Just came in from the garden. We dug up the first of the potatoes today; what a spectacular treat!!! We got soooo many! And we only dug around a few of the plants so more to come! It was seriously like digging for buried treasure: just digging around in the dirt with our fingers and suddenly GOLD!
It is 95 degrees at least out there, but I didn't even notice, and the gnats which usually drive me INSANE, didn't seem to exist. This whole garden thing has just been sublime, no exaggeration...
They are german fingerling potaotes, which i ordered as tubers from Burpee.com, so they are petite and elongated, with golden skin and flesh, BEAUTIFUL! We gave a bag to the generous neighbor who shared his bounty with us last summer (produce and advice) and have some drying out int he sun, and some on the counter for supper!
The peppers have continued to be plentiful as well, so I've been stuffing them and sauteing (sp?) them and such. But the TOMATOES! Oh the heartbreakingly SLOW ripening tomatoes!!!! The plants are COVERED, literally COVERED with tomatoes, gazillions of them! But none are ripe! They smell DIVINE! I go into the garden several times a day and check on them, feel them, smell them, just ADORE them! I tell them how lovely they are and how sweet, and beg them to ripen! I admit I think about them all day! (yes i may need counseling...)
And my obsession with the tomatoes hasn't been helped by the fact that I made the MOST INCREDIBLY CREAMY and DELICIOUS mozzarella on Sunday! Just like the fancy expensive kind from the store, the kind you make tomato and mozzarella salad out of, the kind that melts in your mouth WAAAAAA!!!!!
Used the same recipe and technique as before, but adjusted it for the fact that I am using raw milk, and wanted a super creamy texture, as opposed to the stringy dry kind that you buy already shredded in bags at the store. And don't get me wrong, I like that kind too, that is how our first batch turned out and it was good; it is just that I LOVE the creamy kind, LOVE IT, have a twisted romance with it, sometimes hide it from my kids kinda thing....sigh....
(For anyone interested in the adjustments i made: 1/4 tsp less citric acid, never heated above 88 degrees, and only stretched a couple of pulls, as soon as it was shiny I stopped stretching, and immediately cooled in ice water bath) (Oh and also I used the full fat milk, didn't skim it, and, gulp, doubled the salt to 2 tsp...)
I am praying nightly that by next weekend the tomatoes will begin ripening. If that is petty, my only defense is that I am surely not the only one to ever pray for something petty. =/
In the Packed Lunch Wars, we have reached an impasse. I verbalised my, "it's not all about what goes in your mouth, it is also about the process of getting it there" feelings, as well as my, "can't you just shut up and eat it?" feelings; but then I followed that up with my trump card, "Can't you just humor me???" and that seemed to help. So all last week he had left-over meats on his sandwiches. I found some great marinades for chuck roast, and made a couple different ones for meals last week, and that made good sandwich meat, and he seemed pretty happy with that. I think another important factor is the increase in produce. He feels better about the everything when he is getting amazing suppers every night! And he said, and I quote, "I am feeling alot healthier since we started doing this."
Let's keep this between ourselves here folks, but when he heads back to work this week, I am going to made a seitan 'turkey' roast and slice that sucker up, and pack it in his sandwiches, and see if he likes it! I am going to make the seitan myself, my mom made it last year for Thanksgiving for one of my sisters, who is vegan, and they both said it was really good, and so did my step-dad who is a notoriously picky eater. Apparently it is pretty easy to make, it is vital wheat gluten and nutritional yeast (not the same as bread yeast) and then spices and stuff, and it ends up having a meaty texture and whatever flavor you put in it. So wish me luck!
Oh man and I made the BEST batch of tortillas EVER yesterday! So soft and slightly puffy and delicious! It seems like I am getting better at making stuff, just a little trial and error, and it gets better each time.
As the season progresses, it is definitely getting easier to find local foods, roadside farmstands are popping up, the variety at the farmers markets is getting better, and of course that all helps. I am worrying a bit already about the winter months, I know i thought I would have canned and frozen stuff to get me through, but honestly, except for maybe tomatoes, I doubt I will have enough of anything else to can or freeze (well, maybe zucchini). BUT I am not going to let it get me down yet, I know August will be crazy with produce, and by then I will be even better (through my super fun trial and error method lol!) at local eating, so maybe the outlook will not be as difficult as I worry it will be.
And my mom loaned me an amazing book about food gardening and it gave me a ton of new ideas for next year, and I will be far more efficient. And seriously, the thrill we got from digging up those potatoes will carry me through a few dark days this winter, I am SURE!
Well it is 7pm, and I have yet to start making supper, so I better get to it! (In actuality, I started those potatoes back in April, soooo....)
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