All My Bags Are Packed...

... or so I think! After a few packing and re-packing, I finally settled as to what to put in my luggages. I can't remember how many times I had to dig and compress the stuffs as I wanna maximize the space. Below are the luggages I'll take with me, 2 check-in and a carry-on plus of course a purse for my gadgets and stitching books. Unfortunately, my notebook quit on me recently so I decided to just have it repaired when I get back.

DH was craving for steak yesterday... while he was grilling, I was busy in the garden picking as much veggies as I can to preserve one last time. I'm sure they'll be all gone when I get back. My asparagus beans or string beans (sitaw in tagalog) just started to bloom a couple weeks back and yesterday was my first harvest. My eggplants and okra are still blooming really good as well, not to mention our peppers are overflowing again. I picked more than 20 eggplants, mostly japanese kinds, but the lavender touch and satin beauty are all huge. I took a photo while holding a satin beauty to show how big they are. We didn't get tomatoes this years as much as the previous years but we have more than enough to eat. DH friend drop by today so we gave some to him earlier.

I wish I have "ampalaya" so I can cook "pinakbet", but I can't find one here unless I'll go in Des Moines. The daredevil peppers or "siling labuyo" went right away on my datu puti "suka" or vinegar that's why they're not in the picture below. I have way too much habanero this year so I told DH we may not need to plant them next year, same goes for jalapeno. These were preserved yesterday and are now frozen.Look at these eggplants! I got them from one plant only... I think the said plant alone gave me more than 50 eggplants already... seriously, they stemmed and bloomed a lot. As I mentioned before, DH polinated them as we don't have much bees. Oh and notice the leaves on the background, can't deny it's fall already!

Here's what we had for lunch yesterday... this is DH's plate. We still have some left-over potatoes from MIL so I fried the biggest piece with olive oil, white onion and herbs.

After DH got done grilling, I grilled my eggplants and preserved most of them. Saved a couple and made eggplant omelet for supper... just for me as DH doesn't eat eggplants. Just in case some of you are curious, I peeled each eggplant after grilling. These are also yummy in "ensalada" (with "bagoong isda" as sauce or dressing), and was supposed to make some but I was too full yesterday that I neglected the idea... not to mention I want my "ensalada" to have yums young leaves ("talbos ng kamote"). MIL used to plant yums in her garden but was unlucky in the last couple of years so she decided not to plant this year.

I hope it's not yet too cold when I get back and can still have some fresh veggies from our garden, though I have to cross my fingers on that.

Have a great first Fall Sunday everybody!