Can we talk?

Eggplant

         I didn't grow up eating eggplant. No one in our family grew it or cooked it. The only recipes for it that I ever saw involved spaghetti sauce and melted cheese. I don't know why we stayed away from it. Thomas Jefferson had extensive gardens near here, and he grew eggplant. But then I'm in the South, and we didn't eat grits either. My mom never would eat them, even after her kids grew up and learned to eat them with cheese or butter. She used to feed us oatmeal or cream of wheat, but no grits.

         Anyway, my dad and I have discovered eggplant is easy to grow. We stir fry it, mix it with other vegetables, and so forth. Today, I tried Stuffed Eggplant. I suppose you could stuff it with anything you like, but since we have a surplus of tomatoes and peppers right now, I went with a vegetable stuffing. It took a while to chop all the fresh veggies, and made a number of prep dishes to wash, but it was delicious and healthy. A dash of cayenne and a sprinkle of paprika gave it a kick.

         Earlier in the week, I took the surplus corn from Sunday, cut it off the cob and made fresh corn pudding. Dad prepares for Sunday like we'll have a lot of company, which we sometimes do, but when no one shows up, we eat leftovers for days on end. That's easy for cooking dinner. It's not easier for washing dishes, because you keep putting the leftovers in smaller containers, so there's always lots of pots or bowls. Very seldom do I use the recipe exactly as written, unless it might affect the way it rises, like bread. (I gave up souffles decades ago.) So the corn pudding recipe called for heavy cream and sugar. I used whole milk which my Dad likes, but I can't drink. I used Splenda instead of sugar, since the two of us are not children and should watch our calories. We're still eating corn pudding, and now have leftover eggplant.

         I think we should be vegetarians this time of year. We always have too much squash, green and yellow, peppers, etc. And Dad buys corn, now that his garden is much smaller. His favorite vegetables, which he would have every day of the year if possible, are corn, cucumbers, radishes, and tomatoes. He does love his fresh veggies. And he eats bananas almost every day, with other fruits daily.  His excuse for hard candy is the constant tickle in his throat. But he wants meat at every dinner, too.

         So my freezer is full of squash. I'm experimenting on a regular basis with vegetable recipes.