I got a prize tomato the other day. Was afraid the squirrel would get it
but it was kind of hidden and it did not get it and I tempted fate and
let it ripen on the vine. I do find a tomato remnant now and then from
the squirrel, but there are still some more forming getting close to
full grown. Hopefully, I will get a few more... Cucumber plant is going
insane. I have three in the fridge and there are a bunch more coming due
soon. Other than salads and slices on sandwiches, I don't know what to
do with them all. I like them as slices for a snack once in a while. I
used to do that at work. Good with some salsa and/or hummus on them.

On Wednesday, August 21, 2013 6:52:09 AM UTC-7, Gus wrote:
I got a prize tomato the other day. Was afraid the squirrel would get it

but it was kind of hidden and it did not get it and I tempted fate and

let it ripen on the vine. I do find a tomato remnant now and then from

the squirrel, but there are still some more forming getting close to

full grown. Hopefully, I will get a few more... Cucumber plant is going

insane. I have three in the fridge and there are a bunch more coming due

soon. Other than salads and slices on sandwiches, I don't know what to

do with them all. I like them as slices for a snack once in a while. I

used to do that at work. Good with some salsa and/or hummus on them.

Send them here! My seed-sowed cukes never made it beyond baby leaves. Why?!
I took good care of them. They wouldn't have germinated if the seed wasn't viable - would they??!!

I now have a few store-bot cuke plants going, but with our lousy "summer" -- frequent heavy overcast here near the beach -- who knows??

Only cukes I really like to eat are the small "pickling" ones. The big watery ones don't do much for me. Perhaps I should heed the advice to cut lengthwise and scoop out the seeds before serving?

I stopped buying the "Persian cucumbers" sold in six-packs because the last few go bad before I get around to them.

HB

Gus wrote:
I got a prize tomato the other day. Was afraid the squirrel would get
it but it was kind of hidden and it did not get it and I tempted fate
and let it ripen on the vine. I do find a tomato remnant now and then
from the squirrel, but there are still some more forming getting
close to full grown. Hopefully, I will get a few more... Cucumber
plant is going insane. I have three in the fridge and there are a
bunch more coming due soon. Other than salads and slices on
sandwiches, I don't know what to do with them all. I like them as
slices for a snack once in a while. I used to do that at work. Good
with some salsa and/or hummus on them.

You can make a nice sweet pickled cucumber slices with little trouble, it
keeps for ages and is good on sandwichwes, with antipasto etc. If you are
interested I will find the recipe.

David

On Wed, 21 Aug 2013 09:52:09 -0400, "Gus"
wrote:

Other than salads and slices on sandwiches, I don't know what to
do with them all.

Norwegian Cucumber Salad (Agurksalat)

Use smallish cukes, maybe 50% larger than pickling size. Peel strips
of skin leaving about 1/3 of the skin. Score lightly lengthwise with a
fork. It lets in dressing with thickish slices, and looks pretty in
any case. Slice very thinly... I use the food processor. Cover with
dressing made in these proportions and refrigerate for a bit.

3 cukes
1 smallish medium onion sliced *very* thinly

Dressing
2/3 cup white vinegar
2/3 cup cold water
4 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon dill
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

Steve Baker wrote:
On Wed, 21 Aug 2013 09:52:09 -0400, "Gus"
wrote:

Other than salads and slices on sandwiches, I don't know what to
do with them all.

Norwegian Cucumber Salad (Agurksalat)

Use smallish cukes, maybe 50% larger than pickling size. Peel strips
of skin leaving about 1/3 of the skin. Score lightly lengthwise with a
fork. It lets in dressing with thickish slices, and looks pretty in
any case. Slice very thinly... I use the food processor. Cover with
dressing made in these proportions and refrigerate for a bit.

3 cukes
1 smallish medium onion sliced *very* thinly

Dressing
2/3 cup white vinegar
2/3 cup cold water
4 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon dill
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

Sounds great! For me I would leave out the water until I was sure that I
needed that volume of dressing, otherwise it could be rather watery. Note
that this dressing will draw water out of the cucumbers.

David

Gus wrote:

I got a prize tomato the other day. Was afraid the squirrel would get it
but it was kind of hidden and it did not get it and I tempted fate and
let it ripen on the vine. I do find a tomato remnant now and then from
the squirrel, but there are still some more forming getting close to
full grown. Hopefully, I will get a few more... Cucumber plant is going
insane. I have three in the fridge and there are a bunch more coming due
soon. Other than salads and slices on sandwiches, I don't know what to
do with them all. I like them as slices for a snack once in a while. I
used to do that at work. Good with some salsa and/or hummus on them.


a really good dressing can be made from them
using the greek yogurt, some garlic and a bit
of mint, salt, olive oil, vinegar or lemon
juice.

take 3/4 of the cucumber, garlic and
yogurt and blend it well. chop the rest
of the cucumber and add that to the blended
sauce.

