Woo, doggies! Fine-looking apples.

And here’s some more from the fall line…

sweet potatoes and butternut squash

You can find lots of things to do with sweet potatoes and butternut squash. But if you’re looking for reliable and fairly easy, you can chunk and roast them. First, peel the potatoes or squash. (Butternut squash is one winter squash you can actually peel.) Then chop them into chunks or slices. The smaller your chunks, the faster they will cook. Then, toss the chunks in olive oil, salt, and pepper. Add chopped herbs if you have them. Bake at 350 degrees for half an hour or so. You can eat them when they are fork-tender, but consider waiting until they have carmelized some. Mmmm….

Summer is still hanging on by a thread!

Asian eggplant, sorrel, tomatoes, and garlic

I ate the sorrel plain. I know I’m crazy, but I really like it that way.

The tomatoes are amazing. They are as ripe as they can be! So red and flavorful!

The year of arugula continues…

yummy arugula!

And there’s even more apple goodness…

caramel apple cakes and eggs

I put the cakes in the freezer to save them for a Halloween treat for Chris and me. Maybe we’ll enjoy the evening with some cider or mulled wine. Or maybe some ale, as in “cakes and.”

Enjoy your food!

apples and an Asian pear

Chris has started to notice that our apples are disappearing faster than they used to. He has correctly deduced that it is because I’m feeding them to horses I like.

Check out the day-glo winter squash!

I think it’s an orangetti squash – an orange spaghetti squash . But I prefer to think of it as a cartoon dinosaur’s egg. (I totally should have taken a picture of this squash with the chicken eggs. Damn.)

All of our winter squash is collecting in our winter squash den – the hutch in the corner of the kitchen. We’ll start digging into it soon. My go-to recipe for squash that can’t be peeled (aka, not butternut) is to bake it in the oven for 30 minutes and then slice it open, drizzle with olive oil or butter and maybe some spices. Then put it back in for 15 minutes or so to get a little more done.

Speaking of spices…

garlic, rosemary, onions, and ginger

I’ve never gotten fresh ginger before. I’m not sure if I can get through this much, so I make break it up and share with my neighbors.

And because it’s still summer in these here parts…

green beans and tomatoes

I cooked the green beans Southern-style. These are always a big hit and go with anything else you can put on a table.

The tomatoes are being cooked into sauce as I type for Chris’ birthday supper.

Got some other fun stuff, too…

popcorn, strawberry jam, sprouts, and eggs

The sprouts can make a passable afternoon snack. Most of the time I’m just looking for something crunchy. A handful of these will get me through. Especially if I cut up a little apple to go with them.

Can’t wait to try the strawberry jam! Strawberry is my favorite. Maybe I’ll pick up some English muffins somewhere soon. Mmmm….

Chris and I have been watching Twin Peaks via Netflix by mail. So we definitely need this popcorn. That show is crazy and perfect for staring at fixedly while shoving popcorn into your mouth.

Enjoy your food!

potatoes, both sweet and un

apples (plus one sweet potato who missed the earlier shot)

We peeled and chopped the sweet potatoes and tossed them with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Then we roasted them at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or so. They can stand to get a little caramelized, so they are better if you leave them a little long. Un-sweet potatoes can be dealt with in the same fashion with excellent results.

okra and tomato

I fried this okra. I think it might have been the first of the season. And just in time. It was very, very good. If only it weren’t such a pain to make and clean up after.

Now this is a watermelon.

Wondermelon!

lima beans, spaghetti squash, and sorrel

We cooked the lima beans like field peas, and they were wonderful. (We rinsed them and then covered them with water in a pot. Add a dollop of oil or fat and bring to a boil. Then simmer 30 minutes or more.)

It’s been a big year for arugula.

Thankfully, we like it pretty well. The secret to eating arugula fresh is to have a strong, oily dressing on hand. Somehow the oil cancels out some of the sharpness of the arugula.

eggs, pecans, and truffles!

I like getting pecans. Why? Well, I work at home and whenever I don’t want to work at my desk anymore, I say, “Fine. I’ll go downstairs and shell pecans.” Within ten minutes, I can’t wait to get back to work.

The truffles were tremendous. What a wonderful treat!

Enjoy your food!

I wish I could tell you that I was snacking on local food while at work. But, alas, today’s treats are from Kroger’s Private Selection Brand.

I’m dipping cheddar slices into a jar of whole grain mustard. See?

I love this so much! I want to put a blanket over my head and make a secret cheese and mustard fort.

apples and an Asian pear

We poached the Asian pear in a simple syrup plus lemongrass and 5-star spice.

