Double Up Farm

On Sunday morning, my husband said "what I want to do today is have you cook delicious things all day while I sit around and eat them." Now, he rarely comes right out and asks for something, AND I do love to cook - so kind of a win, win. First, I made a salmon noodle casserole with some salmon he had smoked earlier in the week. This recipe started life as a beef and tomato casserole, but you know how it is when you get to messing around with a recipe. This was really delic

Weird French word for a lovely, versatile food. Normally, I have way too many eggs, so I am always on the lookout for a dish to use eggs. Sure, the slacker hens have cut me off lately, but I broke down and bought some eggs at the Farmer's Market for the sole purpose of making this dish. It is like a custard, and was originally made with fresh, pitted cherries. But I had these lovely peaches, and it is great. Equally good for dessert or breakfast! I am going to run through

That's the sound of the winner's bell !! Have you ever wondered if it's possible to eat too many blueberries? Well, it is not. Armed with another few baskets of blueberries from my favorite blueberry man at Scott Howard Farms, I made what may be my favorite blueberry dish yet: I started with a recipe from The Elliott Homestead, but you know I cannot leave anything as is, so I have tweaked it just a bit. Berry Custard Cakes – 2 cups berries (I used blueberries, but can't wai

Ha!! Tricked you!! You thought you were going to read a classy post about wine, but nope, it's about Bean Salad!!! I am not sure when Bean Salad became something I craved, instead of something I scraped to the side of my plate and threw away when no one was looking. But sometime it happened, and I just want to eat it all the time. And since I always have a random set of canned beans in the house, it only takes a few minutes. I like two varieties, the sweet kind and the so

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

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

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

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

I am a decent cook - I make (mostly) tasty food and can follow a recipe. But I have never been much of an innovator. This morning, I had a recipe I really wanted to make for Spicy Green Chili Chicken Lasagna. So I got my recipe out, and realized that I had almost none of the required ingredients, other than chicken. So - made some alterations. I mean, I am sure the original recipe is delicious too, but I am inordinately proud of myself for this!!! 2 c salsa verde - nope,

Sunday breakfast bribe to the one who runs the table saw - French Toast made from fresh sweet bread, dipped in duck eggs and cream. Do I even need to say the word "delicious"?? Saturday at the Farmer's Market was (still) surprisingly fun! In terms of "is it profitable" - well, no...no it is not. But it is really really fun, and I tripled my sales from the week before, and had such a wonderful time talking to vendors and customers. I have been very reluctant to do a Farmer'