Confession

I killed my veggie garden. I mean, I neglected it almost entirely- left it to its own devices. All those tomatoes and peppers and squashes- gone. This is particularly ironic because I am a professional gardener. I mean, I get paid to know better. I even grow food for a living, yet my own garden got put last on my list of things to do. I just recently looked up from my constant trudging and noticed that in the midst of the bare spots, there was still potential to be harnessed. And so, I begged forgiveness from the tomato gods, and I harvested some carrot seed.

I suppose you could plant your carrot seeds now, though I am going to wait until that day in early spring when it is finally warm enough and light enough to play outside again. I am going to scatter those seeds along with some arugula seed, and watch them duke it out as the ground warms. That event seems like a long time from now though. Until that day, I will make do with this experiment with my favorite (read: indestructible) plant- Germander.

Germander thrives with little water, poor soil and varying degrees of light. Among its other charms are that it is used in the manufacture of liqueurs, vermouths, and tonics. It has survived right next to my house for years with (ahem) very little attention. So now, I am going to propagate it to grow along the entire length of the house.

I simply snipped some of the lanky branches from this super low growing evergreen, stripped the bottom leaves, and placed them in water. If roots start to form, (and before they get too tangly) I will pot them up and plant them in the fall. I'll let you know how it goes...

Re-Figuring Figs

So, it's fig season and I am reminded of something my friend Rowan says, "you got-ta move it!" Yes, she's 3 and that's from the movie Madagascar (can you see the dancing lemurs?). Anyway, no truer words have been spoken when it comes to figs. If you want to enjoy your fresh figs beyond the day you obtained them, you got-ta move it!

Make a decision. Eat them on ice cream with a little salt. Throw one down solo. Whatever you do, do something. Otherwise, in a short day or two, you'll have, well, spoiled fruit. You get the picture, time is of the essence here.

Our neighbor brings us figs each year from her aunt's fig tree. The other day we woke up to a bounty of fresh figs on our doorstep. This last harvest was particularly ripe, and so we needed to process them quickly. My husband took the lead on one this by drying them. This is pretty easy and they taste so good on a salad with garlic vinaigrette.

First, wash the figs, cut off the ends, and slice them into 1/4 inch slices. We went from top to bottom. Now comes the fun part! Prior to drying, the fruit needs to soak in ascorbic acid, which is just Vitamin C. So, instead of a trip to the store for this one, we went into our cabinet and got out the Vitamin C and the mortar and pestle.

You'll want to crush one to two Vitamin C tablets, depending on how many figs you have to dry. Give tablets a good pound until you have a nice powder. Once a powder, you are ready to mix with about a quart of water. We did about one teaspoon of acid to one quart of water for about a one quart of figs.

Put your clean-cut figs in the water solution to soak for about 10 mins. Once out of the water then you are ready to move to the dehydrator. Space the figs on the racks so that they aren't touching and they will be happy there for about 12 - 24 hours. In fact, we went as long as 18 hours for our juicer figs.

You'll know they are done when they are leathery, but not brittle. Check on them every few hours - you may find it helpful to move them around as the fruit closer to the bottom will dry faster than those on the top tiers.

Store the dried figs in a sealed container in a cool and dry spot. Well, the rest is up to you. Eat them as a snack. Put them in trail mix or granola. Include them in a yummy baked good. Either way, now you have more than just a few precious days with your figs. Enjoy!

Oh, and hey (!), remember this is just one way to handle figs. Please share with us your favorite recipes and tips for preserving figs! Or maybe you want to show-off your preserving skills (and we think you should) at Yes We Can!

And thank you to Mangia Con Me for the beautiful fig picture found at the top of this post!

I heart pickles (oh and Yes We Can!)

It is taking all of my energy to not write another post about eggplant. We have had so much of it lately and, much like soup, I have a hard time understanding when it's time to change things up. I came home with visions of pizza (with eggplant, natch!) in my head, but Micah seemed to think that having pizza two days in a row (and for breakfast!) was a bit much. Boo hiss! I stewed briefly until I realized something majorly exciting . . .

Today was the day that my pickles would be ready!!

I have never ever ever tried anything even remotely "canny" and I have always been really in awe of people who do can. Casey made it seem super easy. However, Casey is kind of an effortless chick, so I had low expectations for my own first try. Guess what though?

Her recipe is bombtastic! Super easy! I even found myself making a few changes off the cuff (I cut the sugar in half) and not even being worried about it. This is big for me. I am known to be a very worried little chef! No worries now!

(I even made extras today after tasting my first batch!)

Anyway, all this leads me to a very exciting announcement. Richmond Food Collective is hosting a food swap! We will include all things canned, preserved, dried . . . heck, even frozen! This is really going to be exciting. We sure hope you will register to be a part of the pantry-stocking fun!!

Yes We Can! Details

November 5, 2011
3 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Location TBA

And it's all free! You just have to bring something to swap!

Register by email: richmondfoodcollective@gmail.com

Send your name, your products and about how much you will be bringing

We have a lot of cool people involved and some fun "extras" that we are super excited about. We sure hope you will join in as well!

Some of us RFC gals have been canning for awhile (in fact, maybe everyone except me? yikes!), and others of us are happily learning now. Either way, sharing the bounty seems so grand to us and we cannot wait to host this fabulous event.

What about you guys? Do you can? Are you psyched to get together with other "food putter-uppers" (got tired of using the word "can" so much) and do some good old-fashioned trading? Let us know! Register via email. Location will be disclosed only to registrants (intriguing, yes?). Bring your food to share, and take some home to eat!

I, for one, can't wait to eat your food!!

