Tuesday, September 20, 2011

100 foot dinner

I was so excited after harvesting the garden today that I had to rush right to my blog and share! Ladies and gentlemen, I grew my first SWEET POTATO!!!  That's right!  Who says plants from Wal-Mart are subpar? The folks at White Oak Garden center are getting a little snobby...We sprouted one full sized beauty and due to the lack of watering towards the end of summer a bunch of tiny siblings.  All will be eaten with glee.
On to the topic at hand: 100 mile dining.  The hip theory with all the foodies right now is that you should eat local foods that took less than 100 miles to get to your house.  Well I took that to heart with tonight's dinner.  The meat came from my new CSA and all the veggies were less than 100 feet from my house as I grew them in the backyard. 
Starting at 9 o'clock and moving clockwise we have basil, zucchini, veggie stock from the previous blanching blog entry, tomatoes, carrots and green beans.  At 6 o'clock we have a pound of local lean beef.  After the picture was taken I found the last of our backyard potatoes and threw them in as well.  It was four very small red skinned guys.  I diced everything and threw it in the pot after browning the meat.  It came out looking something like this:
As usual I have no idea the name of the soup as it came from the Lebanese neighbor of my friend Lisa who moved to Port Clinton two years ago.  So we call it Lisa's Lebanese soup.  Trust me friends, it is phenomenal and you should try it some time.  Happy Tuesday!

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Welcome Fall!

Well, sort of...I'm not completely convinced that this fall weather is here to stay.  However, I welcome you with open arms since it marks the beginning of crafting season for me.  When it gets cold I love to cook, bake, sew and crochet!  I tried to ease into the season with a little project for my nephew of a felt play pizza.  Take a small pizza box with no grease stains on it:
 Then cut out felt toppings and add to top of box:
 
 And you are ready to make pizza!!


We've also been busy picking an assortment of winter squash out of the garden including a delicata, a spaghetti squash and several butternuts!!  Aren't they just beautiful??
Happy Crafting!