thoughtful consumption

Sorry about the delayed post this week. Especially because there’s so much cool stuff to talk about.

ambrosia melon, watermelon, sprite melon, and lychees

Lychees

Lychees are cool! The peel is papery and very different from the soft insides.

We couldn’t agree on what lychees taste like. Chris thought they were very sweet. James said they reminded him of sugary grapefruit. I thought they tasted a little like honey and rose, but then I’d been primed from reading a bunch of descriptions.

Here’s a site with tons of lychee recipes. I’m torn between making a syrup and mixing it with seltzer for afternoon sodas. Or baking them with brown sugar, butter and cinnamon as suggested here. The good news is lychees will keep well in the crisper for a couple of weeks, so I don’t have to decide today.

Melons

The ambrosia melon is a muskmelon and kind of like cantaloupe. You can tell it’s an ambrosia melon from the netted skin. I’m pretty sure the smaller melon is a sprite melon. It sounds like my kind of melon – sweet and crisp. Here’s more about sprite melons at Wikipedia.

Yesterday we made our watermelon into Watermelon Salad with Mint Leaves. It’s a great recipe, and this is the second week in a row we’ve made it. Basically it’s watermelon, sliced Vidalias, feta cheese, and mint tossed in a vinaigrette.

It really works and makes a perfect summertime side dish.

blueberries, mint, and lettuce

The lettuce and blueberries are delicious as usual. The mint was great to have for the watermelon salad. Plus, last night, when I pulled the mint bouquet out to make a pot of tea, I found a few stems twisty-tied together. Turns out they were Fran’s patented stevia and chocolate mint combination. They made a wonderful pot of tea.

Asian eggplant, sweet corn, and potatoes

Asian eggplant is nice because you don’t have to peel or purge it like globe eggplant. If you need some eggplant ideas, check out these winners from the Salon.com Kitchen Challenge (especially Lucy’s “Eggplant two ways…” )

And here are some ideas for eggplant from last year.

sausage and eggs

This sausage from Nancy and Jacque at Red Hott Tomatoes is delicious! It’s got great flavor and texture. It’s almost a delicate sausage, if that makes any sense.

I also ordered a few things from the online store…

cheddar cheese, shrimp, onions, and garlic

I’m lucky in the sense that foods don’t usually call my name from inside the refrigerator – except for Flat Creek Lodge cheese. The cheddar is incredibly complex with hints of bleu at the end. I love it! I could sit down on the kitchen floor and very happily eat the entire package.

For lunch yesterday, we had sausage and grits with watermelon salad and peas.

The grits were from Riverview Farms and leftover from a CSA delivery earlier this year. The peas were from the frozen vegetable aisle at Kroger.