SUNDAY SHOPPING, COOKING, PLOTTING

This morning, we went out to Earth Friendly Organic Farm to pick blueberries. The sun, still slanted in the sky, was wonderfully warming, but not hot, a few chickens roamed about us, and the fat berries nearly fell off the bushes into our hands. "They should bottle weather like this," another picker said to me. Agreed.

Later, at Delicious Orchards, I surveyed the greens - lots of Jersey stuff, kale, dandelions, chard. Strip them of their stems, parboil the kale, then roughly slice the lot of them. Saute (in olive oil, toasted sesame oil and a dash of soy sauce) with chopped garlic, chives and ginger root. I'd gotten a huge bunch of Chinese chives at the Asian Food Center in Middletown and, boy, did they do right by the greens. If you're not eating greens, you are missing amazing food.

I also scored a big bag of "stuffing squash" at D.O. Aha! I'm betting that's a new name for farmer John Samaha's 8-Ball Squash. My favorite. Anyway, I cooked some orzo, tossed it with a little olive oil and spunky cheese I snagged the other day at Sickles Market, then stuffed the orzo mix into carved-out 8-Balls. Baked them for 35 minutes in a 350 oven and smiled when they emerged. Oh, yes, I did add one new ingredient I'm trying out: Peppadew Salsa I got up at Dearborn Farms. Just a couple of spoonfuls into the cooked orzo-cheese mixture. Sweet-hot-tart all at once. After I've played around more with the Peppadew Salsa, I'll tell you more.

OK, back to the kitchen. I'm going to make blueberry sauce. And, believe it or not, starting some prep for Fourth of July supper. My guests are a-traditional and so is my menu. Hey, it's called Independence Day!

cheers,
Andy
7.1.07