What's in Season Sunday: Baby Summer Squash

This week I came across the loveliest summer squash. Just look at the bright colors of the beautiful blossoms growing off these guys! Many people use the blossoms to cook with. I've heard of stuffing them with goat cheese and herbs and sauteing them. I must try this next time. You need to use the blossoms right away, they don't last long. You could also coarsely chop the blossoms and add them to a salad. Squash is so versatile. It can be used in so many ways including in bread, cookies, soup, stir fry, or grilled with pasta and parmesan cheese. The petite size of the baby summer squash makes them really fun to cook with because they add so much to the presentation of a dish. Because they are so small, their sugars are especially concentrated so they are also uniquely sweet.

So what to do with summer squash? Let me rephrase this, what can't you do with summer squash? The possibilities are endless! I am sure towards August I will post again on how I've used squash in my kitchen. This time around, I have decided to try my hand at making homemade pizza dough and top my pizza with grilled sliced squash and red onions. For my pizza sauce, I choose to use pesto I had stored in the freezer from last year (I am keeping my eyes out for bunches of basil at the farmer's market so I can make a big batch again like last year). I also purchased fresh mozzarella cheese. I didn't have tomatoes on hand, but they would be delicious layered atop the pizza as well.

Homemade Pizza Dough - Easy!

1 package active dry yeast
I cup warm water (hot to touch under faucet)
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour or whole wheat flour (I mixed 1 cup wheat flour into my dough)

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Stir in remaining ingredients. Beat 20 strokes and let rest for five minutes. Roll out dough or separate into thirds and make personal pizzas. You can also freeze the dough. If you freeze the dough, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and store in a Ziploc bag or airtight container. For sauce, either use a traditional tomato based sauce or try pesto. For toppings, grill or saute sliced onions and squash. Be creative and add your toppings of choice. I chose to keep it simple this time so I could appreciate the squash. Layer with slices of fresh mozarella and bake in the oven at 425 degrees until the cheese is bubbly and the crust is light brown. Enjoy!

Guest Blog: My Sister Talks Local Food in NY

This week on Eat What You Grow my youngest Sister shares her experiences in New York at farmers markets and local farms:

I am a proud Washington native but I moved to New York two years ago when I landed an AmeriCorps VISTA Fellowship with Siena College in the Capital Region of New York. Upon first getting here, I judged this area pretty quickly. The boarded-up, vacant buildings were my first clue that it was once a booming industrial town and now it is a dying city. Most of this region's population is living at the poverty line or just barely over. Besides the local colleges and state office officials supporting the economy, there isn't much more to say for this area. That's what I saw and believed for a long time but now I don't think that is so accurate anymore. So what did I discover?

If you're at all familiar with Upstate New York, you know it is pretty rural. Rolling hills of green deciduous trees go on for miles and most of the land is owned by farmers. One of the biggest crops here is apples. Go to any given grocery store and you'll find freshly squeezed apple cider. At the local farms, you'll find apple cider donuts (some of the best donuts you'll ever taste).

One of my favorite local farms that sells apple cider donuts is Indian Ladder Farms. I have visited several times to not only get the delicious donuts but also to pick apples and I have also been to Bowman Orchards where I have picked strawberries. Yesterday, I got to visit a new farm called Samascott Orchards. It was a beautiful farm in Kinderhook, NY and I picked sour cherries, gooseberries, currants, and blueberries. I tried not to sneak in too many fresh berries off the trees and bushes, but they were so good and so unbelievably fresh. How can I ever go back to the grocery store? And just out of curiosity, have you ever seen a gooseberry at a grocery store? You have got to try one. Just a short drive out of the local cities and you'll find yourself in this rural paradise. It's hard to leave the countryside, but the great thing is, you still have access to it when you get back.

I found a way to access local farm produce at my local farmers' market in Troy, New York. The Troy Waterfront Farmers' Market is every Saturday all-year-round. You can find just about everything there like fresh produce, baked goods, condiments and preserves, sweeteners and sweets, flowers and plants, household items and artisan wares. My favorite items have always been the rare alfalfa honey, freshly made pesto, milk from Battenkill Creamery, and the homemade soaps. I often go there with no agenda but just to take in all the wonderful sounds and smells of the market. For many years in a row, this market has been named the best in the Capital Region.

