy and other plants of that ilk. Guess what? Cucumber plants can also cause it for some people. Allergic CD is characterized by bumps and welts that itch like the dickens. It lasts for many days, and you're plagued by the constant need to scratch. I didn't realize this when pulling out the dying cucumber vines, and so didn't wash off my arms right away. In fact, not only did it have time to set, but it got on the inside of the sleeves of a jacket I wore later that day, and I suspect perpetuated my itchiness. I've never gotten poison ivy before, so it was quite an eye opener!

Who knew that garden variety vegetable plants could be so noxious!

Cheap trick: to save the costs of calamine lotion and antihistamines, wear gloves and a light-weight long-sleeved shirt while gardening!