Covet Thy Neighbor's Bounty

My neighbors have a huge grapevine that is located right over my fence. I want to plant one!


Grapevine. Look at that nasty old rusted fence. We are supposed to be replacing it next year. I will be slightly sad, though. With the new privacy fence, I will no longer get to covet the grapes...


Yummy grapes. I seriously want to steal some. Just a quick reach over the fence...well, when they are ripe.

Garden Update!

Finally, everything in my garden is really started to come along. Better late than never!


Baby tomato!


Cucumber plants.


Jalepenos


Bell Pepper


My garden. The peppers are on the left, tomatoes in the middle, herbs on the right. You can see my compost bin in the background, and my neighbor's grapevine, which I will be posting pics of soon. (jealousy)

Peach Crisp



Peach Raspberry Crisp
From the Barefoot Contessa Cookbook

4 to 5 pounds firm, ripe peaches (10 to 12 large peaches)
1 orange, zested
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 1/2 cups plus 2 to 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 pint raspberries
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup quick-cooking oatmeal
1/2 pound cold unsalted butter, diced

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter the inside of a 10 by 15 by 2 1/2-inch oval baking dish.

Immerse the peaches in boiling water for 30 seconds, then place them in cold water. Peel the peaches and slice them into thick wedges and place them into a large bowl. Add the orange zest, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, 1/2 cup brown sugar, and 2 tablespoons of flour. Toss well. Gently mix in the raspberries. Allow the mixture to sit for 5 minutes. If there is a lot of liquid, add 1 more tablespoon of flour. Pour the peaches into the baking dish and gently smooth the top.

Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 1 cup granulated sugar, 1/2 cup brown sugar, salt, oatmeal, and the cold, diced butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on low speed until the butter is pea-sized and the mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle evenly on top of the peaches and raspberries. Bake for 1 hour, until the top is browned and crisp and the juices are bubbly. Serve immediately, or store in the refrigerator and reheat in a preheated 350 degree F oven for 20 to 30 minutes, until warm.

I made this with about 1.5 lbs of peaches that I bought at the N. Market (can't remember the farm), and no raspberries. I have made the recipe before with raspberries, and definitely prefer it without. I halved just about all the other amounts, including the topping, and it turned out perfectly. Serve with a scoop of ice cream while the crisp is stil warm, of course.

Farmer's Markets

This is gonna be a quick and picture-less update, as I am wiped out! At the N. Market, I ended up getting some zucchini for griling tomorrow, red potatoes, green beans, scallions, some peaches for a small crisp, some of the Blue Jacket Grillin' Cheese (my first one!), cucumbers, and a dozen ears of corn for $4.50 from Wishwell farms, I believe. Still a little pricey, but the cheapest I saw. If corn stays this expensive, I doubt I will be buying much of it this year.

Then I headed to Worthington, a little later than usual, and got there around 915ish. It was so packed, I literally drove for 10 minutes without finding a parking spot. I ended up just leaving. I was meeting a friend down at the Grove City market, and needed to be there by 10.

At this market, I got 10 banana peppers for $1 (gotta find a use for those! Any suggestions?), some tarragon infused white wine vinegar for my french potato salad, a few jalepenos for my chicken tortilla soup im making tonight, some shallots, and 2 jars of my favorite strawberry jam. I was planning on keeping it light today, but you can see I didn't really do that...I think I ended up spending about $40.

I am planning a feast tomorrow with a lot of the stuff I bought today, so I will try to remember to take some pictures and post.