Farmer's Market Flowers

I wanted to send you happy weekend wishes!

I picked this adorable little bundle of flowers up at the farmer's market last week. It is amazing how just a handful of flowers picked from the garden can make a room really come alive. I love to use interesting old containers. This is an old apothecary jar that usually resides next to my range in the kitchen and holds utensils. It's one of the pretty old things I plan to sell in my etsy shop.

When I had Shari of Little Blue Deer redesign my blog in November, I had her add a shop heirloom tab at the right. I am little embarrassed to say that I am yet to add anything to my etsy shop yet. I wanted you to know that I have been putting together a collection of special flea market finds and taking photographs for the debut. I like taking and styling the photographs more than all the work it takes to put together the shop.

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Pretty As A Peach

Have you ever wondered where the saying Pretty As A Peach originated?

I actually think I made it up! I went on my morning walk and came home to a little present on my front porch, a basket full of fresh peaches from a road side farm stand from my good friend Susan. Peaches are simply the most beautiful food on earth. I mean how many people take pictures of their fruit? But seriously, I love it when the peaches arrive at the farmer's market! A peach is like a tomato in that a tree ripened, fresh peach really in no way resembles the peach you buy at the grocery store.

I grew up eating South Carolina peaches. Every summer our family of five piled in the wood-paneled station wagon and drove to South Carolina for our annual family reunion. As luck would have it, my Aunt Sarah lived next door to a peach orchard. Given that my father was from a family of eleven, there were many, many cousins to make mischief with and most of that mischief took place in the peach orchard. We always came home with more peaches than we thought we could eat but none ever went to waste!

Here's the recipe I think is most worthy of first-of-the-season peaches: 

Photo by Peter Frank Edwards for Sara Foster's Southern Kitchen

Grilled Peach Salad

with Shaved Country Ham and Summer Herbs

"You don’t have to look far to see how much Southerners like to mix their sweet with their salty. This summery salad, featuring balsamic-glazed grilled peaches and shaved country ham tossed with fresh herbs and creamy goat cheese, is an elegant tribute to this unendingly popular flavor combination. For real Southern flavor, use sticky-sweet Georgia peaches."

1⁄4 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

4 peaches, halved and pitted

2 ounces country ham, thinly sliced

6 cups baby arugula, washed and drained

1⁄2 cup chopped mixed fresh mint, parsley, and basil

Juice of 1 lime

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1⁄2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled soft goat cheese

Prepare a hot fire in a charcoal or gas grill and let the coals burn to gray ash with a slight red glow; if using a gas grill, heat the grill on medium.  

Combine 2 tablespoons of the olive oil with the vinegar, stir to combine, and brush the mixture on the cut sides of the peaches. Grill the peaches, cut side down, until golden-brown grill marks appear and the skins start to loosen, about 3 minutes. Remove from the grill. When cool enough to handle, peel and discard the skins, which should slip off easily.

Heat 1 tablespoon of the remaining olive oil in a cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat until sizzling hot . Add the ham and cook until crispy, about 2 minutes per side. Remove and drain on a paper towel or brown paper bag.

Place the arugula, herbs, remaining 3 tablespoons oil, the lime juice, and salt and pepper to taste in a large bowl and toss to mix. Chop the peaches into large chunks or quarters and add to the salad, tossing to mix. Transfer the salad to a large serving platter or individual serving plates. Break the ham into large pieces and scatter on top. Sprinkle evenly with the goat cheese and serve at room temperature.

Sara Foster's cookbooks are my go-to resource for seasonal farm-to-table recipes. Sara Foster's Southern Kitchen is Sara Foster's fourth cookbook, probably my favorite as this one not only includes great Southern soul food but it is photographed by Peter Frank Edwards.

You have read this article Farmer's Market Friday / recipes with the title Farmer's Market Friday. You can bookmark this page URL https://enjoywithluh.blogspot.com/2011/07/pretty-as-peach.html. Thanks!

Farmer's Market Friday: Blueberry Picking

Mini Blueberry Tarts from Coastal Living

Picking blueberries is one of those simple pleasures in life I look forward to every summer. I am the first to admit that sometimes I take for granted some of these little things available to me in the South and only 10 minutes from my house. That's why I was just so excited when my friend, GiGi invited me over today to pick blueberries and play bridge in their family farmhouse. She made us lunch and picked flowers from her garden for the table. Blueberry season starts just about the time it is absolutely a million degrees outside that's why yesterday was so exceptional. It was a bluebird day with a cool breeze and blue skies!

I always get carried away and pick more than we can eat. I have a favorite recipe that is incredibly easy and always delicious that I make every time I pick blueberries but this year I thought I would branch out and try few new things.

Here are some of the recipes I think I might try:

Blueberry Cornbread Muffins from Martha Stewart

Blueberry Ginger Mojito

Grilled Halibut with Blueberry Salsa

Melted Camembert with Cherry Jam

{I plan to substitute blueberries for the cherries}

Sprinkles Blueberry Farm in Winston Salem

Here we are with our heads in the middle of the bushes. The owner of the farm recommended that we seek the best and biggest berries by diving deep into the middle of the bush. He was right!

Here's my simple recipe for Blueberry Cobbler:

3/4 Stick of Butter

2 Cups Blueberries

3/4 Cup Sugar

3/4 Cup Flour

3/4 Cup Milk

2 Teaspoons Baking Powder

Combine sugar, flour, milk and baking powder. Melt the butter in casserole dish. Add the flour mixture. Add the fruit to the top. Bake at 300 degrees for one hour or until brown.