Peach Frozen Yogurt

Before peach season is over (sadness!) I wanted to share this recipe for peach frozen yogurt with you, but not before I tell you my tale of woe on how it came about.

I wanted to take something special over to my dad's house for Sunday supper last weekend, and I knew if I made a pie, I would still need to make ice cream. (You cannot have pie without ice cream!) In either case, I had the peaches, but needed needed cream.

I adore Homestead Creamery milk and cream. I haven't seen the cream around lately, but the sign is still out on the Kroger shelf, so I hadn't given up hope that one day I'd catch it. Not this time, however. There was no big brand organic cream available either, so I stopped a manager, who thought that the HC cream might have been discontinued. NOOO! (I am planning on calling the HC to see what is up- will let you know what I find out.)

Anyway, I will admit to not being willing to buy regular heavy cream, so I headed to another store. (I never do that, but I was feeling kind of compulsive about my ice cream idea.) Alas, there was no organic cream at Martin's that day either! So, my eye wandered to the yogurt, and I decided to try my hand at frozen yogurt.

So here you go- it went well, though I think that maybe I could have used a tad more Pernod. Swap Pernod with vanilla, or almond- or nothing. Straight up peach- yum!

But oh, lovely grocery stores, please bring back the cream!

Peach Frozen Yogurt

Makes one quart

• 5 peaches, peeled, pitted and coarsely chopped (I used a mix of yellow and white)
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 TBS Pernod

Bring to a simmer over medium heat for about 10 minutes or until peaches are soft.

Add:

• 1/2 Cup honey
• pinch of salt

Let cool.

• blend with 1 cup of whole milk yogurt

Freeze in ice cream maker.

Enjoy!

Summer's Perfect Moment- What's in Season

 Here I go again.... It's one of those perfect seasonal moments where worlds collide and culinary possibilities seem endless.   All at once we not only have literal tons of tomatoes,  piles of peppers, summer sweet corn and endless eggplant,  but also pears, apples, figs, and other flavors some may associate strictly with fall.  Fall may be just around the corner, but now is the time when nearly everything seems at hand. 

. 

Serve up some pizzas: one with pears, red onion and blue cheese and one with tomatoes, basil, and mozzarella.  Greens are finally showing themselves again as well so toss together a salad.  Make a quick fresh tomato and pesto pasta, or some chilled butternut squash and pear soup. How about some scalloped potatoes and chicken with plum sauce. Perhaps some fresh peach pie for dessert!

Have fun and enjoy... this is the time!

Here is a quick run down of some of the best produce our gardens and markets have to offer right now.

 

Butternut Squash
Sweet Potatoes

Pears

 Asain Pears

Honey Crisp Apples

(and a handful of others)

 Peaches

Tomatoes

Figs

 Corn

Eggplant

 Peppers of all kinds

Onions

 Potatoes

 Summer Squash

Green Beans 

 Arugula

Garlic

Long Beans

Watermelon

 Cantalope

Plums

Basil

 Shelling Beans

Okra

Figgy Fantastic

My friend Laura came into a large box of figs last week and was kind enough to share.  The figs from family owned trees are a yearly staple for her so in addition to the figs themselves she also shared one of her favorite ways to serve them.  These appetizeresque beauties could not be simpler.    Just slice some good bread, ( I went with Norwood Cottages Bellevue Baguette) lightly toast in the oven or on the grill, add Goat Cheese, sliced figs, and finish off with a drizzle of honey and balsamic vinegar.

The plate pictured above was the second round for a small group gathered poolside last week.  Some folks who had never tried figs, and are not ones to go for goat cheese or balsamic vinegar tried one to be polite and loved them so much they went for more.  I ran out of goat cheese towards the end and used some extra sharp cheddar in its place.  It overwhelmed the fig, but was supper tasty just the same.

To Richmond With Love: A Local Wedding

In thinking about community and food, it is not long before my thoughts turn to my own wedding. Though my husband and I met in my hometown (Blacksburg, VA), we built our lives together in Richmond and married here. Our wedding was a celebration of our life, and Richmond was a key part of the equation. We wanted show off our city!

But, only three years ago creating a local wedding was a challenge. I’d say seasonal and local and someone would hand me an asparagus (it was an October wedding). People talk about fighting with family over wedding plans; I didn’t have one fight with a family member over my wedding. Instead, initially, I fought with vendors.

You see, the local option isn’t necessarily in the “package” or pricing structure used by wedding vendors. But, with the internet, an amazing Mom, and the seeds of a locally-focused Richmond already established, I found my way to locally owned and operated businesses that understood my vision. What follows are locally-sourced highlights from our wedding.

Each of these vendors helped make our day beautiful, the local way. These folks were dialed and we remain appreciative of what they did for us. Ricepaper Photography snapped these lovely shots of the local vendors and products we used. So, Richmond, this is to say, we think you're pretty great. Thanks for everything.

We were married at the Poe Museum with a

pre-ceremony cocktail hour prepared by Mosaic Catering.

Rob's suit was purchased at Franco's.

My dress was purchased locally, but not from a locally owned business.

Our flowers were from Amelia County.

That's my baby brother.

We had a local string trio play at the ceremony.

Our rings were made at Dransfield.

That's my Dad in the center; he married us.

Instead of party favors, we hired a local artist to do silhouettes of our guests.

Overwhelmed by the idea of a wedding cake, we said yes to cannolis from 8 1/2. I mean, right?!

Our reception was held at the Old City Bar which is in walking distance from the Poe Museum, in fact we walked there. Dinner highlight for me was the Virginia rockfish and local wine.

We left the Old City Bar and stayed the night at the Museum District B & B. The host served us breakfast goodies from Can Can.