A Serving of Life

One thing is for sure – the boxes are getting heavy!

As summer comes to an end (boo!), I’d like to think this means we’re in the heart of the season. Last week we got a lot of stuff:

• Cantaloupe
• Beats
• Sweet corn
• Wax and green beans
• Tomatoes
• Cucumbers
• A variety of peppers – small and big green ones
• Michigan peaches
• A loaf of bread

One of the best parts of the crop share so far has been the unknowns like the cantaloupe, peaches and bread in our most recent box. The bread was absolutely wonderful. Upon opening the box and seeing the bread, I tore off a hunk and downed it. Mmm…I’m a carbs girl!

I’m not actually that much of a cantaloupe fan, but am doing my best to work my way through it. Jeff doesn’t really like it at all, but he’s been willing to eat a piece here and there. It’s wonderful on a warm day, very thirst quenching. So, I cut the whole melon up and divided into containers to make it easily accessible, which gives me no excuse not to eat it up. I had a friend up this weekend and it was the perfect thing to pull from the fridge in the morning to snack on.

We’ve been pickling around here. We’ll throw just about anything we can think of in the jar filled with vinegar and dill deliciousness. Cucumbers, peppers, onions and we’ll get around to beans this week. I’ve never pickled before, but it is seriously so easy. We even invested in some jars. We can down a jar of pickles (or really anything pickled) in one sitting and it’s the perfect way to extend the life of some of our veggies.

Last night while Jeff escaped to play video games with a friend, I cooked him a cute dinner.

I even lit a candle, set the table and got a bottle of red wine ready.

For these bad boys:

I really must admit I made this recipe up based on things I knew I had in the refrigerator. So: a little chopped peperoni, basil and red onion, which I mixed with cream cheese and mozzarella cheese. I baked them with tomato sauce in a 350 degree oven for about an hour. I served it with a side of pasta.

The peppers – from a friend’s garden – turned out wonderfully. They were nice and tender and a little spicy from the garlic I threw into the tomato sauce.

It felt good to be back in the kitchen, tinkering around, doing my thing. I also made two jars of refrigerator pickles since I was on a chopping kick. Things around here are definitely transitioning into a new normal. I miss my friend every single minute of ever single day, but I’m trying to find peace in doing things that make me happy – cooking in my kitchen, planning my wedding, going out with friends – because that’s exactly what she’d want me to do.

My second cooking club is this week. That means, more than one whole month has past since our first cooking club and I have not yet written about it. I AM IN A COOKING CLUB, for crying outloud.

This Thursday’s theme is breakfast and my item to bring is dessert. We all pick a piece of the meal out of a hat and we are either going to decide on a theme or pick a theme out of a hat each time. Last time it was Mexican. This time it’s breakfast. Get it?

We all know I’m not much of a baker. So, I’m making coffee flavored ice cream. Thank you for the idea Emeril Lagasse. I totally used his idea, but clearly made it my own with the use of:

Coffee Ice Cream

What you’ll need:
2 cups heavy cream
2 cups whole milk
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons instant coffee (I used two packets of Starbucks VIA)
6 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine the cream, milk, sugar, coffee and vanilla in a medium sauce pan. Bring to a gentile boil over medium heat. Remove from heat.

Beat the egg yolks in a medium bowl. Whisk one cup of the hot cream into the egg yolks. Gradually add the egg mixture in a slow, steady stream, to the hot cream Cover over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon and reaches 170 degrees, about five minutes.

Remove from heat, cover with plastic wrap, pressing down against the surface to keep skin from forming. Chill in the refrigerator for at least two hours.

Remove from the refrigerator and pour into the bowl of an ice cream machine. Freeze according to manufacturers instructions. Transfer to airtight container. Freeze.

OMG. I cannot wait to try it!

