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Tuesday, November 20, 2012

On Avocados

A Word (or several) on Avocados:

Until recently, we had thought that it may have been spelled avocadoes, similar to potatoes and tomatoes.  A visit to avocado.org confirmed that the California Avocado Commission deems them avocados.  Now we know...

...and knowing is half the battle.

 We are into 'cados.  We purchase them at our local farmers' market.  Obviously, they are acquired from a nearby produce option.  The day global warming develops so drastically that we can grow avocados in Pennsylvania, we'll be the first to plant a tree!  Most weeks, our household (two people) goes through two to six avocados.  We love making guacamole; and did so very frequently over the summer, blending in our abundant garden tomatoes.  Now, we keep a little chopped cilantro in the freezer, for when the mood strikes.

The very, very best guacamole we've ever had was at a party over the summer.  A Mexican woman had brought an enormous bowl of the stuff, and we couldn't stop eating it.  Her simple recipe included lots of mashed avocado, diced onion (not garlic) and copious amounts of lime juice.  It was so fresh, tangy and irresistable!  Sometimes, we'll mix in a little cumin, hot sauce, fresh chiles or chili powder to spice it up; we've never actually stuck to one recipe, ever.

The draw to avocados is that they're so fatty.  It's like eating vegan butter.  The mouthfeel experience of a food literally melting in your mouth is what makes those victuals with a 70-100 degree melting point so sumptuously succulent.  Think of eating chocolate, coconut oil, fudge, butter.  Surely, you are drooling at the thought.

We looked at avocado.org/nutrition to see what's up with the fat content.  The Nutrition Facts reads as follows:

Serving size:  1/5 medium [avocado]
Calories:  50
Total Fat:  4.5 g / 7% DV
Saturated Fat 0.5 g / 3% DV
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.5 g
Monounsaturated Fat 3 g
Cholesterol:  0 mg
Sodium:  0 mg
Potassium:  150 mg / 4% DV
Total Carbohydrate:  3 g / 1% DV
Dietary Fiber:  2 g / 8 % DV
Sugars:  0 g
Protein:  0 g
Vitamin C:  4% DV
Iron:  2% DV
Vitamin E, Riboflavin, Niacin, Vitamin B6:  4% DV
Folate:  6% DV
Thiamin, Magnesium, Zinc, Phosphorus, Copper, Manganese:  2% DV

Does anyone else see how ridiculous this is???  Who in their right mind is only going to eat one-fifth of an avocado??  Who is going to take the time to bother - after precariously peeling and pitting - slicing an avocado into fifths??

Clearly, CAC or the USDA or whoever has deduced this serving size to present a food with only 4.5 grams of fat per serving.  We find this very silly, because people eat avocados for three reason:

A.  They enjoy the taste of fat.
B.  They are vegan and/or dairy intolerant and can use avocados in place of butter.
C.  They understand the nutritional value of plant-based, cholesterol-free fats.

Personally, we think the CAC and/or USDA could just be honest and write out, "Serving:  1/2 'cado, 125 calories, 11 grams of fat; but... oh! 20% DV of fiber and 5% to 15% of lots of important vitamins and minerals!"

Food labeling comes down to marketing; and even though this food has abundant, healthful fats, North Americans still cringe at the thought of fat in their diets (or at least on the labels).

The recent push in marketing of avocados - seen in magazine advertisements and certain chain restaurants - is very interesting, considering how they weren't prevalent in temperate-climate groceries ten years ago.  Now, they're everywhere!

A friend told a story of when he lived in Southern California:  many folks had avocado trees growing in their yards, and the fruit would fall and rot and make such a goopy mess of their lawns, they thought it a nuisance.  They would feed the spare 'cados to their dogs.  How fascinating is that?  Those who live where it snows can shell out two or three dollars for one avocado at the grocery store; and a few home-owning Californians thought they were too numerous and too messy.  The avocados were so abundant, even the dogs were able to enjoy eating them.

