chopsticks guest post: e-i-e-i-o

recently i took a road trip.  what was supposed to be a quick drive to clayton, turned into a very long excursion to dunn.  first i drove to a small produce stand/nursery called "lee's."  guess what?  wrong lee's!  


thankfully, the iphone is here to help...  wait!  this place is where?!  


figured i was already this far east so i might as well keep going.  so, i drove through the north carolina countryside and eventually made it to my destination.  this was no stand.  this lee's, the correct lee's, had about 7 dogs, a very talkative farmer, and his wife.  these super friendly people had the most southern accents and seemed excited that i had driven that far for their jarred goods.


while it was originally a quest to stock up on a few jars of the spicy sweet dill pickles, i left with their salsa, candied jalapenos, pickled okra and, of course, more than a few jars of pickles.  after getting back in the car to make my way back home, i immediately opened the pickled okra (something i hadn't had since i was a kid).  it was delicious!  


although i came to find out that the lee's have a stand at the raleigh farmers market, i would certainly go out there again if i wanted to buy in bulk.  so glad i met them!

fancy schmancy

it was friday with a pile of produce to use.  and, well, chopsticks is deserving.  let's get fancy for a date night.  

the menu (27aug10): 

• pan-seared duck breast with an apple, cherry, red wine reduction
• sweet potato and acorn squash purée
• wilted spinach

week 20 & 21: playing catch-up before the break

i know, i know... it's almost like i've already taken the break here.  so, going to consolidate some things here and post as much as i can before next week's fall break.


maybe i should blame the start of football season....  


week 20 brought box "a" and it was fruit loaded.  this was definitely chopsticks' week to highlight her talents.  that is, unless she happens to eat all the fruit before making something.  she has been loving the peaches.

clockwise from top left: cucumbers, sprite melon, tomatoes, peaches, personal watermelon, apples (gala & macintosh)

then there was labor day weekend.  not sure what it is about holiday weekends and forgetting to order our box on time.  so, default box "a" this week.  

clockwise from top left: cucumbers, raw shelled peanuts, personal watermelon, zucchini, scuppernong grapes, tomatoes

what do two adults and one dog do with a watermelon?

in a busy kitchen, one adult was prepping dinner.  another was so hungry she needed a snack.  and a dog ensured she was constantly in the way, hoping for something, begging, "come on, mom! share!"


after chopsticks enjoyed her snack....


and we laughed hysterically at ojp and her snack....

ojp enjoying her watermelon

i prepared a drink.

watermelon cooler

the joy of eating cold leftovers

i heard a dj talking about eating cold leftovers on radio the other day.  a heated debate ensued, namely along the gender line, on the acceptable vs. disgusting nature of consuming cold leftovers.  the host had just finished some cold chinese, male callers were singing the praises of cold pizza and other lukewarm, day-after delicacies while the female callers seemed disgusted by it.


all i could think about was cold macaroni and cheese....


but for the joy of cold leftovers, we had to start with some warm dinner.  not that i'm complaining here, it was delicious that night too.


menu (21aug10):

• another turkey burger
• butternut squash macaroni & cheese
• banana oatmeal cream pie

butternut squash mac n' cheese

the morning after leftovers were even better...

week 19: way behind here

certainly wasn't the best of weeks for any updates.  that only means that we have some making up to do this week, including some additional updates from last week.

little overdue, but here this week's box.  went with box "c," another farmer's choice box.  certainly got a variety of things, including pink-eyed peas (which we had never heard of before).  we had to add on a few jars of the spicy sweet dill pickles too.  household favorite for sure!

clockwise from top left: personal watermelon, squash, cucumber, lee's produce spicy & sweet dill pickles (add on), tomato, peaches, lee's produce spicy & sweet dill pickles (add on), sweet potatoes, asian pears, scuppernong grapes, pink-eyed peas

chopsticks vs. the cilantro

"we need some cilantro.  you get that, i'll get us some basil." 


and so the adventure began.  i walked away to get the basil; chopsticks got the cilantro.  skip ahead to dinner prep.  chop a handful of both basil and cilantro... wait... this isn't right.


um, chopsticks, what were you supposed to pick out?  "cilantro!"  well, this is parsley.  "oh, no fair!  they were right next to each other!" 


good reason to keep dried cilantro in the spice rack i guess.  regardless, dinner turned out good.


menu (19aug10):

• soba noodles with shiitake mushrooms
• pesto & lemon marinated chicken 
• citrus tomato salad (topping for the chicken)

soba noodles with shiitake mushrooms, pesto & lemon marinated chicken topped with a citrus tomato salad