Summer Meals

I have been taking photos of a few of our great locavore meals this summer, but haven't taken the time to sit down and blog. So I thought I would briefly share a couple of recent creations to get back on track.

Veggie Chili with Herbed Whole-Wheat Buttermilk Biscuits

We had a lot of fresh herbs left over from our Farmer's Market stand last week, so I've been planning some kind of savory bread. I had decided to do some savory scones with a veggie chili, and thought about doing biscuits instead and baking them right on top of the chili in a dutch oven. It turned out wonderfully. The chili was entirely homegrown with the exception of the beans--onions, shallots, carrots, and tomatoes all came from our gardens.

Honey Glazed Pear Upside-Down Cake

We are lucky to have an orchard on-site at the farm we rent land from. They are generous in their produce trades with us, and we took home a bushel of early asian pears last week. I made this pear upside-down cake from a recipe I found on-line (just google it). The only change I made other than making up for using asian pears instead of big ones was to sprinkle chopped pecans instead of almonds. It was amazing!

We've also been eating a lot of potato "nachos"--baked potatoes with tomatoes, salsa, black beans, cilantro, and sour cream. Those are a big hit with the whole family. Marinara has been the other big meal maker. Since we sell almost all of our "good" tomatoes, usually I'm left with tomatoes that are only good for sauce. We've been trying to be better about keeping some of the good stuff for ourselves this year though, so we've had some yummy cucumber-tomato cold salads and the like.

Please send good energy against late blight. Our two main crops of heirloom tomatoes were completely taken out in the past couple of weeks, and with 1000+ pounds of potatoes still in the ground, we are very concerned about it spreading. We appreciate all the energy you can give us, as nothing else seems to stave off this awful disease. Thanks all, and enjoy the last "real" week of summer!