cherries, peaches, and plums

A few summer's ago, my Nana had me over for lunch and she made this simple fruit salad. She just cut up some cherries, peaches, and plums and added about a tablespoon of sugar. Voila.. a delicious and refreshing fruit salad.

summer food

1. Hamburger with an Asian- inspired vegetable chutney
2. Pasta with fresh, homemade pesto
3. Spinach salad with cranberries, almond slivers, fennel, heirloom cherry tomatoes, and farmer's market sweet peppers
4. Hard-boiled egg w/ salt and pepper
5. Cherries
6. Homemade bruschetta on toasted sour dough

crunchy and colorful salad

I don't have any problems with eating ONLY vegetables for a meal! I love vegetables. When I opened our refrigerator to determine what I would make for lunch today, I discovered a bunch of veggies that needed to be eaten. So... I made this tasty salad.

Crunchy/Colorful Salad Ingredients:

2 Roma tomatoes (Sliced into slivers and then quartered)
2 Celery stalks (Thinly sliced)
1 Carrot (Thinly sliced and quartered. I used an organic purple carrot.. extra color!)
1 Green onion (Thinly sliced and chopped)
1 tbsp Fresh ginger root (Finely chopped)
1 1/2 tbsp Crumbled blue cheese
Sea salt (to taste)
Black pepper (to taste)

The ginger and blue cheese add a nice spunk to the flavor. A little bit of lemon juice or vinegar drizzled over top would finish it nicely as well.

salad, pottery, and books

For lunch today, I made a quick salad with winter mixed greens I bought at a tiny local farmer's market last week. (Side note: winter greens are lovely! So much heartier than typical salad greens.) I made my salad in a newly finished ceramic bowl from my first time potter class. It is so great to reap the benefits of creative labor! I am not 100% satisfied with how the glaze came out, but I am satisfied with it's size/shape!

Our class is almost over and I will be taking a break from LAC (Lawrence Arts Center) classes for awhile. Only in the efforts to save money and plan feverishly for our summer trip to Europe!! I hope to return to pottery classes at LAC again this fall. I am thoroughly enjoying this new challenging and creative outlet!

I am busy reading, "Lunch in Paris: A Love Story with Recipes" by Elizabeth Bard. I decided to read some travel journals (which I LOVE to read) that take place in locations we plan to visit this summer. "Lunch in Paris" is lovely so far! I enjoy the recipes that coincide with her writing! Delightful!

I have already read "The Vinegar of Spilamberto" by Doris Muscatine. So.. I have Italy covered. I have also read "Everything is going to be great: an underfunded and overexposed European grand tour" by Rachel Shukert. This book primarily takes place in Amsterdam. I have started but not finished Bill Bryson's "Notes from a Small Island." This will take care of London. I have also read half of "Sixty Million Frenchmen Can't Be Wrong" by Nadeau and Barlow. Which is a book about two Canadian's take on the history of the French culture. Very interesting stuff.

I am hoping to find an interesting travel journal that explores Germany as well. If I have time I will try to get through "The Oysters of Locmariaquer" by Eleanor Clark (more France) and at least the part about Italy in Elizabeth Gilbert's "Eat, Pray, Love."

Well.. Yikes.. I guess I better get to my reading!

radishes

I haven't eaten a radish in a long time. So I bought some at the grocery store. I like the extra crunch that it added to my salad. The salad that I prepared was delicious! Here is what I put in it:

Mixed greens
Sliced radishes
Halved yellow cherry tomatoes
Crumbled blue cheese
Ripped slices of cajon turkey
Oil and Tarragon Vinegar

braised pork shoulder

Today, among the other "house-wife-ish" things I did, I made a braised pork shoulder and it was delicious! Even Toby gobbled it up. Recipe here.

food from the farmers

We went to the farmers market yesterday and brought home sweet crabapples, fingerling potatoes, heirloom tomatoes, basil, cucumbers, watercress and wild greens, onions, and locally raised pork steaks and sausage.

When we arrived home, we whipped up some basil, onion, chive, and bacon omelets. I also couldn't resist one of those crabapples! Sooo good.
- angela

lunch lately

I have been eating very fresh and healthy lunches lately.



Cucumbers from my mother's garden, heirloom cherry tomatoes from the farmer's market, grated Parmesan cheese, sea salt and ground black pepper.



Bing cherries and Greek strawberry yogurt.



Sautéed Swiss chard, lovage, and beet leaves with red beets, sautéed pearl onions, salt, pepper and grated Parmesan cheese.
- angela

indian food faves

1. Cardamom

2. Masala Chai

3. Garlic Naan

4. Chicken Biryani

Fresh Peaches and Plums w/ Mint and Ginger Syrup

Last night Toby treated us with a special dessert.

Here is what he did:

He gathered:

3 peaches

1 plum

Fresh mint (from our herb garden)

Ginger root

Sugar

He first cubed the peaches and plum and set them aside. He finely blended together a small portion of mint and ginger with a bit of water and heated them over the stove to make a simple syrup. (He added sugar to taste.)

Next he slowly warmed the peaches and plum over the stove, just to bring their juices out and make them a little softer. After he divided out the fruit into two bowls, he drizzled some of the mint/ginger syrup on top of each portion.

He also made whipped cream from scratch and added nutmeg and cinnamon to the concoction.

It was D-licious!

Avocado Shakes- my new favorite thing.

When Toby and I visited home this past weekend, we stayed a night in Frederick, MD at my sister's place. She loves to eat at a nearby Vietnamese restaurant and she typically orders their "rainbow shake". On this occasion, however, they were out of the ingredients needed for that particular shake, so she ordered the "avocado smoothie" instead. Boy, were we ever pleasantly surprised. You think avocado- salad or guacamole- not a deliciously sweet and comforting shake. It was SOO wonderful. If you haven't tried one yet, head to your nearest Vietnamese cuisine or just go to vietworld kitchen and try their recipe. You won't be disappointed.

Picture via vietworld kitchen

Strawberry Pickin'

We went to Louisville for Memorial Day weekend and our friends, Angel and Justin took us to many great places for our visit. One of the best stops was Huber's Orchard & Winery. When we got there we grabbed a box and headed out to the strawberry field's via tractor and wagon. There were rows upon rows of sun-ripened strawberries!

Huber's has beautiful orchards and crop fields! They sell fresh produce and homemade breads and other wonderful foods at their market. Included at the establishment is an ice creamery where I bought a scoop of freshly made coconut ice cream with real coconut flakes.

Then we headed over to the winery on their grounds. We sat outside of the winery on a veranda where live folk music was being played, so I could eat my ice cream. Then we went inside and took advantage of the complimentary wine tasting in their show room upstairs. My favorites were Vignoles and Sweet Marcella. The semi-sweet, Starlight White, is worth mentioning as well.

It was a great weekend with many great stops, the best are below:

1. Richo's in New Albany, IN.

2. Grape Leaf Mediterranean Restaurant in Louisville, KY.

3. The Georgetown Drive-in Movie theatre in New Albany, IN.

4. Nancy's Bagels in Louisville KY.

5. West Baden Springs Hotel and the French Lick Casino in French Lick, IN.

Thanks Angel, Justin, Rachel and Zach for a truly great weekend!

Guacamole!