Kitchen Craze

Inevitable Aftermath

They say that time flies when you're having fun, so I guess it's a good thing that I'm a little amazed to recap the litany of items Weldon and I have concocted in the kitchen over the past couple weeks.  This morning alone I had three recipes on the docket: pizza dough, garlic scape pesto, and fermented sauerkraut.  Yesterday I shelled, cooked, and put up a gallon of fresh peas in the freezer.  We had an extensive list of tasty ideas piled up from winter and spring -- these would be inspiration enough -- but our dose of gifts from the garden has also begun increasing daily. Pleased as pigs in mud, we've kicked into high gear in the kitchen to make use of these early days of summer.  Before we know it, there'll be salsa, corn, and pickles, oh my!

For us, the key to taking on these culinary projects is having the right resources on hand to coach us through the process.  Though a number of the recipes below are things we've already grown familiar with in time, the season wouldn't feel right if we weren't trying new things as well.  The intention is to expand our skill-sets at a reasonable (and realistic) pace.  You may notice that we've got a bit of canning, a bit of frozen goods, and a bit of fermenting on the roster below.  When we blend our nutritional research with the practicality of our life, we find that it's really important to have our food preserved in a variety of ways.  I expect to go into more detail about our food preserving methods as well as our straight-from-the-field recipes in future posts.  For now, I've got a tantalizing list for your perusal coupled with a how-to source for each delicacy (if applicable).  These books and websites have become invaluable assets as we work to eat year-round from our farm's bounty.  I can highly recommend them (and more) for your bookshelf.  My hope is that these delights will be an inspiration as you get a little crazy in your kitchen this summer!

The following recipes were camera shy...
Strawberry Jam -- Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving, 2006 Edition
Strawberries and Mint -- personal recipe
Fermented Honey -- Wild Fermentation by Sandor Ellix Katz
Sauteed Beet Greens -- personal recipe
Whey (& Cream Cheese) -- Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon with Mary Enig, Ph.D.
Raw Milk Yogurt -- mixture of personal recipe and Wild Fermentation by Sandor Ellix Katz
Garlic Scape Pesto -- MaryJane's Ideabook, Cookbook, Lifebook by MaryJane Butters

These recipes, however, were happy to say cheese!

Fresh Strawberry Crisp -- personal recipe

Strawberry Vinegar -- Wild Fermentation by Sandor Ellix Katz

Pickled Beets (canned) -- Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving, 2006 Edition

Mayonnaise -- Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child with Louisette Bertholle and Simone Beck

Kombucha (fermented tea) -- Wild Fermentation by Sandor Ellix Katz

Frozen Garden Peas -- family tradition

Pizza Dough -- family tradition

Fermented Sauerkraut -- Wild Fermentation by Sandor Ellix Katz

Garden Cabbage Cole Slaw -- www.epicurious.com -- Jim 'N Nick's Cole Slaw