Posted at 01:38 PM in backyard harvest | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
You know it's summer when you've done both of the following things. The first is picking a tomato off the vine and biting into it while the juice runs down your arm and drips off your elbow. The second is having to go get the floss after dinner because you've got bits of corn from corn on the cob stuck between your teeth. Only then are you in the full flow of summer!
Summer in a Bowl Sweet Corn Chowder:
Posted at 09:41 PM in corn, easy, One Local Summer, potatoes, recipes, tomatoes | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Killer Zucchini Orzo
Posted at 09:38 PM in backyard harvest, easy, summer squash | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
My love for Neil Diamond knows no bounds. In my younger, much cooler days, I used to be horrified by the musical selections of my father. He had a deep and abiding love for Irish folk music and James Taylor. And Dad - seriously, could you turn down the Carly Simon?!! Now that I fully embrace my dorkdom, I'm free to love whatever music entertains me. Which is why Neil Diamond's "America" will always have a place on my July 4th playlist, along with The Bruce's "Born in the USA" and 2 Live Crew's "Banned in the USA".
3 pounds small (2-inch) potatoes
1/4 cup red onion, chopped
1 tablespoon white-wine vinegar
1 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons fresh dill, finely chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons prepared horseradish
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Boil potatoes until they're fork tender. Cool them room temperature and quarter. Mix remaining ingredients and fold the potatoes into this mixture.
After we finished eating, we waddled upstairs onto our upper porch where we had one of the best views in Knoxville of the downtown fireworks. There are times where I wonder why we bought this ramshackle old house but every time we get to relax, away from crowds and get such a great view of the fireworks, my faith in our decision is restored.
I hope you all had a great 4th and you all got down with your bad old selves! Let Freedom (and 2 Live Crew) Reign!
Posted at 09:30 PM in backyard harvest, booze, farmer's market, One Local Summer, potatoes, recipes, tomatoes | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
July 10th at the Downtown West as a matter of fact! This is the documentary that's got agribusiness all up in arms and foodies are buzzing about it everywhere.
Behind the food industry's iron curtain
Yes, You have to see Food Inc. - Atlantic
Posted at 02:44 PM in current affairs | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
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Posted at 10:44 AM in random fun | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Love this!
Posted at 08:22 PM in random fun | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
My husband thinks I have a very annoying habit. When it's hot out, one of my favorite things to drink is a Route 44 Cherry Limeade from Sonic. It just screams summer to me. I've noticed though that they aren't nearly as good as they used to be. They also always forget to put cherries in it which to me, is half the fun of the whole thing. But liking Cherry Limeades is not the annoying habit that irritates my husband. Along with mispronouncing Crappie and calling a bobber a float, whenever he goes to order a Cherry Limeade for me, I make sure to tell him I want a Route 69 Cherry Limeade. I'm hoping that one day, just because I've put this idea in his head, he'll head to Sonic and instead of ordering a Route 44 Cherry Limeade, he'll pull up to the drive-in speaker box and ask for a Route 69 Cherry Limeade. And then die a little death of shame.
Posted at 10:38 PM in booze, fruit | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
This week has been full of OLS meals! On Monday, I made a delicious frittata with local eggs, ham, zucchini, potatoes and onions. In fact, even the mozzarella we subbed in for the cheddar was local because we made it from Cruze Farm milk! Tuesday, we made tortillas using local lard and filled them with local chicken and onions. Only the cheese wasn't local. We served them with homemade salsa made from local ingredients. Wednesday was tomato toast made with homemade bread, local garlic and tomatoes from our back yard. On Thursday, we made one of my favorite grilled meals, Vietnamese Chicken, made with local chicken and grilled local zucchini and onions. We finished the night off with a cherry crisp made from frozen local cherries. We made a simple pasta sauce out of local zucchini, tomatoes and garlic on Friday and served that with a grated beet salad made from beets from our friends' yard. On Saturday, we started the day off with local raspberries, blueberries and blackberries and had that with a scone from VG's Bakery. We had a wonderful sandwich for dinner made with our homemade local milk mozzarella, leftover grilled zucchini and onions, homemade basil mayo and ciabatta rolls from VG's bakery.
However, today was our "official" OLS meal and everything we ate today was local, except for some feta cheese and flour. We started the morning out with local eggs scrambled with feta and local garlic scapes. For lunch we had local beet greens and swiss chard sauteed with local bacon and served that with steamed local new potatoes with local butter and dill. Tonight for dinner, we had a pizza with local potatoes and leeks and local goat cheese. I even made a sourdough crust so we didn't have to use yeast in our pizza crust! For dessert, we had homemade peach granita we made from local peaches. I had wanted to make sorbet but all the recipes I found contained lemon juice. Instead, we made peach granita from David Lebovitz's book, Perfect Scoop. I do have an ice cream maker but the beauty of this dish is that you don't need one to make this. I had never had granita and I had visions of it being an icy mess. I'm an idiot because this is good stuff. I love that it doesn't have a lot of sugar and it was perfect for the 93 degree day we had today.
Peach Granita:
6 ripe peaches, peeled
1 1/3 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
Slice peaches and cut into small chunks. Cook with 1 cup water in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook until cooked through which is about ten minutes. Remove from heat and stir in sugar and let cool. When cool, place in blender with remaining 1/3 cup water and blend until smooth.
Pour the mixture into a shallow non-reactive pan in the freezer. Check after 30 minutes. As the mixture begins to freeze, use a fork to scrape the frozen puree that froze around the edges into the center. Return to freezer.
Check every 30 minutes, scraping each time. David says it usually takes 2 hours but when we went to bed last night, it still wasn't frozen enough and it had been 3.5 hours. So we some for breakfast! If it gets too hard, just leave it out for a bit.
Posted at 08:40 PM in backyard harvest, cheese, desserts, farmer's market, fruit, greens, leftovers, One Local Summer, potatoes, recipes, summer squash | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
