Garden looks good! Fruits of the labor look good! Oooooh, can't wait for the food pics. Bring them on, Silvia!

Carol in Jax

The best Welcome Home gifts ever!

What kind of eggplant is that? You'll be eating good this week, huh?

Ratatouille fixins = )

Sweet Monkey - I love homemade gifts also and now is the time to pick blueberries in my area, that would be something very enjoyable to do with your son. I pick a lot so I can make jams for my brothers and friends.

D - It is one of the best eggplants for flavor and production, Italian style and is Nubia F1.

Carolb - I was thinking about ratatouille too, Emeryl makes an easy one and tasty but my favorite is a Ottolenghi version of the dish. I have so many eggplants that I probably bake them whole till very soft and then add spices for different dishes.

Carol - Yesterday I made a simple dish of roasted tomatoes, zucchini and pasta. I had my full while in Amsterdam trying the new dishes. Bread is delicious! they use heirloom flours and some of the ones that I bought came home with me, they do last for a while and taste like fresh. There they do have a sweet tooth and the amount of pastry shops and the products are in every corner. They have a weakness for good quality french fries and potato chips, they can even make them fancy at the hotels with cocktails and such. Chocolate and the varieties are the best!. It was very cold for me, so the fresh mint tea was very good and I am drinking now at my house too, just some fresh mint leaves in hot water.

Here are some pictures for you, the bakery.

Breakfast

This shop sells homemade halwa sweets, I bought one of each flavor for home.

Roasted fava beans at the restaurant, my favorite!

A refreshing dessert

The most popular are the pancakes either sweet or savory, heirloom flours and not a pancake as we know it or a crepe, something in between and I had the one with veggies and pine nuts, love the taste!

And I came home with chocolate, dark is my favorite.

I am getting hungry now, time for a kale salad and Old Amsterdam cheese.:)

Silvia

Silvia, as usual, your garden is already amazing! I dearly love eggplant and many times I make what I call ratalouille pasta. Basically it's my regular tomato pasta sauce with Italian sausage and eggplant, zucchini, peppers and onions. A while back I made baba ganoush for the first time, also the first time I'd ever eaten it. How delicious!

Hi Rita!

Thank you, your pasta dish sounds wonderful. I also love baba ganoush. Since I have a big quantity of eggplant, some more today to be picked I will make something like that, some will be simple just scooped out cooked, soft flesh, drained and add a little red vinegar. The other amount will be mixed with some lemon juice, garlic and the best tahini that I found in the market, it does not separate like the ones I previously bought. I like it on top of black beluga lentils and I can use the carrots from the garden with them. I have to hurry up with the carrots, it is getting very warm. Tomorrow I will be making slow roasted tomatoes....

Silvia

I have to admit that imam bayildi is my favorite way to eat the western eggplants, and persian turmeric eggplant for the oriental varieties, although you can make it with the thicker eggplants, too.

Hi Writersblock

Thank you for the recipes, I will look them up.

Remember that you asked about the Indian pusita carrots from Rareseeds? Well, I decided to give them a try and bought a packet, did not have time to plant them and then I received a letter from the seed company saying that the pusita carrots had the problem that they did not come true from seeds and they were replacing them with the good ones, So, I planted the good ones but only one row. Well, they grew and are the strongest looking carrots in the garden, a good size monsters, so I decided to pull them out and to my surprise they are not black or even purple like the ones from Territorial seeds but they are white! It looks to me that they are the very original carrots from long ago but I did not like them. I am sticking with my other carrots varieties.:)

Finally I decided on a dish that uses all the produce in the garden right now, a delicious stew of onions, green beans, carrots, peppers, kale, tomatoes, parsley and spices.

Silvia

That looks delicious, Silvia.

Odd about the carrots. I thought the whole point of pusita was the extra lycopene and all from being dark.

Here's a good basic recipe for imam bayildi that is slightly less oily than traditional:

http://www.food.com/recipe/imam-bayildi-a-stuffed-eggplant-recipe-from-asia-minor-84776

And for the persian turmeric eggplant:

1. Heat a skillet (preferably cast iron) very hot.

2. Slice your eggplant into coins and place in the skillet so that every piece is in contact with the bottom. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle the top of the eggplant with turmeric, dried thyme, salt pepper.