You can really tell that our local cities support local gardening and farming. At many of the local farmers' markets, credit cards and food stamps are accepted, people are using reusable bags and containers, and community members are finding vacant plots of land and repurposing them for community gardens. There is a movement here and it is inspiring. Maybe this area isn't what it used to be in terms of economic wealth and power of the industrial period, but it is a great example of establishing city-farm relationships and supporting ways to get fresh, local produce into the homes of our communities. Whether you grow your produce in a local community garden, buy it at the farmers' market, or drive a short distance to pick fresh crops yourself, the Capital Region of New York is a great example of the growing national movement to eat fresh foods grown locally. Join the movement and find your nearest farmers' market or family farm and you won't be disappointed!

Summer Plenty

It is a frenzy out there!

Go to any roadside produce stand, neighborhood market, or even the grocery store and you will find local produce and a lot of it! This is the best time to buy fresh, local fruits and vegetables. The end of summer bounty is showing up and quickly being hauled away in cart fulls and at really good prices. Yesterday I visited the Bellevue farmer's market and picked up two generous bunches of red beets (for pickling) for only $2 a bunch. Today, at the West Seattle farmer's market, I bought my usual $20 (mind you I try to only budget $40 a week for food- which is hard to do since I love food shopping- but so far have been able to stick to it and may soon cut it down to $35 and still manage to eat well for breakfast, lunch, and dinner). With the twenty dollars I brought, I was able to buy one bunch of sweet aromatic basil, two banana peppers (sweet but also mildly spicy), one sweet red bell pepper, four ripe plums, one melon, ten heirloom tomatoes, two squash, and a loaf of rustic Italian bread (made at the Tall Grass Bakery in Ballard)! Not bad! These items came from Grant, King, Snohomish, and Thurston counties.

Now that I've assembled all the ingrediants, what should I make? I'm planning on using the tomatoes, basil, and bread to make panzanella, an Italian bread salad. I plan to grill the rest of the vegetables for a quiche (to use with left over pastry dough I have on hand in the freezer). There will be no waiting on the plums and melon, those are for snacking now and throughout the week. I hope you are all enjoying your summer! I would love to hear how you are using your summer seasonal produce!

My Market Break

Did I ever mention I have a view of Elliot Bay from my desk? Or that I work one block away from Pike Place Market? Or that the basement floor of my work building houses one of the best Irish Pubs in Seattle? Or that if I count all the coffee shops within a one block radius I would run out of fingers to count on? Ok, I'll stop bragging. Despite these wonderful things, more than not, I find myself glued to my desk like if I was working in a large government office with no windows. Thankfully, that isn't the case. Today, I took my break, the break I should always take. I rolled my chair out from my desk, stood up, grabbed my bag, shot a quick glance at the ferries passing by, headed downstairs, outside, and to the market for my market break. 

The Spring and Summer months are wonderful in Seattle. Today is was a nice 70 degree day, with a slight salty breeze coming from the water, and a few puffy clouds in far off places. Pike Place is always busy but especially this time of year. By now I've managed to find my best routes through the crowds.  I pass Le Panier, where I often buy an amandine (almond cream croissant) or a dauphinois (puff pastry with shredded potato, bacon, and cheese). Of course, one can visit the first original Starbucks, however I often pass it by because of the long lines. But I'll stroll past on Fridays because the Tallboys, a favorite local bluegrass band, will be playing their music.

Beecher's Cheese shop is another Pike Place favorite of mine. If I'm lucky enough I can watch them churn the milk through the windows as a buy my own slice of the Flagship cheddar they are famous for. It has a creamy nutty flavor with a waxy flaky texture. Perfect for mac and cheese, which of course you can also buy. There are many vegetable and fruit stands in Pike Place Market. Like any market, or supermarket for that matter, you can buy just about anything, but I always look for the local seasonal produce offerings. By now, my afternoon walk has left me thirsty and I couldn't help but notice the fresh smoothies at Tiny's Organic Farm's fruit stand. Tiny's is a small organic farm in Wenatchee, WA. They provide produce throughout the year to area farmers markets. Strawberries, peaches, and cherries were what they brought with them today and that is exactly what made it into my smoothie. It was delicious and sweet, sweet and delicious! I made my way back to work pleasantly happy to finish the day.