Waverly

We've had such a great summer. So much so that I'm realizing I have photos from June that I haven't published. Enjoy our spring finds from the Waverly Farmer's Market from three months ago.  E. is at the market this morning with our friends Brad and Mina. I've sent him out to find Joan to pray she has a flat of Tony Tomatoes to sell us. Chances are we are out of luck because Spike ordered 1,000 pounds to can for Woodberry Kitchen.  

We always run into friends at the market. It's a little social haven on Saturday mornings.

Remember asparagus? Now that you can get asparagus all year long the novelty wears off a bit, but there is still nothing more delightful than the first signs of spring with asparagus spears. We roast them with olive oil, salt, pepper and Parmesan cheese. 

We are also excited that the Baltimore Food Co-op had their grand opening this week. To have so much organic goodness only a half a mile away makes my detox way of eating very easy. Congratulations Cheryl and all who worked tirelessly to help you make the Co-op a reality.

We bought all of our garden plants from Waverly this year. 

I love a lime and red garden.

I'm still taking my NutraMetrix vitamins every morning. It's made all the difference with my energy level.

E's been so supportive he even made buckwheat pancakes during the detox.

We were not big fans but was thankful to try something new and be treated to E's cooking. We are big fans of maple syrup as a sweetener and breakfast Quinoa is our staple morning meal during the week.

This morning he made this amazing Corn, Mozzarella, tomato and basil frittata all from his Waverly finds. I am seriously blessed to have a man who likes to cook so much!

It was delicious and gave me the energy to can pear chutney all day. Can't wait to document my second year on the blog with pear chutney. My first post ever on Stone Hill Farm.

E. has graciously "socc-rificed" his Saturdays to spend more time with me. It has made such a difference. I was a soccer widow. He played three times a week and his Saturday games took the entire mid-day. His still plays three times a week but gave up the Saturday game. Now we have time to enjoy the market, fix things around the house and just hang. I'm pretty much in Stone Hill heaven. Thanks Charlie for loving me so much to make this little change. It's been the best summer yet. 

Last Minute Lasagna

Is there no more comforting meal during a chilly fall night to enjoy with friends than lasagna? This is an easy recipe that I made up with memories from my mother's recipe. She uses ground beef, but we are addicted to farmer's market pork sausage. You can use ground turkey but I suggest if you do that you add toasted fennel seeds, dried oregano and extra basil to flavor the meat.

Chop half a large onion and brown your sausage together. Don't salt. There is a ton of salt in the cheese.

Go snag some fresh basil from your neighbor's herb garden before the first freeze. Pile it up and chiffonade the babies. Meaning, roll the basil stack and slice it thin.

While you are in said neighbors garden snip some thyme as well.

Add the thyme and simply pull the leaves off the woody stem. You don't want to use the stem.

Here is the last minute trick. Many lasagnas call for ricotta cheese. You can substitute this for the following; cottage cheese, or a combination of cream cheese and sour cream. I have absolutely NO IDEA how I remember these things but I vaguely remember Momma subbing the cheesy mixture this way at Toad Hall. Toad Hall was Daddy's nickname for our childhood home in Kalamazoo, Michigan. They had great parties. So much so that they left one weekend and friends showed up to party and they broke into the house and had the party without them. I think that sounds fun, but hey, it was the 1970s pre-Nellie and Macker. I will never be any where near as cool as my parents were in the 1970s. Ever.

The proportions are equal parts cream cheese, equal parts sour cream. You can use low fat. I don't think you loose flavor by doing so. We used South Mountain Creamery from the Waverly Farmer's Market. Then add about a half a cup of Parmesan cheese. This is the saltiest little cheese on earth, hence the reason you don't need to salt your meat mixture. Add the basil and mix together. Do not taste it. It is gross and will freak you out.  I know this because I tasted it and was convinced the meal would be ruined. But somehow it works all melded together with the sauce.

I used four jars of my Stone Hill Farm Holy Tomato Sauce. Pour over the meat mixture once it is browned. This is equivalent to about two large 24 ounce sauce jars. 

Spread the sauce on the bottom of a pretty casserole dish.

Layer cooked noodles. I still have yet to use no bake noodles. I'm a traditionalist. Then layer the cheese mixture, more sauce, noodles and repeat. Sprinkle fresh mozzarella on the top with Parmesan. Bake for 40 minutes at 350 degrees or until bubbling. When you take it out of the oven let it rest for 20-30 minutes. It will stay super hot and the layers will actually stay together in perfect sections.

Invite friends over and enjoy.

We love our Stone Hill neighbors and use any excuse to have a dinner party.

The Zenia's in the garden have overtaken the bird bath this fall. I'll be sad to see them go as they are on their last leggy legs.

Thank you Momma and Daddy for being such cooks and for the memories of dinner parties at Toad Hall. I remember you all singing at the piano while I sat and listened at the top of the stairs. And thank you Lord for our beautiful, beautiful Zenia crops this year. Amen! Thanks also to the mystery nominator for the Mobbie's in the Baltimore Sun.

Holy Tomatoes

As summer is drawing closer to an end I finally broke down and bought some tomatoes at the Waverly Farmers Market. Mind you, I didn't want to have to buy them but our Stone Hill tomatoes didn't fare so well in the heat. Joan from One Straw Farm is the best source for ideas of what to cook from the market and her produce is organic, well cared for, fresh as the day is long and hands down amazing. You can taste her smile and passion in every bite. I end up speaking to her about recipes every week and told her I was looking for a great sauce tomato. She said she had a story for me.

She walked me to these Heirloom Roma Tomatoes. She had an employee, Tony, who was from Italy who was never impressed with the Roma's he tasted in the U.S. He went back to Italy and brought the seeds back for Joan to start growing these babies. He was so protective of them that he would slap the hands of any who squeezed or handled them unjustly. She fondly named them Tony Tomatoes.

I bought a case from her for a steep discount.

And this helpful young fella helped me to my car blocks away from the market.

One wee little cherry from Stone Hill. Not enough for sauce making.

Slice the Tony's, drizzle olive oil and this salt and fresh cracked pepper.

Roast for 2 hours at 300 degrees.

I probably could have upped the heat but the result was great. You want that roasted, caramelized char.

I grabbed a massive handful of fresh basil.

Chop and add after you puree the cooked tomatoes.

Use a hand blender and pulse to puree.

Add 2 tablespoons of sugar to cut the acid. Add more salt if you like, but I prefer to keep my canning jars free of salt, knowing I can add it later.

The second batch I made had about seven cloves of roasted garlic and I added a fourth of a cup of dried oregano. These jars with these fridge lids are for us to use this week. They are great for the ones you will use quickly. I found them at Walmart. I feel like a little grasshopper stocking up for winter. After fours hours I only had six large jars canned. I most certainly over purchased so became a tomato fairy to my Stone Hill neighbors. One neighbor traded us the tomatoes for a great fancy schmancy brew for E's birthday. It was a long week of good, hot, hard work and tons of hours with great rewards.

I'm so thankful to live in this country and have access to such great, fresh produce so readily available. I learned so much about organic farming, the importance of shopping at farmers markets, and certification when I was working for Restaurant and Asia Nora. Nora worked countless hours to become the first certified organic restaurant in the country. I can without question tell you that One Straw Farm is successful because of Nora and other restaurants that value local, organic produce. Thank you Nora for all of your pioneering efforts to keep small farms viable in this country.