3. When the bottom is nice and brown and crusty, flip them over and season the other side. Cook till the other side is brown, too.

Even people who hate eggplant like this if it's made with good fresh eggplant that isn't too old.

Wow what a great harvest! My wife made a roasted egg plant meatloaf last year. When she said what was for dinner I really crinched, but was pleasantly surprised.

Always impressed with what you can grow in your garden.

Craig

I am so fascinated by all the eggplant recipes, but the only way I like eggplant is either in a casserole or fried. I've never been one to like goulashes or other dishes like that, and tomato sauce is my least favorite food in the entire world, so not much into Italian food. I just like good old homestyle country cooking - American style. :)

Writersblock, thank you, it sounds like a great recipe and when I look for the recipe I found out that Ottolenghi makes a version of it, I will for sure like it! everything he makes is great and I follow him like if he was a movie star. I also remember that I like a recipe from the The woks of Life and is an eggplant string bean stir-fry.

It is not the first time that the seed company makes mistakes, I did not complained because on the other hand I got a perfect order of sweet potato starts. Before when I ordered sp from other companies, I would get them around June when is so hot and they look kind of wilted. But this time I got from Rareseeds last month some small plugs that were perfect, never had to harden them or anything, they went straight to the garden and now they are very happy.

Tcgardener, thank you very much, it is always nice to hear feedback from other gardeners.

You remind me of the bartender at the hotel in Amsterdam, who was very young and I asked him, " what is your favorite Dutch food?" and he said,"meat and potatoes" And I told him, but that is universal! lol At least you tried your wife's eggplant meatloaf, otherwise she would not cook for you in the future! lol

D, we all have our likes and dislikes and that is okay, the more different the better. On the other hand I am a woman of the world, I would try anything vegetable or fruit, meats or other things not so much.:)

Silvia

Sylvia

We Dutch must eat alike! Born a Mich Dutchman and Grand Dad came from Holland. Gotta love those meat & potatoes. Ann's roasted eggplant has a real meaty flavor.

Craig

Hi Craig! You should be very proud of your heritage, Dutch people are some of the nicest people in the world and their history is fascinating!

I went for the gardens and it also happen that I ended up in one of the biggest parties in the world on Kings Day, over a million people dancing on the streets, all sorts of music, it was unbelievable!

Around the museums

How do you like this car? they are so tall I don't know how they fit in it. Biggest method of transportation are bicycles, they even have a limo bike.

I am glad that you like Ann's roasted eggplant, good for you! Yesterday I was going to make Writersblock dish that she recommended, then I got busy and made something simple that I like, some days simple is better.

Lentils cooked with carrots, peppers, onions, herbs from the garden and topped with roasted eggplant with just red wine vinegar. salt and pepper.

Silvia

You're not much if you're not Dutch!

Sure looked like a great trip. Someday we will get there, first is Ireland, Ann's dream trip.

Craig

Craig, you are a gentleman, ladies come first and Ann will have her dream trip.:)

And what a difference a week make! Before I went to the Leu gardens plant sale I bought 2 rainbow eucalyptus and they were small. Look at them now!

And the banana is growing

I got gardenias, love the smell!

Silvia

You keep posting like this and your going to pull the old Gardenweb crew back in!

Papa Jim

Papa Jim. I hope that they come back one day, I miss them!

Have to use the veggies that are coming in so fast!:)

Green bean and eggplant stir fry

Silvia

Beautiful garden and trip !.......

We've had so many Rattlesnake Beans I've threatened Pam I would add them to her morning omelet .....

I've harvested 18 lbs. of tomatoes.......pickled 8 quarts of peppers

dougandpam

Hi Doug and Pam!

I am so glad to hear from you and know that your garden is producing so well! A lot of veggies on your table, you guys are eating good.

I started to roast the tomatoes to put them away, I did not plant too many beans or peppers because I knew that I was going away, so those I like to use them fresh, Pickled peppers are a very good idea, I like them in a potato salad with just a little olive oil.

