If you haven’t seen our t-shirt collection, check them out! We also are ordering some cute new Dairy Goat Journal t-shirts! They’ll make great gifts for your 4-Hers—or anyone who loves their four-legged kids! They should be available in the next few weeks. Here are links to the T-shirt pages:

• Countryside
• Backyard Poultry
• sheep!

Are you tired of zucchini yet? We planted just a few plants, knowing how prolific they are, and we still have plenty for our needs. (I swear we’ve put it in practically every dish we’ve eaten lately!)

It’s finally harvest season for us and it seems like everything is always ready at the same time. It’s been somewhat of a surprise at how fast our “southern” (zone 4/5) garden has produced compared to our “northern” zone 3/4 spot.

Our sweet corn isn’t quiiite ready yet—another good week or two of hot weather would help, but I doubt that’ll happen since temperatures are on their way down around here.

Cattails

Do you have an abundance of cattails? They are edible, you know. For some menu ideas and tips on how to prepare this summer plant, check out these tips on My Garden Guide’s website.

Sam Thayer’s Forager’s Harvest is chock-full of other wild plant-use ideas and is available from the Countryside Bookstore.

Zucchini

My husband informed me that today (August 8th) is Sneak Some Zucchini Onto Your Neighbor’s Porch Day. (Not that we want to give you any ideas about what to do with your excess…)

Those prolific veggies are good for you, too, with a decent vitamin C content (35%), B6 (14%), riboflavin (10%) and potassium (9%), along with other vitamins and minerals.

If you have any zucchini recipes you’d like to share, send them to me at csyeditorial@tds.net and I can post them on the blog and/or in Countryside.

Dennis is the undisputed cook in the family and he added some cut-up zucchini to last night’s lasagna (along with some leftover pepperoni). I must admit it was pretty tasty, and the pepperoni added a little extra “zing” that we both enjoyed. It never hurts to experiment, I guess.

S’mores

Speaking of holidays, I think this is a great excuse for a summer holiday: Monday, August 10th—National S’mores Day!

According to the Holiday Insights website:

“The origin of S’mores dates back to the 1920’s. It’s believed the recipe was first discovered by Girl Scouts. S’more folklore suggests that S’mores got its name right by the campfire. After eating one, young kids chanted ‘gimme some more!’”

Break out the chocolate bars!

How to make S’mores:

Ingredients:

• Chocolate candy bar
• Honey Graham Crackers
• Marshmallows

Instructions:

• Break off a square of Graham cracker
• Add a piece of Chocolate.
• Toast a big marshmallow over the campfire.
• Add the hot marshmallow.
• Top it with another graham Cracker.
• Eat , savor and enjoy!

Note: You can make S’mores in the microwave. Just put them together and pop them into the microwave on high for 15 to 20 seconds.

The strawberries came in fast and furious there for a while. Last year’s harvest was overwhelming, but this year isn’t quite as feverish.

The berries aren’t as large and juicy as they were last year, but we haven’t had as much rain and we’ve been too busy to water. Not to mention, the weather has been MUCH cooler! Here it is, the middle of July, and temperatures are supposed to dip down to the low 50s tonight. (Normally we’d see 60s or even low 70s at night.)

Here’s a yummy dessert idea to use your strawberries and any excess eggs:

Schaum Torte

6 egg whites
2 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla

In large mixing bowl, beat egg whites until foamy, add cream of tartar and vinegar. Beat on medium speed until soft peaks form. Slowly add sugar, a few tablespoons at a time, beating on high speed until very stiff peaks form.

Make 12 meringues on greased and floured cookie sheets. (Parchment paper works well for this.) Use the back of a spoon to make a hollow and build up the sides.

Bake in 275°F oven for 50 minutes. Turn off oven; leave meringues in oven with door closed for at least 1 hour. Loosen from cookie sheets before they are cold.

Recipe from: www.cooks.com. Or use your favorite meringue-type recipe.

Place a scoop of vanilla ice cream in the meringue “cups,” followed by a large spoonful of cut-up berries, adding sugar to the berries beforehand if needed. (You could use other berries in season.) Follow with a dollop of whipped cream on top of it all.

Yum!