Recipe Box:  Last of the Garden

Making this old recipe brings back a flood of childhood memories with my papa. If you love meat, potatoes and veggies all wrapped up in one comfort food, you'll love this recipe and you can find much of what you need right here at the Midwest's Largest Flea Market in the Farmer's Market section every Tuesday and Wednesday from May through September!

Last of the Garden:  An Old Southern Family Recipe

So why did he name it last of the garden?

Well, my papa was an avid gardener and canned all kinds of amazing veggies and when it's late in the season and you have a few random veggies in the garden that are the last harvest, well that's exactly what goes into this amazing goulash style comfort food.

Ingredients

• Ground Beef | Try picking some up right on the grounds at Yoder's Meat & Cheese
• Potatoes (A good hearty baking potato.)
• Veggies of choice... or the last of the garden:)
  • Tomato
  • Peppers (Banana, Jalapeno, Bell or any kind and use the hot ones if you love the spice!) I love the spice so I use all the peppers I can and every variety!
  • Zucchini
  • Onion
  • Carrots (Shredded)
  • Cabbage
  • Squash
  • Kale
  • Okra
  • Really any healthy veggie you enjoy can be thrown in here.

So this is where you just make it how you like and measurements aren't a real big deal, because no matter your mix, this always turns out amazing! I suggest you just use 1-2 of each vegetable of choice and make sure that you have about as much ground beef and potatoes as you do veggies for a good blend and balance of flavors.

Directions

The first key tool is to use a seasoned Cast Iron Skillet (Did you know we have a weekly, year-round Antique Auction that is the perfect place to find these.) And guess where mine came from? Nope... you're wrong if you think it was Shipshewana Auction! Mine came from yours truly, PAPA HUFF!

• Chop all of your vegetables and the potatoes to bite size pieces. The veggies can be mixed, but keep the potatoes separate for now.
• I like to start by browning my ground beef in the skillet. Drain most of the grease off and set aside the cooked hamburger in a bowl.
• With the skillet coated with the grease, add your potatoes and brown them. Don't play around with them, put them in there and let them cook a while getting a nice dark brown and then flip them so they brown on all sides.
• Once they are fried to your liking, add the veggies and cook them all down until tender.
• Finally add back in the ground beef and some seasoning. (I use Happy Salt of course, but you can salt and pepper it or use any seasonings that fit your taste.)
• Stir it all together, being careful not to smush it up and serve it in a big bowl and enjoy!

You'll love this I promise! I'd love to see yours, so share your photos on our Facebook page, Instagram or Pinterest! Bon Appetit!

Love that carries on in his family!

Here is an excerpt from his obituary that I was privileged to author and read at his funeral. Hope you all enjoy his recipe, but mostly carry on his legacy of the love he had for his family when he cooked a good meal for them!

Oh and if you don't have your very own garden bounty, rest assured you can always find a variety of veggies at the Farmer's Market each Tuesday and Wednesday during market season!

A Gardening Husband, Father & Grandfather

Anyone who knew my Papa (Clayton A. Huff) no doubt has a gardening story to share or has tried his unbelievably tasty home-canned foods, all sealed and shared for his lifetime with LOVE. The big garden he so diligently worked each year provided a bounty of gifts for friends and loved ones. If you were family, he gave you canned veggies, if you were friends, he gave you canned veggies, if you were a total stranger, he gave you canned veggies!

His heart was as big as the day is long, everyone probably has 1,000 heartwarming stories that could be told about him and that is because he spent a lifetime of giving “PRESENCE”, (not “presents”) to everyone he loved and cared for. So although I don’t know them all, they can live a long, long time as his legacy if those of you who knew him continue to keep his memory alive by retelling them - and in the good nature of a great Papa Huff story they should get bigger and better as time goes on...

So this gardening husband, father & grandfather who will be missed by so many has left a legacy of harvest. A legacy of harvest in the sense that his abundant love of gardening is reflected in the lives of his children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, family members and friends. The same work and sweat he put into the garden is nothing compared to the love, effort and grit he put into the lives of those he loved (and who loved him).

Although he won’t be here to bring in the garden on this earth this year, through his own proclamation of his acceptance of Jesus Christ, he will be reaping a harvest in heaven. John 14:3 says this “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” So today, he is probably already picking vegetables in the most beautiful garden he’s ever imagined, already in full bloom... “Sorry Dad (Danny)” he probably got the first ripe tomato this year!

Each life this humble man touched will be forever changed in a good way and the harvest is plenty, living on in each seed he and Mama planted in each of us during their precious time here on this earth.