Last of the Summer Markets

Filed under Bread, Real Food, Recipes, Wine by on 11 October 2010 at 5:30 am {7 comments}

We had our last outdoor farmer’s market on Saturday, soon our market will move indoors. While I will still go and am thankful to have a winter market, it’s just not the same.  Saturday though there were still tons of fresh tomatoes and other veggies. I came back with three of my favorites, cherry tomatoes, leeks, and garlic.

IMG_5693 There are many things that taste the same from the grocery store but garlic is not one of them. This beautiful, sweet garlic from Wild Miller Gardens, is grown with love and is incredibly special. If I could afford to buy all my garlic from the Millers, I would. Whenever I use this garlic, it’s like a holiday. Every week, they have bunches of garlic woven with beautiful, wild flowers.

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All of these fresh vegetables came together in a quiche. I used this quick crust, from food.com. It was quick, but not all that good. Quiche, frittata, tarts etc. are all such fast foods. The longest part is chopping the vegetables, which I find an enjoyable, gratifying exercise.

Ingredients:
3 eggs
1/4 milk or cream
2 leeks (chopped and rinsed)
2 handfuls cherry tomatoes (sliced in half)
1 clove garlic
2 tablespoons butter
cheese I used a black pepper parmesan

Procedure:
Make the crust (I baked mine for about 10 minutes before adding everything else)
Sautee leeks, tomatoes, and garlic in butter
Spread vegetables on the bottom of the pie crust
Whip eggs, cream, pepper
Pour on veggies
Cover lightly with shredded cheese

Bake at 400 for 20 minutes or until eggs are firm

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Voila! Dinner is served. We enjoyed homemade fresh baked baguette, but unfortunately we were out of French wine and had to “settle” for Italian.

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IMG_5701 Usually you might not think of fresh non-root veggies as a fall dinner, but everything was local, fresh, and superb.

I’ve noticed  a few new readers in the stats, so thank you for stopping by the blog.

To The Virgins. . .

Filed under Domesticity, Hiking, Life, Summer by on 23 August 2010 at 6:00 am {2 comments}

GATHER ye rosebuds while ye may,
    Old time is still a-flying :
And this same flower that smiles to-day
    To-morrow will be dying.
The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun,
    The higher he’s a-getting,
The sooner will his race be run,
    And nearer he’s to setting.
That age is best which is the first,
    When youth and blood are warmer ;
But being spent, the worse, and worst
    Times still succeed the former.
Then be not coy, but use your time,
    And while ye may go marry :
For having lost but once your prime
    You may for ever tarry.
Robert Herrick

Time is still a-flying, flying .

I am a teacher and during the school year, I look more like this. . . weemee And less like this . . .

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I’ve mentioned before how I’m incredibly thankful for my summers; they keep me interested in life, searching, learning, and trying new things. My summers are precious to me and while I do spend time on ridiculous things like watching far too much TV, I also try to do other more productive things.

My summer is quickly ending, and I feel like I have all of this unfinished business. I haven’t picked any fruit or veggies (besides from my own garden), which means I haven’t canned anything. There is still a giant stack of books by my bed that need to be read. I still need to hike and camp and eat at least two ‘smores. Surely, there is one more beach day to bask in the glory of the sun and fall asleep to the sounds of the ocean.

So in my truest-to-self fashion, I have made of list of things that I MUST accomplish between now and well next week. I have 7 days to own this summer, and own it I shall.

1. Pick tomatoes and make salsa, can said salsa

2. Go on a camping/hiking trip with Jeremy

3. Read at least two more books (one of which will be Mockingjay)

4. Go to the beach

5. Learn to knit a baby hat (this is scheduled for today)

Of course in addition to all of these things, I really need to hone in more on my classes. I don’t see students for two more weeks, and I have some pretty good plans so far, but there is always more that can be done.

If I’m blogging a bit less the next few weeks, it is because I am out experiencing and blissing out. I need to fuel up for what I’m pretty sure is going to be a trying/exciting year full of countless new things, many of which I hope will be wonderful.

