Roadside wildflowers on the way to the farm.
Wildflowers are prolific along the county roads, especially daisies and Queen Anne’s lace. A reliable clue that it must be early June.
Overgrown flower beds also come with the long sunny days and frequent rain. Weeds had popped up between the seams in my flagstone walkway. Robin and JC spent hours giving them a manicure with the weedwhacker.
Lettuce and onions from our tiny garden at the farm. Purple potatoes on right are from local farmers’ market.
An Ode to Purple Potatoes
Now I’ve never cooked purple potatoes. I’ve cooked cauliflower, carrots, cabbage, and asparagus, that were purple, but not potatoes.
I wondered if they would discolor the water or the green beans I was cooking with them. I googled my concern. According to the Internet sages, there was no need to worry. Color is retained during cooking, they said. And sure enough, they were right.
When you bite into these little, purple gems, they’re creamy with a sweet, nutty taste. Loved ‘em.
Fresh Fruit Desserts
The farmers’ market also had the first locally-grown strawberries I’ve seen this year. These went into a strawberry shortcake.
Chez Pannise Blueberry Cobbler
The recipe for Chez Pannise Blueberry Cobbler comes from the New York Times. It is so easy and so good. Blueberries get a sprinkle of sugar before being placed in a baking dish and topped with rounds of dough. But, get this! There’s no rolling out to do! You just shape pieces of the dough into a 2-1/2″ by 1/2″ patties and plop them atop the berries.
Into the oven they go. With a dab of whipped cream (or ice cream) you’ve got a splendid summer dessert.
Fish Gotta Swim—and Eat
Feeding time at the pond.
The new bass, catfish and bluegill have already learned to come up to the pond’s edge for their daily feeding. I’m encouraged. There maybe a fish fry in my future! (The fish above, that look like barracudas, are the grass carp, whose job it is to keep keep the pond clean.)
Photos from the Grill
Austin displays his awesome baby back ribs.
Outdoor buffet from left to right: Grilled Zucchini, Green Beans and Purple Potatoes, Onion Casserole (more on Martha’s terrific four-ingredient casserole in a later post), Mexican Street Corn, Rustic Sourdough Bread, Asparagus, Baby Greens with Feta and Tomatoes.
Chicken Kebobs. As you can see, Paul takes kebobing very seriously.
Catfish
Mexican Street Corn. Recipe here.
For lunch, Cyndy and Joe brought this delicious wild-caught salmon and a plate of heavenly brownies. I tossed together a vegetable salad. The bread, a jalapeno-olive focaccia, was from Soulard Market.
After a long weekend, we headed back to St. Louis. I see a fence post with a few struggling daisies—nature’s reminder to “bloom where you are planted.”
