Overwhelmed

[Penelope]

I'm feeling overwhelmed with summer produce. I love to cook, but everybody I want to cook for is/are out of town or otherwise engaged. What does an "earth mother" do when the kids move out and away? What shall I do with Italian sweet peppers, burpless cucumbers, red beets, lots of fresh herbs and a large bowl of Caponata I made yesterday....

[Mrs.W]

Alas, this is the folly of being a foodie.

You can freeze or jar the caponata, though I usually do that before it's completely made up. Otherwise you can add it to other things you make, like on a pizza (with some of those sweet peppers & herbs) and red sauce.

My husband isn't usually a fan of the food I make, preferring boxed dinners instead (go figure), so I know how you feel about not always having someone to watch enjoy your creations.

I've also been a bit overwhelmed with the whole cooking process lately, especially with lovely produce available. It seems so much simpler (and tastier) to stick with uncomplicated recipes to showcase nature's perfect bounty. And that's hardly blogworthy!

It seems that most foodbloggers slow down for the summer... perhaps a combination of simpler food, vacations and kids being home/less time to create.

[Penelope]

I guess I'll freeze the caponata. I quick-pickled some of the beets and have been eating them like candy. Love them. I also quick-pickled a couple of cucumbers with carrots, onions, spices, brown sugar, wine vinegar. Pretty good.

Am looking for recipes for leftover roasted chicken. It used to be easy to use up leftover chicken, now I can't think of anything -- Why is that?

[Mrs.W]

Chicken Salad - spruce up with dried or fresh fruit, curry powder, veggies. Yum!
Any hot curry over rice. Double yum!
Quick chicken & dumplings.

I also like to store leftover cooked meat & poultry in the freezer for soupmaking. It's almost that time of year, and with fixins ready to rock in the freezer a comforting pot of soup isn't too long in the making.

Clearly my freezer is full of leftover bits & bobs. :)

[Penelope]

I made chicken and dumplings -- made the soup/stew with garden veggies, green and yellow beans and zucchini, carrots and potatoes, onions, of course. my whole wheat dumplings were too tender, disintegrated, but still tasted good. Thanks for the ideas. I've not experimented very much with curries, but the ones I've tried I've liked, especially toasting and making up my own spice mix in a mortar/pestle.