I attempted growing a few vegetables in my front yard, including tomatoes, cucumbers, and wax beans. I left these wax beans on the vine too long, and they were mealy, with overly developed seed-bean parts.
Last night I had two tomatoes that tasted pretty good, but nothing like Alabama tomatoes from my grandma. Also, there are amazing tomatoes to be had in Ohio.
I have been taking a lot of time off latley, and ate lots of food other people cooked. Like this shared breakfast of grits, egss florentine, and cinnamon roll in Arizona. I love eggs florentine, but I always forget to ask for extra spinach, the best part. Maybe I will learn how to make it at home.
My friend Marc sent me this story that I really enjoyed. I think my favorite pickles in the Boston area are the homemade ones at the East Coast Grill. I wish I could eat them every day.
Katy was visiting last week, all the way from Oregon. I was craving tempeh, maybe because Katy and I used to live and eat in co-ops together. We made a salad with tempeh strips, apples, cucumber, arugula, and herbs. The dressing was made with a spoonfull of miso, white wine vinegar, chives, s&p.
I loved baked sweet potatos, just plain, or with a little butter and salt. I baked two a few night ago, and had one for dinner, and took one for lunch.
I also made baked pears, stuffed with raisins and pecans, and sprinkled with some brown sugar and grated nutmeg. It was a random experiment, but turned out well. I halved the pears, scooped out the seeds, and stuffed the core, and baked them at 350 or 375 for about 30 minutes. I recommend covering the dish with foil - my raisins were sort of burnt by the end without the foil. I poured fresh milk over one of the pears to eat with my sweet potato. It was kind of a fall dinner, but edible just the same, even in summer.
I visited my friends in Maine recently, and these trips tend to revolve around food and bodies of water. This trip was no exception. We went swimming at a covered bridge outside of Portland, and on the way home stopped at a farm stand with local meats and produce for sale. Julia made amazing dinner with the best potato salad ever (I know it has mustard and tarragon - Julia, can you post the recipe?), a salad with lemon dressing, and steak. Definitely edible.
For dessert, Julia introduced me and Lindsay to the best combination: Fresh strawberries dipped in sour cream and brown sugar. I have told people about this, thinking it was completely novel and brand new, but I guess it is a known thing. Have you heard of it? I never had. So good!
Terri gave me a lemon cucumber from the garden at her farm... which I immediately dropped on the floor. It split open, and Jess and I split the it on the spot. Henry-dog ate the tough rind, so all three of us crunched in unison. This is the first lemon cuke I have tasted - delicious!