Over the summer, we were traveling; and, in a pinch, needed a quick sandwich.  We stopped at a shopping mall, hoping to find a Chick fil-A.  There was none, so we went to a Subway restaurant.  Obnoxious, green signage convinced us that we needed to "Gooo 'Cadooooo!"  The young lady constructing our sandwich squeezed some putrid, green goo out of a pastry-icing bag.  It was kind of disturbing.

On the other hand, if you go to any sushi restaurant in the country, you can get some sort of roll that includes avocado.  These specialty rolls tend to go by names like "Dragon Roll" or "Caterpillar Roll," and there are delicate slices of 'cado atop rice, sesame, seaweed and all sorts of fish.  Every single time, the avocado is perfect!  Spotless, but not too mushy.  It's considered an amazing mystery how sushi artists always have perfect, whole, unbruised avocados on hand.  They must get them by the case - but also, must have some way of telling when they're exactly ready for eating.

Do you have problems getting a just-right avocado?  We do.  At the store or the market, they tend to be rock-hard; and it's hard to tell when they'll be soft enough to eat, but not brown and icky.  Usually, when trying to squeeze-check one, we'll over-grasp and bruise the thing.

One preventative measure we have learned (today, for the last time) is not to keep one's 'cados in the sun.  Our hanging basket by the kitchen window is home to lemons, garlic, whatever; and we've been popping the 'cados into it upon returning from the market weekly.  However, sun exposure turns the skin black, so they appear ready to eat.  Today, we cut into (a black-skinned) one and it was hard as stone and tasted like wood.  Another one was even rot-brown on the inside, but too firm to eat.  How crazy is that?

Apparently, the best thing to do - if you are a once-weekly grocery shopper - is to put one or two avocados on the counter to ripen while the rest of your stock sits in the fridge.  It seems that the cold retards the softening process.  We'll be keeping ours in a bowl, away from the window; all the while trying new recipes for guacamole on the regular.  Pass the chips!

Friday, November 16, 2012

The Blessing

Here's a lovely article by Anne Lamott on saying Grace at a family meal - something a lot of folks will experience as they prepare to tuck into steaming bowls of gravy and turkey.  (The former in greater quantity than the latter - at least on my plate!)

Views: Counting Our Blessings | Parade.com

Thanks, Anne!  Looking forward to getting our hands on your latest book.  :)

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Harvest

It's November.  It's mid-November.  It's cold.  Is anything growing out there?

We have come to the end of the growing season.  Now is the time for relishing those special fruits of Fall:  apples, pumpkins, winter squash, sweet potatoes.  There is a lot of orange in the fridge these days... not to mention bottles of pumpkin ale.

What are your favorite crops of the Autumn harvest?

What do you miss about the Summer growing season?

What recipes have you been enjoying lately?

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Cauliflower

ALERT:  COLOSSUS CAULIFLOWER ON THE LOOSE.
FIVE-POUND, THIRTEEN-OUNCE MONSTROSITY MAY BE SEEN AT A FARM STAND NEAR YOU.
ARMED WITH VITAMINS B6, C, K; FOLATE AND FIBER.
WARNING:  MAY INDUCE FLATULENCE.


This BEAST was found at our favorite local dairyBaily's of Pocopson Meadow Farm.  Isn't it just shockingly immense??  Amazing!!

Cauliflower was one of our favorite, most tolerable of vegetables as kids; probably because it is not green and can slide incognito onto the plate, posing as a starch.  It looks like it belongs to the same family as potatoes or rice.  AND a lot of moms prepare it wonderfully laden with cheddar cheese sauce.  Holy moly, what could taste better on a chilly fall day than a steaming pile of cauliflower, oozing with cheese?

Yes, it is the season (late summer/autumn) for this delicious, cruciferous vegetable delight.

Pictured behind the Beast in this photo is one of our most favoritest cookbooks.  Simply in Season is a Mennonite philosophy-based collection of recipes by season, not by category (ie. "Beef, Poultry, Fish, Pork and... oh yea, some Vegetables").  Authors (and recipe editors) Mary Beth Lind and Cathleen Hockman-Wert encourage cooks to peruse farmers' markets or grow produce at home and eat seasonally.  There's a spiritual connection between an eater and the earth; which is broken apart by grocery stores, whose shelves are filled with produce from far away, separating us mentally and spiritually from the climate where we live.  One cannot consider with gratefulness, or with words thank a farmer on the opposite side of the globe.  If one visits an orchard or a farm, the farm workers are seen and can be thanked when buying food and thought of at meal times.

