Do you ever end up with half-used containers of heavy cream or buttermilk loitering about in your fridge? You don’t want to throw them out, but they’re quickly approaching the expiration date and they’re taking up precious real estate on that crammed top shelf. Dang, where am I gonna put this gallon of milk or third jar of pickles I just opened? It’s time to combine the two and make the best-tasting, ultra creamy, delightfully luscious sour cream! And it’s riDONKulouly easy!
Winter. It’s here. In a big way. We just got an inch of ice, 8 inches of snow, and my son’s school is cancelled again…for the FOURTH day in a row! Snow-soaked coats, gloves, hats and boots have lined our entryway for the past few days as neighbor kids come in and out from the blindingly white wonderland that is our front yard. I love times like this when there’s nowhere I need to go, nowhere I CAN go. I am literally stuck in my house, forced to peer out at the beautiful North Pole-esque scenery and spend my days cooking and watching movies. I can deal.
It’s moments like this when one needs soup. Comforting. Soul-warming. Even nostalgic. And this velvety-smooth potato soup is just that. Plus it’s really easy and there are only 7 ingredients in the recipe, and that includes water and salt. The short ingredient list allows the simple flavors to shine: potatoes, leeks, and garlic. The buttermilk adds rich silkiness and just a bit of tang. Spice it up with homemade seasoned croutons and chive oil and call it a day. Game over. {christmas} Lights out.
I’m pumped. So very pumped. CSA season just started back up and my little veg head is exploding with organic veggie excitement! I may be slightly odd in that I’d much prefer to open a box of veggies than unwrap a birthday present…um, unless that birthday present IS a box veggies…and maybe it includes a bottle of gin, and some aged balsamic vinegar, or some smoked sea salt or fancy dutch-processed cocoa powder, or several jars of my grandma’s homegrown, canned tomato juice that I would totally use to make killer Bloody Marys with…whoa, settle down. Hmm, I wonder if you can register for organic veggies as a wedding gift. I’m already married, buuuuut….how freakin cool would that be to have one of those gift registry guns that you could take to a farm. I’d go nuts with the kale. Yeah, forget engraved towels…give me kale and tomatoes!
I digress. So, after some crazy weather, Laughing Stalk Farmstead is back to delivering me a beautiful box of fresh, organic fruits and veggies every other week! They started with a couple special deliveries of strawberries and rhubarb, but the full-on seasonal eating adventure has officially begun with a box that packs a powerful superfood punch…it’s a mean green veggie machine!
In my house, the dude is NOT the grill master, it’s this dudette (thumbs pointing at myself). Nothing makes me happier than sweating bullets in the hot Missouri sun standing in front of a flaming veggie-covered grate with my face about to melt off from the heat of the grill, tongs in one hand and a glass of Sauvignon Blanc in the other. It’s pure joy. I get so stoked when spring arrives because one of my favorite things to grill is asparagus, I could eat mountains of it…and when you combine them with grilled portabella mushrooms, blue cheese, balsamic syrup, and garlicky pasta the birds sing, rainbows beam, and fairies flutter about doing a happy dance…at least that’s what happens in my head…what, too much wine?
Ok, let’s get it on! Grilling, that is.
I am usually very skilled at killing plants. Though my intentions are good and I try my best to keep them alive, they’d much prefer to croak than endure my underwatering/overwatering/too much sun/not enough sun/is this the right kind of soil efforts. If having a green thumb is necessary to sustain the lovely gifts of nature, then I’m all fingers. Until now. About a month ago I was given a gorgeous peppermint plant and somehow have been able to prevent the thing from succumbing to it’s Jaime-induced demise. In fact, it’s growing like crazy! So what’s a girl to do with all this beautiful mint? I decided to have a nice, little tea party. Mint-themed, and with gin. Heck yeah!
I would like to offer the suggestion to Bath & Body Works that they introduce a new scent that’s sure to “drive the guys wild”: BBQ Sauce. For real. It’s sweet, spicy, a little tangy, and full of character. Oh, and it tastes good, like really freakin, hold the phone good. I would buy it.
Or, you could just make a batch of actual BBQ sauce, fill the kitchen with that smokey, peppery aroma, and then stand at the counter and eat it by the spoonful…umm, I didn’t do that (I totally did that).
the Seasonal Veg Head 