Street Scenes

Yesterday evening we were walking to a nearby restaurant with our neighbors, when we were accosted by some seedy trench-coated ruffians. (Well, actually it was a perfectly ordinary-looking young woman and man.) "Do you want a cupcake?" the woman said. What? "No, seriously, we have a lot of cupcakes to give away. Do you want one?" They go around to the trunk of their car and pull out a big box of cupcakes. Not just any cupcakes, either. Gourmet cupcakes, with whipped cream frosting and flavors like mocha with real berries on top. As it turns out, they were in a local bakery at closing time, and the proprietors had a lot of leftover cupcakes that they didn't want to save until the next day so they gave them to the couple, who decided to share the largesse with the madding crowd. (Note to self: Go to Daisy Café at 4:55.)

It was a quintessential near-eastside Madison experience.

Holy Guacamole, Look At All Those Grapes!

Have I lost my mind? That's the bottom of my kitchen sink, filled with Concord grapes. My friend Frances stood up in Meeting 2 weeks ago and asked if anyone wanted to harvest grapes from her yard. I finally made it over there today. It was an impressive abundance of grapes! I could have taken 3X as many, and still there would be grapes left. Right now those grapes are stewing on the stove, releasing their lovely juice, so that I can make grape jelly in the next day or so. PB&J, anyone? (Too bad I don't know anyone growing peanuts in their backyard!)

Cooking With Luminiferous Ether

Eating local is just about the easiest thing in the world this time of year in this part of the country. I don't have beautiful step-by-step photos like some bloggers I know, but I'll do my best to describe what I've been eating.

Last night I made Cheesy Corn Chowder from the LaLeche League cookbook, Whole Foods For the Whole Family. (Great cookbook; it's been a stalwart kitchen companion for almost 20 years.)

I love when a cookbook opens to a certain page, and that page is sticky and stained. Here's the basic recipe:

1 potato, diced
2 c. boiling water
1 bay leaf
1/4 t. sage
1/4 t. cumin
3 T. butter
1 onion, chopped
3 T. whole wheat flour
1 1/4 c. milk, buttermilk or cream
1/4 t. ground nutmeg
1 1/2 - 2 c. grated cheddar cheese
2 c. corn, fresh or frozen

Cook potato, bay, sage, and cumin in water until barely tender, 15-20 minutes. Sauté onion in butter until tender; blend in flour. Off heat, gradually add milk, stirring constantly. Stir milk mixture and corn into potatoes and water. Add nutmeg and simmer gently for 10 minutes. Add cheese and stir until it melts.

So the cool thing is, with the exception of the spices (and possibly the butter -- Organic Valley brand,) all of the ingredients came from within about 30 miles of home. The produce came from our garden, the cheese from "Farmer John" and the milk from Blue Marble Dairy.

Tonight I made stuffed peppers: sweet red peppers from our garden and "gyro meat" from a local farm. (What kind of an animal is a gyro?) Yellow watermelon and cantaloupe from the garden for dessert. The rice is Lundberg's, I think from the Dakotas.