Surprise!

The breakout surprise of my garden this year is the eggplant. In past years I have achieved only dismal results because I have a pretty hefty flea beetle population. Since I have opted to use modern chemistry in my quest when necessary, I have been able to harvest a dozen eggplants so far with more to come. I only had to intervene chemically once a few months ago when the plants were really young. I haven't had to apply anything since the first fruit was set. I have been making a quick lasagna type casserole with all of my eggplants. First I slice the eggplants 1/4" thick and spread them on a silicone cookie mat on a baking sheet with some salt. I bake at 350 for 10 minutes while the lasagna noodles boil. Then I layer noodles, cooked eggplant, Parmesan cheese, Ragu spaghetti sauce, provolone/mozzarella in that order two or three times. I bake this (covered with aluminum foil) at 350 until it is bubbly throughout. Sooooo good.