We can also connect ourselves with seasons' changes as we enjoy different foods at different times of year.  If it's spring, we should eat asparagus.  Apples should fill our lunch-sacks in September.  Isn't that why we always enjoy apple and pumpkin pies at Thanksgiving?  We just love the tradition this book inspires (cellaring your root vegetables over the winter - who does that anymore?) and how its many recipes are wholesome and mostly plant-based, using meat sparingly as a flavoring instead of the main source of calories.

Here's a great recipe that includes cauliflower!  It's absolutely flavorful and healthful and we think you'll love it.  It's totally delicious, even without cheese.  Hey, it's even vegan!

Autumn Tagine
(submitted by Bethany J. Osborne, Toronto, Ontario)
Tagine (tah-ZHEEN) is a Moroccan stew named after the traditional heavy clay pot in which it is cooked... Serves 6-8
2 cups onion (diced) - In a large soup pot, saute in 1-2 tbsp oil until soft, 4-5 minutes.
6 cloves garlic (minced)
1 teaspoon ginger root (peeled and minced)
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon crushed hot chilies (optional)
Add and stir for 1 minute.
3 cups sweet potatoes (peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes)
2 cups cooked chickpeas
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
Add and bring to a boil.  Cover; reduce heat.  Simmer 5 minutes.
1/2 medium head cauliflower (cut into 1-inch florets)
2 cups peas
Stir in cauliflower, cover and simmer until vegetables are nearly tender, about 12 minutes.  Add peas, cover and simmer until hot, 2 minutes.  Serve over steamed couscous or rice, garnished with chopped fresh cilantro.

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Raw Milk

Jenna at Cold Antler Farm recently wrote a great post about why a lot of folks are interested in raw milk these days.  We love drinking raw milk when we can find it; it's super delicious, natural, healthful and much gentler on the tummy than pasteurized (read: scorched) milk in which helpful enzymes are destroyed.  Jenna also discusses how lobbyists are waging a political war against organic dairies who naturally raise happy, "pasture-ized" cows.

Check it out!

http://coldantlerfarm.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-raw-milk-debate.html

Also, if you're in Southeastern Pennsylvania, Baily's Dairy is a great place to do your body good.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bailys-Dairy-of-Pocopson-Meadow-Farm/109844495718927?fref=ts

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Nasturtiums

From the garden: Nasturtiums.

Nasturtiums, reaching out, to the left of the mint.

We discovered nasturtiums at a family meal where one of our cousins brought them to the table, literally. She's a professional landscape-artist-awesome-gardener; and her backyard is a mini-farm with just about every produce item you could imagine. The typical tomatoes, zucchini, peppers; but also blackberries, hops, asparagus, raspberries, radishes - anything that could possibly grow on her hillside in central Vermont! At this particular dinner, she presented a gorgeous salad of homegrown greens, freshly made vinaigrette dressing and these little, sweet-looking orange blossoms scattered on top.

For garnish?

Also for eating.

Yes, the blossoms and leaves are a nice, tasty touch to a salad. They are spicy! Not loaded with many Scoville units of heat; but they do offer a delicious, peppery touch to the dish. And they look wonderful!

When in the ground, they tend to spread out, so if you have a garden bed in your yard, they could fill it well. The lily-pad-round leaves present a beautiful appearance as ground cover. We've just been growing them in containers on our porch, so they kind of spilled out the front and created this wonderful cascading "waterfall" of bright orange blossoms. They blossom in shades from white to butter-yellow to fluorescent orange and hot red.

Nasturtiums are also super-easy to care for, so if you have a spare spot in your garden next summer, try them! You'll be able to create the most impressive salads, garnished with Nasturtiums; and bring them to all your picnics and pot-lucks.  Your friends will love it - ours do!

