a pictoral tour of Pond Hill Farm, Harbor Springs, Michigan

a pantry that well exceeds my dreams.

grilled vegetable wrap with peanut kale slaw

If they ever can't find me down here, chances are I'm hiding out with the folks at Pond Hill...

the farmstead :: this week's developments

18 eggs today!

i look forward to this for all of the other 11 months

slow roasting local cherry and pear tomatoes 

75 minutes at 300 convection

+ olive oil, kosher salt, thyme
(click on each pic to enlarge & wallow in the glory of summer)

pizza night at Zegliano's

 a classic pepperoni for the kids

 mexican pizza - before and after the magical wood fired grill

need some food links for a rainy summer day?

 EAT your heart out!

Babble's Top 100 Food Mom Blogs


Saveur's Best Blogs

http://cookingmesoftly.it/

http://sunday-suppers.com/

http://www.frenchcuisse.com/

http://charcuteroulette.com/

a sandwich link

check out this serious eats link to 'a sandwich a day'.  they don't all include recipes but sometimes all you need is an idea.

this. makes me very sad

Healthy Food Is Privilege Of The Rich, Study Shows 

how can I help? 

• gleaning

check out the latest perennial plate -"gleaning in california"

• gleaning in MI ?

 

ummmm..... are you feeding this to your kids????!??!

http://www.vbs.tv/blog/raw-mcnugget

eating New Jersey

I'm embarrassed to admit that we took a trip to Hoboken not for the best 'saus'eech sang'uich' possible, but to the famed and overrated Carlo's bakery. Maybe it's unfair to call it overrated.  We didn't actually taste any goods of the Cake Boss.  (Check out an episode or two at TLC).  

my sister, dad, kids and I at Sinatra Park in Hoboken

When we finally found ourselves on the main drag in Hoboken, we discovered that there were already two or three hours worth of people who beat us to the bakery.  I knew there was a possibility of a long line. AND I knew that my patience would not last more than 30 minutes of waiting for a cupcake with four hot and squirmy kids.  Upon seeing the line, there was no discussion that we would wait.

The night before I did a little Chowhound and UrbanSpoon research to find lunch spots, in the event that Carlo's was too crowded.

On the top of our list were the Taco Truck and Fiore Deli.  My sister and I would have probably chosen TTT if left to make our own decision.  But since my dad's vote counts like three to our two, we settled on Fiore, what he was more comfortable with.

 It was gloriously old school, like we had stepped back in time.

they knew once we tasted, we'd be hooked

The sandwich of the day was "sausage in red gravy".  I told you it was old school!  So we chose our bread out of the case, and handed it to the guys to make our sandwiches.  They took the bread in the back and stuffed it full with their famous house-made mozzarella, then brought it back to where we could see and proceeded to top the mozz with the most flavorful red gravy and sausage.  

After surveying the glorious sloppiness, we decided that our original plan of eating in the car was no longer viable. So we drove back to North Jersey and enjoyed the sandwiches at the dining room table.   

In the end I'm glad that we didn't have cupcakes for lunch. This sang'uich was far superior to anything sweet.

ha!

 Top Ten Signs of a Bad Cook

'Startled Cub'

We have a trap on the premises, people. Installed by the Fabulous people at Michigan's DNR. Right next to infamous 'startled cub' honeybee hives.

I hope this bear cannot read.

This morning the trap had triggered so we peeked in it, couldn't see anything, called the ph number to notify the authorities.  It was a raccoon. A raccoon who feasted on molasses and bacon and doughnuts. A very very smart raccoon.

Will keep you posted in the event that my honey thief returns.

okay, i guess it wasn't a joke after all.

Look who I just saw in my backyard.

sweet as...

Ladies and Gents, we have honey in the hives.  After last year's poor performance, I decided to give it another go. And we've been coasting along for about a month. 

But this is how I found the hives this morning...

Toppled & tumbled, but luckily not destroyed.  I don't know if I'm overreacting, but just last night I read on Annarbor.com that there were two separate black bear sightings only three miles from my house.  Could this be? a bear?  I don't know what did this, but something else wanted honey. 

So this morning, I put my sexy white suit on - and walked out there, only to find that nothing was broken only disassembled.  And to my surprise, honey.  Honey is in the frames. I scraped three square inches off one foundation to find

I was giggling as I walked back to the house, tasting it all the way. 

It's straining off in the kitchen now.  Beautiful and Delicious!

sometimes even a yankee...

Sometimes even a Yankee craves hush.puppies and cornmeal breaded fish.  Lake perch in this case from Bayport Fish Company.  It is supposedly never frozen - taken right from Saginaw bay which leads into Lake Huron. I picked it up on Wednesday at the Ann Arbor Farmers' Market.  Sometimes this seller is also available at the Lunasa online farmers' market.

This fish was flaky and wonderfully mild.  First dusted with seasoned flour, bathed in tabasco spiked buttermilk, then shaken in a bag of cornmeal and salt.  Fried in two inches of peanut oil.  The breading was a perfect compliment to the fish.  Sometimes a thick batter can mask the delicate (or purposely hide the disappointing) smells and taste of seafood.  This fish, however, needed very little breading. 

The little man swiping a filet off the platter while I was trying to take a photo.  

He was very pleased with himself.

Homemade tartar sauce, hot sauce, a fresh tomato and spinach salad, and an Alabama Fizz made this meal very complete.  Tomatoes courtesy of Carpenter's Greenhouse and Organic Produce, one of my favorite guys at the f.market, who already has delicious tomatoes thriving.

Thanks to Donald Link for the fabulous recipe for hushpuppies.  We are northerners, but these were the best we had ever tasted. 

 

What a day!

This is the Michigan that I love.


A2 farmers market





Lunch on the patio :: caprese salad

Garden's waking up

photos from a Middle.eastern food adventure

Yesterday was filled with a tour of Dearborn's finest Middle.eastern food joints on West Warren Ave. Per 'sky full of bacon' blog (Scroll down to his April 25th entry)

Grocery and dinner take out at

New Yasmeen

a thing of beauty

 (I forget the name of this but it was good.  maybe it was - 'knafeh'.
shredded filo-like pastry encasing a tart fluffy cheese, topped with a very floral rose water honey)

Sweets at Shatila bakery

Lunch at Assayad Restaurant

moist and fluffy falafels with tahini, kafta and chicken kababs.

what's playing in the kitchen: Ronnie Dunn, We all Bleed Red

Birthday dinner on cornman farms

Lucky, lucky girl am I.

grrr...

Crab morel risotto (drizzled with veal Demi glacé and curry oil) 

Roasted tomato and asparagus salad.

A perfect perfect perfect meal...