by jphilo | Aug 7, 2013 | Recipes
The hunt continues for recipes with ingredient lists that match the contents of our weekly CSA share and what’s growing in my herb garden. This recipe from Hy-Vee’s Summer 2013 issue of Season’s Magazine reads like a July-in-Iowa garden checklist.
The recipe is super healthy and very easy to make. It does involve boiling sweet corn (I just put 4 extra ears in the pot one night when corn-on-the-cob was on the supper menu) and cutting the corn off the cob. But the work yields a side dish salad for several meals because it keeps well in the fridge.
Fresh Corn and Tomato Salad
4 ears sweet corn
2 large tomatoes, diced, or 1 cup grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
1 small, sweet onion, minced
1/2 cup chopped, fresh basil
2 tablespoons white vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon coarse sea salt (I used kosher salt)
1/8 teaspoon cracked black pepper
Boil corn in large pot of water for about 7 minutes. Remove corn and plunge into cold water. (Or just set it aside for 15 minutes.) Cut corn off cob and set aside to cool completely.
In large bowl, combine cooled corn, tomatoes, onion, and basil. Toss with vinegar and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Serve chilled or at room temperature.
by jphilo | Aug 23, 2012 | Three Thoughts for Thursday
My mind’s been a blank ever since our trip to see the kids last weekend. But even when it’s empty food is always on my mind. So check out this week’s three foodie thoughts for Thursday.
- When I told Mom about the daughter’s baked oatmeal triumph, her response was, “She comes from a long line of good cooks, and you taught her well.” Sometimes, moms say exactly what daughters want to hear.
- Iowa sweet corn and tomatoes in August. Life is good!
- My most recent snack food obsession is dried mandarin oranges. What’s yours?
by jphilo | Jun 19, 2012 | Top Ten Tuesday
Yesterday, the weather was hot, steamy, and breezy – our first 90+ day of the year. The sweltering and sweating that accompanied the temperatures revealed these top ten benefits to hot weather:
10. Days like yesterday take the bloom off the I-want-to-live-on-a-tropical-island fantasy.
9. Days like yesterday make winter more attractive.
8. Hot weather motivates me to get up early to walk, and then I feel ahead of schedule all day long.
7. Hot afternoons means either grilling or cold supper to keep the heat out of the kitchen. Yum to both prospects!
6. I have less appetite on hot days. This phenomenon has not yet translated into consistent summer weight loss, but hope springs eternal in this human’s hips.
5. The heat make a person grateful for air conditioning
4. Hot days are a convenient excuse for staying inside to write instead of doing yard work.
3. This is sweet corn weather. Can’t you just taste it?
2. Ditto for tomato weather.
1. Days like yesterday give grandmas-in-training an excuse to take the neighbor kids to the pool and soak up the sunshine together.
What are benefits do 90+ days hold for you? Leave a comment.
by jphilo | Aug 28, 2010 | Daily Life
Iowa is beastly in the summer.
Hot.
Humid.
Hazy.
Muggy.
Buggy.
Suffocating.
Down right miserable.
Every summer, when we arrive home after a week in Idaho with it’s cool nights, clear and sunny days, bug free until sunset, I wonder why we live smack dab in the middle of the country. Why do we stay here, beset by humidity from the Gulf of Mexico, too far from the oceans to enjoy their moderating effects, with no mountains offering escape from the heat now and then? Why in the world don’t we stay in Idaho?
Then I go to our CSA and pick up our weekly share of fruits and veggies. I reach into the bag and pull out tomatoes, cantaloupe, peppers, zucchini, cucumbers, and watermelon. Finally, my heart melts like butter as I unload the last treasure in the bag.
A dozen ears of sweet corn.
Twelve ears of pleasure grown fat and full in Iowa’s rich top soil. Twelve bright yellow jewels made sweet and delectable by Iowa’s miserable weather. Twelve reasons to sweat through hot nights. Twelve reasons to look forward to supper. Twelve reasons for living.
Twelve reasons to stay in Iowa, no matter how beastly the weather.
Eat your heart out, Idaho!