What is really surprising me is the eggplant, as soon as I harvest more fruit show up next day.:)

Don't be a stranger, come to talk to us garden stuff more often, I miss you....

Silvia

What is really surprising me is the eggplant, as soon as I harvest more fruit show up next day.:)

Yes, this has been a crazy year for eggplant for me, too.

Hi Writersblock, I guess we will have to be creative with the eggplant, I will probably do an Indian style for a change.:)

For those that have been to my house, remember this cabinet by the door to the garden? it had W's bar before, so I moved him to the other room and put some of my favorite cookbooks instead.

This morning while walking in the front garden, I picked a whole load of mulberries, the white ones are so sweet! and makes a nice combination with the black ones that Barbie gave me that have a little tang.

Silvia

Silvia., garden looks beautiful. Thanks for sharing your vacation pictures.

Hi Maxine!

I hope that you and your beautiful daughter are okay and doing gardening. The trip more than anything was a very lively lesson in gardening, history and people.

I probably did not take the best pictures because I saw them while I was going in the bus through the flowers fields, it was amazing! . The garden is hand planted by the local farmers with bulbs donated by them, after the season is over the bulbs get composted, otherwise they would be over flowing with bulbs and the flower market is already full with bulbs to sell. it is a block full of vendors and I have never seen so many different bulbs and flower seeds available, rooms and rooms full of varieties.

Maxine, keep us posted from time to time, I missed you....

Silvia

Silvia, what a great thread! Love seeing your amazing garden and harvests, and of course, getting ideas from your beautiful dishes! I look forward to these. Hope everything is well with you. Your trip looks fantastic! Ana

Hi Anna! What a happy surprise! I always love your posts and I have learned so much from you, miss you, miss you!

I liked so many things in Amsterdam that I would have a tough time picking only one but one thing is for sure that I never seen the amount of flowers like there, so even that it was cold it was a happy place to be, From outside the houses look kind of the same look but some of the gardens are inside, outside of the houses you can see in very tiny spaces the most magnificent container gardens.

This is a view from inside the hotel

Love the chandeliers

Today was a busy day for me, harvest some more in the garden, went to pick strawberries at the local farm and after that went to pick at the blueberry farm. I will be making blueberry jams next.

Anna, have a very happy Mother's Day for you and all the Mothers in the forum!

Silvia

Nice to see you back with all the wonderful pictures. Nice to hear from 'Doug and Pam' and other old Garden Web friends. Your garden is amazing as usual. The only things I seem to do well with down here in Florida are onions, garlic, Jungle Beans, and herbs. Is it too late to put in Jungle Beans? And would you like some garlic. The new crop is drying and I still have some of last year's crop. I think its Spanish Benete. The heads aren't huge buy store standards, but they are local and pesticide free. This year I harvested 3 true hard necks and they did better than the creoles that are generally recommended for the South.I guess we won't be getting together this spring but I can flat rate them down to you.

Hi Sylvia, great pics ! " Old Amsterdam Cheese ? " Sounds like you brought some ideas back with you ! ( smile )

Question : Saw your peaches growing. Have you ever had problems from critters attacking your young peaches on the tree ? Reason I ask is, I tried very hard about six years ago to start growing Tropicbeauty peaches here in Englewood. Bought one 5' tall tree, gave it the TLC recommended, started seeing some growth/progress, so a year later bought a 2nd TB and planted it 20 ' from the 1st tree.

Then the critters attacked,..squirrels, rabbits and the worst by far, - the Kamikaze attacks from birds. Not sure if it was one species, recall white, grey & dark gray feathers,..not small guys either. In desperation I went to Home Depot and bought two of the largest nets they sold. Got so bad the Kamikaze guys would fly underneath the netting, find a small gap, zoom in and I'd find them ( one every few days ) laying on a branch and flapping his/her wings as they died alongside a mangled peach.

I did this for 3 1/2 years, but as the trees grew, I ran out of netting big enough and the gaps underneath became bigger. Some birds would actually grab a thin branch thru the netting and poke it's beak into a peach that was up close inside.

