Smallage Celery seed is available in a place perhaps not may would look.... McCormick Celery Seed ( herb section at Wal Mart) cost $2.95. See link attached. For the amount of seed in that 0.95 ounce bottle, you could raise a full acre of smallage. http://www.mccormick.com/Spices-and-Flavors/Herbs-and-Spices/Spices/Celery-Seed

I have two eggplant recipes at opposite ends of the scale I think. The first, Papoutsakias, will please nearly everyone and is a good introduction to eggplant for those who are unfamiliar with it. The second, Imam Bayaldi, is what I would consider the ultimate eggplant preparation for those who really like eggplant and like things with an ample amount of olive oil. I'm one of those. It's an exceptional dish. And vegetarian, BTW. PAPOUTSAKIAS ------------------------- This eggplant dish will be enjoyed by everyone. You don't need to be an eggplant afficianado to enjoy it. This is my own recipe for papoutsakias. It has been posted elsewhere. The name is Greek for "little shoes", which describes the eggplant halves, filled with a mixture of chopped eggplant, ground meat, sauce and seasonings, then roasted. I like to roast them covered in a Weber type grill for the smoky flavor, but they are very good done in a regular oven. 3 medium eggplants 1 lb ground beef or ground lamb 1 (16 ounce) can tomato sauce 1/3 cup olive oil 4 garlic clove 2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese basil salt and pepper Cut eggplants in half lengthwise. Scoop out flesh of eggplants using a large spoon, leaving 1/2 inch of thickness to the shells (four halves are to be stuffed, the third eggplant is for extra flesh). Smear four shells with olive oil and roast, flesh side down, on grill or in 400 degree F oven until lightly brown, about 10 minutes. While the shells roast, brown the meat in a LARGE skillet, about 10 minutes. Remove meat and set aside. Meanwhile, chop eggplant flesh coarsely and the garlic finely. Add olive oil to the skillet and cook the chopped eggplant and garlic until the eggplant is well done and soft, about 30 minutes. Add all ingredients, except shells, to the skillet and cook until everything is nicely combined, about 10 minutes. Fill the shells with the mixture. Sprinkle with grated cheese. Roast until bubbly and brown, about 10 minutes. IMAM BAYALDI ------------------------- The name translates to The Imam Fainted. Presumably he swooned upon tasting this dish. For real eggplant lovers, that would be understandable. There are other stories of its origin, but I like that one best. This recipe is adapted from Recipezaar. 2 medium eggplants 2 medium onions, chopped 3/4 cup olive oil 2 garlic cloves, crushed 3 medium tomatos, peeled and chopped salt and pepper Saute the onions in a little oil. Add the garlic, tomatoes, salt, and pepper. Cook until it comes together as a very thick stew (no liquid). Cut the stem ends from each eggplant and cut eggplants in half lengthwise. Make 3 lengthwise slits, almost from end to end, cutting into the flesh about 1 inch deep. Heat 1/2 cup olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the eggplant, cut side down, and fry gently, until dark golden-brown on cut side. Turn over and fry on skin side a couple more minutes. Remove from oil (most of it will have been absorbed) and place on paper towels to drain for atleast 15 minutes before proceeding with recipe.. Preheat oven to 350°F. Hold each slit apart and spoon as much of the vegetable mixture as possible into each cavity. The slits won't hold much. Don't worry. Spread any remaining vegetable mixture on top of the eggplants. Arrange eggplants in a baking dish just large enough to hold them. Drizzle with the remaining oil. Bake for 40 minutes, or until tender. Let cool and serve at room temperature.

Lucky you to be in Vegetable Heaven! I would be attacking that basket. First, broccoli-cheddar chowder for your friend. I'll take the cabbages and use them, along with some of the carrots and peppers, to make one of our favorite coleslaws. I'll leave the jalapenos for someone else. COLORFUL COLESLAW 1/2 cup vegetable oil 3/4 cup sugar 3/4 cup cider vinegar 3/4 tsp. celery seeds 2 tsp. dried mustard 1/2 tsp. salt 1/4 tsp. black pepper 1/2 head green cabbage, cut into thin shreds 1/2 head red cabbage, cut into thin shreds 1 carrot peeled and coarsely grated 1 small onion, peeled, halved and thinly sliced 1 green pepper, seeded and halved crosswise and thinly sliced 1 sweet red pepper, seeded and halved crosswise and thinly sliced Put red cabbage in a storage container in the refrigerator. Combine oil, sugar and vinegar in small nonaluminum saucepan. Bring to boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Simmer for 5 minutes and add celery seeds, mustard, salt and pepper. Remove from heat. Combine all remaining ingredients in a large bowl except for red cabbage. Pour dressing over vegetables and toss. Chill covered for at least four hours, or preferably overnight, stirring occasionally. Add red cabbage about an hour before serving. 12 servings. Note: You can add the red cabbage at the same time as the green but since the color will bleed out of it over time (no change in flavor), the presentation is prettier if you add it right before serving. Next, the green and yellow squashes would be "stringed" and steamed in the microwave. When done, stir in some of the chopped scallions and parsley. (squash in the pic has dried cranberries) Some of the tomatoes and the rest of the cabbage and carrots would go into a bean soup made with turkey kielbasa. A half recipe of this salad would use up the cucumber, some of the tomato and parsley, and you could substitute lime juice for the lemon. TURKISH SHEPHERD'S SALAD 3 large tomatoes 2 medium size cucumbers 2 medium size Green Peppers 1 large red onion 1/2 bunch Parsley 7- 8 sprigs fresh mint 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 and 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice 1 teaspoon salt (or less to taste) Sumac powder * (This is not a marinated-type salad and is best when all the ingredients are chopped and mixed close to serving time.) Wash the vegetables; peel and halve cucumbers, removing seeds; remove stems and seeds of the green peppers, and remove the surplus parts of onion, parsley and the mint. Chop the onions, green peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers into cubes about 1 cm. in size (between 1/4 and 1/2 inch.). Finely chop the mint and parsley. Add lemon juice and salt to olive oil, whisk well and pour over the salad immediately before serving. Sprinkle lightly with sumac powder. *Note: if you don�t have sumac powder, increase the lemon juice to 2 Tbs. Gellchom, have fun with your lovely basket ingredients.

A potato, if not rotten, is a live thing. If it is exposed to light, it begins to develop chlorophyll and this is the 'green' that you see. Eat too much chlorophill and green potoato skin, and you'll get an upset stomach, or stomach ache. If you want to grow a few potato plants, it is very easy to do. One large potato can spawn several plants. Reproduction is by cuttings, so new plants will breed true to its parent. Locate the 'eyes' on a potato. These are the sites of new plants. Cut the potato in pieces leaving as large amount of potato as possible around and under the eyes. Plant these pieces in soil with the eye part facing up. The eye should not be very deep and will sprout ok if it is showing. Gardeners of my time covered the eye with a thin layer of fine dirt to discourage birds from picking at the planting. Plant in full sun and keep the soil moist, but not saturated. The eye should sprout in a few days and not long after that you will have a new plant. The young plant consumes much of the atarch in the piece of the potato while developing its own roots. That is why the potato piece should not be too small. You can have fun with a sweet potato. It will sprout and make a considerable amount of vines before it runs out of food. Place a whole sweet potato in a small ceramic pot and hang where it will receive light. Submerge half to 2/3 of the potato with water. Keep watered as the plant grows. It will grow a mass of vines that spill over the pot and hang down. Its growth will contine until it runs the parent potato out of food. I have known of folks that kept such a vine alive the entire growing season. I don't know their technique, but I think that after the plant became established, they added soil and fed the plant.