Roasting Potatoes (and a recipe)

So, a friend of mine asked me this week how to roast potatoes. Some people might think this is one of those questions one might label stupid...not so. Why? Because almost EVERYONE I know has no idea how to roast potatoes, or vegetables, for that matter. And it was not so long ago that I could have been grouped into that category, as I, too, was a potato-roasting failure (not to say that the aforementioned friend(s) is a failure. It's just not something you're born knowing). I think that the reason I never knew how to roast vegetables was because my family never really prepared veggies that way, and I always just thought it was impossible to get deliciously roasted veggies a la professional chef grade. Previously, I "roasted" at 350degrees, which took forever, and always gave me soggy veggies. I tried covering them with foil, but that also just gave me steamed, soggy veggies. I also used to stand around the kitchen and turn the veggies I was roasting fairly frequently, which never gave me any good results.

Apple Dutch Baby

Yesterday felt like fall, but not the fall I enjoy. Crisp with a side of cool? Yes, please. Wet and miserable? No thank you! I felt like doing nothing but huddling under a blanket on my couch for the past day or so, and I was grumpy that I had to put socks on last night. So, what's a cold, soggy, sun-deprived, sock-wearing girl to do in order to make herself feel better? Get a mani and a pedi? No. This girl is going to make her life better by making a beautiful, golden, caramel-y, cinnamon-y, apple dutch baby. And she's going to sprinkle it with lots and lots of powdered sugar, and she's going to ENJOY EVERY MOMENT!!

Preserved Lemons

As far as I know, there are no lemon groves in New England, so this is a post unrelated to my garden or any farm in my area. We love making preserved lemons because they are lovely to look at in the jars, and delicious in winter chicken dishes with olives, or other Middle Eastern/Moroccan dishes (more to come on those recipes when it gets cooler!)

Summer Wind-Down

It may (or may not) have been noted that I've been m.i.a. recently. I have not stopped eating, nor have I ceased going to the farm each week to pick up my share of veggie goodness. And, while my own garden is starting to seriously slow down, I am still getting more eggplant, lots of basil, and a few peppers (although, I've decided not to grow peppers anymore. some bug keeps eating them before they're ready to be picked. The peppers begin to rot on the plant, and I'm forced to remove them and toss into the compost. It makes me angry. Those pepper plants have been renting space in my garden for FAR to long for me to be tossing the veggies out, so I'm evicting them next Spring. Maybe.) I'm still making foods that are tasty, but I've slowed down a little in the home-cooked meals department. August was a very busy month, with lots of travel, etc. And it was crazy hot for a while, which I normally would have liked, but for it to come on so late in the game was just a tease and I don't have a swimming pool...