Earthly Spring Candy - Berries, Sugar Snaps and Summer Squash

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Hi y'all! It's been a bit since we last blogged. It's been a busy couple of weeks too. Yesterday we gave a farm tour. Folks came out and helped us plant pepper plants (it took us less than an hour to do what would have taken Ben alone 5 hours). We also picked our own food, prepped it, cooked it (on a camper stove) and picnicked in the shade. It was an awesome afternoon to be sure!!! Andy brought out his crazy cool camera and picture taking skills, so more to come as soon as we get the visuals to accompany the description of our awesome Sunday afternoon. 

So, now to get to business. Spring is quickly feeling like summer. We hadn't seen rain at the farm for almost two months - until yesterday (I swear all of our positive energy yesterday afternoon brought in the much needed rain). But thankfully, the farm has a well, so we've been able to keep the crops good and watered. For all our efforts, we now have spring time nature's candy like sugar snap peas (pictured above), summer squash!!!, and strawberries (these might be the last of 'em, so be sure you really savor them this time around). We also still have nice and spicy radishes. And as I looked for sugar snap pea information and recipes, I found an amazing recipe that called for both sugar snaps and radishes (and dill - sounds perfectly "spring-y"). But remember too, these sugar snap peas are amazingly tasty raw. You just pull the strings out and pop 'em in your mouth. They really are WAY tastier than candy (well, except for maybe chocolate)! Please please try them this way. A bunch of folks insist on shelling them. You can do this. But the pods are so good, it really is a shame not to eat them too. 

Alright! Be sure to check out the recipe below. We'll write more soon. Have a fantastic week and enjoy the spring weather while it lasts. It's gonna be summer before we know it.

Thanks for stopping by!

Patricia & Ben

I found this awesome radish and sugar snap recipe at a blog called Smitten Kitchen. You can access the recipe below, here.

sauteed radishes and sugar snaps with dill

I realized something frightening over the weekend: I am so far behind on posting recipes we’ve auditioned over the last couple months, I could pretty much post every day for the next week and only just then begin to be almost caught up. So, I decided that I would. I am going to post every single day for the next week. And look, I know you’re thinking: that it’s unseemly hot out and you’re in all likelihood either on a vacation or counting down to one and you honestly couldn’t care less about turning on a stove right now–and well, sadly, me too.

But that’s where these recipes will come in. They’re sides and light mains and good pot-luck fare and some relatively simple desserts and you know, the kind of stuff that you might get you rethinking your No Cooking Until September stance. I promise not to saddle you with any roasts or stocks or Things With Fourteen Ingredients. The last week of July is no time for noise like that.


The last week of July is the perfect time to go check out the farm stands because everything is finally hitting their stride. From some radishes and sugar snap peas, Alex and I made a quick saute with dill last month. I admit that despite loving dill, I was quite wary of a recipe that had a whole teaspoon of dill seeds in it along with a tablespoon of the fresh stuff–would it taste like a pickle? How would we taste the other vegetables at all?–but curiously enough, this large amount still lingered delicately in the background, and we loved the dish. It was everything a heatwave dinner should be–fresh, light and playing off everything you could buy in Union Square today.

One year ago: Classic Cherry Clafouti Last week, these same lovely folks sent Alex and me with another gigantic, too-good-to-be-true box of giant cherries and I was all set to make something new with them. And then. Well. I ate them. I’m not sorry.
Sauteed Radishes and Sugar Snaps with Dill
Adapted from Bon Appetit, April 2004
To remove strings from fresh peas, just snap off the stem end and pull string lengthwise down each pod.
Makes 6 servings.
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup thinly sliced shallots
12 ounces sugar snap peas, trimmed, strings removed
2 cups thinly sliced radishes (about 1 large bunch)
1/4 cup orange juice
1 teaspoon dill seeds
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
Melt butter with oil in large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add shallots and sauté until golden, about 5 minutes. Add sugar snap peas, cook for one to two minutes, and radishes sauteing until crisp-tender, about 3 to 4 minutes more. Add orange juice and dill seeds; stir 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in chopped dill. Transfer to bowl; serve.