Hello Goodbye

 Hi y'all!

As you know, we've finally made it out to the farm. It's absolutely fabulous! Charlie is definitely a farm dog at heart - but I'm not sure the farm cats appreciate his enthusiasm for the farm or for them ;).

We had a great Saturday at market. Thanks to all who came out! Ben will be going to market with our friend Emily next week, as I will be in Tennessee. I am leaving tomorrow morning. I'll be stopping in Knoxville on the way to pick up my 11 year old nephew, Julian. We'll road trip the last 3 or 4 hours together 'til we get to Oma and Opa's house (my folks - mom's German, hence "Oma" [it means grandma in German). I'll also get to see my sister, her hubby and their "new" baby, Garrett (he's new to me anyway - they live in Arizona, so I haven't gotten to meet the little guy yet). Dad has already made plans to go camping out at Pigeon Roost, where we have land. He got an eight person tent, a cook stove, lanterns, and a 4-wheeler. We'll also most definitely go fishing in the stream (or at least Dad will - I'd rather swim around and look for cool rocks and flowers really). In the meantime, Ben will be doing business as usual. I feel a little bad leaving him here to work his 70-80 hour weeks while I'm off in Tennessee having fun -but well. obviously not bad enough, because I'm going ;).

I have quite a few pictures to share with you. They're kind of random, but they're all either from market or the farm here in Clayton. I hope everyone has a fantastic week. See you in a week or so!

lettuce

summer squash blossom (there's a bee in there, but it's kind of hard to see)

fried summer squash blossoms

one of our thrown together meals that wound up being a delectable feast

If I had a nicer camera the picture above would look as appetizing as it really was...This was a dish Ben and I just threw together one evening looking through our cabinets and using what we had (which is almost always how I cook). So, let me tell you what it is - in case you'd like to try it. I promise it's really really really good!

- 1 jar alfredo sauce
- spaghetti noodles
- 1 bunch French breakfast radishes
- 2 chicken breasts
- squash blossoms
- egg and flour (to coat blossoms)

Directions:
1. bake your chicken if you're going to use it in this dish (use your preferred marinade and chop up chicken when done).
2. clean French breakfast radishes (you will use the radishes and the greens)
3. cut radishes to preferred size; chop the greens
4. cook your noodles and drain (if you use cold water the noodles won't stick together - the only time I ever rinse them with water or not at all is when I make macaroni and cheese - it helps the cheese stick to the noodles better).
5. open jar of alfredo, simmer on low, add radishes and greens
6. once the radishes appear to be cooked well, add your chicken and serve.

Here's a link to the fried squash blossom recipe (we just used cheese - I don't remember what kind - it was just what we already had in the fridge).

In fact, the Seasonal Chef website has a TON of other recipes that are great for farmer's market produce. You can access it here.

carrots (we have purple. rainbow and orange)

black eyed Susans

our chalk board 6/5/10

Ben with his silly hat and grin :) (Emily said his hat reminded her of her grandpa)

summer squash

Ben and his new (to us) tiller (prepping the ground for sunflowers)

tat soi, lettuce and peppers

Okey dokey! That's it for now. Take care.

Patricia & Ben

Summer Squash Recipes to get ya started

I know a few of you have been having some trouble figuring out what the heck to do with all the squash you're getting, so I figured I'd post a few recipes (and links in some cases...). I will be posting an update about our move to the farm - with pictures, of course :) - very soon. If it doesn't rain tomorrow, count on it then. Until then, here are a few recipes to tide you over.

Easy Squash Dressing
Anything that's easy is good to me. We haven't tried this one yet, but we will very soon. It calls for breadcrumbs, cream of chicken soup (but I'm sure you could substitute cream of mushroom or make your own vegan creamy conconction instead), onion, salt and pepper, and squash of course. Click on the link to get to the site. 

Zucchini Creole with Tomatoes and Peppers
This one calls for a few more ingredients than the first, but if you already have most of them handy this one's pretty easy too. And yummy.

Squash Casserole
This one's from Paula Deen - so you know it's good - but probably not good for you ;).

Well, that's it for now. Ben just got home. It's time for dinner and a little relaxing. It's been a crazy few weeks. We can finally stop to catch our breath - for a minute.

Thanks for stopping by!

Patricia & Ben