Farmers' Market Finds

goats' milk soap, blueberries, cantaloupe, boiled peanuts, farm eggs, organic heirloom zucchinis/tomato/cukes, patty pan squash, new potatoes and my most favorite eggplant (well these and Rosa Bianca's)...and the boys had homemade cinnamon rolls as well

There was plenty we didn't buy. The variety and quantity today was fantastic! I'm super impressed with the market this year. The growth in just the one year we've been here is outstanding. I was sad leaving behind Oxford and Taylor's market with the wonderful organic farmers we had met, but Starkville's market is moving on up!

It was a great morning at Starkville Community Market!

Do you make a point to support local farmers in your community?

Our Spring Equinox Feast

I was almost hesitant to plan a large Spring meal today.

Last year, we didn't do too much and the year before, we went all out celebrating the arrival of Spring.

And Spring is historically and physically associated with fertility.

It is the time of the year that new life is everywhere.

After our first, big Vernal Equinox celebration 2 years ago, I got pregnant with Charlie not long afterwards.

And BOY, was that a surprise!!

Seriously.

A big surprise.

I didn't want to dare tempt the Universe with too much attention towards fertility at this very moment, but we were travelling home on Will's birthday, I was sick the following day, and so we never had our big meal and cake to celebrate his 32nd year of life.

So, I thought...well, what the heck?

Let's do it big...

but hopefully, all that fertility energy of spring will manifest itself in other ways in our life that need it.

The Menu:

Deviled Eggs

Honey Lime Couscous and Avocado Salad

Broiled Lamb Chops over Organic heirloom Lettuce w/ Sesame Mustard Sauce

Challah

Strawberry Cupcakes  

The deviled eggs are easy to make and need little explanation in regards to their significance. An egg is the essence of fertility and life. In fact, dying and decorating eggs in most common thought to be an Easter tradition, but actually it originates in pagan celebrations on the Vernal Equinox...Ostara or Eostre (which is the original word origin for easter). 

This quick and easy appetizer or snack can be made in a variety of ways. I went with a more classic approach. I took the yolks from 6 boiled eggs (they didn't all make it to the final plate thanks to my helpers) and mixed them with a tablespoon or so of mayo, 2 teaspoons of prepared mustard, 2 pinches of dill weed (my special twist), salt/pepper to taste and then, filled the centers of the eggs. To serve, I sprinkled the tops with paprika. Tripp wanted his eggs plain as you can see in the pic above :)

The honey-lime couscous and avocado salad was meant to be this recipe with quinoa, but I didn't realize I was out of it, so I just made a pot of couscous instead. We pretended the couscous were tiny seeds and the presence of avocado is not only delicious, but also is an in-season food and adds a nice springy green coloring. This was YUMMY!

The lamb was my version of PF Chang's wok-seared lamb that they serve on a bed of iceberg lettuce. I broiled the lamb chops with a touch of sesame oil and salt & pepper. Then, I thinly sliced it and served it on top of some beautiful and tasty organic lettuce from Isis Gardens in Tupelo, MS at the North MS Green Festival that a friend and I attended. On top of the slices of lamb and lettuce, I drizzled the oh-so-delicious  sesame mustard sauce. 
If there were actual good sources for lamb around here, I would eat it (this) more often.
So.Good.

Oh, and let's not forget the symbolism...
Lamb is a traditional Ostara/Easter food and the gorgeous green of the lettuce adds fantastic color to remind us of the life returning back to mother earth as well as a tasty representation of her bounty.


And the Challah...Oh my favorite bread on this planet.
A few years ago, I made this for the first time and have been hunting down the recipe ever since. I can NOT find it anywhere on this wide world of webs! And, ya know, that particular challah could have been so good because we were using the fresh eggs from our chickens.
Nonetheless, today's loaf was perfection.
And guess what?!
I didn't bookmark the recipe.
And, now I can't find it anywhere including my history.
I think there is a conspiracy against me and challah.

Anyways, I think I remember everything, so here goes:

3/4 cup water

1/3 cup oil

2 eggs

3 2/3 flour

1 t salt
1/4 cup sugar 

2 t yeast

I added the ingredients in this order to my bread machine and turned on the dough cycle. When it was all done, I divided my dough into thirds and braided it. It rose for about 45 minutes and then, I brushed it with and egg wash, sprinkled on the poppy seeds and baked it at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.
Y'all...this loaf was amazing!
My braiding skills have really improved as well.

