Double Up Farm

Perhaps you have not noticed, but it is Blueberry Season!! This means that every week under the guise of having my own market stall, I scurry over to my friend's stall (Scott Howard Farms) and buy cartons and cartons of blueberries! This week's masterpiece: Blueberry Cobbler In a stroke of fortune, two cartons of blueberries provides enough for the cobbler, plus a breakfast of blueberries and cream. I am sure this cobbler should be served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream o

From the family who brought you Pie-Day, and Fry-Day, and Fatter-Day, comes the best part of the meal - Dip !! All Dip, All The Time! After a discussion one day about how dip was our favorite part of the meal, we decided to create a meal of nothing but dip. Excellent idea! Yesterday after the Farmer's Market, we packed up a meal of dips (it is extremely portable) and trekked off to Morgan and Kim's to have dinner with them. Hummus (topped with feta cheese) Jalapeno Popper

Meals prepared from the Farmer's Market push all my buttons (the good ones!!) The food is as fresh as it gets, the variety seems boundless, prices are good, the people and the experience are fun. But of course, it all comes down to the foods, doesn't it?? Tonight was one of my favorites - easy, fast, delicious, and oh so adjustable to suit your taste, or your pantry!! Fresh Tomato Pasta 4 cups small red tomatoes, cut into quarters (Fancy Farms) 1 cup fresh cheddar curds (B

I am a list maker and a planner. Each day, I have a plan for what I am doing that day - gardening and livestock kick that plan in the butt almost every day.... Pickling was NOT on the list today, but as I was weeding the top half of the garden (which WAS on the list), the cucumbers advised they were ready for the first batch to come off the vine. And oh by the way, so were about another thousand zucchini (okay, there were 12, but it felt like 1,000). So...we are interrupti

And it just keeps rolling along. Last night for dinner, we featured zucchini fritters. These were quite tasty, especially once I loaded them up with sour cream!! I think I would like to add some sunflower seeds or pine nuts too for some crunch, and some dried cranberries. I may be losing sight of this being a vegetable. Zucchini Fritters 4 cups shredded zucchini 2/3 cup all-purpose flour 2 large eggs, lightly beaten salt and pepper 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder Vegetable oil

The word "hangry" was made for me - I am kind of grumpy to begin with, but once I get hungry I am just unbearable. Every now and then it happens that I am so busy at my paying job that I forget to eat, and by the time I remember, I am tearing people apart left and right. I have to eat, and fast!! Today's rescue saw the 5 minute creation of a yellow zucchini sauteed in butter, and then scrambled with a couple of our eggs, and topped with some cheese. So delicious, so fresh

Question - just how long can I whine about zucchini overload??? Answer - longer than you could possibly imagine!! The first year I planted 24 plants. My friend Gena who grew up on a farm suggested that was too many. She was right. Over the years I have continued to back off, until I am only planting two plants, and even that is very, very productive for a family where only one person will eat zucchini. Anyway, today's zucchini recipe was delicious. I was supposed to make

This really started on Saturday, with a busy day at the Farmer's Market - lots of fun, but 8-9 hours on my very sad knees made for a painful night! One of the activities at the market was a cooking demo for a shaved salad, so I made one for dinner tonight. Delicious, but it really needed some feta cheese. Sunday, I went with a friend to watch herding dog trials. Wonderful people, cool weather, amazing dogs and wonderful sheep. They needed a scribe to take notes, and my f

We have finally started summer!! I don't really care for the heat, but I very much love the foods! Had the first veggie curry from the garden tonight. After many years, I do a pretty good job of just growing enough for me (since my husband rejects all vegetables that are not onions. Tonight's featured the first zucchini of the year, a tender carrot, a couple of Hakurei turnips, a French Breakfast radish, bok choy, and green beans. Also raisins, but those did NOT come from

One of the best things about being a grown-up is being able to whip together a wonderful dinner, starting from nothing. Not sure what happened to our day today, but we looked at each other at 5:30 and realized we were hungry, but had made no plans for dinner. Now, we live in the sticks, and while we could get in the car and drive a ways to buy something fast food, I really hate to do that. So, into the kitchen we ventured!! Half an hour later we had made waffles from scratc

