MY FIRST CUCUMBER

My first cucumber harvested today, July 18th.

This is a Bush Pickle cucumber and my first off the vine.  I am thrilled to have it and will enjoy it at lunch today.

As for my tomatoes, the first ones ripening are the Gold Nuggets as you can see among the green.  

This will be my first nice salad with my Bush Pickle cucumber and a few Gold Nugget tomatoes, the first of my season.

My garden is very green and looking good.  We are expecting t-showers this afternoon so I did not water my garden this morning.  

Another item to share with you is the wooden knife block I purchased online from Wayfair last week.  Originally, I had to keep my large knives in a drawer which made for difficult choosing and keeping them sorted.  This knife block eliminates that problem.  All the knives I had fit perfectly.  I love this block.  I can even slot my steak knives but have a smaller knife block for those.

Have a nice summer day.

EGG BITES RECIPE

 This recipe is being passed around my quilt group with good results.  Everyone that has tried it likes it and you can freeze the results, so it's never wasted.

Ingredients:   Makes 12

3 Slices bread, your choice, crusts trimmed away, cubed in 1 inch pieces

1/2 Lb Pork Sausage Meat, cooked.  Or frozen sausage patties or links, cooked and cut into small pcs.

4 Oz. Cheddar Cheese, grated

8 Eggs

1 1/2 Cups Milk

1 teaspoon Salt

1 teaspoon Oregano

1/2 teaspoon Black Pepper

Options:  Cooked hash brown potatoes in small bits, small pieces spinach, or any veggie of your choice, cut very small.

Preheat your Oven to 350 degrees F

Use Silicone muffin pans or Silicone liners.

If you use non-stick pans you need to spray them well, otherwise your pans will be difficult to clean.  With silicones, even without any spray or oil, they pop right out.

 First..... Distribute the bread pieces on the bottom.

Next, add some cooked Sausage to each cup.

For the next step I added some Hash Browns but you can eliminate those or add some veggie your prefer, like spinach.

This was topped off with the grated Cheddar cheese.

Next is the Egg and Milk Mixture....

In a measuring bowl break 8 eggs, add 1 1/2 Cups Milk, also the pepper, salt and onion powder.  Whisk well to incorporate fully.

This is poured over your muffin cups evenly, but leave a little space at the top because the milk mixture will rise as it cooks.

To finish, place muffin pans in 350*F Oven for 25-30 minutes to cook through.

The result in a dozen muffin-sized Egg Bites.  You can freeze these to use later.  Just allow to defrost overnite in the fridge and microwave 30-60 seconds before enjoying. 

Or you can save in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Enjoy.

GARDEN UPDATE.....

 ITS BEEN A NICE COUPLE OF DAYS AND HAPPILY WE GOT A LITTLE RAIN LAST NITE, NOT MUCH, BUT A LITTLE MORE THAN A QUARTER INCH SO THAT'S GOOD.  MY GARDEN IS LOOKING GOOD.

My Bush Pickles are now covered in blossoms and many little cukes starting to grow.  

This Golden Star pepper has a nice one growing with several little ones to come.  It will turn golden when its ripe, but of course, one can pick peppers at any stage and they are good eating.

Little Napoli tomato is a small variety in size, but gives lots of nice normal-sized plum tomatoes.  There are many little toms growing and lots of blossoms to come.

Ruby Crush tomato is doing very well with its grape-size tomatoes starting to form.  

I am very happy with everything in my garden.  I harvested a couple of Romaine lettuces this morning and gave one to a neighbor who was walking her dog nearby.  She was pleased to get super fresh lettuce.  I will use mine for more BLTs for lunch today and tomorrow.  Its a good way to use up fresh lettuce.

Our temps have lowered from the 80 and 81 of a few days past.  We are back in the 70s days and 60s nites which pleases me, though peppers are not as pleased with those temps.  They grow best when its hotter. 

Happy gardening.