green, grassy sparrowgrass aka asparagus

My rebelliousness went so deep that, faced with a can of asparagus that instructed me to open at this end, I always, stubbornly, opened it at the other.

– Dorothy Gilman

what about the leftover pickle juice?

The jar was empty. Well, mostly empty as the pickles sweet and amply spicy were gone. I don’t know about you, but I do feel somewhat guilty each time I pour the leftover juice down the drain. There’s flavor, bits of garlic, mustard seeds and brick red chilies in the liquid that’s gurgling to parts unknown.

tonight: gnocchi with grilled corn and tomatoes

Happy summer! Did you realize that next week is the Fourth of July? Exactly. How did that glorious, star-spangled-banner event sneak up so quickly? Maybe, it’s because I have my birthday in mind, and it’s a big one. I won’t say just how big, but trust me on this one.

tonight: asparagus-strawberry chicken salad

beautiful piles of fruit, meat and vegetables

There’s no AC in our house, which is ok. I’ve come up with a pretty ingenious system of opening the house up in the early evening when it starts to cool down, and turning on the overhead fan for some added air movement.

tonight: barley rubble

broccoli rubble with barley, sweet sundried tomatoes and marinated artichokes

Hey friends! Life happens and things don’t get posted, even though eating does happen. It’s really a necessity, after all.

tonight: spicy prawn, corn and kiwi salad

kiwi, corn and spicy prawns, that’s what’s for dinner

Bubba Blue had it right when he explained in his charming southern drawl, “Shrimp is the fruit of the sea.” (Forrest Gump)  I kinda agree, and then he goes on to explain 21 ways to cook these deep-sea morsels: baked, broiled or fried and adorned with lemon or coconut. I could be on a bit of a seafood kick!

tonight: pan-grilled shrimp tacos

sweet shrimp, red cabbage and cilantro wrapped up in a corn tortilla

I can still remember the first time I had peel ‘n eat shrimp. We’d gone to some friends’ house back in the 80’s for dinner. There in the middle of the table was a giant bowl of pink shrimp just waiting to have their shells deftly removed, all while sucking the briny juice from the removed tail piece. We proceeded to dunk the sweet chunks into garlicky butter until the entire bowl had been devoured.

corn stalks: a land of giants with silky tassels

the risotto even has a jaunty sprig of thyme!

I can’t even begin to tell you how much sweet corn I’ve eaten this summer. I’m positive it’s more than a gunnysack full; at least in my mind.

Ears of golden yellow and honeyed white corn have been roasted on the grill until kernels pop, sliced off the cob and eaten raw, and boiled in pots of salted water.

Growing up, my paternal grandparents grew what I determined was a colossal garden. I was little so the perspective might be skewed, but when I see that same plot as an adult, it’s still enormous. I remember rows of corn towering overhead; it made a small girl feel like she was walking in a land of giants that wore silky tassels. One couldn’t ask for fresher picking than that.

green salmon and community gardens

 

how does your garden grow?

If you happen to be a person who reads both of my blogs – the other being Isabella Bird Miscellany – you’ll know that my summer has been packed with short getaways.

Taking an extended vacation is fabulous when time and dollars allow; when that’s not in the cards, sneaking away for a day or two feeds the desire for exploration.

No matter the length of time involved, I like to find good and quirky places to eat; definitely with the emphasis being on the good factor. It’s like a crapshoot, sometimes you win and sometimes you don’t. Yahacts, our beach destination, did not disappoint; the dice rolled all in our favor.

what is it about charred and burnt food?

grilled corn on the cob doesn’t need butter, but if you must, by all means do!

The skies are cloudy and moody. Outside, it looks more like fall than being right smack dab in the middle of summer. Peeking at the 7 day forecast, tells me this is my one and only opportunity this week to use the oven without heating up the house to beyond uncomfortable levels; the 90’s are returning.

Having spent the morning at the farmstand gathering red and yellow cherry tomatoes, Italian prune-plums, beets, potatoes and cilantro I was set for the weekly menu that I’d scratched out on a torn piece of yellow legal pad. My organizational skills are usually a little more technical, but not today. And, that is ok.