[Jen]

Welcome back, folks! After two days of reruns (or near reruns) we're back with fresh new material! We'll keep this up as long as possible until we need to do a musical episode and then we'll probably drag it on for a year or two longer than we should then call it quits, shark squarely jumped.

We are running behind due to our (mostly Jen's) busy work schedules so we're catching up on the last 30 minutes of yesterday's Tour de France stage, watching today's stage and trying to make another meal with our farm share vegetables from this week.

In perusing our haul from yesterday I really wanted to feature the vegetables as the primary flavors of the meal.



Salad is easy. I used the red leaf lettuce and the disgusting, nasty cucumbers along with some tomato, goat cheese, garlic scape, olive oil, lemon and slivered pecans. I topped it with a light dusting of old bay seasoning just for fun.



I was remembering how my mom would occasionally make BLTs for dinner and how it was delicious. Sadly, I usually had a Jewish friend over (always the same friend) when it just happened to be BLT night. The first time was just bad luck. The second time was funny. The third time it became a tradition. Then every time he was over we would have BLTs! It was good that he was not particularly orthodox. He ended up loving BLT night!

For the BLT I cooked the bacon then removed them from the pan, drained the oil and grilled some slices of paesano bread in the pan, allowing a little remaining bacon fat to flavor the bread along with some additional olive oil and butter. I know it sounds extremely unhealthy but I used just a touch of each for flavor.

I got out my unopened jar of mayonnaise to observe that it was 9 months past its expiration date. It looked pretty nasty so I had to throw it away. In place of mayonnaise I decided to use a little of the balsamic shallot mustard I had in the fridge. I put a very light spread of it on both slices of bread and then topped the bottom piece of bread with lettuce, thick slices of tomato, bacon and sliced avocado.

Since I used avocado it should technically be called a BLT&A but that just didn't sound appropriate.

I've got to say, the result was pretty good. In the future I think I would continue to use a sweet or spicy mustard in place of mayonnaise.



I took our onions, garlic, garlic scapes, and peppers and browned them lightly in a little olive oil. Then I threw in some of the green and yellow zucchini and cooked it down with a bit of basil and oregano. Then I added in some tomato with a dash of balsamic and some salt and pepper. I like to really stew my ratatouille down until it is almost overcooked. Then I serve it warm or room temperature. While it's not a traditional accompaniment to a BLT I thought it would go nicely.



This wine had everything going for it, a cool label and a really awesome name: Gnarly Head. It probably should have been called Gnarly Tree but it is really not my place to judge. Perhaps when I open my own vineyard I can make such decisions.

The Merlot* was not necessarily the perfect accompaniment to a BLT but it was a decent enough red wine.

*Note: If you are one of those pretentious jackasses who has seen the movie Sideways one or more times and now fancy yourself a wine expert, please excuse yourself from this blog, find a deep puddle and promptly submerge your head. You are a jerk and people may be civil to you to your face but truthfully they find you insufferable.



I'm constantly torn between enjoying the delicious fruit we're getting in its natural state and trying something new and exciting. While this isn't super new (or exciting) it was something slightly different enough to keep us interested but didn't require so much preparation that we wouldn't be able to savor the delicious berries as they were. I took a Belgian waffle, topped it with a dollop of yogurt, sprinkled berries and slivered almonds on top and then drizzled with maple syrup.

And there you have it.

I'm not sure about tomorrow night. Jen and are having a battle to see who can work the latest (I may win tomorrow) so there may be nothing to eat or write about. We should be back in full force on Friday to rock your world with tales of a meal so amazing that it may leave you speechless!

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