Strawberry Mint Ice Cream

Strawberry Mint Ice Cream

Looking out the window right now at the dreary gray skies, it is hard to believe that last weekend we were certain that summer had started two months early. It was so hot and sunny outside that my children begged to make ice cream. How could I say no?

Our winter was so mild that strawberry season started early down here in North Carolina and I have been getting berries in my Know Your Farms CSA box for the past few weeks. Such an unexpected treat! What better way to start off our ice cream making season? Yum. 

Simple Sauteed Swiss Chard with Caramelized Onions

Simple Sauteed Swiss Chard With Caramelized Onions

Fun fact about me: I host a farmers market in my dining room. Truly, it is as crazy and fun as it sounds. A group of families in and around my neighborhood get together, place orders for fresh fruit, veggies, meat, eggs, and cheese from farmers in Rutherford County through an online website, and every other Wednesday my kids patiently wait for the refrigerated truck to pull into our driveway and start unloading bushels of farm-fresh goodness.

Blueberry Banana Quick Bread (Gluten free)

Gluten-Free Blueberry Banana Quick Bread

I never worry about having extra fruit on hand because if it starts to look as if no one is going to eat it fresh, I toss it in a freezer bag and stash it in the freezer. Frozen fruit is great in smoothies or in a quick bread. This morning, my younger daughter told me she wanted pumpkin bread for breakfast. Thankfully, I was able to persuade her that a banana bread might be a better choice.

I scanned the freezer and saw a plethora of brown bananas and my last 2 bags of North Carolina blueberries from last year. We were ready. I opened the bag of blueberries for snacking to distract the little people while I got the ingredients ready. In less than 10 minutes, I had a gluten-free banana blueberry bread baking in the oven and our house started to smell amazing almost instantly. Bonus.  

Goat Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Roasted Tomatoes, Bacon, and Ramps

Goat cheese stuffed chicken breasts

Sometimes, just when I think I have absolutely nothing to feed my family, I come up with the strangest concoction of assorted ingredients that really makes an amazing meal. The other night, my options were looking pretty limited with few bright spots of hope. In the freezer, I had some chicken breasts and home-cured bacon from C-Saw Hill and in the fridge I had some plain goat cheese and a bunch of ramps my sitter brought back as a gift from her trip to Asheville. Hmmm... what to do, what to do?

Slow Roasted Tomatoes

While pondering the possibilities, I thinly sliced a tomato and layered the slices on a cookie sheet, drizzled them with olive oil and sprinkled a little sea salt on top. I sliced a few cloves of garlic and tossed them on the cookie sheet as well. I set the oven to 250 degrees and let tomatoes and garlic roast for a bit while I procrastinated and did my best to avoid the piles of papers that needed to be graded. The house started to smell absolutely delicious and I knew that these slow roasted tomatoes had to be a part of dinner.

Garlicky Deviled Eggs

Garlicky Deviled Eggs

The other night, a few of us went out to celebrate our friend's birthday. It was lovely. Champagne, wine, deviled eggs. Seriously. I said deviled eggs. Until this point in my life, I thought that deviled eggs were something that your grandmother brought to the Fourth of July picnic on her little deviled egg plate. I had no idea that people ate these little buggers at other points in the year or that you could even order them at a restaurant. Obviously, I have been living under a rock.

Spurred by this  new revelation, I set out to make some deviled eggs at home. Just for fun. On a Friday morning. Cause I'm crazy like that. And, since I love garlic, I decided to make them garlicky. Yum.