PA Taxes

...just discovered a secret reason why PA's state-controlled wine prices aren't so desirable.  Yes, if you live in Pennsylvania (Commonwealth residents know and disdain this), you have to purchase any wine or liquor at the Liquor Control Board's stores.  Yet, beer is sold separately at distributors; six-packs are available for take-out at some restaurants.  It is difficult trying to explain this system to out-of-staters, because - yes! - it is ridiculous, out-dated and seems to just be in place for the Commonwealth to make money off its resident-consumers.

H'okay, here's what we learned last night:  there is a "Johnstown Flood Tax" that has been present since the flood happened in 1936.  What was meant to be a temporary tax to raise funds to rebuild Johnstown was never repealed.  Suppose the Capitol still wants that money coming in, eh?





Here is an information site about the JFT:

http://www.johnstownfloodtax.com/

If you're a PA resident who purchases wine, consider what's going on here.  The personal is political.  Maybe we can vote to repeal this; in the mean-time, Delaware is a short drive away (for some of us).  *sigh*

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Coastal White

Bartlett Maine Estate Winery is absolutely at the top of our list of favorite wineries.

Now, keep in mind that we've never been to France, Italy, Oregon, California...

...but that's irrelevant!

We have been to Maine and have visited the gorgeous grounds of the Bartlett Winery and have tasted almost all they have to offer and it's WONDERFUL.  Kathe Bartlett is one of the most gracious and witty women we've had the pleasure of meeting.  All we've gotten from Bob B. is a wave from the back room, as he's always busy working, working; but Kathe has taken us on tasting journeys through the fruits of their labor.

Bartlett Winery became Maine's very first winery ever in the 80s; since New England's climate happens to be super-hostile to grapes (not so much with the sunny, bucolic hillsides).  Thus, Bob & Kathe decided to pioneer Maine fermentation with what was growing in abundance:  blueberries.  Basically, we're drawn to their kick-startin', diligent, energetic attitude toward the craft they love.

Also, they've won like a bazillion awards for their many wines and their new distillery products, Pear Eau de Vie and Fine Apple Brandy (very fancy).

Seriously, though, their dry blueberry wines surpass a lot of red grape wines (that we've experienced) in deep flavor, sensuousness, color; but we'll get to those later.

Now presenting:

Coastal White
Apple & Pear Wine
 Bartlett Maine Estate Winery
Gouldsboro, Maine, USA

"Fresh and fruity, this medium-dry wine is popular served with Maine seafoods, poultry, pasta or picnic by the sea."


It's good.  It's so flippin' good.  You could drink it with every meal.  Even breakfast (though we don't encourage this).  Even a sumptuous roast-turkey-dinner.  Even ice cream at 11:00 PM.  Coastal White is sweet on the tongue, but leaves no syrupy film in your mouth.  It's fruity and pleasantly tangy; yet, being a semi-dry wine, holds up to meals of fish or pork excellently.  We had some tonight and it made our grilled chicken come alive.  There are very faint notes of clove at the end of each sip - perhaps derived from the apple half of the blend.

If you ever end up in the easternmost state, do yourself a favor and pick up a bottle (or a case!) of Coastal White or any of the other Bartlett wines.  And if you're way Down East, be sure to stop in to the winery in Gouldsboro for a sweet visit - you'll love the tasting room, set behind fragrant Maine spruce & pine.  It seems like every time we go for a tasting, we end up taking home a variety case - because they're all so delicious.  With a great story and absolutely splendid, award-winning wines; visit, and you'll find out why Bartlett Estate is one of our most favoritest wineries.

Anyways, the Bartletts' Coastal White is a great choice for pairing with lighter meals - or just as a refresher in the afternoon.  Try some!






Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Roast Chicken

  
Step one on how to roast a chicken: 

Own a Crock Pot.

CROCK POT CROCK POT CROCK POT!!!


This is crucial if you want a great and easy and efficient way to cook.  You can stick stuff in it; and as long as there's sufficient liquid, you can let it cook all day, while you're at work; and it's so easy it is even fun.  Also, there is no need to heat up the whole house with the oven on or spend your time inhaling hot steam from a pot on the stove-top; all just for a simple batch of chili.

