five senses friday

• seeing - the herbs in my potted garden thriving. And yes, I know that I probably shouldn’t allow the garlic chives to flower, but I just couldn’t resist those beautiful little white blossoms.  The bees have been quite fond of them, as well.
• tasting - the club ciabatta sandwich at The Creperie. Why do sandwiches always taste better when someone else makes them? Because they use crispy fried prosciutto, that’s why.
• hearing - cheers for my niece’s volleyball team. Very proud Uncle, here.
• smelling  – the unpleasant scent of tomato plant on my hands after picking.
• feeling – hot and muggy. I need a fall-like-sweater-vest-wearing-day soon.

How would you sum up your last week in 5 senses or less?  Please share in the comments section. Hope you have  a swell weekend. We have an extra long weekend full of several visits with dear friends and a visit from the cable installation guy.

homemade dill pickles

A few weeks back we received quite the bounty of pickling cucumbers in our CSA share. About the same time, a co-worker was telling me about how she was making pickles from the cucumbers in her garden. She described a pretty simple method for making pickles that will keep for about a month in the refrigerator.

After doing a bit more research from my friend Martha’s website I came upon the recipe that I’d use for the pickling. The recipe takes about an evening to work through. There’s a bit of waiting between preparation steps. And then, the final great wait. One week in refrigerator before the first taste. I made it five days before I cracked open a jar and tasted the best dill pickle.

I adjusted the original recipe just a bit. An addition of a tablespoon of mustard seed gave the final product just the right look. If you’ve never made you own pickles, I’d strongly recommend that you give these a try. They’re crisp, flavorful and perfect to eat just as a snack on their own or perched on top of a juicy grilled burger.

Dill-Pickle Chips - adapted from Martha Stewart Living, August 2004

• 2 pounds Kirby (pickling) cucumbers
• 3 tablespoons coarse salt
• 3 cups water
• 2 cups distilled white vinegar
• 1 tablespoon dill seed
• 1 tablespoon mustard seed
• 4 cloves garlic
• 2 bunches fresh dill, coarsely chopped

Cut the cucumbers into 1/2-inch thick rounds, and transfer to a colander set in a bowl. Toss well with salt. Refrigerate cucumber rounds for 1 hour.

Rinse the cucumber rounds well; drain. Pat dry between paper towels. Transfer cucumber slices to a large bowl.

Bring 3 cups water, vinegar, dill seed, mustard seed and garlic to a boil in a medium saucepan, stirring. Reduce heat; simmer 4 minutes. Let mixture cool slightly, about 10 minutes.

Add chopped dill to cucumber slices, and toss to combine. Pour in the brine. Let cool completely, about 30 minutes. Transfer mixture to airtight containers, and refrigerate at least 1 week. Pickles will keep for 3 weeks more. They won’t last that long. Ours were all gone in under 2 weeks.

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spring seedlings

Late last week I had the opportunity to escape from the curse of this very long winter. I spent some time at the Crown Point Ecology Center in Bath, Ohio. Greg and I are CSA members this year, and I’m doing some volunteer work on the center’s marketing committee. I wanted to get some photographs of the progress that Tim and Whitney are making on getting the plants ready for this Spring’s organic plant sale. As I walked through the warm greenhouse, I was excited to see all of the green. Including the tiny 3-week old artichoke plants. There were lots of lettuce, onions and grasses sprouting. I counted several varieties of thyme including orange, German and summer. The beginnings of great rosemary plants were also peaking just above the potting soil. If you are in the Akron area in May, be sure to mark your calendars for the plant sale. The organic plant sale is May 14 & 15, 9:00-4:00PM (Sat) 11:00-3:00PM (Sun). Last year I purchased several herbs, tomato plants and peppers.

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five senses friday #12

As I’ve mentioned before, I borrowed this idea from another of my favorite blogs. She uses it weekly as a way to sit down and reflect on what the past days have been like for her. I think that’s a pretty cool idea. I hope that you’ll feel free to share you five senses in the comments section, or on your own blog.

• seeing: the late summer blooms of my garden.
• tasting: the amazing spinach & artichoke dip pizza from Urban Eats. one of my new favorite lunch-time destinations in downtown Akron.
• hearing: On Melancholy Hill from the Gorillaz. it’s a sort of new sound for them.
• smelling: fresh air. what a calming relief it is to open up the windows at home in the evening. hey there Mr. Fall, we’ll see you soon.
• feeling: stunned at the level of hate and fear mongering among some of my fellow citizens as displayed in the past week.

tomatoes make me smile

A happy assortment of some of the first heirloom tomatoes of the season from my garden. From top to bottom, we have Nayagous, Speckled Roman and Sun Gold. We’ve tasted them all, on salads, except for the speckled. I’m probably going to slice that one for a sandwich. The Sun Golds are amazing.  They are kind of like nature’s skittles. So sweet and wonderful. I purchased that handsome summery napkin while we were on vacation at Ginny Gordon’s, a charming kitchen store in Morehead City, North Carolina. It was a suggested stop from my Aunt Sally. They’ve got a great unique selection of kitchen gadgets, linens, pots and pans and tons of other items. Definitely worth a stop if you’re in the area.

a difficult s(tart) to this week’s challenge

Welcome back to my Everyday Food Challenge.  This week I bring you two recipes and a tale of a shopping struggle.

