What's we're eating, Spring/Summer 2015

I started out blogging as food blogging and now...nothing! I'd like to try to get back to blogging about what we're eating. So what are we eating right now?

For one, it's getting crazy hot. That means popsicles and ice cream!

Cherry Almond Chocolate Frozen Custard - this was incredible and better yet, we were able to share it with dear friends who stayed with us Saturday night. Also for our friends I made these Strawberry Basil Margaritas. They were fantastic and they'll be my contribution to Beach Trip Drinking next week.

Strawberry - Coconut Yogurt popsicles - I worked off of these two recipes from Smitten Kitchen and Joy the Baker.

Strawberry Ice Cream, which tends to be my favorite.

It's my goal to make a new and interesting ice cream most weeks this summer. I mean, it's 90+ degrees everyday with 100% humidity and I work in the garden after Caleb goes to bed. I deserve a bowl of homemade ice cream. Next up on my list: Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream, also from Joy the Baker.

Dinners are the usual rotation of new items. I'm notoriously bad at repeating recipes, not when there are constantly new, delicious ones popping up on the many blogs I read! Last week we had savory breakfast for dinner, with these Bacon-Cheddar Corn Pancakes, from my favorite recipe developer at Serious Eats. Staples I fall back on fairly often are spaghetti with meatballs, a basic vegetable soup, and hamburgers on the grill. We're eating lots of grilled corn, squash and zucchini, from the farmers market. I also recently made these taquitos again- I first made them about 3 years ago, when our dear friends had their first baby. They are a baked chicken taquito, and Brian was thrilled when I pulled out a hidden pan of frozen ones this past weekend for Saturday lunch. If you're going to do all the chopping and rolling required for this recipe, double it and freeze some. I promise, you'll be sad if you don't. I also made a recipe out of the new Southern Living, Brown Sugar-Brined chicken breasts on the grill. They were fantastic.

A total fail, recently? Homemade english muffins. I won't link to the recipe, because I think it was user error. We continue to stick to the same dinner plan that I've been using for a couple years now. I plan 3 meals a week and stretch them for as long as possible. And Caleb? He eats toddler food. Blueberries, oranges, graham crackers, shredded cheese. The other night he ate 2 chicken nuggets and I was thrilled!

Mid June Garden Update

Update from the garden in June:

Voles! They're eating up the roots of my sugar snap and snow pea vines! I have to do some research on how to deal with them, but it's making me very sad. Despite the vole problem I'm getting a bumper crop of sugar snap and snow peas. I'm already thinking about how I'll plant peas next year in order to make the best use of my space. I love the branch teepees but letting them climb the side of chicken wire fence might take less space and work for the same reward. At the time, seeing them go sky high is beautiful...

I've finally put in stakes for my tomatoes. I'm going to try this trellising option...mostly because it's free. Brian made me the stakes from scrap wood in his shop. So now the tomatoes have some support. My three in the front container on our walkway already have blossoms open and tomatoes growing. I think those are sungolds, which makes sense- that variety has usually been early for me.

My cucumber has discovered the fence and is using that as support.

My herb garden is finally up and running. I've learned the hard way that herbs grow VERY slowly. It's worth it for me to buy a handful of starts in the spring. I found the sage plant this morning at the farmers market for $2. I also got a nice size bag of worm casings for $3, so most of my plants, especially the tomatoes, got a nice dressing of fertilizer tonight, with hay on top to help conserve water. It was 90 degrees today and it'll be warmer tomorrow so I expect to have to water tomorrow night.

 

All in all, I'm really happy with the state of my garden. I've put in a lot of work, starting all the way back in January when I was hacking out a huge grass plant. I hand tilled the soil and amended it. I started all these plants from seed either inside under the grow light or outside in the ground. 

What's not working right now? Okra. I think it's shaded between the tall tomato plants and beans on either side.

My Favorite Podcasts

I only recently got turned onto podcasts. This is partly because when I got a new iPhone at Thanksgiving I splurged and got the one with more memory. Before, it was difficult to have enough room for pictures, a couple of apps and something like podcasts. Now I'm all set! And with my slightly longer commute, I really enjoy something besides the commercial-heavy Nashville radio stations. I also found I really like to listen to them while gardening. Mine are mostly farming/homesteading/cooking focused, but with a surprise thrown in at the end!


So here's a roundup of my favorite podcasts:

The Beginning Farmer is hosted by Ethan Book, a small meat farmer in Iowa. I'm like an armchair farmer. I love to read about it, the challenges, the successes, the different types of animals, the work that truly goes into making a life as a farmer. And Ethan still has an off-farm job. His podcast is funny and approachable. I'm not sure I have a favorite episode, as it's a weekly detailing of life on the farm.




Homesteady is hosted by Austin Martin. His podcast is somewhat new to me, but I like his style. Each podcast is focused on a different topic, like keeping chickens or breaking homemade bread. He also does these "Campfire" episodes that are focused on storytelling and so far that's been my favorite, it's the episode titled "Pioneers." The podcast is really well done (editing, music, etc.) I would suggest it for anyone remotely interested in homesteading.




I've listened to a few of the Living Homegrown podcast, which is fairly new, there are only a few episodes out. Theresa is seriously knowledgeable and I've looking forward to learning more about the hobbies I already enjoy, like gardening and canning. My favorite episode so far is episode 1 "Why Bother with Canning?" Her passion for this hobby comes through clearly and I heard myself in her words, especially that first hot summer in Chicago that I taught myself to can.



Spilled Milk is the podcast I've been listening to the longest. Hosted by Molly Wizenberg and Matthew Amster-Burton, it's 15-20 minutes focused on one food or dish. The latest one I listened to (while vacuuming!) was on soy sauce. I learned that Kroger soy sauce is the absolute worse ever, and apparently I don't even know what I'm missing. I'll be picking up a name brand in the future. They're funny and irreverent and half the episodes get an "explicit" rating because they make dirty jokes about green beans and dissolve into giggles.


Oh my goodness, Gravy. Gravy is the podcast produced by the Southern Foodways Alliance and if I could only recommend one podcast, this might take the cake. (Or the biscuits?) Gravy comes out biweekly with a story from the South that intertwines with food. My favorite episode might be the most recent- a reporter goes to her family home of Natchez, MS, which used to be a large community of Southern Jewish families that has since died out. It's eyeopening and funny but also sad, a way of life that is almost entirely lost. Every single episode is spectacular.


Ok, and here's the wildcard! My college roommate who just came to visit turned me onto this one. I've only listened to two episodes and I'm holding off on the others to save them for our beach road trip.


Disney Story Origins. Yup. It's an absolute pleasure to listen to, these are longform journalism in podcast form (we're talking an hour plus in length). I've listened to the Pocahontas and Sleeping Beauty episodes. In both cases the history and background stories were well researched. The host is funny and sarcastic, the perfect foil for all that Disney goodness. If you like Disney movies, I would highly recommend this one.






I've got a few more I'm just getting into: NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour, the Growing Farms Podcast, WesleyCast (hello dorky Methodist!), but I haven't listened to those enough to really recommend them. Over the next couple weeks I'll be saving all my new episodes, and going through back episodes, for road trip material.