So far, we've had great success in cooking meats and poultry in our Crock Pot.  The best thing to do is to grease the inside of the pot-insert (butter/oil/lard - your preference), plop down a hunk o' meat (a small bird, a pork butt, a slice of beef) and top it off with your favorite herbs, spices, onions; and add some liquid.  About a half-cup of water or stock will moisten your bit of meat and keep the edges from drying out to burntness.

Today's bird is covered with wedges of onion, copious amounts of whole garlic cloves; and the time-honored "Scarborough Fair" blend of parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme.  All herbs in this recipe were home-grown, of course!  We hope that we can someday say the same for our chicken.

Step two in roasting a chicken:  grease the inside of the pot.
Step three:  fill with a chicken, fresh herbs, onion & garlic, salt & pep and chicken stock.
Step four:  set on "low" to cook all day
Step five:  pull it out, slice and enjoy!

It is possible for us to elaborate all day about the endless potential and advantages of crockery cookery, but we will save that for another time.

Thanks for joining us!
G & K

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Pasta Salad

Something easy for dinner (or picnics; or pot-lucks), here we go:

1.  Pick stuff from your garden.
    Wash it, chop it up into bite-sized bits (our medley includes cukes, zucs, peps, basil, tomatoes).

2.  Cook one pound of your preferred shape of pasta (bow-ties, elbow mac, wagon-wheels).
    Drain, rinse with cold water.

3.  Open one or two cans of black olives.  Drain & dump into a bowl.
    Add cold pasta & pile of chopped vegetables.
    Toss with your fave vinegar-based salad dressing.  Newman's Own Greek or Oil & Vinegar are tasty.

4.  Add shredded cheese if you want.

5.  Go on, eat it!

Friday, August 10, 2012

Borsao Rose

It's pink!

It's tart!

It's Borsao!  ...whatever that means.
Borsao Rose
Bodegas Borsao Estate
S.A. Borja, Spain 
2011
It it only fitting that Bodegas Borsao, home to the best Garnacha vineyards in Aragon, makes their rose from these wonderful grapes as well.  The first thing you notice about this wine is it's (sic) luminescent color which evokes images of sun drenched strawberries.  Bright red fruit aromas and delicate spice flavors fill the palate making this the perfect wine for an aperitif or light meal.
We've found that this wine is:

Tart!  Like a strawberry or a pineapple, perhaps.  It's got this great, refreshing mouthfeel with kind of a lingering fruity finish.  It's not on the sugary end of sweet though; quite the opposite.  A sip of this is similar to that lasting flavor right after biting into a fresh Fall apple - tartness all the way down, which is pretty great.

Tingley!  After uncorking and pouring, we noticed a very slight effervescent on the tip of the tongue.  This rose doesn't seem to be officially carbonated, but gives a tiny ping.  Yum.

Tasty!  On the whole, we've really enjoyed this bottle of wine.  It's got loverly fruit notes without the syrupy finish that sticks to your gums.  At $7.99, we may buy a few more bottles...

Thursday, August 9, 2012

On Salsa

Folks, you've just gotta admit that chips and salsa make for one of life's greatest snacks.  Crunchy and salty meet juicy and tangy  ...oh, the joy!

If you want to make your salsa taste anything like good salsa, it's got to include copious amounts of lime juice and cilantro.

CILANTRO!!

One of God's great herbal gifts to cooking:  it is so very fresh-tasting, and adds a little piquancy and a lot of green delightfulness to your Latin American and East Asian dishes.  Did you know it's also called "Chinese Parsley?"

The other day, we picked several kilos of tomatoes from the garden.  There were Pink Beefsteaks, Purple Cherokee and a standard red variety whose name we've forgotten.  It's heirloom; promise!  One pink beefsteak weighed in at 2.25 pounds.  You can't convince us that that isn't impressive.

Tomatoes were chopped, onions minced and hot peppers diced.  We decided to do a sort of salsa verde with the yellowy German Stripe tomatoes, with some green olives added.