The apples I have been eating out of hand and giving to my horse friends at Pony Tail Acres.

muscadines – hey, did you know that “muscadines” does not pass WordPress’ spellcheck? We need to educate some folk.

I ground up these muscadines in the food processor and cooked them down with some water, strained the skins and seeds out , and then added some pectin to the cooled mixture. It didn’t really gel, but that’s okay. It’s destiny was to be muscadine vinaigrette.

That’s muscadine stuff, olive oil, salt, and pepper. It makes a nice addition to a handful of arugula. You can see some here on this all local supper plate.

arugula and sprouts (with muscadine vinaigrette), sliced tomatoes, and roasted potatoes with sausage.

Now back to the produce show.

The field peas and arugula disappeared pretty fast. I gave the pepper away. I believe I baked these potatoes one day and then mashed them up and nuked them with butter and cheese some other day for a quick late supper.

basil and tomatoes

I saved a couple of tomatoes for slicing and the rest I cooked down. Then I mixed in some mostly cooked local corn grits and some local-ish thawed shrimp. It made for a nice supper.

Please imagine freshly chopped basil artfully (artlessly?) scattered on top.

We also got some…

eggs, granola, and yogurt

The yogurt was a nice surprise. One of my favorite treats is Annie’s mac and cheese in a box made with yogurt instead of butter or milk. It’s great and fast comfort food.

Speaking of milk, I ordered some from the store this week…

field peas, goat’s milk, more field peas

Goat’s milk is delicious, and I love buying local milk. However, it is expensive and, with two guys in the house who consume mass quantities of cereal in the morning, I’m not quite ready to develop a habit.

Earlier this year, we learned that frozen field peas cook up as nicely as fresh ones. So we got a few extra bags to toss in the freezer.

Enjoy your food!

apples and watermelon

The apples have been a delicious part of our week. We snack on them in the afternoon. Yum!

sweet potatoes and greens

Sweet potato greens are yummy greens. Better than most. They cook down a whole bunch, though, so be prepared for that.

I’m leaving the sweet potatoes to cure a little. Chris and I were disappointed with some sweet potatoes last year. They seemed kind of flavorless. Maybe we ate them too soon? We’ll give them a week or so in the cool dark. Then we’ll bake them in the oven for supper and rejoice over the arrival of fall.

sprouts, eggs, and cheese shortbread

Bernie’s cheese pecan shortbread was dreamy! They were light, crispy, and cheddary. (Please notice the past tense. These crackers were gobbled up along with an apple right after I got everything put away.)

Not having any salad greens around, I was at first stumped at what to do with sprouts. They ended up as topping for sliced roasted beets and goat cheese. Worked great!

garlic, eggplant, and coffee

A strange combination? Okay, I admit it – I meant to put the coffee in the last picture. We’ve got a store of garlic to use up now. To get started, I’m going to roast a whole head with some local new potatoes and then smash the garlic half way through the baking to flavor the potatoes.

I also made a order o’ dairy from the online store.

goat cheese, butter, and Georgia Red

My mother has been raving about this cheese, so I had to give it a shot.  I haven’t unwrapped it yet. (What’s wrong with me?), but I will do so this afternoon and have it star in an afternoon snack.

Enjoy your food!

watermelon, apples, and Asian pears

The apples were eaten and shared with friends. Very tasty – even the ones that still have some green on them.

The watermelon will be busted open soon. Chris is working on our 1991 Celica today, and a watermelon makes a great afternoon snack when you have oily hands.

I poached the Asian pears along with some lemongrass from last week. Here’s the recipe. I replaced the cinnamon and nutmeg with an equal amount of five-star spice. The Asian pears did not get soft. (I think that’s kind of the point of Asian pears: they stay crispy when heated or cooked.) But they did absorb the tasty liquid and were very yummy.

eggplant and patty pan squash

Made stir-fried squash with one of these last night. For the eggplant, I haven’t decided what to do. I’ve been craving baba ghanoush, but these Asian eggplants don’t roast in the oven that well. Hmm….

potatoes and okra

I’ve baked the potatoes ahead of time along with some beets from a couple of weeks ago. Today, we’ll have baked potatoes loaded with butter, sour cream, cheese, and local green onions.

For the okra, I’m going to try a simpler frying recipe where you slice the okra length-wise and then fry it face down in some oil. Hmm….

arugula

We’ve been getting a lot of arugula lately, so I’m considering finding this batch a home at a neighbor’s house.

field peas!