My mom calls challah, egg bread, so in that, you can see the connection to our Spring feast. We also topped it with the poppy seeds for an added equinox bonus.

For dessert, I went with my favorite strawberry cupcake recipe.
You can't go wrong with these.
Seriously.
Yum.
Strawberries ripen in the spring and the color is a nice pastel for the season as well.
I thought they'd be a nice addition since I didn't get to bake my hubby a birthday cake this week.
We didn't stick candles in and sing "happy birthday" to Will, but I'm sure he didn't mind.

So, we welcomed Spring with a lovely meal and enjoyed this gorgeous, albeit more like Summer Solstice with regards to weather, first day of Spring.

Stay tuned for more to come as we welcome Spring with our Spring Nature Table, do a little Spring gardening and more!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

I'm pretty proud of myself. 

I cooked a great supper 2 nights in a row.

Lately, I've been otherwise distracted and cooking, the way I normally do it, has taken a back seat.

Yesterday, I made a tomato-free version of Chicken Tortilla Soup. 

I didn't even miss the tomatoes.

So, so yummy...

Two nights ago I roasted a delicious whole organic chicken. 

With the remaining chicken and carcass, I made the broth for the soup.

I threw in some carrots, onion and garlic and filled my pot with water and let it simmer all day.

Another big pat on my back, because this beckons to the olden days (before child number 2) when I used to meticulously meal plan.

I'd incorporate every detail to use and reuse everything we had on hand for delicious meals.

I've had a twinge of guilt hanging over my head lately about being so wasteful.

I'm kicking my own butt back into gear.

Okay, 

Back on topic...soup!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

-pot full of chicken stock (yeah, I don't really measure)

-1 can of black beans

-1 can of white northern beans (if I'd really been on top of my game, I'd have used dried beans)

-1 cup of frozen corn (off the cob)

-2 carrots, diced

-1/2 medium yellow onion, diced

-3-4 cloves of garlic, diced

-1 diced pepper...I was going to use a red bell pepper, but it was past due :( I'd imagine any pepper to your liking would make a great addition to this soup

-2 cups of cooked rice 

-Spices...approximately (because again, I don't measure) 1 Tablespoon of paprika & chili powder

-1/2 cup of heavy cream (or for dairy free use plain almond milk or other df milk)
salt & pepper to taste

Also, if you're not tomato-free like we are (99.9% of the time, sometimes I must cheat), then a nice addition to the soup would be a jar of canned tomatoes from last summer's garden. What you don't can your own? Well, you should. Grocery store tomatoes are not real tomatoes. :) Or at least, that's the Sanders' family opinion.

Optional Garnishes: avocado, sour cream, green onions, cheese, tortilla chips, cornbread, cilantro...

After making my stock, I strained it and picked the remaining meat off the chicken. After sauteeing the onion, garlic and peppers, add  everything but the rice and heavy cream. Let it cook until the carrots are tender. Add in the rice and cook for another several minutes. Taste to adjust for any seasonings. Just before serving stir in the heavy cream. 

I garnished mine with avocado and crumbled up homemade cornbread. It was delish!!

And don't worry, I'm sure I'll eat another bowl soon and update this post with a lovely picture :)

Christmas Pictures Part Deux



Savannah Part Deux

Well, I fell behind on blogging our visit to MeMe's in Savannah.

I don't know HOW?

It's not like we all ended up with a stomach virus on top of the kids both having a horrendous cold.

I know, right?! What timing! 

Lucky for me, Gayle bought me a massage for Christmas and I got a nice break during the midst of all the puking and nose wiping to relax for an hour.

Regardless of all the sickies, we had SUCH A BLAST!

We loved getting to hang out with MeMe, Gramma and Keith for a whole week. 

We got to see a lot of cool stuff in Savannah and ate a ton of great food!

Here's some pics from the end of the week...

 examining the gators at the The Crab Shack

 Saturday Charlie and I stayed put at the hotel because it was his turn with the stomach bug.

Tripp got to go to the Artzeum!

Sunday afternoon, Will walked around downtown admiring all the beauty of Savannah.

He missed out on the great time MeMe, Gramma, Tripp, Charlie and I had at the historic Savannah Theatre at the production of "A Christmas Tradition". It was really an awesome show!

A BIG THANK YOU to you Gayle! 

We had such a great time despite the fact that the boys were so sick the whole trip. 

Oh well! Can't wait for our next trip!