July 26... and the eatin' is good.

I seem to be spending a great deal of time lately thinking about, picking, washing and eating food. I'm a sucker for anything that's fresh, or just picked, or ripe and lovely. And so, last week I went off to the orchard (Spicer Orchards) to pick 4 quarts of the most giant raspberries I've ever seen...

I went back another day and got almost 11 pounds of blueberries. I froze most of them, but I'm experimenting with a few in the food dehydrator to see how they turn out. And I saw a recipe in the Detroit Free Press for a Blueberry Galette, so 3 cups went to that. I think I'll go back next week and get more, because the thought of it being mid-winter and me being out of blueberries in the freezer makes me nervous. I'm a blueberry hoarder. This is what the galette looked like out of the oven:

But we can't live on berries alone, right? The farmer's market had squash blossoms yesterday... I've seen so many recipes for them, but always hoard the ones on my own zucchini plants (I have enough trouble coaxing squash from them to begin with). So I bought some. And they'll be dinner tonight:

Fried squash blossoms

Squash blossom soup

Toasted bread

Blueberry galette for dessert!

And we have a sort-of plan for the week... the goal is using all the veggies I keep buying (and the ones actually growing in our own garden! Whee!)

Monday

Fish (either salmon or sole -- both are in the freezer), probably grilled

Saute green beans and baby carrots and onions

Boiled baby potatoes, salted and chives sprinkled on.

Tuesday

Grilled zucchini, sliced tomato, mozzarella, basil on toasted bread. Maybe balsamic vinegar drizzled on top.

Wednesday

Steak

Corn on the cob

Broccoli salad

Thursday

Grilled pizzas on flatbread... with all kinds of good stuff on them.

And of course, we have a crazy cucumber plant. So, sliced cucumbers for snacks and appetizers all week!

There's stuff in the garden now!

Just got back from 2 weeks up north, and the garden that was looking just lovely at the end of June has exploded. So now I'm trying to think about using it... while dealing with the fact that there are very few other groceries in the house...

Here's what I came up with for tonight:

Grilled turkey tenderloin (found one in the freezer -- bonus!)

Marinated zucchini (from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home):

Slice zucchini diagonally, saute in pan with a bit of olive oil, drain on paper towel. Add some garlic to the pan, saute. Put zucchini and garlic in a bowl, sprinkle chopped herb (I'll use basil) over the top, pour vinegar (I'll use balsamic) over everything, sprinkle with salt. Serve at room temperature.

Salad with raspberries (Did I mention I went to pick raspberries today? They're goooooorrrrrgeous!) and feta.

For dessert, I'm trying to make cherry sorbet. I cut a quart of cherries in half to take out the pits and froze them. I boiled a cup of water and dissolved a half cup of sugar in it. I'll chop up the frozen cherries in the food processor, then blend in the sugar water and some lemon juice. Dump it all in the ice cream maker, and see what happens!

No plans yet for the rest of the week. Just taking things one day at a time right now. Can't wait for the tomatoes to ripen!