Spring is my favorite. The weather is nice, but it's not hot yet and this year we had enough rain that everything was growing and blooming like crazy, including delicious produce. The farmers' markets are starting to get a bunch of good stuff. We can't stop planting new stuff around our house and we want to be outside all the time. Meaning, it's hard for me to sit down and write stuff on a blog. But here are many pictures from April.
This is a cream of dandelion soup made with dandelion leaves. They are very bitter, but the cream mellows them a bit. They are also very good for you, being very high in potassium and Vitamin A. Dandelion leaves are also diuretic, so this soup is called creme de pissenlits in France, which basically means "have fun wetting the bed after you eat this." But honestly you don't need to worry about that unless you've also drank way too many glasses of wine. I adapted the recipe from A Kitchen of Her Own to make it.
Strawberry-ginger jam. I got these strawberries right when they were first coming out for the season and they weren't yet as ripe and sweet and juicy as they are now that they are in full effect. But they still made a nice small batch of refrigerator jam that is delicious on a buttery piece of toast.
A squash blossom quesadilla.
Fresh chamomile tea. The fresh flowers make for a very bright apple-flavored tea. You could also dry them to save for later if you're not going to use them all right away.
This is rapini, otherwise known as broccoli raab. It's another bitter green like the dandelion leaves that is really good for you with lots of potassium and Vitamin A. In spring it also has pretty yellow flowers but I sauteed them with garlic so no pretty flowery dishes for me.
This is the end of the season for chanterelles so I made sure to get some before they are gone. They are delicious sauteed in butter and then made into scrambled eggs.
There are tons of onions right now in all stages of growth from baby to kid to adolescent to adult. I used these to make a small tart based off of this recipe at Kitchen Confit. I made a miniature one and I used yogurt instead of sour cream. It was really good but not as healthy as all the greens. :( You can't eat these all the time.
Here is a dog who wonders if I will give him some of my delicious food.
Green onions, the baby version of onions. I made another quesadilla with these because ... well, I just love quesadillas.
This is the Petrovic Blasting Company - a brass band that plays at the Farmer's Market. They are really good and this is their biggest fan watching them. He refused to leave his spot right in front for anything. It's the cutest thing ever.
This is a cream of dandelion soup made with dandelion leaves. They are very bitter, but the cream mellows them a bit. They are also very good for you, being very high in potassium and Vitamin A. Dandelion leaves are also diuretic, so this soup is called creme de pissenlits in France, which basically means "have fun wetting the bed after you eat this." But honestly you don't need to worry about that unless you've also drank way too many glasses of wine. I adapted the recipe from A Kitchen of Her Own to make it.
Strawberry-ginger jam. I got these strawberries right when they were first coming out for the season and they weren't yet as ripe and sweet and juicy as they are now that they are in full effect. But they still made a nice small batch of refrigerator jam that is delicious on a buttery piece of toast.
A squash blossom quesadilla.
Fresh chamomile tea. The fresh flowers make for a very bright apple-flavored tea. You could also dry them to save for later if you're not going to use them all right away.
This is rapini, otherwise known as broccoli raab. It's another bitter green like the dandelion leaves that is really good for you with lots of potassium and Vitamin A. In spring it also has pretty yellow flowers but I sauteed them with garlic so no pretty flowery dishes for me.
This is the end of the season for chanterelles so I made sure to get some before they are gone. They are delicious sauteed in butter and then made into scrambled eggs.
There are tons of onions right now in all stages of growth from baby to kid to adolescent to adult. I used these to make a small tart based off of this recipe at Kitchen Confit. I made a miniature one and I used yogurt instead of sour cream. It was really good but not as healthy as all the greens. :( You can't eat these all the time.
Here is a dog who wonders if I will give him some of my delicious food.
Green onions, the baby version of onions. I made another quesadilla with these because ... well, I just love quesadillas.
This is the Petrovic Blasting Company - a brass band that plays at the Farmer's Market. They are really good and this is their biggest fan watching them. He refused to leave his spot right in front for anything. It's the cutest thing ever.
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