Keeping Fridays Fabulous

We're keeping Fridays fabulous around here! This week we hosted G's best friend, B, and her two sisters. After creating giant chalk drawings on our back porch (you can see some of the blue chalk ended up on G's cheek in the 2nd picture), I asked if the kids would like to help me in the kitchen.

I had a couple of bananas that were going south so I thought muffins were in order and tonight we're having a picnic and "Shakespearience" (a collection of scenes from Shakepeare's plays) at a park so I wanted to make brownies, too.

Of course, these kids don't need any reason other than to eat some delicious treats and they seemed to enjoy the process of making them as much as eating them!






We barely got the batter in the pans after everyone submitted it to tasting for quality control!

12 mini-muffins and half a pan of brownies were gobbled up in less time than it took to make them (and much less time than it took to clean up after)! It was a very sweet morning in every way.

Full Sun Farm 8th Week!

What's in the Box:

Red Leaf Lettuce

Green Leaf Lettuce

Green Kale

Swiss Chard

Carrots

Cucumbers

Leeks

Parsley

Red Pontiac Potatoes

Notes from the Farm:

The potatoes in this week's box are the first we have dug this year. At this point in the season they are technically "new" potatoes, a designation that refers to potatoes of any variety that are harvested young.

At this stage of their life cycle they haven't fully converted their sugar into starch, and one result of this is a thin, underdeveloped skin. Because the skin sloughs easily, we haven't washed the potatoes before putting them in the box; be gentle when you scrub them and they'll hold up fine.

Because they hold their shape after being cooked and cut, new potatoes are said to be particularly suited for potato salad, and are also excellent boiled or pan-roasted.

During the hotter months of the season Swiss chard will be the staple green. Kale and collards don't tolerate the heat; we're harvesting the last of their spring planting now, and we've sown the fall plantings of each, but chard will continue to be planted and harvested throughout the summer months.

The tender greens and crisp, celery-like stalks can be prepared separately or together. Farmer John's Cookbook describes this as the classic Mediterranean preparation of Swiss chard:

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 cup thinly sliced onion

1 clove garlic, minced

1 bunch Swiss chard, coarsely chopped

1/3 cup raisins

1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted

1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

salt

pepper

1. Heat 3 tablespoons of the oil in a large skillet. Add the onion; cook, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 15 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook 1 minute more.

2. Add the chard in batches, adding more as each batch wilts (the only water you will need is the water clinging to the leaves from rinsing), and keep the pan covered between batches. When all the chard is added and the leaves are wilted, stir in the raisins, pine nuts, lemon juice, and the remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

What's Cooking 6.29-7.5

I only had time for one trip to our whole foods shop and the total was $78.89. When I got home from the store my husband and son were playing soccer in the street. My son ran up to the car to see the groceries in the trunk. My husband asked if he was going to come back to play soccer and my son said, "First I have to sit on the watermelon!" (A reference to last week's shopping trip!)



Here's what we're eating this week:

Monday:
Spicy Sausage and Beet Green Ragout (I'll use beets greens, instead of the turnip greens called for in the recipe.)
Polenta
Green Salad

Tuesday: (I'm in the hospital for my 24-hour shift.)
Leftovers

Wednesday: Late Night at the Pool!
Hickory Nut Gap Farm Grilled Bratwurst
Homemade Whole Wheat Buns
Homemade Cole Slaw

Thursday:
Spicy Hummus
Grilled Pita
Greek Salad

Friday:
Pizza with homemade crust and sauce
Pepperoni and Peppers
Spinach Salad

Saturday:
Miso-Sesame Noodle Salad
with Red Pepper, Shiitake Mushrooms and Peas

Sunday:
Whole Wheat Pancakes
Bacon
Grapefruit

Continuous Small Treats

One of the secrets of a happy life is continuous small treats. Iris Murdoch

A few months ago my friend Angela (who writes the wonderful blog My Year Without Spending) shared the above quote and it's one of my favorites. I try to go through my days living its truth, but sometimes life is so full of other things that I have to make plans for such treats.

So far this summer our days have been replete with many quotidian joys: fresh-cut grass, line- dried sheets (which of the two offers the most quintessential smell of summer?), Coronas with lime wedges, pulp fiction (the rest of the year is reserved for Edith Wharton, Ian McEwan and Haruki Murakami, but summer is all about Janet Evanovich), thunderstorms, dining al fresco with food I harvested from our very own garden, all local fruit - and that's just naming a few.

I'm not planning any of them and still they show up with magical effortlessness.

Last night after dinner we played soccer in the street, made ice cream cones and ate them while we took a walk in our neighborhood - which turned into a game of tag and a dance with fireflies. The walk (and sticky fingers, chins and legs from melted ice cream!) led to a bath - which turned into a tickle fest and ended with reading one of our favorite books, Blueberries for Sal.

(Even though we've gotten blueberries from our CSA, the berries from our bushes are still a little green. Every morning we check on them hoping to get a handful before the birds gobble them up.)

This morning we shared our sweet Sunday custom of baking homemade cinnamon buns and eating them on our back deck.






Then we played on the swing set, made castles in the sandbox and traced a friendly cat (who has been visiting us a lot lately) back to his home.

I'll finish this up and then we head to the pool...