We ate these up along with the stir-fried squash yesterday. Field peas are so yummy! I’m happy to report, too, that they freeze really well. A couple of weeks ago, I pulled out a zip-loc bag just like this from my freezer containing peas from last year. I cooked them the same way (in a pot, covered with water, dollop of olive oil, bring to a boil, and then simmer 20 minutes or more), and they were delicious.

eggs and 7-pepper goat cheese

This is my favorite of the flavored goat cheeses. The hotness of the peppers goes great with the creaminess of the cheese. You could probably find something better to do with it than gobble it up on Triscuits. But I couldn’t.

Enjoy your food!

patty-pan squash and apples

I’ve still some of these apples in the fridge. My hope and dream is to make horse cookies with them for my horse friends at Pony Tail Acres. I may end up peeling, slicing, and drying rings in the oven instead.

Patty-pan squash is a wonderful squash. Think yellow squash with almost no gushiness. We had two rounds of delicious stir-fried squash with these puppies plus local garlic, butter, and cornmeal. Three cheers for patty-pan squash.

beets, kale, and corn

The kale became kale with raisins and pine nuts – one of our favorite late suppers. I roasted the beets and then served them sliced as a veggie side – often accompanied by an ear of corn.

field peas!!! tomatoes, garlic, and lovely potatoes

I’m racking my head for what we did with these potatoes. I may have grated them with the dream of making potato pancakes. They then turned into a delicious reality of hashbrowns after I couldn’t manage to get the cakes flipped right. The tomatoes became delicious bruschetta topping. And the field peas rocked our world.

eggs and cornmeal

I used the cornmeal for stir-fried squash and eggplant Parmesan. But I’m also getting a hankering for corn bread. Mmmm… corn bread.

From the store, I ordered…

butter, goat cheese, and more beets

I’ve still got some of these beets in a bag in my crisper. They seem to be holding on pretty well.

And here’s a pic of the kind of meals we’ve been grooving on this summer. Hooray for local summer veggies!

beets with goat cheese, field peas topped with green onions, carrots, corn, and tomatoes

Enjoy your food!

muscadines, Asian pears, apples, and a peach

Green muscadines make nice and not insipidly sweet jelly. I had some success here.

yard-long beans, tomatoes of various proportions, lemongrass, and garlic

The beans can be broken up and stir-fried or cooked like any other green bean. I was considering a stir-fry with the lemongrass, garlic, beans, and Asian pear. Asian pears are cool because they don’t get mushy when stir-fried. Think sweet, crisp water chestnuts.

I’ve decided, though, to poach my pears with lemongrass syrup. Here’s the recipe I have my eye on.

Most of the tomatoes will get cooked down to sauce. The tiny little ones I added to salad.

Speaking of salad…

lettuce and arugula

The lettuce disappeared in a couple of days. Such a nice summer treat. Hooray for greenhouses!

The arugula we are working through. It’s peppery but nice with a little olive oil. We tossed it with some sautéed shrimp and pasta one night for a good supper.

new potatoes and corn

The six ears of corn were delicious and gone in three meals. I used the new potatoes to make a corn chowder recipe that is an old family favorite

Pizza!

How neat is this – a local frozen emergency pizza! I think we might have an emergency very, very soon.

Enjoy your food!

basil and tomatoes

corn (+ 2 already eaten ears) and garlic

lettuce and carrots

peaches, plums, apples, and blueberries!

eggs and Stilton cheese

The Stilton looked a little hard and possibly a little too aged. So I decided to make it into a delicious, full-flavored dip/dressing. I failed. I combined it with too much Greek yogurt, and my dip tastes like yogurt with almost no Stilton flavor coming through. Waaah!

I had more success with other stuff. I made a little plum cobbler in a loaf pan with the plums. It was nice and not too sweet. (Which made it perfect for topping with vanilla ice cream. )

I made pesto with this basil along with some from a neighbor’s garden. Great stuff, pesto. I actually followed a recipe this time. This one.

The tomatoes (plus some from last week) and some of the garlic got chopped and cooked down with olive oil, red wine, and fresh herbs.

Since then, we’ve had little English muffin pizzas a couple of times. You put a scoop of the sauce on a half a muffin, top it with a slice of Fontina cheese, and toast it for a few minutes and then broil a minute or two more until the cheese is slightly browned. If you remember, you add strips of fresh basil before serving.

Another thing I plan for this sauce is mixing it with some grits and Parmesan. A hot bowl of pasta would work, too. A bottle of red table wine will add to the fun.

I will probably freeze some of the sauce because we won’t get through it all in time, but it should freeze fine and make our winter that much brighter.

Enjoy your food!