anniversary date (the no kid kind!)

On Saturday we were incredibly blessed with an entire night away without kid(s)! This was her first overnight away from parents and home, but our good friends who know her well took marvelous care of her. She got sweaty and dirty and played hard and didn't utter our names once. That's our girl!


We went back to Kansas City and visited the three floors of the River Market Antique Mall before we decided we were tired and ready to eat.

We saw a lot of great things including ...
this great trunk (coffee table anyone?!)

(Above) An incredible Heywood-Wakefield midcentury piece - I almost died. And a great mod-looking orange stove from the 70s. I love that style but am not sure it's MY style.

(Below) And, an ode to my dad. Did you know John Deere's colors were originally yellow and red? This sign is from the very early 20th century. I thought about picking it up for my dad until I saw the tag. "Rare" and $1000 don't fit my budget. Sorry Dad. ;-)

We went to eat at The Farmhouse - a local eaterie with great atmosphere, eclectic staff and an incredible menu. Completely supported by local farms - it's fresh and local! It's pricey, but a great place to celebrate a special occasion. And we did!

Here is my husband of 5 years.

I indulged in a "mocktail" of lavender lemonade - delicious - and we shared an appetizer of fresh, local cheeses with sauces on crisp, salty homemade crackers.

The Farmhouse comes highly recommended! Thanks for sharing in our special weekend. Now on to the next 5 years.  

Reading about Food.

Lately, I've run across some resources for clean/organic/local/better eating and after our CSA experience last year, I've kept my eyes peeled for different ways of eating. Because, truly, something has to change. 

Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser provided an in-depth look into the "dark side" of American fast food from its history to its modern day practices. Overall an informative (and yucky) read on fast food - something that I wasn't overly interested in eating in the first place.

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Many, many of these types of books are very negative toward food, corporations, mass production, etc and understandably so! There is some junk going on in the industry that is controlled by only a very few and will probably not change. However, in presenting the same information, Barbara Kingsolver shared her family's year long eating experience in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and put a completely positive spin on it. I loved that! It was a long read, but well worth it.

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Finally, The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan was also a very long but informative read about the author's journey through attaining four (very different) meals in the USA. First, fast food, then a supermarket organic meal, a completely local meal from Polyface Farm and finally a hunted and gathered meal. I have to admit that he pretty much lost my interest at the end with the hunting/gathering so I didn't actually read the last section of the book, however I read what I wanted to. This opened my eyes to the corporate organic companies and takeovers and solidified that local is probably the best. Currently, we're looking for the best organic/local/grassfed meat options for our limited budget (eatwild.com). I'll let you know who we find!

I'm looking forward to reading Pollan's follow up called In Defense of Food.

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We're watching documentaries including Food, Inc., Tapped, Fresh and King Corn.

And I just came across another web resource for Clean Eating (Thanks Jess!). While I was disappointed at the misnomer ("clean" really only means less processed foods rather than truly organic foods) it was a great resource for substitutes and less processed food items in every day places. A great first step for people trying to eat better. 

CSA Week 15

This week's CSA...

... included a bag of salad greens, several good sized Roma tomatoes, a bunch of radishes, more okra!, 4 pears, a small watermelon and 3-1/2 sweet peppers.


 My pick is pears this week. We haven't had their pears yet (last week it was a choice between microgreens and pears) and I am excited! Unfortunately, when I got them home and took them out of the bag, two were very bruised - and the rest of the pear is still unripe. I'm not sure they will be salvageable.

I'm more hesitant to say something with the CSA but figure there is no reason to be. I am paying more than normal grocery prices for this produce and I wouldn't hesitate to take a bad piece back to the grocery store for a refund, so why hesitate with the CSA? (I also heard someone talk about their slicer tomatoes molding after a day and she said she'd make up for it the next week so that boosted my confidence a little more.) :-) I'll update you next week on what they say.


*Sorry about the yellow pictures. It's getting darker earlier and by the time we get back the kitchen is too dark to get any good shots. Heaven forbid I use the flash(!)...

CSA - week 6

Our CSA pick-up this week provided a very large head of fennel, three small - med kholrabi, one large yellow squash, a pint of yellow and red cherry tomatoes, a bunch of basil (yum!), 1-1/2 lbs yellow onions and 1-1/2 lbs purple potatoes.

And the CSA pick-of-the-week is ... purple potatoes! Actually she called them "blue" but they look pretty purple to me. I cut the tiniest one in half so you (and I) could have a peek.

I need to get back to meal planning (vacation threw that off a little bit) - my poor dear husband. He needs some sustenance after working all day! Haha. So, I'm going to look up fennel recipes - unless any of you have good ones! - and braise the kholrabi as a side.

As for my garden, it's several tomatoes ...

... and some sad lookin' corn vs. the heat.

Pretty sure it's not gonna make it. But, we'll see.



And, finally, the recipe I promised you last week for cabbage:

Japanese Ramen Noodle Salad

1-2 whole seasoned grilled chicken breasts (slivered)
2 T. sesame seeds
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1/2-1 head cabbage, finely shredded
2 green onions, chopped
1 pkg oriental-flavored Ramen noodles

Dressing:
1 T. sugar
1/2 c. oil
1 pkg seasoning from Ramen
1/2 t. pepper (or to taste)
3 T vinegar

Toast sesame seeds and almonds in a 300 degree oven for 8-10 minutes or until golden. Combine chicken, sesame seeds, almonds, cabbage, onions. Mix dressing ingredients. Toss cabbage mixture with dressing and noodles right before serving.

Enjoy!!