Archive for August, 2008
Fall Prelude
I don’t know about where you are, but around here, the smell of fall has been in the air all week. It’s especially heavy in the dewy cool morning light. I smile like the Mona Lisa when I’m walking to class or working in my garden. I’ve pulled the light sweaters out of the cedar chest. What is it about autumn that just makes life a little sweeter? And is there anyone out there that “hates” fall the way some people hate winter or summer? I can’t imagine disliking cool nights, crisp mornings, and warm (but not hot) sun in the afternoon.
With the advent of autumn on my doorstep, I start to move my menus from light cool fare to hearty comforting dishes. Today’s Corn and Tomato Bread Pudding is a great bridge between the bounty of summer and the more selective nature of fall. Fresh sweet corn cut off the cob pairs beautifully with hefty cubes of whole wheat bread, slivers of oven-dried tomatoes, and a generous sprinkling of sharp cheese.
3 comments August 29, 2008
Sour Sendoff
I had a sad moment this weekend when I surveyed my garden and realized it was time for the cucumber vines to be ripped out. They’d just maxed themselves out over the last three months, and they didn’t have any proverbial gas left in the tank to do their cucumber making thing. So, I wrestled them off the tomato vines they’d got entangled with and tossed them in the compost heap…but not before I searched each vine for any last little lemon cucumbers.
It’s funny how many cucumbers a person misses when they’re harvesting. Those little (or big) buggers like to hide under the leaves and blend in with their surroundings, evading plucking yet another time. Does this happen to anyone else or am I just really bad at picking cucumbers? Well, in any case, I discovered some mammoth lemon cucumbers once I had the vines held up by the toes, turning them every direction to see what was on them.
Some were the size of softballs and must have been on there all season! Of course, once cucumbers – lemon and regular slicing varieties alike – get too big, they’re really no good for eating. I hate to give away trade secrets, but I also like to inform my readers so here’s a bit of farmers market wisdom for you: If a farmer’s got a great deal on giant cucumbers, don’t be suckered in. Even if a cucumber the size of a child’s baseball bat can be all yours for the very small price of a one humble dollar, it’s not even worth that. But you’re all such savvy seasonal eaters, you probably already knew that.
But let’s get back to today’s recipe for Sour Cucumbers with Fresh Dill. After I’d pitched the softball sized lemon cucumbers (ha, get it?) into the compost heap along with the spent vines, I had a grand sum of five reasonably sized cucumbers left to use in a final cucumber recipe for the season. I wanted them to be showcased, not smothered, in a simple dish so I could savor the last homegrown cucumbers I’ll have for many months.
6 comments August 26, 2008
Too Good to be True?
As you may or may not realize by now, I have made a lot of homemade ice cream in my days. Growing up, churning ice cream is what we did in my family to have fun (that and making our own potato chips). Now, mind you, my ice cream making today isn’t nearly as much of a production as it was, and still is, at my parents. There, we’d have to use an axe and a burlap sack to smash up huge pieces of ice that my mom froze in plastic tubs in our big chest freezer. Then we had one of those big old-fashioned churners with the motor that sat on top of the canister so we’d have to fill the canister with the custard, lower it in and get the thing to snap on just right. Then we’d have to fill in the space between the canister and wooden barrel it sat in with crushed ice and just the right amount of salt to make an icy cold slush perfect for freezing ice cream.
At my house…well, at my house I now have one of those mini all-in-one churners where you pop the canister in the freezer the night before and it gets cold enough to make the ice cream without any salty slushy ice. Somehow the nostalgia has gone out of it, but the ease is worth the trade-off. Especially when you can make something so wonderful as White Peach & Honey Ice Cream in a jiff with minimal mess.
19 comments August 22, 2008
Use ‘Em Up!
It’s almost here and I thought I’d better prepare all of you for it. It’s the ying to the yang of vegetable gardening. Those of you that are fortunate to have a little piece of ground to grow your own food will be very familiar with it. Perhaps you shudder a bit just to think about it. Or, if you’re like me, you lie in bed, eyes wide open, conjuring up ways to creatively sidestep it.
“It” is that deluge of fresh produce that starts to haunt every corner of your kitchen and basement, taunting you as it slowly deteriorates while you fret over and hunt out ways to use it up. By late summer, you’ve grown a tad tired of zucchini, yellow squash, cucumbers, peppers, and even tomatoes. Actually, I never tire of tomatoes, but I do get full before I can finish each new batch that comes off my prolific vines. I’m no psychic, but I’m pretty sure making a batch of oven-dried tomatoes is in my near future.
For now though, I found some inspiration for fresh uses over in the archives of Simply Recipes. I modified the original recipe and gave it a new name – Use ‘Em Up Cold Summer Soup! How full of promise is that title? Question is, does it live up to the hype?
1 comment August 19, 2008
Another PSA
Sorry, this is “take care of odds n’ ends” day here on SFTF. Another Public Service Announcement (although it should really be labeled a Shameless Self-Promotion Announcement) is to let you all know that SFTF has been nominated for the 2008 Bloggers Choice Awards and I’d love to get your vote! The closing of the polls always sneaks up on me so I don’t really remember when the last day to vote is, but it’s best to vote early as it pushes this humble blog up through the ranks so more folks can discover it and learn how tasty and beautiful local food is! Follow the linkbelow to cast your vote, for which I whole-heartedly thank you!
SFTF Voting on Bloggers Choice Awards
Add comment August 18, 2008