Olives in Salsa:  this is a marvelous idea.  On our honeymoon, in Portland (MAINE, not the other Portland), we found in a little wine-and-specialty-foods shop a jar of Gin and Green Olive Salsa.  Now, we adore olives, salivate over salsa and appreciate a refreshing gin cocktail.  Dirty Martinis, of course, rank high on our list of favorites.  That said, we had to nab a jar of this stuff.

Olives!  Gin!  Salsa!  Rolled into one... this stuff (whatever else was in it) ended up being far too ridiculously spicy to truly enjoy.  Honestly, we tried eating the tiniest dollop on a tortilla chip, and it was still killer!  Just to get through the jar, we ended up mixing it with a small block of cream cheese, which barely took down the heat.  Disappointed with our inability to enjoy this seemingly wonderful concoction, we chose to make our own (tolerable) salsa with diced-up manzanilla olives in it.  Mediterranean and Mexican meet, marvelously.

Pictured below are a straight-up tomato salsa (left:  many tomatoes, chile pepper seeds, cilantro, garlic, a little lime juice) and the salsa verde (right:  German Stripe tomatoes, jalapeno peppers,olives, cilantro, onion, a lot of lime juice).


We liked the green salsa a bit better, possibly because of the higher ratio of lime and cilantro to tomato.  The red one ended up being a bit too juicy.  Also, the difference between garlic-in-salsa and onion-in-salsa seems to be that garlic offers a subtle, sweet tang, whereas onion gives more of a bite with crunchiness.

However hard it is to wait to enjoy your fresh, homemade salsa, it is a great idea to let it sit in the fridge for a few days to let all the flavors marry.  Do so before serving at a party to really impress your friends!

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Organic gone wrong!

How to pervert your organicalness:

First, slice your delightful, ripe, pesticide-free, non-GMO, homegrown heirloom Brandywine tomatoes.

Next, cook a pot of plain ol' semolina spaghetti noodles.

Then, take all the cans you bought at the Dent 'n' Bent, each labeled colorfully with a fluorescent orange "$0.20" sticker, open them and dump into the pot of noodles.

Voila!  An only slightly organical meal!

Ours was a blend of enchilada sauce, refried beans and black olives.  What, were you expecting Italian?

Pass the Cholula!!

Monday, August 6, 2012

120 Sauvignon Blanc

120 Sauvignon Blanc
Vina Santa Rita
D.O. Valle Central, Chile
2011
"Honoring 120 patriots who helped lead Chile to independence"

According to legend, 120 patriots, exhausted after a long, hard battle during the fight for Chile's independence, reached the lands belonging to Santa Rita.  On that fateful night in 1814, these forces of liberty found refuge in the estate cellars.  Today, within these same cellars, our award-winning 120 wines are crafted to honor their heroic character.
Our 120 Sauvignon Blanc is crisp and youthful with concentrated aromas of citrus blossom and peach.  Fruity and floral nuances underscore the wine's fresh character.  A heavenly choice every time.
 A lot of wines these days can only pop off the shelf and into your shopping cart with a great graphic on the label.  Sometimes a catchy or comical name can help.

We selected the 120 (at one of New Hampshire's enormous state-run liquor stores) amid thousands and thousands of wines for three reasons:

A cousin of ours (whom we spent a delightful meal with recently) had mentioned that Sauv Blanc has become her go-to wine.  Barbara iterated that every restaurant in North America serves Chardonnay as its foremost white wine offering.  She's become unimpressed with its ubiquitous prescence on menus, and has opted for a white a little more fresh and a lot less oakey.  So, we took her recommendation.

We were on the lookout for semi-dry whites and roses, knowing it would be ridiculously hot and humid in Pennsylvania after a pleasantly foggy and cold Maine vacation.  At $6.99, it seemed a more than reasonable price for vino refreshment.

The 120 offered a brief explanation of their name on the front of the bottle (not commonly found among the many wine labels out there) and it pulled at a few heart strings:  Patriotism!  Independence!  South American dudes!  We imagine them hunkering together in the wine cellar, curiously popping corks for a boost in morale... wearing (of course) great, big sombreros and woolen ponchos... many a mustache drenched in purple sweat.

