Ohio-Grown Strawberries

The wild strawberry was eaten centuries before it came under cultivation and eventually hybridization. You can find mention of it in early Greek and Roman writings. In the 14th century in France it was planted in the royal gardens. The strawberry is a perennial herb and is often called the inside-out fruit. One definition of a fruit is a seed surrounded by a pulpy flesh, the strawberry is a flesh surrounded by seeds. The name strawberry may have derived from an Anglo-Saxon description of the way runners "strew" or stray away from the mother plant to set new plants.

I have been waiting for the strawberries to come into season here in NE Ohio, and it was well worth the wait .....

Ohio-Grown Strawberries
from the Coit Road Farmers Market

Strawberries With Caramel-Chocolate Sauce will be my entry for the Strawberry Moon Festival, click here for a pic.

1/4 pound Assorted Nut Chocolates (from the Chocolate Garden)
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 Tbsp. light corn syrup
1 Tbsp. butter
Fresh strawberries, washed and hulled
Whipped Cream

Roughly chop chocolates, set aside. In a heavy pot over medium-high heat combine sugar, cream, corn syrup and butter. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly and continue cooking for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in chocolate. Let cool slightly, pour over fresh strawberries and top with a dollop of whip cream.

Whipped Cream Recipe

1 cup heavy cream
2 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Combine cream, sugar and vanilla in pre-chilled mixing bowl. Whip at medium speed till soft peaks form.

Saturday at the farmers market ...

Meet the farmers, vendors and artisans of the Coit Road Farmers Market ...

Mariann of Lake Erie Creamery
Artisan Goat Cheese

Francis & Gayle
Burton Floral

Burton Floral had Middlefield Cheese and Butter

Maple Syrup, Jelly and Honey, Goat Milk Fudge,
bedding plants-tomatoes, cabbage, peppers
flowers and hanging baskets

Janice of "Love's Bakery" Why Bake Your Own?

Melanie of "the chocolate garden" Handmade Chocolates

The "Herban Ninjas"
Fresh cut herbs
chives, sage, lovage, mint, tarragon,
oregano, thyme- All $1.00/bunch. Also cute handcrafted fabric animal,
mushroom pincushions and braided bracelets

"Braxton Express" perennials flowers ready for you garden- hostas,
sedum, Snow-on-the- mountain, hens & chicks.

Bo Schultz's - cage free eggs. fresh lettuce
& hoop house tomatoes

Kevin, The Spice Hound
Kevin now has a food & brew blog

"Nancy"
(told you I would post this pic:)

Psst ... rumor has it that NE Ohio-grown strawberries
are ready for picking and should be
at the market next week!

How hot is it ..... ?

..... it is 91 degrees, with a heat index of 99 and it isn't even officially summer yet! No way no how am I turning on an oven. So I made a simple pasta dish with sauteed veggies, quick and easy and no oven involved!

Penne Pasta

1/4 cup olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, minced
3 cups of chopped/sliced veggies
(I used a handful of green beans, baby carrots, baby zucchini and grape tomatoes)
1 Tsp. dried mexican oregano
1 Tsp. dried basil
1/4 cup crumbled Gorgonzola
Salt & Pepper, to taste
1/2 cup white cooking wine
1 pound penne pasta

Bring large pot of water to a boil and cook pasta. While waiting for water to boil, saute garlic and carrots in olive oil over medium heat for about 4 minutes. Add green beans and zucchini and cook an additional 3 minutes. Add tomatoes (cut in half) and sprinkle with salt, pepper, oregano and basil. Add white wine and let simmer for about 2-3 minutes, or until veggies are just tender. I like mine to have a little crispness to them.

Serve over pasta, sprinkle with cheese.

Market Report ...

Well I am a day late with my Saturday market report, but better late than never. Yesterday I picked up fresh from the garden lettuce, asparagus, cage free eggs, goat's cheese, spices and Sweet Baby Girl cherry tomato plants for my rooftop container garden. I will get some pics of my rooftop urban garden in the next couple of days.

Mariann of Lake Erie Creamery will be at the Coit Road Farmers Market all summer. Lake Erie Creamery, a small urban creamery in the City of Cleveland, specializes in their artisan goat's milk cheese. They took the Grand Prize for dairy in the 2008 Gallo Family Vineyards Gold Medal Awards.

Sunday Supper was baked Salmon, steamed asparagus and a nice toss salad.

Fresh-from-the-garden lettuce

I coated the salmon with Hellman's mayo, sprinkled with seasoning and baked in a 375 degree oven for 20 minutes. The salad has hoop house tomatoes, feta cheese and walnuts with a Country Dressing adapted from Williams-Sonoma kitchen library.

Country Dressing Recipe

2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. Tonn's Wildflower honey (Walnut Creek, Ohio)
Salt, to taste
1 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Stir together garlic, honey and salt. Add vinegar and oil, whisk vigorously until well blended. Let stand at least 10 minutes to allow flavors to marry.