At Home My Way

I wait all year for my July garden and it’s finally here!  July’s garden is a pretty magical place for me.  It’s where I feel peace and promise, where I know perseverance and hope.  It’s also where I can make mistakes but still end up in a good place! It’s where I remember the young girl I once was who hated sweating, who hated being outside in the yard but who can now turn a seed into a five foot squash!  Gardening isn’t hard.  It’s about trial and error, learning new things, and carefully tending to plants as if they were tiny babies.  With a little self discipline and hard work, most any garden can become a July garden AT HOME MY WAY.     Happy July Garden   by Gina Kenney (2026) Anticipating the weekend on Saturday’s Eve For a few days in the garden when I won’t have to leave   Four pints and four quarts of the mighty green bean Wrangling and untangling the cucumber vines green   Acros...

Garden fresh yellow squash became the very best baked Squash & Cheese Patties AT HOME MY WAY! RECIPES AT THE TOP; CHIT-CHAT AT THE BOTTOM! Summer Squash & Cheese Patties (Baked) ( PRINTABLE VIEW HERE ) 4 cups of grated yellow squash-washed & unpeeled 1 egg 2 T. milk  1 teaspoon onion powder ½ teaspoon garlic powder 1 teaspoon paprika 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup grated cheese (I used mozzarella.) 1/2 cup grated parmesan (I used the real stuff but canned is fine.) 1/2 cup flour (GF is fine) 1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs (GF is fine) (or just use all bread crumbs) Cookie spray or parchment for the baking pan INSTRUCTIONS: PREHEAT OVEN TO 350 degrees. Wash and grate yellow squash with the peeling on.  (If super juicy, squeeze out all of the moisture.  Mine was not and I didn’t do this step at all.)  Measure into a bowl.  (I wasn't real exact.  I just grated one medium yellow squash into my bowl.) Add remaining ingredients (except of course, the cooking ...

Small Batch Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars   (makes an 8x8 square pan or one round cake pan)   RECIPES AT THE TOP - CHIT CHAT AT THE BOTTOM! PRINTABLE VIEW HERE! 1 cup + 2 Tablespoons all purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 stick (1/2 cup) real butter, softened 1/3 cup granulated sugar 1/3 cup packed brown sugar 1/2 teaspoon vanilla 1 egg 1 cup chocolate chips *This recipe could be doubled for baking in a 9x13 pan. (Makes about 12 cookie bars.) Instructions:   Preheat oven to 350°. Stir softened butter, both sugars, egg and vanilla until smooth.  Add baking soda, salt and stir.  Next add flour and stir.  Stir in chocolate chips last. Batter will be thick.  Spread in sprayed/prepared 8x8 square or 8" round cake pan.  (I actually sprayed my clean hands with cooking spray and then patted the dough into my sprayed cake pan.) Bake 22-24 minutes or until browning. Wait to cut until cooled a little. The Chit Chat This weekend we p...

FIRST:  Three recipes -  Cooking Like a Granny! #1 Fresh Peach Pie  (home frozen peaches) Two fresh pie crusts-unbaked Filling : 1 gallon baggie (6 cups) of frozen fresh peaches/juice drained a little, thawed completely 2/3 cup of sugar  4 heaping Tablespoons of flour  1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon  2 Tablespoons butter sliced into small pats Instructions: Roll one crust and gently place in the pie pan making sure the edges extend over the sides of the pan a little bit.   Mix up the filling and  pour into the crust.   Roll remaining crust (top) and cut into lattice strips about one inch wide or so.   Add strips across the pie.   Fold back the top half every other strip and add a cross strip starting in the middle with the longest strip.  Unfold those strips over and fold back the  remaining "every other" strips.  Add another cross strip. Try to pick the wider/shorter strips to match the width across the...