Finally
catching a break in the rain, we have had really lovely weather for Farmers
Market the last two Saturday mornings. I
was happy to once again see a crowd of people at market. Even though we are still fighting with wet
fields at home, I could tell that having a couple of nice Saturdays in a row
has rallied the spirits of most of the vendors.
This
evening I was once again driven inside from my work in the field by rain. Grumbling to myself, I looked out the screen
door a bit later to see if it had stopped raining. My view was filled with one of the biggest
and brightest rainbows—double rainbow, in fact, that I have ever seen. How can one complain about the rain when it
is followed by such a beautiful sight?
The
rain passed and I returned to my work with a light heart. This was Tuesday evening and I was doing the
task I love most of all—cutting flowers.
I was gathering them to make bouquets for Wednesday market. In case you can’t make it to market on Saturday
mornings from 9:00-Noon at the Fairgrounds or if you need to re-stock on
produce mid-week, you can still buy fresh fruits and vegetables at the Zanesville
Downtown Famers Market. It happens on Wednesdays
at the Welcome Center parking lot from 3:00-6:00pm. This is conveniently located on Fifth Street
right at the end of the I-70 ramp.
A couple of readers picked up on the
fact that I did not list vanilla in the ingredient list of my last recipe “Aunt
Fancy’s Berry Tart,” yet I mentioned it in the cooking directions. This recipe does indeed call for 1 teaspoon
of vanilla. Sorry for the oversight.
Summer weekends are so busy with
cookouts and potlucks. It seems like
there is always somewhere to go on Saturday or Sunday afternoons/evenings—often
both days on some weekends.. The recipe
I have this week, from Cooking Light, is a variation on the classic “cucumbers
and onions” recipe, which I absolutely love.
It takes that oldie-but-goodie standard and dresses it up a bit,
utilizing the wonderful flavors of various fresh herbs, but manages not to
over-complicate things. This recipe is
great because you can pick up the items you need to create it at market in the
morning and quickly throw it together to take to an event later that same
afternoon.
Herby Cucumber Salad
·
¼ cup plain low-fat yogurt
·
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped
fresh dill
·
1 tablespoon coarsely chopped
fresh parsley
·
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
·
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive
oil
·
1 ½ teaspoons coarsely chopped
mint
·
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
·
¼ tsp. sugar
·
¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
·
¼ teaspoon salt (I thought it
needed more, about 1 tsp.)
·
1 garlic clove, minced
·
5 ½ cups thinly sliced cucumber
(about 2 large)
·
2 ½ cups thinly sliced red onion
Combine the first 11 ingredients
in a food processor or blender and process until well blended. (I thought this
was completely unnecessary; I just whisked them together.) Combine the cucumber and the onion in a large
bowl. Drizzle with yogurt mixture and
toss to coat.
