(Re) Chic

I've been dying to find a way to use the eggplant that I grew.  I tried it fried and it was ok, but I wanted something more creative.  So I did some research and found a few different recipes for Eggplant Lasagna.  That is, lasagna with sliced eggplant that replaces the noodles.  I mostly used the recipe from About.com  when I was making it but I pulled inspiration from this recipe on Country Living.   The Finished Product Since I only had two small eggplants I decided to make an experimental lasagna in a loaf pan, just in case it turned out terrible.  I would definitely recommend cutting your slices about an 1/8 an inch thick.  I sliced mine as thin as possible to get more slices but they just got overcooked in the over so they weren't very noodle-like in consistency.  I would also recommend peeling them, the skin was quite leathery after being cooked twice.  Also be sure to either blacken (as suggested in Countr...

I was really excited about the number of peppers I had been growing on my small pepper plants.  Every week I would get one or two of these little peppers and eventually I started getting bigger bell peppers and decided to try this great stuffed pepper recipe I found here  via One Lovely Life Blog  . They were delicious and it just so happened that since we used quinoa instead of ground beef they were vegetarian.  I added a few of my own extra peppers and tomatoes that I had and skipped the enchilada sauce, they were delicious.  Definitely don't cook them much/any longer than it says though...you don't want your stuffed peppers get to soft!   What's your favorite summer recipe?  You only have a few weeks left to get to make it!    

Check out some of the great things that have been growing in my garden! I have pretty much seen nothing but these daylilies all summer...they're EVERYWHERE in my garden plot.  I left them because I didn't have it in my heart to pull flowers out...and they've taken over!  And then I was pleasantly surprised when these started to bloom:  6 feet tall and more of a coral color than is really shown in the photograph and most importantly, seemingly unbothered by the construction and moving of the waterline and beds right on the other side of the fence.   And then there's the world's most excited pepper plant: Yes, you're seeing that right...there are 4 peppers on that plant!  The other one barely has a little nub of a pepper on it and this one is about to be so loaded it can't hold them all!  I'm just hoping that these peppers start turning (they're supposed to be chocolate) soon...we've had some varmints getting into ...