add any of the remaining items to taste
or leave them out completely. if you use
mint, chop finely, but it doesn't take
much (a pinch is plenty for most people).

good on about anything, commonly used as
gyro sauce, salad dressing, etc.


another way we like them is to mix a
dressing out of plain yogurt and mayonaise
and then use that over sliced cucumbers
and sweet onions. a bit of green pepper is
fine in that too. also a bit of vinegar
and sugar are fine in this.

simple version is to slice them and some
onions and add them to water, sugar and
vinegar (adjust each to suit your own taste).


i've taken all of these and used them as
salad toppings or mixed them together in
various combinations. all of it is pretty
good and keeps in the fridge for a while.

some people call the vinegar/water/sugar
version refrigerator pickles. they keep
long enough that we don't have trouble eating
them all.

what i like about all of these is that
they are good cold and don't need any cooking
to make. good hot weather food.

for some strange reason we have six cucumber
plants. luckily not all of them are producing
or we'd never be able to eat them all. visitors
often go away with extras.


songbird

On Thu, 22 Aug 2013 11:39:14 +1000, "David Hare-Scott"
wrote:

Steve Baker wrote:
On Wed, 21 Aug 2013 09:52:09 -0400, "Gus"
wrote:

Other than salads and slices on sandwiches, I don't know what to
do with them all.

Norwegian Cucumber Salad (Agurksalat)

Use smallish cukes, maybe 50% larger than pickling size. Peel strips
of skin leaving about 1/3 of the skin. Score lightly lengthwise with a
fork. It lets in dressing with thickish slices, and looks pretty in
any case. Slice very thinly... I use the food processor. Cover with
dressing made in these proportions and refrigerate for a bit.

3 cukes
1 smallish medium onion sliced *very* thinly

Dressing
2/3 cup white vinegar
2/3 cup cold water
4 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon dill
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

Sounds great!

It's awesome, definitely my favorite way to eat cukes. It might not
qualify as "Agurksalat", but that's the recipe I've evolved.

For me I would leave out the water

Don't leave out the water. You don't want the cukes soaking in pure
vinegar, and you want to cover them with the dressing.

until I was sure that I
needed that volume of dressing, otherwise it could be rather watery.

But, of course, you can do what you want.

Note
that this dressing will draw water out of the cucumbers.

Not much. Just enough so that if the dressing doesn't quite
completely cover the cukes you'll still be OK. With a stir every now
and then.

Gus said:

Cucumber plant is going
insane. I have three in the fridge and there are a bunch more coming due
soon. Other than salads and slices on sandwiches, I don't know what to
do with them all. I like them as slices for a snack once in a while. I
used to do that at work. Good with some salsa and/or hummus on them.


Soups. There are a lot of different recipes for both cold and hot soups
with cucumbers as a major ingredient. Lots of leads if you search the Web.

One I remember is Asian, made with chicken broth, chunks of peeled
and seeded cucumbers, and bean thread noodles. Seasoned with garlic,
ginger and a waft of sesame oil, garnished with cilantro. Can add
scallops if you want to make it luxurious.

Then there are the cold, pureed soups, made with chicken broth, sour
cream (you could substitute plain non-fat Greek yogurt) and often
seasoned with dill or lemon.

And I cannot forget to mention Polish cucumber soup (ogorkowa).
http://www.tastingpoland.com/food/re...mber_soup.html

I can't grow cucumbers at all; they start to run and then invariably wilt
and die. For a while I had a system rigged up to grow them in an enclosure
where they were protected from beetles (and pollinators) but that would
only delay the death long enough to get a few cucumbers before the plants
died from fungus likely related to lack of air circulation. Too much work for
too little reward.

I can't grow melons here, either, and I used to have beautiful melons at my
old place.

--
Pat in Plymouth MI

"Yes, swooping is bad."

email valid but not regularly monitored

On 8/21/2013 9:52 AM, Gus wrote:
I got a prize tomato the other day. Was afraid the squirrel would get it
but it was kind of hidden and it did not get it and I tempted fate and
let it ripen on the vine. I do find a tomato remnant now and then from
the squirrel, but there are still some more forming getting close to
full grown. Hopefully, I will get a few more... Cucumber plant is going
insane. I have three in the fridge and there are a bunch more coming due
soon. Other than salads and slices on sandwiches, I don't know what to
do with them all. I like them as slices for a snack once in a while. I
used to do that at work. Good with some salsa and/or hummus on them.

I've got the same problem.

Tried making pickles the easiest way but they were on the soft side and
too salty. Don't rely on the internet but use directions in reliable
sources like the Ball canning book.

I don't eat that many pickles and thinking about relish, would be the
same, so not bothering this year.

Simple thing you can do, if you have an open jar of pickles in the
refrigerator, add your cucumbers and in a couple of weeks they will be
similar but you cannot take this too far.

I sometimes trade with neighbors for their excess produce but they are
trying to give me cucumbers.

Now I give them away or just let them go bad.