Finally had enough, could deal with the other critters but the birds AND them were too much ! So I put an ad on Craigslist for " Two free peach trees, just bring your shovel ! " They were both gone one day after the ad appeared. Was asked by responders, " Why ? "

" Doctors orders " I lied. Have been wondering since, is it harder to grow these marvelous fruits here in SW Florida than other areas of Florida ? It took me by surprise because in the past I've grown peach & apple trees in western NJ and eastern Long Island with no problems. Just curious if you've experienced anything similar, or heard anything, - thanks !

Hi Larry!!! I really missed you this spring and all the other gardening friends....

You can still plant the jungle beans, I usually put them after the pole beans anyway, there is a window of timing there when you can plant them.

I saw a recent article in the Florida Gardening magazine about planting garlic and to tell you the truth, last time that you described the planting it would have been a better article than theirs, I don't remember them mentioning the chilling period. If it is not too much trouble for you in sending the garlic, I would really appreciate it, thank you very much.

And Larry, Amsterdam weather is probably a lot like Seattle, kind of rainy, cold and little sun. Flowers were very happy, I am sure is different in the summer because I went to a restaurant that served food from their own garden and they had a lot of jams to sell, the rhubarb one was very good.

I hit the stores too looking for bargains and I found one that is their own version of Target and I bought a lot of inexpensive things, and everything was single wrapped like for a gift, nice paper, tape and all for free but if you wanted a plastic bag you had to pay extra.:)

Hi Jofus, I really liked their cheese and I sampled so many varieties there that at the end I was confused, I even went to the Museum of Cheese and now I am enjoying at home.

And wow! you had a saga growing your peaches! lol. I have now 1 UF Beauty variety that is young and giving me good quality fruits, also a white peach and a white nectarine. I have 3 dogs that patrol the garden so maybe that is the reason that I don't get critters?. On the other hand I have my neighbor that by my fence has a starfruit and 2 very productive peaches UF series also, and he does not pick the fruit, so there is always some critter helping him, some I see and some I don't. It is also far from the door where I go out. The story goes like this, when the star fruits were producing, the night critters were eating some and leaving the rest in my garden. I had to clean every day under the suriname cherry where they were putting their bounty. I told him about it and he said it was some kind of different mouse and he had taped him? never saw the video,lol

Now, it is the same problem with his peaches, somebody is doing somersaults with the peaches, they even cut one of the plumeria branches by the fence yesterday, now I am cleaning every day somewhat half eaten peaches.

I guess the story will continue....

Here are my just picked peaches

Silvia

Happy Mother's Day, Silvia!!! I've missed you too! My goodness, those berries and your peaches look amazing! Those container gardens must be beautiful. There's nothing like flowers indoors when it's gloomy inside!

Anna, I had a demo on how to make container gardens, I hope that I can remember.:)

The teacher

Some of the containers

This ceiling was at the hotel

Silvia

whoa

You will remember, Silvia. You are very artistic! You probably need very little instruction. Wow, that ceiling is beautiful!

Hi, Silvia. Here's an unusual eggplant recipe I just found:

http://www.mypersiankitchen.com/eggplant-ice-cream/

Thank you Anna, you are so nice!

The hotel had very nice touches, they paid attention to the details, even the rooms and beds were beautiful. The tile in the bathroom was gorgeous! it had very tiny multi color squares and the best feature is that you could warmed it up. Probably the bar was the best looking that I ever seen...

Hi Writersblock, thank you for the recipe. First I was scared to see eggplant in the ice cream but then I remember that in one of my past lives I had an ice cream store and one time one vendor asked me to make potato ice cream for a festival at her farm and I thought was a bad idea, but at the end all you could taste was the vanilla. But I also made it for her peach ice cream with huge delicious peaches from her farm, and it was outstanding!

So, the eggplant ice cream recipe does not sound scary any more! lol and is probably tasty. More eggplant harvest today....

Silvia

I decided on what I am making with some of today's harvest.

These mini romas are going for salsa, then I can use the onions, peppers, lemons and herbs from the garden

The eggplants are baked for a sort of eggplant parmigiana, it is not fried and only has a sprinkle of Parmigiano, tomato sauce from the garden.

Silvia