Hi friends. I’m sorry for neglecting you. You see, we started spending time together back in the dead of winter – actually, wait, bad excuse seeing as we didn’t have winter this year. Anyways. We got together at a time of year where there’s a lull, and I needed to find some way to fill my time. We evolved, and you even brought me over 1,000 views! But now, the sun is shining, and a million other things are getting the best of my attention, and you have become dusty. But no matter, we’re here now, and it’s time for a bit of bloggy spring (basically summer) cleaning.
In all seriousness though, it’s been hard for me to keep up with this blog lately! But hopefully I can redeem myself. Which I’d like to do – and still need to have my celebratory blog dinner! Thank you all so much for checking out my rambles and photos. It really does mean a lot to me, and I’m always open to topic or meal ideas.
I posted these photos of the farm earlier, but thought I’d bring them up again to honor the New Harmony Farm CSA’s first distribution of the season! Last week, I came home with a pile of garlic scapes, salad turnips (tasty, sweet white turnips that are great raw), pea tendrils (the edible leaf and flower shoots from pea plants), cabbage, and lettuce. I can’t help but gobble it up, which is a good thing since I’ve gone a little garden crazy this year. I’ve been consumed by revamping our garden and installing raised beds. A genius friend of mine casually mentioned that you can make raised beds out of old bookcases! I’m all about it – no need to buy any materials if you already have one you’re not using, no difficult construction, and not to mention it’s just so resourceful and making good use of “junk”! We happened to have an old 6-shelf bookcase not being used in the garage, so I took the back off, laid down some mesh, and put a yard of organic loam and compost in the 6 existing sections. So so cool!!
I finally finished the whole garden this past weekend. In my raised bed, I have Greek oregano, green peppers, jalapenos, nasturtiums, lettuce, lemon verbena, cucumbers, rhubarb, and tomatoes. That alone would probably be enough to keep me snacking throughout the summer, but I have more jalapeno and green pepper plants, strawberries, borage, dill, basil (both green and purple), cilantro, parsely, rosemary, sage, more tomatoes, kale, spearmint and peppermint, peaches, cherries, sunflowers. I’m balking a little bit just looking at the list…here’s to keeping up with the garden; cooking, photography, and the blog; yoga; running; oh and not to mention my two jobs and social life. But hey, it’s summer and you only live once! What better way to celebrate than through food?
My next couple of posts – or actually until October or so – will highlight delicious, fresh ingredients from the CSA and my garden. If you’ve ever wondered what to do with that random vegetable you’ve never heard of, or just can’t stand to eat that other veggie the same old way again, it’ll be my goal to help you try something new with it.
Sunday, I made a super yummy omelette with fresh, local ingredients. I can’t say I’m Paleo – nor am I even trying to be. But, I think this would fit in nicely with a Paleo diet, if that is something that interests you. I believe the cheese is fine, since it’s from grass-fed cow’s milk (the grass-fed part is key). I also didn’t add any milk to the eggs…compensated a bit with the butter though 😉
- Three fresh eggs, whisked
- Garlic scapes, finely chopped
- Pea tendrils (leaves and flowers – just pick them off the shoots)
- Raw, grass-fed cow’s milk cheese
- Bacon cooked til crispy, seasoned with cayenne
- Butter
I cooked the cayenne-spiced bacon while starting up the omelette, to ensure it got nice and crispy. Over low heat, sautee the garlic scapes in butter until fragrant. Pour in the eggs and make sure the garlic is spread out evenly. It’s really important to keep the heat low and just be patient. I’m sure the way I make omelettes is different than some, but I typically let it sit for a couple minutes, then turn the pan 90 degrees to get even heat before flipping it. After flipping, it really only needs enough time to add the rest of the ingredients and heat for a second, before folding in half and devouring. Throw on the raw pea tendril leaves, cheese, and two slices of bacon. The pea tendril leaves are so delicate that just the heat of the eggs will cook them enough, and save the flavor. You’ll want to save the flowers for the side since they’re just so pretty, but still edible. If the bacon is crispy enough, you can just add the slices whole like I did, and they’ll break apart easily. Pepper if you want it.
Enjoy outside – with or without a mimosa…
All things considered yummy 