Thanks GiGi for a lovely day!

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My Grandmother's Apple Tree

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Every once a while I am minding my own business, caressing the produce at the local farmer's market and before you know it I am that little girl half way up the apple tree in my grandmother's backyard waving like crazy to NaNa yelling "Look at me! Look at me!"

It's those early days in the garden with my grandmother that etched a love for farm to table dining in my soul forever. My grandmother lived in a modest 1950's ranch that you entered through the side door and into the utility room. On the top of the dryer, she arranged the gnarly apples until the afternoon when she would make a pie. When I visited, I would climb the tree and pick the apples.

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They didn't resemble the apples you buy in the store today, really at all. I don't know if these misfit, sour apples had anything to do with the unique flavor of her apple pies but something made them truly amazing. Just ask anyone. It probably had more to do with the crust she painstakingly made from scratch with shortening.

 If I could wish one wish, it might be that I had just one more slice of Grandmother's apple pie or a recipe written in her own hand.

The closest thing I have found to a piece of my grandmother's apple pie are the fried pies you can buy at the local farmer's market. Sometimes they are still hot and many times they are sold out before I even get there. They come in three flavors ~ apple, peach and cherry. These ladies get up before the sun to bring the freshest baked goods possible to the morning market.

Last week, I saw these beets at the Farmer's Market and have to confess, I love to eat beets but have no idea how to prepare them. My favorite place to eat in Winston Salem is the Carving Board and one of my favorite things to order is the beet salad with blood oranges. It's no surprise that when a few friends and I had the chance opportunity to share a meal at our favorite local Southern bistro, Mozelle's, we ordered a glass of wine and the conversation turned to beets.

They suggested giving them just a little trim and wrapping them in foil with a little olive oil and roasting them for a bit. Forgive me, I didn't get specifics. I'll give it a whirl and get back to you with the details. Evidently, the skins will just peel right off after roasting and the beets are recipe ready.

I took these last few photos during open farm day for the Piedmont Land Conservancy. It's truly amazing to visit these farms that are right in our own backyard. I wish you could have heard the lambs ~ bah, bah, bahhh...

If you don't cook with your children and grandchildren, you should. I fear that the next generation is going to eat out for every meal and all the farmers are going to take up new trades and sell their farms to strip centers and subdivisions. I want the next generation to climb the apple trees, stand beside me and roll out the crust for the pie and eat sweet peas off the vine.

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Peonies and Baby Lettuce

Continuing my new series called Farmer's Market Fridays, I would like to share my latest aquisitions from the Farmer's Market. My purchases were actually made last Saturday morning during my visit to the Dixie Classic Fairgrounds.

My absolute favorite thing to pick up at the Farmer's Market are fresh, locally grown flowers. The peonies are in bloom here in the South and they are stunning and incredibly fragrant. The above photo is from my guest bedroom. I love to have fresh flowers by the bedside when visitors stay over. My favorite vase is my antique footed goblet from a wine festival in France. It says "Souvenir de la Fete".

I love the combination of the pink peonies against the blue walls in my dining room with the corner of the vintage gray frame. I collect old frames and this one is my favorite.

The baby lettuce, squash, cucumbers and onions I purchased at the Farmer's Market are arranged on my Pure Butter platter at my kitchen sink.  I received it as a gift from my sister many, many years ago and it's where I keep my fresh fruits and vegetables on my kitchen counter. My sister discovered the original mold for the Pure Butter Platter at the Leed's Pottery Factory on a buying trip to England in the 1990's and had these reproduced for the American Market. There are now many reproductions and importers but she was the original. I love my platter because it reminds me of her and her artistic vision.

This stall was so artfully arranged. I have never really liked radishes. They are one of the vegetables that arrive in the early weeks of the markets. I purchased a bag of this fresh, baby lettuce.

My favorite flower vendor at the farmer's market always has the best seasonal flowers. My peonies at her stall before I brought them home.

A bucket of fresh wildflowers at her stall.

I cook with herbs every day and look forward to this time of year when they start to flourish again.

The North Carolina strawberries are also in season. I love to make a salad with baby lettuce, fresh strawberries, feta cheese, purple onion and toasted pecans.

I saved these recipes from an article that appeared in Tradional Home . Magazine contributor Stephen Exel attended a cooking class in Paris taught by cookbook author Susan Herrmann Loomis of the On Rue Tatin cooking school. I plan to make the Hazelnut Vinaigrette with the recipe from the article {below} for my fresh baby lettuce salad.

Garden Greens with Hazelnut Vinaigrette

Susan recommends Jean LeBlanc hazelnut oil, a French oil cold pressed with a stone mill (8 ounces, $26, from amazon.com). Look for edible flowers at your local farmers market or with the fresh herbs at your grocery store.

8 cups mixed greens and herbs such as arugula, radicchio, sorrel, and Swiss chard

1 shallot, very thinly sliced

1 tablespoon best-quality red wine vinegar

Fine sea salt and fresh-ground black pepper

1/4 cup hazelnut oil

Edible flower blossoms for garnish

Rinse greens; dry. Place shallot in large bowl. Add vinegar; whisk in salt and pepper to taste. Slowly whisk in oil until mixture is emulsified. Add greens and herbs; toss until combined. Taste for seasoning. Top with blossoms.

I didn't buy the radishes but if I did I would have made this recipe for:

Mackerel Fillets with Fresh Peas, Radishes, and New Garlic

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