Wordy Wednesday: The Life of a Farmer

Fallen zukes. Rest in peace, sweet plants.It happened. Last week was a very busy week; we had fun social engagements every night and that left me very little time in the garden. So by Friday morning, when I noticed a little frass—the sawdust-like tell tale sign of squash vine borers—at the base of one, two, three... all SIX of our zucchini plants, I had a little melt-down. Here's the thing: there's little to no chance I could have totally prevented this. The fact that we've had two full months of unbelievable zucchini harvest thus far is remarkable in my book. Now happens to be...

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Grilled Zucchini and Brie Sandwiches

Zucchini on the grill.The long weekend meant I had plenty of time in the kitchen. A little too much time, if you ask my dear husband. It was my job to clean the kitchen within an inch of its life (or my life, depending on how you look at it), and every time I'd make some headway, I'd start another recipe. So I'd have a load of dishes in the wash, and decide I needed to do a batch of quick pickles. Halfway through that, I'd decide to add another vegetable to my pickling list and out comes the chopping board again.It was exhausting, all the cooking and cleaning and cooking and... not cleaning....

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Homemade Popsicles for Memorial Day

Summertime means homemade popsicles!Happy Memorial Day! The unofficial start to summer is officially upon us, and what better way to show some gratitude than to make homemade popsicles with homegrown fruit?We're already knee-deep in stone fruit season here in Texas, so I had a bowl of tiny peaches from my mom's tree languishing on the counter. The fruits were just beginning to shrivel, and I knew that was a sign that they needed to be used right away. Funny enough, I also learned yesterday by way of Splendid Table that shriveled stone fruits and tomatoes (before they are at the rotting...

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Zucchini Enchiladas Verdes

If you had told me I'd have tried a dozen completely different zucchini recipes before June because the summer crop would be that prolific, I never would've believed you.But it's the truth. I feel like the Bubba Blue of zucchini: zucchini salad, zucchini salsa, zucchini bread, zucchini brownies, zucchini pickles, zucchini pasta, zucchini tacos... You get the point. (And just to clarify... I am not complaining about my surplus of zucchini. It's finding its way to friends and colleagues almost daily so it's not going to waste, which makes me oh-so-happy.)Here's a recipe...

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Wordless Wednesday: Pretty Beans and Godzilla Zucchini

Jalapenos ready for pickling.Heirloom pole beans in stunning purples and greens!Strawberry-basil margarita recipe test #1: needed more tequila.A typical garden harvest, twice a week.The Godzilla Zucchini, which I missed on the vine: 2 pounds, 6 3/8 ounces = 11 cups grated.Tomatillos that look like tiny paper lanterns. They're so beautif...

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Match Made in Heaven: Fried Green Tomatoes & Pimento Cheese

Fried Green Tomato Sandwiches with Lone Stars on a hot summer day. PERFECT.Sliced green tomatoes (purple cherokee heirloom variety). This all started more than a year, when Ryan and I took a staycation. After a little bit of bickering about what to do for lunch (I'm the picky one), we wound up at a trailer called Fried Green Tomato and all was well with the world. We enjoyed these unbelievably delicious, perfectly Southern, summery sandwiches loaded with homemade pimento cheese and the trailer's namesake. Ryan's even had bacon and ranch dressing on it. Mmm-hmmm.Nothin' more Southern than...

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When Life Hands You Zucchini...

What's left at our house of this week's harvest. Godzilla Zucchini weighs 2 lb, 6 oz.Anyone have a recipe for zucchini-ade? Hang on while I Google that... (Of course! Zucchini-tini!)I may have mentioned at one point that we planted our garden strategically this summer, hoping for a large crop of a smaller variety of veggies (as opposed to a large variety of vegetables with low yields).Well. Large crop we've got.My love for zucchini knows no bounds at this point; ask me again in a month and that answer may be different. In fact, zucchini salsa has been the find of the summer already, and it's not...

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Freshworthy Friday: Glass Gem Corn, and Why You Should Cook

Glass gem corn. No Photoshop tricks here! Image via Seeds Trust.Glass Gem CornDiscover MagazineHoly corn kernels, Batman! This is part of the joy of heirloom gardening. Heirloom varieties are unusual—and gorgeous...and not widely available. This exceptional heirloom has been cultivated recently and seeds were to hit the market in August. Bet ya can't get any now. But hopefully this corn cob gone viral will inspire plenty of folks to find out what other varieties are out there. Nature has so much more to offer than what sits on grocery store shelves; just wait until you see my heirloom pole...

