No Electric, No Problem—Farmers Market is Still a Great Place to Shop

There are pros and cons to a year when the Fourth of July falls on a Wednesday.  It always kind of messes up making four-day weekend plans unless you are lucky enough to have a job where you end up with a five-day weekend.  On the other hand, it extends the Independence day celebration into a  week-long event because people often have parties the weekend before, the weekend after, and of course, on the Fourth itself.  This is one of those Fourth of Julys that people are going to remember for the rest of their lives as festivities take place in the aftermath of last Friday night’s storm.

            Perhaps, you were like me, and had a very “Wizard of Oz” moment, running through the wind, brown with dirt and debris, to reach the cellar doors to wait out the storm.  I admit that this is the first time in my life I have ever gone to the basement during a storm.  The garden was not hurt as badly as I feared when I emerged from underground.  Monday was spent working to get the garden as close to its pre-storm state as possible.  What took ten minutes to destroy, took two people about seven hours to repair.  Mostly, this was just clearing out branches and debris and re-laying plastic that had been blown away by the wind.  Most of the plants, though windblown, are starting to recover.  For example, all of my peppers were leaning to the south directly after the storm but are now standing more upright.  Only a few of them were completely broken off.  I wish I could say the same for the many large old trees we lost directly around the house—they will probably take weeks to fully clean up.

            We are among the lucky ones to have our electric restored fairly quickly, but for the many of you who are still without power I wanted to print a recipe that doesn’t require any cooking or baking.  You can still come out to the farmers market and buy fruits and vegetables because there are a lot of great ways to eat them fresh.  Corn can be cooked on the grill; a slice of good tomato and a sweet onion make a great sandwich; a juicy peach is a refreshing treat; and a cucumber snack to cool you off, are only a few of the possibilities.  The following recipe is a classic dish at every summer potluck and an easy thing to make if you have to go to a party this weekend and don’t have any electric.  Perhaps it may be wise, though, to check with your fellow party-goers beforehand so that everyone doesn’t bring the same thing.  I have heard of potlucks where the only things to eat were various baked beans and bags of Conn’s Potato Chips.  Likewise, one large bowl of cucumbers and onions is enough for any party.  Truth be told, I have never used a recipe to make these, so I sort of guessed at the quantities.  Add the sugar a bit at a time and stop when you think it tastes right--some people prefer them sweeter and others more sour.

Cucumbers and Onions in Vinegar

·         One quart small cucumbers or two large cucumbers, sliced

·         One sweet onion, sliced

·         1 cup white vinegar

·         1 cup water

·         1/3 cup White sugar

·         Salt to taste

·         Two sprigs fresh dill, chopped

Combine all ingredients (cucumbers can be peeled or not, depending on personal preference) in a bowl.  Let sit at least overnight before serving.

For those of you who are curious, here are some pictures of the storm damage at our house.

Fascia torn off. (South West corner of house.)

Some limbs on lines.

Mess.

Maple snapped off.

Butternut uprooted.

The coupula still stands!

Beech tree.

Slide. :-(

Chestnut uprooted. 

Chicken coop not too bad, just some branches against the back.  Chicken yard fence destroyed but I was getting ready to replace it anyway.

Jungle.

Hammock and swing are fine!

One limb through the roof. (South West corner.)

Hole from the limb.

Roof damage.  Not too bad.  We were very, very lucky when all is said and done!