I’ve been sort of distant from this spot, as I’m sure understand. I’m going to try to get back to writing – especially catching up on our CSA – next week, but for now, here’s what we’ve been making with it all:

Refrigerator pickles – 2 cups white vinegar, 2 cups sugar, 2 tablespoons salt, onions, cucumbers, garlic. Cook vinegar, salt and sugar together until sugar is dissolved. Pour mixture over veggies. Refrigerate.

They turned out awesome!

Patty pan squash, yellow squash, basil, onions, garlic and (I’m not going to lie) a can of tomatoes. I added a little olive oil and white wine and it was delicious (even for a girl who hasn’t been eating much).

About 6 ears of cooked corn, removed from the cob. 2 containers of cherry tomatoes cut up. One purple onion, chopped. Basil. 2 tablespoons white vinegar. 1/2 cup olive oil. Mix together.

I grew up with two best friends who hated steak.

I mean, seriously. Who hates steak? It’s the best part of the cow, it’s tender and red and juicy and makes me a happy woman. How do you not like steaks? Alas, my best friends hated steak. And that is how I grew to hate chicken (just to spite them…kidding).

A few weekends ago the three of us girls gathered. We did dinner, talked for hours, laughed, giggled, talked about the two upcoming weddings (mine and Beck’s, who got engaged less than two weeks after I did), bonded and enjoyed the old school three peas in a pod feeling we did in elementary/middle/high school and college.

Beck turned to me as she walked into Noodles that night, and with the biggest grin on her face said: “Manda, guess what? I eat steak now.”

And I about crapped my pants. I gave her hell. We all had a good laugh.

Beck died last weekend. She died in a one car accident with her new fiance and two of their friends. I will attend the funeral of one of my best friends – my longest friend – next Tuesday. It’s horrid. It’s tragic. It’s leaving me unable to eat a damn thing. It all out is hard.

“OF COURSE she likes steak now,” I said out loud while alone at the condo tonight. I laughed, to be perfectly honest with you (which was really much needed).

While the story is tragic, I will be OK. I will learn what I’m suppose to from this, grow, heal and transition into a new normal. I get myself through by promising myself there will be a time when we just remember the good times, the good stories. Plus, I’m going to get to think of Beck every time I eat steak now…and that’s not really a bad deal.

Yesterday while I lay at the pool with a girlfriend, Jeff (after much begging) was at the grocery store picking up items so we he could grill by the pool.

Among the items was a tuna steak, something we’ve honestly never prepared on our own. So, we did what we usually do when making something new, and recalled an Alton Brown episode, except we changed the seasonings a bit. Olive oil, garlic, hot pepper, lemon juice and a dash of Penzeys Singapore Spice.

Yes, right there on top of the chimney, we grilled a tuna steak. I don’t feel like I have a good calculation of time to pass along, just watch it, it will start to get flaky when done. Plus, you want it a little pink in the center.

I cannot take any credit for the grilling. It was all Jeff, because he both likes to show off for the girls at the pool and please. I think I’ll keep him.

This week, a fellow Tweeter sent me a message wondering where the post on Week 6 was. I guess people really do read this thing!

I am now further regretting not taking a photo this week of our box. Plus, we got a lot of stuff. I’m going to need to learn more creative photo techniques in the coming weeks.

• Beans
• Sweet corn
• Summer squash
• Cucumbers
• Purslane
• Kale
• Swiss Chard
• Beats

And Jeff again bought blue berries, red cherries and black cherries. It has 100 percent been confirmed – we’re adding on the fruit share next year.

This week I took a bag of assorted squash – patty pan, zucchini, yellow – to work with a plea for help. “Our CSA is kicking our butts.” My co-workers gladly helped out, which makes me happy that it will all wind up in someone’s belly. If we can’t eat it all, we fully intend to put it in someone else’s belly.

I also ate a bowl of broccoli for dinner one night (with berries for dessert). So, we’re getting through it all.

I’m most excited this week to figure out to do with the beets. They have a bad reputation. I don’t dislike them, but I would like to create something that others think sounds good. So, if you have a beat recipe to share, send it my way.