Corn and Potato Chowder

Fresh Corn at the Scituate Farmers Market

While you can still get fresh corn pretty easily, now is the time to make some super simple corn chowder. The other day, I bought a dozen ears of corn thinking that my children would polish them off for dinner. Oddly enough, I did not have a lot of takers that night and ended up with about 7 or 8 ears left over. As I headed to work on Monday and quickly surveyed my refrigerator, I knew that I could whip up a simple chowder for dinner after work with minimal fuss.

Corn chowder has been an easy family meal in my house since I can remember. My college roommate still mentions it on my facebook wall every once in a while! She couldn't believe that something so tasty was really that easy to make. I learned how to make corn chowder from my dad and, even if you fool around with the recipe a little bit, it's really hard to mess it up.

Putting Up Tomatoes (Yes, YOU Can Do It!)

Who Needs The Grocery Store??

This past week, I put up over 20 pounds of tomatoes. If you have never canned a thing in your life, putting up tomatoes is the place to start. You will feel so resourceful! You don't need any special equipment or special training. Truly anyone can prepare tomatoes to be stored for the winter and it doesn't take very long at all. Even the kids can help with this project!

For years, I have been really careful about the food I feed my family, but I always felt pretty nonchalant about buying canned tomatoes at the grocery store. Heck, I knew that they did not taste as amazing as the tomatoes from my garden or the farmers market, but I was not really concerned about their safety. Alas, all the debate over the past few years about BPA (bisphenol A) got me thinking and made me take a closer look at the canned products I was purchasing. Many companies are now phasing out the use of BPA in cans and, truthfully, a lot of scientists say that the issue of BPA in cans is completely different than the use of BPA in baby bottles or soft plastics that can release chemicals when heated. However, under the better safe than sorry category, I decided to get my kitchen in order and start freezing my tomatoes for the winter so that I could rely less on canned goods from the grocery store. 

Tomatoes at the Scituate Farmers Market ...

Bacon Wrapped Chicken Kabobs

Bacon Wrapped Chicken Kabobs

Everything is better with bacon. So I've heard... I like to keep bacon on hand to add to recipes that need a little extra kick. It doesn't take much - a slice or two of delicious bacon, judiciously used, can go a long way. This past winter, I was part of a meat CSA (community supported agriculture) through Brandon and Lisa Higgins at C-Saw Hill Farm. Every month, I would get a box of meat from their farm - some chicken, some beef, some pork, a dozen eggs ... and, every once in a while, I got to test out some amazing homemade bacon. Wow. 

BACON! Thank you, Brandon...

If you can get your hands on some local bacon, it will be worth every penny. If you are daring, perhaps you might even want to try to make your own... Men's Health Magazine posted an interesting how-to earlier in the year. If you don't want to make your own bacon and you don't have a farmer friend who wants to test out his bacon skills on you, the best bacon to buy is something made from hormone and antibiotic free, pasture-raised, certified humane pork, cured - meaning they used only curing salts and spices, no nitrates, nitrites, or scary sounding preservatives. For this recipe, I used bacon from Applegate Farms.

Pesto Quesadillas

Homemade Pesto

Yup. I said PESTO Quesadillas. These are my absolutely new favorite afternoon snack or lunchtime treat. They are so easy to make, super delicious, and a great way to use up the pounds and pounds of basil growing in my garden.

You can make your own pesto or buy some from your favorite farmer or local grocer ... if you are here in NC, I am a fan of the homemade Walnut Basil Pesto from Michele's Garden. So good!

However, if you have got some basil - and it is really, really, easy to grow basil just about anywhere - why not make your own pesto?

Super Simple Sweet Potato & Coconut Soup

Sweet Potato and Coconut Soup

Wow! I haven't posted a recipe since July... how embarrassing! I think that I have been teaching so long that my brain might be permanently on a 10 month schedule. I am now back at work with a fabulous group of new students and am so ready to put my working mama hat on and get back to juggling school, and packed lunches, and healthy (local!) family dinners, and afterschool activities.  I have enjoyed every minute of the last ten weeks but it feels great to be back in North Carolina in my own house with my husband and my children and my crazy dogs.