Cookin and keepin

I didn't get a shot of the plate before hand but dinner consisted of stuffed zucchini and green beans from the garden (steamed just a touch). Here is what's left, I was nervous about how it would be received. My wife likes them, I used to make it all the time before we got kids, but the kids was the variable. One just turned one year old and I guess I shouldn't have worried because he eats everything under the sun and seems to love squash and sweet potatoes, so when he barely took time to breathe between bites I shouldn't have been surprised. Our daughter will be turning 9 in two weeks and the last time I made eggplant it did not go well, but I was relieved to hear that she loved it.


After dinner I put some of the glut of potatoes to use. The old standbye, your favorite and mine, potato and leek soup. This picture was taken before I finished filling the jars, 5 in total but when you factor in the large headspace it probably came closer to 4 quarts. Since this is a low acid food and I have no pressure canner, this is going in the freezer, hence the large headspace. Both came from the same cookbook, which I'll have to see if I can find a link to. I must have close to a dozen cookbooks, but this one gets used more than all others.
I first started cooking around the time I "fell off the chuckwagon" (has it been almost 12 years now?) Anyway, its not something I have always been good at, but after growing a lot of my ingredients now I am really getting the sense of accomplishment from it.