A big "problem" that locavores, farmers, gardeners, and lovers of fresh food face every year about this time is: how can you possibly use all this stuff that's ripe right now?
I thought this was a great post to bring out reader participation. Everyone has a favorite way to use up corn, tomatoes, green peppers, blueberries. Later, I'll make a new post with everyone's suggestions, sorted out by food. Be sure to link to recipes, if you have a favorite one handy!
And... go!!!
Wtf? No comments, my ass! Well, anyway...I'm going to the Farmer's Market over here soon, to swipe some gooseberries, as they're nowhere to be found in the grocery store. Apart from that, I hate to be a downer, but I'm only now starting to get really into cooking, and buying locally- mostly influenced by hippies in Ann Arbor, and you. I'm not sure WHAT I'm going to do with all the blueberries I've got, but they can't go bad in the freezer. I guess I could try my hand at a blueberry pie, but I mostly toss them in with my morning oatmeal. I suppose they could go into a salad as well, with mandarin oranges, etc. I don't know, I'm going to have to come back to this question when I have actual skillz at it. Until then, keep it up, you're inspiring me!
ReplyDeleteInorite? I thought people'd sure have more to say on the topic... maybe it's too broad and I need to break it into specific items.
ReplyDeleteYou can totally freeze them and that way you can have blueberries in your oatmeal indefinitely... you can dry them, too.
Or there's a pie recipe I've used on here, the cobbler one, and the buckle. I'd have more recipes, but I (strangely) don't like the things raw.
Yeah, blueberries do tend to have sort of a woodsy flavor to them, even after they're washed off. The good part is in the middle, once you've gnashed them between your teeth, and you get that gooey, sweet part. I need a napkin, just thinking about it! Freezing them locks the moisture in, I guess, and masks that woodsy part. I'll take them either way.
ReplyDeleteOh gosh, so we went to a farmer's market yesterday. The first thing that should've tipped me off, was its location, behind a Dillard's! Or was it a sporting goods store? It was more a spoof of a farmer's market. Anyway, point is...conch shells and your standard run of the mill vegetables, at standard grocery store prices, do not a farmer's market make. Oh Florida, the shame! Moreover, there was nary a gooseberry, nor any other type of berry, in sight. There were pretty orchids and neon-colored earrings for sale. What a bust! Apparently, "organic" is lost in translation, this far south. It made me want to scream, and run back to Ann Arbor to hug a tree. I would've, but for those terrible winters.
I think I will go with the blueberry cobbler at this point- for myself, and the new neighbors- thank you very much!