Now... to tasting:  this wine gives a fresh, grassy aroma.  We could not detect the scent of citrus blossom, but that may have something to do with never having lived in Florida.  Also, we found that the aroma is not as peachy as described.  Its appearance is wicked clear, with a bare hint of yellow ...but, who cares?

This Sauv Blanc is very refreshing, with slight notes of pear.  It's on the dry side, very clean, which is nice in the summertime.  We drank it with a tapas-based meal including some homemade salsa.  It interacted interestingly with the spice of jalapeno, amplifying the heat on the tongue.  If you enjoy the spiciness of Mexican (or maybe Thai) food, we'd recommend this on the side.  If you want a wine that quenches and brings down the intensity of Scoville units in your mouth, choose another.  Its crispness and light-fruitiness may lend a splendid pairing to pork roast and hot dogs in the summer.  YES, you don't always have to have beer with hot dogs!

Be sure to save a glass for after dinner, since 120 Sauvignon Blanc offers splendid refreshment on its own!

All in all, it's a good wine to drink when you're pissed off at a stupid storm that ruined a decent portion of your crop in your community garden plot and you've just come back from a nice, Northern vacation, and it's too freakin' hot here!  Something like that...

Sunflower Remains

Here are some photos of the remaining sunflower blossoms.  We filled an 8 quart pot with them!

Sad pile of blossoms and foliage

So beautiful!  Traditional "Tigers Eye" variety and ... whatever the poofy ones are.  I guess we grabbed a starter plant out of the wrong bin... oops.

Disaster Strikes

Disaster struck at the "farm" last night.  All day, we had been driving back to Pennsylvania from a great week-and-a-half of vacation in Maine - a scenic journey with loads of incredibly slow traffic and some wicked thunderstorms.  Since we returned quite late, we slept in (as far as was possible) and arose around brunch-time.

Brunch didn't come quite as easily as we had thought it would.  There was a small amount of victuals in the refrigerator, left over from the week.  Milk was all, though.  We decided to hit up the local doughnut shop, which serves freshly fried cake doughnuts (topped decadently with syrups, sprinkles, bits of candy - it's like a hot version of an ice cream sundae) and also sells somewhat local milk.  The milk comes in glass bottles, which is a nice throw-back to the days of milkmen and re-using before recycling.  One of these bottles has been sitting atop our fridge since the last visit we made to the doughnut shop.

Anyway, we drove uptown to discover new road construction, a new sign above the pretzel shop, and the fact that the Frying Dutchman is closed on Mondays.  A catastrophe! Plans foiled all at once!

Crossing the street, we thought we'd try the new crepes shop in town ... which is also closed on Mondays.  Typical restaurant behaviour.  Ugh!

Our initial brunch idea of hot doughnuts and (homemade) toast turned into dippy eggs and fried scrapple with toast.  A visit to a local Mennonite grocery provided fresh turkey scrapple, which was super delicious.

We finally got through our first meal of the day and went to the community garden.  Upon entering the gate, we could not see our plot.  This was absolutely shocking, because a week ago we had two enormous sunflower plants - the branching-out-like-a-bush variety - that had just begun (finally!) blossoming at 9 and 11 feet tall.

Running over to our plot, we discovered the horror of the two dead sunflower-trees, laying in ruin across half of the whole plot.  Our twelve tomato plants were slightly blown over in the same direction.  The sunflower trunks had snapped at the base and were laying across and crushing our zucchini plants.

The horror!

The agony!

The devastation!

It was awful.

To our chagrin, we spent most of the afternoon cutting through the wreckage.  Blooms were collected and snipped for enjoyment at home.  By looking at the number of blossoms and buds-to-come, we figured that in a month, we would have had several gallons of sunflower seeds for eating.  All a loss.

There were no vessels large enough for all the blossoms we collected, apart from an 8-quart stock pot.

On the upside, our green bean plants are happily climbing their trellises, and eggplants are joyfully producing purple and white fruit.  We collected a large number of tomatoes today - one pink beefsteak weighed 2.25 pounds!

Later, it was made known that the severe thunderstorms we witnessed in Massachusetts and Connecticut had also made their way through Pennsylvania.  High winds.

Rest in peace, oh loveliest of sunflowers.