So, after going back through issue #6, I had decided I’d definitely be making the Lemon Ricotta Tart. I mean come on, lemon and cheese. Um, yes please. The problem, I didn’t own a tart pan. I’ve seen them in stores for years and thought about picking one up.  I just never got around to it. And then I needed one for the challenge. Of course, that meant it would be hard to find.  After a long day of driving all over the area with no luck, including a trip to Macy’s (hi Martha, I couldn’t even find one in your amazing collection), Greg made a call to Williams Sonoma and the search was finally over.

The tart came together easily.  The crust is simply made of ground vanilla wafers and melted butter and pressed into the tart pan. After a quick bake in the oven and it was filled with the creamy lemon ricotta mixture. Thirty more minutes in the oven and the tart was done and ready for its debut at dinner at our friends Chris and Shannah’s new house. By the way, their new home is amazing. And so was the taste of the tart. This recipe is a keeper, like a not-so-dense version of a cheesecake.

My second, and more healthy, recipe from issue #6 was the Spiced Chickpea and Zucchini Saute. I swapped out the zucchini for some fresh yellow summer squash from our garden. What looked like a pretty quick recipe actually took a lot of prep time to get ready.  There was a great deal of chopping – onion – tomatoes – zucchini. Once the prep was done the recipe came together more quickly. It’s a one-pan-dinner, and that’s always a plus on a busy week night. I had some cooked chicken leftover from another recipe, so I added that to the pan too. Serving the saute with a whole grain rice rounded the meal out. Coming next week, an amazing chicken wrap that I can’t wait to share with you.

pesto – three ways

Happy Independence Day. While many of you have been seeing red, white and blue this weekend, all I’ve been seeing is green. After making two jars of pesto on Friday, I’ve been busy finding ways to incorporate it into our meals. The following are the three ways I’ve used the pesto so far. All very simple and all very delicious. A delectable dip, a satisfying sandwich, and a perfect pasta. I hope you’ll give these a try the next time you have a jar of fresh homemade pesto this summer.

Goat Cheese and Pesto Dip – a made by mike original

In the bowl of an electric stand mixer add a 4 ounce log of your favorite goat cheese, 1/4 cup of homemade pesto, and a teaspoon of fresh lemon juice. Beat for several minutes until all the ingredients are well combined. Serve with pita chips.

Italian Grilled Cheese with Pesto – a made by mike original

Split a ciabatta roll. Layer the bottom with three thinly sliced pieces of genoa salami. Next, add a layer of sliced fresh mozzarella cheese. Slather two tablespoons of homemade pesto on the underside of the top piece of ciabatta. Once the sandwich is assembled, drizzle the top with olive oil and grill until the roll is golden and the cheese has melted. Cut in half and enjoy.

Pasta with Pesto, Potatoes and Green Beans – Everyday Food Magazine

The best thing about this dish, besides its wonderful taste, is that it’s a one-pot-dinner. Greg was particularly fond of this meal. And not just because he only had to clean the single pot. Click here for the pasta recipe.  And here’s the link for the pesto recipe.

hello summer, hello basil. i think i love you.

As I mentioned in my post yesterday. There has been pesto making at the Sterling-Derr homestead. As I was watering the herbs, veggies and flowers, I noticed an evil pesky beetle dining on one of my basil leaves. I guess I can’t fault the little guy, he knows a good thing. But I was going to make sure that I enjoyed some basil pesto before he and his friends decimate my crop.

The issue of Everyday Food magazine that I was cooking from for last week’s challenge actually featured a recipe for pesto. So I went to work and churned out two jars. One from my regular basil, and another made with my lemon basil.

I plan to incorporate the pesto into a delightfully vegetarian meal of pasta with potatoes and green beans. I’m sure the pesto will also be used as a spread on some sandwiches this weekend too.

five senses friday #9

It was a short work week for me, but still a very full week none the less.  Here are the highlights in just five senses.

• seeing: red, white and blue everywhere. i bought these little flags yesterday. and yes, i’m the kind of guy that irons out the creases before putting them out.
• tasting: freshly made pesto. as i was watering this morning, i saw my first beetle gnawing at a tender basil leaf. an action plan was created and now there are two jars of amazing basil & walnut pesto in the fridge.
• hearing: a trio of poppy & delightful new summer tunes from some fabulous ladies. Summer Day by Sheryl Crow, King of Anything by Sara Bareilles, and Cry When You Get Older by Robyn.
• smelling: fresh air. we’ve had some wonderfully moderate temps lately. i’ve enjoyed opening up the house and breathing in deeply.
• feeling: introspective. what else would i be doing with my life, if i knew i could not fail? and should i be afraid of failing, anyways?

I wish you all a wonderful weekend.  Here’s the flower that didn’t get posted yesterday. My own little natural fireworks in the back garden.



first harvest

Aside from some herbs, this yellow summer squash was the first item that I’ve harvested from the garden this summer. I decided to celebrate its picking with a meal planned just around it. The result was a pasta dish with summer squash and lemon grilled chicken. To garnish the dish I used some of my garlic chives and lemon basil.  Accompanying the pasta, freshly baked gruyere and thyme (also from my garden) biscuits. Now, if only my tomatoes would ripen at warp speed.  What are you growing this summer? And how do you plan on incorporating them in your meals?