Slacker Blogger

A new year and good intentions!  I like the idea of keeping a blog, but I obviously haven't developed the habit of updating it!  Perhaps 2012 will be the year.

Now it's time for some MI maple syrup on my oatmeal....

Spuds!

I'm amazed at how great my potatoes look this summer.  Considering how horrible my gardens looks, digging them this week has been a shock.  I wouldn't advise this to anyone, but I planted my gardens in the spring and then basically traveled for most of the summer with a few days here and there at home.  As a result, most of the gardens look like this:

Potato garden?

You can imagine my surprise when I went to actually try digging up some of the potato plants buried in the midst of this mess.  The plants are completely dried up and difficult to find, but the potatoes look great!

Katahdin potatoes

It amazes me to think that this pile came from 1 small potato stuck in the ground in May.  And this winter we will enjoy a big bowl of mashed potatoes, or several meals with fried potatoes on the side, or several soups with delicious chunks of summer, or maybe a salad next week!

Ready for curing in the garage

Michigan potatoes are available year round in the store - so this is an easy ingredient to source somewhat locally.  But commercial potato growers use a lot of pesticides to control blight and the potato beetle.  If you're able to find some at your local farm market, ask about purchasing storage potatoes.  Ours generally keep well in the basement in coolers (cracked open to keep the air circulating) until mid-April or later.

A corny way to spend $10

My thought upon starting this blog was to show how easy it is to spend $10 on MI food each week - instead of spending that $10 on food shipped in from thousands of miles away.  And you can spend it in a way that will help your wallet as well.

Husking corn is fun!

My family loves corn.  While nothing can compare to freshly picked sweet corn on an August evening, it tastes great in January as well.  Yesterday I bought a couple extra dozen ears at a road stand and promptly husked them (well, my daughter did this job!), put them in freezer bags, and dropped them in the freezer for winter.

Once fresh corn season is over, we'll drop these frozen ears into a pot of boiling water and in just a few minutes we'll have great corn!  Now that's fast food!

Ready for the freezer!

Most food preservation books suggest blanching corn first and then stripping the kernels off the cob.  I know it's a waste of freezer space, but I'm lazy and this method works great.  I've been freezing unblanched corn on the cob for 3 years now and each year we eat all that I put away.  Last year that was 6 dozen ears between the 3 of us.

Great Grated Zuchinni

Last night I grated some of the giant summer squash that I missed during the last picking.  This goes into the freezer to use later - in soup, muffins, spaghetti sauce, etc.

I saved some out to make these muffins last night and to use in fritters for dinner tonight.  Both were great!

Pineapple Zucchini Muffins

PINEAPPLE ZUCCHINI MUFFINS

Combine in a small bowl:
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. nutmeg

Combine in a large bowl:
2 eggs
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1-1/2 cups grated summer squash or zuchinni
1/2 cup chopped fresh pineapple & juice

Add dry to wet until just mixed.  Bake for 20 minutes at 400 F.  Recipe makes a dozen muffins.



A friend gave me the fritter recipe last summer but I never got around to trying it until tonight.  They were great!  I think I'll add some basil and garlic next time.

ZUCCHINI FRITTERS

2 cups grated zucchini - squeezed as dry as possible
3/4 cup cornmeal
1 tsp. baking powder
1 egg
handful of chopped chives
milk to hold mixture together

Heat 1 Tbsp. or so of olive oil in a large frying pan.  When hot, drop fritter batter in by spoonfuls.  Cook until brown on each side.  Serve with sour cream.

SUPPORT MI FARMERS/GARDENERS:  Buy some extra summer squash now, grate them, and freeze containers filled for use this winter when they are out of season.

Summer Squash Season - part 2

The squash just keep coming.  I see them on tables by the road, at the farmer's market, and of course, lurking the garden.  It's like watching time-lapse photography out there.  In the morning they're too small to pick and by evening, they've doubled in size.

This winter I broke down and ordered a new toy that I've been thinking about for quite awhile - an Excalibur Food Dehydrator.  I'm excited about the possibilities but am a rookie yet.  This spring I dehydrated asparagus but apparently it wasn't dry enough as it molded.  When the kids "helped me" by picking every pepper they could find in the gardens, I dried them all.  Last night I tried zucchini slices.  I followed the directions in Making & Using Dried Foods, by Phyllis Hobson - a cookbook I picked up earlier this summer.  There are several recipes for using the dried slices this winter.

Washed and ready for slicing

My attempt at 1/8" slices - a bit irregular I'm afraid

Loaded screens, ready for an overnight stay in the dehydrator

After 12 hours of drying at 120 F

Spuds!

USDA poster, circa 1917

Check out the rest of these historic UDSA posters at good-potato.com.  Part of a show by artist Corey Bernat, you'll wonder why our current administration isn't promoting the same issues.

Potatoes are one of our family favorites - so versatile, tasty, and easy to store and prepare.  You can buy potatoes now at your local farm market and keep them in a cool place to use all winter.  We grow our own - 8 varieties this year - and if our luck continues, we should have enough to get through the winter again this year.

What's your favorite potato recipe?  My kids really like potato soup, I like them pan fried with onions, but our favorite way of all - peeled, boiled until soft, and smashed with a fork at the table with lots of butter and a hint of pepper and salt.  It's a great way to taste the subtle differences in varieties.

While shopping for potatoes at the supermarket, MICHIGAN POTATOES tend to be clearly identified. Why not make this an easy "local food" choice.

Summer Squash Season

It's hard to avoid zucchini and other summer squash this time of year.  If you don't grow them yourself, you most likely have a neighbor or co-worker who would HAPPILY dump a load on you.  If not, this is a great time to buy some local zucchini at a farmer's market, roadside stand, or grocery store.

Eight ball, Yellow crookneck, Black Beauty, Patty pan

EAT SOME NOW:
1.  Slice zucchini into thin pieces.
2.  Saute several cloves of minced garlic in some nice olive oil.
3.  Stir in the zucchini and cook until tender.
4.  Sprinkle with grated cheese!

I love using one of the many delicious cheeses from Tirrell Farms in Charlotte, MI.  Their website doesn't list cheese as a product, but they've been crafting and selling delicious cheeses from their own cows.

EAT SOME LATER:
This zucchini relish is simple to make and tastes SO GOOD - I love it on brats, with roasted chicken, or mixed in with egg salad.   You can process it in a hot water bath and eat this winter!  If you're not up for canning, you can refrigerate this for a long time.  The recipe I love comes from the Simply in Season cookbook - the one cookbook I simply can't live without.

Summer squash medley, onions, green pepper relish - YUM!