Tasty has an appt at Scarrow Meats. Jalapeno Poppers. Squash bake.

Scott called yesterday and set up for Tasty to go to Scarrow Meats Tuesday next weeks. She doesn't seem to be getting any bigger, and is still just munching us out of house and home. Wilbur will stay another week or two. At least until Andrea decides to take him to her place, or start buying feed for him. Now I just have to find a freezer to put her in when she comes home.

The garden is winding down. We got a little bit of frost the other day. All the tops of the plants wilted and turned black. All of a sudden I can see everything that's hiding under there. Most of what you see is weeds. I was so good pulling weeds the beginning of the season. Not so much lately.

All the corn is done. The 20 or so ears that were still out there got ate by a skunk. I saw corn stalks being pushed down here and there. I thought it was the dog chasing after a feral cat. I've seen her tear ass off into the trees chasing it before. I heard something thrashing in the corn the other night, Ashley was still on the porch with me so I knew it wasn't her. Grabbed the big flashlight thinking I was going to scare off a cat, or maybe the coyote we saw earlier that night. OH NO! SKUNK!! Ash came with me, and I shoed her back to the porch and hightailed it myself. No way I was gonna go in there after a skunk. I thought about going in the house for the 22 and taking care of it, but it was after 11 at night, and all I needed was crazy Mrs. Shirk behind me calling the sheriff out. Besides, I'm still all high on painkillers from the surgery last Mon. Ne reason on this planet for me to be handling a gun. But I did see the skunk lean against a corn stalk till it broke over. The next morning I went out to salvage what was left, and he'd gotten them all.

Earlier this week I went out and picked all the jalapeno peppers that finally grew. Those plants got frosted the beginning of the season and I almost gave up on them. I think I missed one pepper and it's out there the prettiest red color. I made poppers out of the ones I brought in.

Jalapeno Pepper Poppers

• Half a sleeve of crackers, crushed. I used Club, it was in my cabinet
• One pkg cream cheese, softened
• half cup shredded cheese. I used Colby Jack because it's what I had in the fridge
• 2 tsp paprika
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese 
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• Enough peppers to use all the filling.

I can't tell you how many peppers to use, because mine were all different sizes out of the garden. More if they were all small, less of they were as big as the ones I got from the store for the salsa? I sliced them in half and it filled a whole baking sheet. Not a lot of help, I know. Anywho...

• Preheat oven to 375
• Mix the softened cream cheese with all the cheeses, paprika, and garlic powder. 
• I cut the top off the pepper and sliced in half. It was too much bother to core out the center. WEAR GLOVES. 
• Fill the peppers with the cheese mixture and place on a baking sheet, cheese side up. Sprinkle with the crushed crackers. 
• Bake in the oven for 15-20 mins until the cheese starts to melt and the crackers darken slightly. 

I didn't eat any of these. I don't like spicy foods, and I don't like the taste of jalapeno even if they weren't hot. I was told by everyone who had them, that I can make them over and over again, anytime They want them. lol. I know they weren't the traditional breaded and fried, but they were a big hit.  No pics. They all got eaten before I had a chance to grab the camera, but here's a shot of the empty pan :)

I made a different version of the Southern Baked Squash. My friend Lacy came over and she can't have gluten, but I wanted to do squash bake again. So we went with cheese. 

Cheesy Squash Bake

• 3 yellow squash and three zucchini, cubed. Mine here getting pretty large in the garden. You might want to use 4 or 5 smaller. 
• Half a pkg cream cheese
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
• 3 eggs
• Half a sleeve of crushed crackers. I used Club, they were in my cabinet
• 1 cup shredded cheese. I used the Colby Jack I had in the fridge
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• Boil the cubed squash 15 mins or until tender. 
• Preheat oven to 375
• Spray inside of a 9x13 baking pan with cooking spray
• drain squash, and mash until it had the constancy of mashed potatoes
• Add eggs, butter and cheeses and blend well. 
• Smooth mixture into the backing dish and cover with crackers. I left one third of uncovered for my friend
• Bake in the oven uncovered about 45-50 mins, or until the crackers start to darken, and the squash mixture is bubbly. 

Cute baby cows in the pasture next door to us

We picked the first of the five watermelon that grew this year. We had Charleston Greys. Big watermelon. Scott had to carry it in for me since it's over the limit of what the doc says I can carry. It's a very tasty watermelon. I think we could have left it out there one more week. The white rind was very thick. Most of the seeds were dark brown, but not black yet. Still very sweet though. I'm still waiting on the cantlelope to be ready to eat.