Ketchup and Mustard

Filed under Food, Garden, Real Food by on 14 June 2010 at 8:09 pm {no comments}

Tonight’s dinner was designed with condiments in mind.

IMG_2747 Spicey Mike’s is a local hot ketchup and well I would assume most people know Billy Bee’s honey. Which of the two would you assume has the high fructose corn syrup? I should have read the label before I purchased Spicey Mike’s.

IMG_2750 Billy is a pretty simple guy though.

Since tonight was all about condiments we needed to eat things that could be dipped.

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Homemade baked chicken tenders, potato wedges, and a side salad. I don’t know what happened but I seem to like tomatoes this year. Thanks Italy. Chicken tenders are so easy to make and so much better than the ones in a bag.

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Soon we’ll have tomatoes from our own garden. They are on their way.

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I thought the cool temperatures and rain would have slowed down the garden, but things seem to be moving right along.

IMG_2757 The lily’s are blooming too.

It’s a four day work week but I am scrambling to get everything done I need to before leaving. I think tomorrow I’ll tell my students I won’t be back next year. Let’s hope they don’t cheer.

Garden In

Filed under Garden, Local, Real Food, Summer by on 17 May 2010 at 11:30 am {no comments}

After getting all of the plants on Saturday (I know I should grow my own, maybe someday), we Jeremy got the garden all raked and ready for the plants. Our garden area has really improved over the last three summers. I was amazed by how many worms there were this year. Hopefully that will bode well for the growing season.

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I got to do the fun part: putting all of the plans in the ground in nice, neat rows.

This year we planted three types of tomatoes (Roma, Black Cherry, Sweet Olive), jalapenos, basil, thyme, chives, rosemary, and cilantro. Last year’s spearmint came back in full force.  It had spread over a large section of the garden. It can become a crazy out of control vine. Who knew?

IMG_2258 I can’t wait for everything to start growing.

Happy Monday!

I’m Not Picky – Just Texture Sensitive

Filed under Uncategorized by on 11 January 2010 at 3:00 pm {one comment}

Here’s the truth: I’m really picky, but I like to think of myself as texture sensitive. As a child, I was definitely the one who lived off  of peanut butter and jelly. It’s not that my mother didn’t try; oh she tried for hours sometimes. But I just couldn’t/wouldn’t eat mixed foods or foods that felt weird to me. I hated/hate when any foods touched. I remember sitting at the table for a long time one night refusing to eat meat loaf and yet another night where my arch nemesis was eggplant. Eggplant and I have since come to a truce, but I will stare down meat loaf any day of the week. 

Reading all the food blogs I read only highlights my weirdness more.  I look at some of the foods that people eat , and it’s amazing to me that they can tolerate so many foods and textures mixed together. Brandi, over at Branappetit, is always putting all sorts of things into her oatmeal. A little brown sugar and peanut butter and I’m all set.  Usually when I see interesting foods, I try to figure out a way to simplify them or separate them into different courses. My ideal fine china would have sections. It’s not just foods; my texture sensitivity extends to clothes, footwear, even material on furniture.

The last few years I have made an effort to try new things. I’m not 100%, but I do try. In Italy this summer, I tried things that were way out of my comfort zone. For example, before I went to Italy, I rarely ever at tomatoes.

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Tomatoes are everywhere and on everything in Italy, so I ate them.

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Italian tomatoes are so rich, and I firmly believe that you can literally taste the sun in them. Tomatoes in New Hampshire do not taste the same. Another thing I ate in Italy was a stuffed fried zucchini blossom. Oh so tasty, heaven really.

I feel this sensitivity really limits me in my food consumption. On Tuesday or Wednesday of this week, I’m supposed to be making Sheppard’s pie.  We’ll see if this happens. I want to make it, I know Jeremy will love it even though I’m using chicken instead of ground beef, but the thought off all those different foods mixed together. I don’t know if I can do it.

This could be a really big hurl hurdle for me.

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