Uh no - not Christmas. It's BLT season!!! When you only have a few ingredients, you need to make every one count. Quality really matters in a BLT. One of the best things to come out the south: Duke's Mayonnaise. Now, I make my own mayonnaise, and it is delicious. But nothing matches Duke's on a BLT (or a mater sandwich as long as you are wondering). Freshly made bread, bacon from a local farmer who raises his pigs in the woods, living a happy life. Lettuce from my own

I mean seriously, you knew this was gonna be about food, right? Excellent haul from the Farmer's Market today - fresh tomatoes and duck eggs. I had a batch of yummy cornbread I made yesterday. So for dinner tonight, I made Israeli Shaksuka, served over southern cornbread (seasoned with my own home grown paprika - the shaksuka, not the cornbread - what kind of idiot would put paprika in cornbread....). The duck eggs have more body than the chicken eggs and are (were) delici

I love fudge. I love caramel. Salted caramel fudge? Yes, please!!! SALTED CARAMEL FUDGE INGREDIENTS 1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk 1 pound chopped bittersweet or semi sweet chocolate (I used chips) 4 tablespoons unsalted butter 3 tablespoons pure vanilla extract 1/2 cup caramel (I make my own, because...yummm - recipe below - but you can buy it too) coarse salt INSTRUCTIONS Lightly spray an 8-inch by 8-inch pan with non-stick cooking spray. Press a piece of parch

I love duck (you know, the kind on my plate), but it has always been roasted or sauteed. This weekend, my friend from Nelson All Natural shared a new product with me, Ground Duck. I have to be honest, I was a bit hesitant. Duck is a strong flavor, and tends to be greasy (which is a good thing, really). So I looked at it for a few days, and last night, decided to make duck sliders. OH MY.....OH MY!!!!! Incredibly delicious - if you have ever tasted ostrich, like that, but

Since I started blogging, I have really tried to create engaging titles, you know, to encourage people to read the blog. However, it has dawned on me that I am kind of doing this for me (well, and also my soon-to-be daughter-in-law who likes my recipes and is a marvelous cook). Anyway, I sat here for 10 minutes trying to think of something clever. You see how that worked out. This morning I made a batch of Salisbury Steak meatballs. Very tasty, although next time I will l

Well - quite the fattie weekend (defined as a weekend almost wholely devoted to food). Sure, I spent wonderful times with friends on the farm, and had a great day at the farmer's market, but really...the FOOD!!! Saturday morning, my favorite happy meat farmer brought me a ham!!! I adore ham, but it is quite hard to find humanely raised pork which has been processed into ham - he had one done as a spiral sliced ham, no less. Oh happy day, kaloo kalay, she chortled in her jo

I am a serious coffee drinker - and have never found chai to be particularly appealing. Until now!! My daughters love chai, and I noticed it is really expensive to buy it at Starbucks. So I thought I might be able to make my own chai concentrate. And what I discovered was that (a) it is very easy; (b) it is a lot more affordable; and (c) when I can control the ingredients I love this stuff. Just made a bottle for Daughter #2 (the Farm Queen) and I am now sitting here guzzl

I think I have already posted this like a dozen times, but every time I make it, I think - this is so delicious I have to tell the world. It is everything good about a coffee cake: 1. Super easy to make 2. Very few ingredients which you always have in the house 3. Not too sweet 4. Light and cakey with an occasional sweet gooey 5. You can make two, and pretend you are going to give one away and then eat them both anyway. This morning I had every intention of sending one home

A few years ago I launched the "if you can't beat 'em, eat 'em program" at the farm. I was so tired of trying to control the wild garlic, that I just gave in and started harvesting it and eating it. It is pretty tasty, and for a while my family ate Asian style pancakes with every meal made from the wild garlic. There are a couple of other weeds that threaten to overrun the property - one of them is chickweed. I know you can eat chickweed, and I have used it to make healing

Farmer's Market was a bit of bust today. The wind was so intense whipping through the barn that we could not keep anything on the table. So we gave up at 11:30 and called it a day. However, I did make sure I snagged a fix of my latest obsession: cheese curds!!! Once again, I would like to share a photo, but I have eaten them all in a frenzy. My local dairy guy has been gone for two weeks so I have had a curd hiatus and am afraid I had a bit of a fatty once I got my hands