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Zucchini Salsa

Zucchini salsa with zucchini quesadillas.It's still early in the summer gardening season, and already we've had such a bumper crop of zucchini that I'm having to get creative. (This is not me complaining, mind you.) I've steamed it, sauteed it, shredded it, sliced it; eaten it cooked, raw, and baked; tried it in sweet and savory.But this week, I found a new favorite.My mom planted the idea in my head that zucchini would make a delicious salsa. And because necessity is the mother of all invention, I winged it. The recipe was surprisingly simple, and with the help of a food processor, took...

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Wordless Wednesday: Pole Beans and Green Tomatoes

Sunset in the garden of good. No evil at the moment.Pole bean blossoms backlit by sunset.Green tomatoes!Green tomatoes (they weren't ripening on the vine, so this is an experiment).One of my favorite parts of the gard...

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Dining Alone: Tortilla Pizzas

Dining al fresco; this pizza is topped with pattypan squash and arugula.Things are busy these days. While my hubs and I normally dine together, the last few weeks have hosted an unusual number of solo dinners. Ryan is taking some evening classes (for fun things, not school-related), and when I'm left to "fend for myself" for dinner, things in the kitchen can get a little strange.And by strange, of course I mean delicious. When I'm cooking for myself, I tend to take risks. With no one but me to impress (or let down), the pressure's off. This usually involves curry, or eggs, and always the...

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Returning the Favor

Most of this went home with my mom, whose summer garden hasn't quite kicked into high gear.What a lovely weekend! I was fortunate enough to spend most of my weekend with my wonderful mom, showing her around town, introducing her to the Draught House and Upper Crust and a few of our other favorites, window shopping, and enjoying every moment of our time together.One of my favorite parts of the weekend, though, was when I sent her home with a bag full of vegetables from our garden. Oh, how the tides have turned!It was so rewarding to finally be able to return the favor. My mother's gardens span...

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Wordless Wednesday: Garden Progress

Butternut squash dance along the vines.A cascade of fresh zucchini slices. The pole beans reach for the sky.Someone took a bite out of our first red tomato. Here's a hint: it wasn't me.The garden in the evening sun; some of my favorite light!Cucumbers on the vine; this is the Diva variety. The fruit is sweet and seedless.Is there anything more lovely than a tomato plant covered in blooms? Hmm?The first of the cucumber crop—pickles, anyone? The garden haul from this weekend. See the lonely cherry toma...

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Baby Shower Brunch Menu

Lemon tartlette with a graham cracker crust.I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say brunch is my favorite meal. It's an excuse to eat a huge breakfast (which would probably take my favorite meal award if not for the brunch option); it can include sweet and savory items; there's often a way to sneak in a dessert on top of other sweet breakfast breads; and usually, there's an adult beverage to be had. Seriously, what's not to love about brunch?Happily, I had the best excuse ever to throw a brunch: a baby shower!Pennants and pom-poms and gifts, oh my!Our new baby nephew will be here before we know...

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Squachos

The Zucchini Fairy made these zukes appear overnight. Most will be made into zucchini bread.Thanks to an early and prolific summer garden, the squash/zucchini-to-person ratio in our house is currently about 5-to-1. We plucked five giant zucchini (and I do mean giant; the biggest one weighed in at 1 pound, 7 ounces) from our plants this weekend and doled them out to neighbors. But we still have plenty in the produce drawer at home.Dinnertime was upon us, and I'm not sure if I was inspired by the thirst-quenching Lone Star I enjoyed or the garden surplus, but suddenly I had the second-greatest idea...

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Summer Goals

The backyard, through the fig tree. Many evenings will be are spent out here.Speaking of finding inspiration, summer is almost upon us—long days, warm nights, sweltering afternoons. It's time for good cold beers, taking advantage of whatever water we can find to dive into, and trying new recipes that require little to no cooking.Except it's also time for pickles, which often lead me to spend hours upon hours on my feet in the kitchen standing over a vat of boiling vinegar. It gets hot.Anyway, I have goals for this summer. I am so very inspired to be in the kitchen and learn new things.I'm feeling...

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Wordless Wednesday: The Morning Routine

Here's what our morning routine looks like most days of the week. Fin and I are up first, and after the two of us go outside to check on the gardens and play, we settle in for a homemade breakfast.Many folks skip this part of the morning all together, but in our home, we believe in it wholeheartedly.It's simple, reliable, healthy, warm, and delicious. And even if I'm feeling rushed, I'm better off because we share breakfast together as a family. This meal is nourishing and enjoyable; but best of all, it gives us a moment in the mornings to sit at our table and quietly, ritually, enjoy.Strawberries...

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