I am an enthusiast. There's no doubt about it. When I read something, go somewhere, learn about something, I want to try. I want to share. I want to do it again and again.
Since I'm a New York Times reader and an amateur cook, this does not always go well. This week, for example, I tried making jam for the first time (with blackberries, not the NYT recipe blueberries, and the jury is out on whether it jelled or not...). I also made coconut cardamom panna cotta (a true flop).
But the sweet corn blini were a hit. Oh wow.
We joined our CSA again, Patchwork Gardens, and I picked up the first box of veggies today. The result? Russian-style cucumber and heirloom cherry tomato salad (yum), sauteed zucchini and summer squash with honey and mint (interesting), and sweet corn blini.
To be fair, the corn didn't come with the CSA share. But having read the blini recipe the other day, I headed straight for the Brentlinger Farm truck after picking up my beets, tomatoes, onions, garlic, and greens. And I was not disappointed.
There is something about white corn in August -- it may even have been Silver Queen. So sweet, so fresh, picked this morning. The Brentlingers are famous around here for their corn (and for their old barn). A baker's dozen off the back of a pickup became the main course tonight.
Since we arrived back in Ohio, the days have been surprisingly cool but are still very long, and I had a busy one -- walking in the morning with a friend, yoga with another friend, coffee with my husband, lunch with a couple who were passing through on their way to Philadelphia. Plus we worked on the house, I took my son for a haircut, AND I did some reading and writing. Not a bad day.
By the late afternoon, it was time for the PTO-sponsored happy hour at the Yellow Springs Brewery, which opened while we were in Poland. We hadn't been yet, and it is fantastic. The space is large and yet inviting, with cinderblock walls chiseled out in some places to let light through the glass block, huge glass doors out onto a deck looking over the bike path, and a sunny bar and tables made from the smooth golden wood from the old bowling alley lanes. Lovely people, lovely atmosphere, lovely beer. As I said to my son, we had to go drinking -- after all, it was for the children. My adventure in the kitchen came after our beer-tasting, so I'm happy that the meal was a success. The sweet corn blini are a real keeper!
These are the last days of summer, since we all head back to school next week. But we are cherishing the sweetness, each in our own way: I'm continuing my yoga immersion, my daughter is beginning to groove on two-a-day cross country practices, my son sleeps much of the time, but has ventured out on his bicycle, to the library, and to play chess. And my husband is busy with his many activities, not the least of which is daily doses of Gemeinschaft.
Since I'm a New York Times reader and an amateur cook, this does not always go well. This week, for example, I tried making jam for the first time (with blackberries, not the NYT recipe blueberries, and the jury is out on whether it jelled or not...). I also made coconut cardamom panna cotta (a true flop).
But the sweet corn blini were a hit. Oh wow.
We joined our CSA again, Patchwork Gardens, and I picked up the first box of veggies today. The result? Russian-style cucumber and heirloom cherry tomato salad (yum), sauteed zucchini and summer squash with honey and mint (interesting), and sweet corn blini.
To be fair, the corn didn't come with the CSA share. But having read the blini recipe the other day, I headed straight for the Brentlinger Farm truck after picking up my beets, tomatoes, onions, garlic, and greens. And I was not disappointed.There is something about white corn in August -- it may even have been Silver Queen. So sweet, so fresh, picked this morning. The Brentlingers are famous around here for their corn (and for their old barn). A baker's dozen off the back of a pickup became the main course tonight.
Since we arrived back in Ohio, the days have been surprisingly cool but are still very long, and I had a busy one -- walking in the morning with a friend, yoga with another friend, coffee with my husband, lunch with a couple who were passing through on their way to Philadelphia. Plus we worked on the house, I took my son for a haircut, AND I did some reading and writing. Not a bad day.
By the late afternoon, it was time for the PTO-sponsored happy hour at the Yellow Springs Brewery, which opened while we were in Poland. We hadn't been yet, and it is fantastic. The space is large and yet inviting, with cinderblock walls chiseled out in some places to let light through the glass block, huge glass doors out onto a deck looking over the bike path, and a sunny bar and tables made from the smooth golden wood from the old bowling alley lanes. Lovely people, lovely atmosphere, lovely beer. As I said to my son, we had to go drinking -- after all, it was for the children. My adventure in the kitchen came after our beer-tasting, so I'm happy that the meal was a success. The sweet corn blini are a real keeper!
These are the last days of summer, since we all head back to school next week. But we are cherishing the sweetness, each in our own way: I'm continuing my yoga immersion, my daughter is beginning to groove on two-a-day cross country practices, my son sleeps much of the time, but has ventured out on his bicycle, to the library, and to play chess. And my husband is busy with his many activities, not the least of which is daily doses of Gemeinschaft.
Definition of GEMEINSCHAFT
: a spontaneously arising organic social relationship characterized by strong reciprocal bonds of sentiment and kinship within a common tradition; also : a community or society characterized by this relationship
Also known as Yellow Springs, Ohio.
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