fourth of july = grilling

to start out, i made sure we had enough propane to make it through the cooking process. needed to learn something from last week's wonderful mis-adventures.


the menu (04july10):

• turkey burgers
• grilled potato wedges
• grilled corn with ancho chili butter
• bruschetta topped with  tomato and basil (and, yes, the bruschetta was grilled... had to keep the theme going)

bruschetta topped with tomato and basil

so full... must take ojp for walk in an attempt to recover...  "walk dad?! did you say walk?!! ok, ok, i'm ready!"




p.s. happy birthday, owlie

chopsticks gets creative

you can't just open the watermelon and eat it!  well, i guess you could, but chopsticks had way more fun this way.

good thoughts gone bad

our bushel of jalapenos should lend well to some poppers. 

unfortunately, the attempt to enhance things a bit by using a crab mixture fell a bit short of our expectations.  they were just missing something (needed a creaminess that was just missing)... and we'll need to play with this one a bit before posting a recipe.

i think my mouth is still on fire from thinking about these poppers though....

so... we should have paid attention

not a sprite melon this week.  it's actually a white eggplant.  guess the little eggplant like stem at the top should have tipped us off.  and here i was all excited about it being a sprite melon.  

making up for last week... i blame the contest

or maybe i should be thanking the contest as it has forced me to plan out a few things.  and, as i'm home alone tonight (let me tell you the house is ultra quiet without ojp and chopsticks around), i can take some time to think up a few things.


since it's just me, i wanted something a little lighter.  and, well, that eggplant is staring at me.


the menu (01july10):

• egg white frittata with summer vegetables
• roasted red pepper tomato sauce

egg white frittata with roasted red pepper tomato sauce

this was good enough to make another one the next morning for breakfast.

week 11: what chopsticks wants.... and a contest to boot

it was a tough choice on the boxes this week, but chopsticks saw the personal watermelon included in one of the choices this week and suggested we should get that one.  who am i to argue.


so, box "c" this week (labeled as the "hot peppers" box).

clockwise from top left: eggplant (asian variety), white eggplant (edit), corn, blueberries, personal watermelon, cherry tomatoes, jalapenos

this week also came with a challenge:  the third annual (first for us) "what i did with my box this week."   as stated, "with all the veggies and fruit coming hard and fast off the fields, it may be a challenge [to say the least] using up the entire contents of the boxes each week."  premise is to help everyone out by submitting a brief summary of how you used up your whole box this week.  top three will be picked. 

so, we'll see how well we do this week.

a week of misses

let's be honest, i took a few days off and settled into the concept of relaxing.  all the grand intentions of playing mad scientist with the bounty of produce from the last week were replaced with the sound of vuvuzela's and some time in the sun.


our story begins last friday.  the super hot days had sparked a want for spicy food.  sure, we had plenty of peppers to use, but i was thinking chipotle... and peaches (small aside, grilled fruit is definitely high on my list of ways to eat fruit).  


the thought:

• chipotle and peach marinated chicken
• grilled peaches
• grilled corn with ancho chili butter 

started mixing, marinating and ready to grill.  i was so ready to come back to the lightly charred chicken (used some honey and peach preserves in the marinade to balance the spiciness of the chipotle) only to find the gas had gone out on the grill.  so frustrating and had to finish off the chicken and the corn indoors.  the finished results showed promise, but really needed a bit of work before we were comfortable posting the "chopsticks approved" recipes.

failed meal attempt

leaving us still hungry, we chopped up the squash and made some more baked squash fries.

fast forward to sunday.  after a fun visit to the farmer's market the previous morning, it was time to attempt some gazpacho.  had some great looking tomatoes and the jalapenos (2 small ones) and had picked up some herbs, cucumber and other fine fixin's.  chopped, blended and let it sit overnight for lunch.


remind me next time to cut down on the jalapeno... wow.


wait... a success story?!  after having picked up some mahi mahi at the farmers market, we thought:

• mahi mahi tacos, topped with 
• sliced avacado and
• smoky poblano and strawberry salad

surprisingly, something we did actually turned out this week.  too bad we started eating before taking the time to snap a picture for you.... i blame chopsticks.


for desert we sliced open the sprite melon.  having never heard of one, let along having tried one before, both chopsticks and i were rather intrigued by this thing.  turns out, it's pretty darn good.  mild, but perfect for summer.

sprite melon

that wraps up this addition of "a week of misses."  hope to see you next week for a better go of it.