Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Guest post from SB!

Note: SB won the farmer's market contest, so she gets to guest post today.  I'm hoping to sponsor more guest posts in the future, so if you want one, let me know!  -- LMC

So just because it's more fun then providing a promo for my blog (http://sab023.wordpress.com) that I rarely update ... I decided to guest blog on LMC's Wild, Wacky, Wonderful Wanderings! Normally I blog about things I believe in as well as my adventures traveling but I'm going to take LMC's lead on this one.

Sunday night after church LR and LC came to my house for dinner. I had put a meatloaf (beef and pork) in the oven before I left for church. LR wanted asparagus and mashed potatoes so that would need to be prepared when we got home. The asparagus was prepared on the grill with olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. The potatoes were prepared with garlic (obviously and unfortunately not enough).

So the asparagus was delicious but there was about 1 serving left (probably because LH :( is "vacationing" and not with us). I asked LC, "What can I do with left over asparagus?"

LC replied "Make soup!"

"and I would do that how?"

"throw it in the blender and blend it with a bit of cream."

So I didn't have cream but I had half and half. When I got home from work I warmed the asparagus just a bit, threw all but 3 pieces in the blender and added what was left of the half and half. I transferred it to a bowl and stuck it in the microwave to warm it up a bit, then placed the 3 asparagus tops as garnish before I enjoyed it with left over meatloaf and some semi-mashed potatoes.


It was all delicious and one way to use left over asparagus that I would never have thought of before. I probably would have just thrown that serving of asparagus down the disposal. (Sorry LMC no compost!) If LMC lets me maybe I'll share another guest post in the future sometime and share my family recipe for a Vegan Chocolate cake! that is my Grandma's recipe from before Vegan was the thing!

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Pie and I have a love-hate relationship.  I love to eat it, I love to help other people make it, but when it comes to making it myself, I hate it.  Not all of it, actually, but just making the crust.  I can never seem to get the right balance between wet-enough-to-clump-together and too-wet-so-it-sticks-to-everything.  Then there's the rolling; mine never come out round or close to round and I never know how thin or thick to make them.

Despite these challenges, I decided to make pie yesterday.  And since it's in season, I decided to make Strawberry Rhubarb pie.

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Let's play a game...

It's called "guess what Laura bought at the farmer's market!"

This morning I purchased five items at the St. Paul Farmer's Market.  The first person to guess all five (or if no one gets all five, whoever gets the most) wins a chance to promo their blog here on W4.  Submit your entries in the comments, one comment per person.  Contest ends Sunday at 8pm; results will be posted Monday morning.

If no one's close by Saturday evening, I might post some clues.  Stay tuned, and good luck!

Friday, June 17, 2011

Radishes

News flash: radishes are not nearly as gross if you cook them.

Easter Egg radishes from my farm share.  We already composted the tops, because we didn't like them.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Happenings around the house

Yesterday I planted some new things in my garden.  The spinach had pretty much run its course, so I pulled out about half of it and planted beans.  I have no idea if they will grow well with the limited sunlight I get here, but we'll see.  They're from Seed Savers Exchange, a bi-color variety called "Painted Pony".  I also may have gotten a little carried away, and planted tomato seeds and cucumber seeds, also from SSE, in varieties called "Isis Candy Cherry" and "Bushy", respectively.

Friday, June 10, 2011

My favorite way to eat asparagus

Complete recipe here.

Ingredients:
red potatoes (skins on)
asparagus
garlic
rosemary
thyme
extra-virgin olive oil
kosher salt
ground pepper

and just for this time, I added some chopped parsnips, because I had bought them at the farmer's market and didn't know how else to use them up.


Adventures with Rhubarb

Confession time: before tonight, I had never cooked rhubarb before.  I had never knowingly eaten it.  Before last weekend, I had never bought it.  But it was at the farmer's market, so I decided to try it.  It's one of those early spring vegetables (wait, it is a veggie, right?) that some people rave about.