This week I'm rejoicing head-over-heels in the continuous small treats of summer.

What are your favorite summer pleasures? Please let me know in the comments section below!

PS: My e-book Rx: Humor! is now available as an immediate download from my website! You can read the latest research related to humor (as well as some of my favorite jokes) and watch a fabulously funny comedy bit (my husband added the hyperlinks) all within minutes! (You don't have to leave any contact information to download it, but I'd love to hear your feedback if you'd like to share!)

Full Sun Farm 7th Week!

I was in Hickory on Wednesday, so my husband was in charge of the pickup from the Farmer's Market this week. Alas, he forgot, but our wonderful farmers said we could pick up again on Saturday.

My husband more than made up for the oversight by bringing home a gorgeous bouquet of mammoth sunflowers from another local farm. I put them on the table where I am writing now and I'm completely captivated by their beauty.



What's in the box:

Lettuce Mix

Green Kale
Red Beets
Carrots
Summer Squash
Onions
Cabbage
Basil

Blueberries

Based on the today's bounty I am inspired to make a pasta primavera with local chevre for our dinner tonight. I hope you are enjoying something local, fresh and delicious, too!

If you've got an over-abundance of squash, do plan on making the "squash-amole" recipe listed below. We learned of it several years ago from our farmers and it's a real favorite in our home when served with salty tortilla chips, beer and lime wedges. Buen Provecho!

Notes from the farm:
As anyone who has grown summer squash knows, the plants are large and productive. This often leads to an excess of the fruit during summertime, and at some point you may find yourself wondering what to do with all of it. We recommend the following recipe for now or for later in the season when summer squash is no longer a novelty.

Like many of the recipes I include, this one is from Vegetables From Amaranth To Zucchini. Any kind of summer squash can be used, which makes this squash-based "guacamole" especially useful.

3 lbs summer squash of any size or shape

1/2 head of fairly large garlic cloves

1 large onion

1 tsp kosher salt

2 tbsp corn oil

1/2 cup basil or mint leaves

1/2 cup parsley

2 tbsp lemon juice

1/4 - 1/2 cup heavy cream (this can be replaced with 1/4 cup olive oil drizzled slowly into the food processor)

salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 375. Clean squash and halve lengthwise, then cut so they are all the size of the smallest squash. Spread cut side down in a single layer in an oiled roasting pan.

2. Separate but do not peel garlic and lay among squash. Quarter and peel onion and add to the pan. Sprinkle with salt and drizzle with oil.

3. Bake until squashes are soft, 1 to 1.5 hours. Baste several times with cooking juices and remove from oven.

4. When garlic is cool, remove skins. Place basil and parsley in a food processor. Add warm vegetables and garlic and blend to a smooth puree, scraping sides as needed. With motor running, add lemon juice, then slowly drizzle in cream or olive oil. Add salt and pepper and more lemon juice as needed. Chill to serve.

Clouds Bring Sunshine and Laughter

Today G's best friend came over to play. They had a blast and filled up the morning by constructing castles with new "moon sand", painting, eating snacks and playing in the yard.

After a couple of hours they were covered with paint, sand, crumbs and other assorted debris. I debated hosing them off or putting them in the bath. I asked which they would prefer.

They chose the bath option. Hosing them off might have been easier and as fun, but it wouldn't have produced the bubbles that became the highlight of the morning.

They spent at least an hour in the tub happily splashing, swimming and covering themselves with bubbles. At one point B said to G, "You look like a cloud!" and that's when I ran to get my camera.

What's Cooking 6.22-6.28

Last week our family shared preparation for all the evening meals and it was so fun. And I made my mom breakfast and lunch every day so she decided I was exempt from any evening clean-up!

I hadn't thought to broker that deal when I made sure that she was getting food throughout the day (she is likely to forget to eat because she gets so involved with everything that is going on), but it was great for me!

So when I went to our pricey whole foods store today, I felt like I had not shopped in ages! (Happily, other family members did the food shopping for our vacation.)

And I was so happy to see the high quality local and organic foods! (There were none at the reportedly scary Food City in New Tazwell, TN.) Even though I bought large amounts of green and black tea, the grand total was only $80.13. Hooray!


Some of the food got cut off from the photo because my son decided to put down his tools, sit on the watermelon and smile for the camera. I think the loss is worth it. :)

This week it is back to to my own kitchen and although I will miss the bustle of the communal kitchen, I still will be preparing food in great quantity.

In preparation for working in the hospital from Tuesday morning through Thursday afternoon I will double the recipes for the burritos and stew so there will be ample leftovers for the rest of the week.

These recipes are two of our favorites so we will enjoy eating them twice in one week. And knowing that we will eat well in a busy week is a great thing.

Monday:
Black Bean and Sweet Potato Burritos
Green Salad
Chips and Salsa

Tuesday:
Leftovers

Wednesday:
Butternut Squash and Chickpea Stew with Couscous

Thursday:
Leftovers

Friday:
Pizza with homemade crust and sauce
Pepperoni and Roasted Peppers
Green Salad

Saturday:
Grilled Salmon Packets
with Spinach and Couscous

Sunday:
Swiss Chard Frittata (the recipe calls for frozen spinach but I use a bunch of fresh chard)
Grapefruit