When life hands you . . . oranges?

I have been using Imperfect Produce for a few months, and I really am a fan. The only real problem, and it is more a failing of mine than theirs, is that I forget to log in each week and customize my selection.

These lapses in my memory caused me to have quite a few pieces of citrus that were near the edge of *whipping sound a la HIMYM* Not Good Enough! They were oranges, I think, but honestly am not sure about a few of them. What is that thing in the lower left with a line up it like a peach?! It looked citrusy on the inside, so I used it.

This little mess (as my grandma would have said) of oranges yielded a little less than two cups of juice, which I saved for evening relaxing time and turned into a delicious beverage with the help of a shot of whipped cream flavored vodka.

It was beautiful AND tasty!

On a related note, did you know that blood oranges stain your fingers a dark kind of purple color? I am thinking I may have to experiment with dying wool with blood oranges. 

Today’s thankful: CPS wasn’t contacted

We have a new cupcake store in town, and Youngest and I checked it out Friday after I picked her up from school. The shop owner was telling us what the flavors of the day were. She got to the last one, which was a cinnamon coffee cake with rum drizzle frosting. Youngest piped up and said, “You have to get the rum one.” I ignored her and said I was thinking the grasshopper cupcake sounded good. She then said, “But Mom. The way you love rum, you HAVE to get the rum frosting one.” So I did. And it was delicious.

Today's thankful: Express shipping and corn memories

I bought sweet corn to can. Then I realized I couldn't get a pressure canner locally, as everyone else apparently had the same idea. I got online and ordered one. I paid the express shipping (as opposed to overnight), paid a few extra dollars and got my canner today. Yay quick! I am SO excited to fly solo on putting up corn. The last time I participated in putting up corn was when I was about 12 years old with my mom. She was always kind of a messy bessy, and there was corn all over the kitchen by the time all was said and done. In spite of the fact that we didn't have any air conditioning, it was a good time.

Today's thankful: Hot summer days

The midwest has been under a heat wave for the last several days, and it isn't likely to end anytime soon. So the obvious thankful would be air conditioning or that I work inside, both of which I have already been thankful for. Today's thankful is still heat related. I am so thankful for the hot summer sun because it helps all of the wonderful summer produce grow and ripen. Last night we had sweet corn, cucumbers and tomatoes. I fried chicken at lunch and saved some of that for the meat lovers. Tonight we are having BLT's, one of my personal favorites. I LOVE BACON! The tomatoes, which I had to taste to ensure they were high quality enough to feed my family [wink, nudge], are knee weakening good. So while it may sound counter-intuitive, today I am thankful for hot summer days.

Today’s thankful: Indiana sweet corn

If I need to explain today’s thankful, you have never experienced Indiana sweet corn. You should.

Now for a public service announcement. I work in a smallish regional hospital in the suburbs of a large city.  Today as I was walking toward one of our information desks, I noticed a woman standing on the visitor side wearing flip flops. They were black on the bottom from all of the outdoor walking, as one would expect. Then she flipped her shoe down by flexing her toes, thereby exposing the bottom of her foot. It was easily as dark as the bottom of her shoe. I would have to walk around barefoot for several DAYS to get my foot that dirty. So my PSA for the day is to be sure to wash your feet before going out in public if you intend to wear flip flops and expose the bottoms of your dirty feet, because not doing so is just nasty.

Today’s thankful: My mom taught me how to can fruits and vegetables

Last Saturday I managed to catch the last day of strawberry season in Central Indiana. I bought three baskets, each holding about four quarts. The first two we ate on shortcake. The third one I prepared for the luscious berries’ lives as strawberry jam. As I was stirring and sweating over the pot, I started missing my mom. She always preserved foods during the summer, and though I didn’t think I remembered all of the steps, her trusty Ball blue book which I inherited guided me as gently as she would have. We shared a lot of happy hours in the kitchen, sweating and canning. The best part of the day, though, came at the end when the jars would make that telltale pop to let us know our efforts were successful. We cheered, arms raised high, for each and every one. When my first jar of jam popped today, I cheered. My kids thought I had gone mad. Maybe I have, but I am just carrying on a family tradition.

Today’s thankful: Being lazy

Yesterday I was just too darn lazy to go to the grocery store for hamburger buns. Most of the time when I am too lazy to do a grocery run, I think up something else for dinner. On this day, though, Spouse had asked for hamburgers for dinner. I decided to make homemade buns. You would think that baking them from scratch would be way more work, but with a bread machine set to dough, it is surprisingly easy. I took a one-pound recipe and made eight buns. OMG! They were delicious. I may never again purchase hamburger buns. The result of my attempt was a bun worthy of being labeled gourmet. Couple the bun with Moody meat and the result was nearly orgasmic. When the tomatoes come in from the garden, we may very well get there.

Today’s thankful: Moody’s Butcher Shop

Everyone who knows me has had to hear me go on and on about Moody’s Butcher Shop in Avon. I have been completely converted back to butcher shop (i.e. humanely raised) meat to the point I rarely eat dinner out anymore. So a few weeks ago, I called to place an order and the guy who answered the phone said, “Hi, Amy” instead of saying the store name. I felt a little embarrassed at having been in the store so many times that they know me, but at the same time, it was kind of like everyone shout “Norm!” when I walked into my favorite bar. 
Anyway, my thankful today comes in two parts. I had ordered my meat for the Memorial Day picnic at my dad’s house and planned to pick it up today. Due to a variety of circumstances, but mostly my being brain dead, I pulled into Moody's parking lot at 4:10. The closed sign was on the door, but their cars were still there. I ran to the door. Thankfully, the manager smiled and ran to let me in. So my two parts are that I am so thankful to have Moody’s so close. The other part of the thankful is that they are not a corporation and were therefore happy to provide the extra service by letting me in when I was clearly past the deadline. I don’t know what I was going to feed 24 people tomorrow if they hadn’t opened for me.

Finding local food is hard in November

I have been trying for the past 11 months to eat less processed food and to buy local when I can. Often, I am finding that the two cannot peacefully coexist and I am forced to choose either nothing or processed. As an example, I can do the local meat, thanks to a wonderful local butcher shop, but finding local produce is extremely difficult this time of year. I have been forced over the last few months to buy produce at the grocery store. There are some organic offerings, but I am not sure I care about that as much as the transportation cost involved in getting the produce to the store. I would much rather buy a squash from, say, the southwestern US than from Brazil. Sadly, it is often impossible to tell from the information given in the grocery. Frozen is neither local nor unprocessed, but the variety is great and my family eats it well. For now, I am buying produce as best I can at the grocery and anxiously awaiting the spring growing season.
On a related note, tonight will be my first attempt at preparing/serving spaghetti squash. The kids are excited to at least see it done. That knowledge offers me some hope.