How does your garden grow?....

I LoVe spring and summer.  There is just so much to do.  Something that has become  a family tradition at our house  is planting and tending to a vegetable garden in our backyard.  We began this about 4 years ago, and each year it gets a little bigger.  My favorite part of this garden is......  how our kids love to help plant and tend to the garden.  They get so excited when they see some of the first vegetables of the summer.  ( Of course their excitement soon wanes as the vegetables just keep coming.)  Here's a  peek at our first crop of the summer.

Here are a few favorite family recipes we use with our produce:

1.  Zucchini bread ( My kids absolutely love this stuff. .. AND it has zucchini in it so it has to be a LITTLE healthy right??

Here's a recipe I have been using for years.  It came from a cookbook created by the ladies of my hometown church.  My Mom used to love to buy those for me.  It has so many old fashioned recipes.  I LOVE it!
3 eggs
1 cup oil
2 cups of zucchini
2 cups of sugar
3 tsp. vanilla
3 cups of flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp soda
3 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup chocolate chips ( if you wish)
1/2 cup nuts ( if you wish)
Beat eggs until light and foamy.  Add oil, zucchini, sugar, and vanilla.  Beat then add flour, salt, soda, cinnamon, and baking powder.  Add chocolate chips and nuts.  Makes 2 loaves.  Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.


2. Salsa and Spaghetti sauce... My family asks for the homemade spaghetti sauce.

 I found the spaghetti sauce recipe online at allrecipes.com  Click on the picture of the spaghetti sauce above to be taken to this recipe.  I have tried several, but this is one of our favorites. There is nothing like the sweet smell of homemade spaghetti sauce simmering on a warm stove.




3.  Sweet Pickles

This recipe is for no cook pickles.  They can keep in the refrigerator for several months.  The recipe is from my husband's Grandmother.  He can remember eating these as a little boy visiting his grandparents.   Wonderful childood memories!!   We just had to use this recipe.
8 cups sliced cucumbers, 1 cup sliced onions, 1 cup vinegar, 2 cups sugar,  1Tablespoon salt, 1 teaspoon celery salt.     Mix brine well & cucumbers & onions well.  Put together in container (plastic) with tight fitting lid.  Put in refrigerator.  They will last 2 or 3 months.

I can still picture in my mind the large garden my Dad would plant every year.  AND sitting down with my Mom on a rocking chair outside and snapping the beans, or preparing the sweet corn.  I can even remember the warmth of the kitchen in the summer and the sound of the steam coming from the canner as my Mom would can green beans.  Such great memories!

I would love to hear about your favorite recipes using garden fresh produce!