TOMATO SANDWICHES – A TASTE OF SUMMER

 

In the South,  nothing quite says summer like a fresh tomato sandwich. I ate them every summer as a child growing up in East Tennessee. They were loving prepared by my paternal grandmother and I could have them any time her tomatoes were in season. My grandparents lived next door, and grandma was an extraordinary gardener and cook, as were all her relatives and lady friends. Her summer kitchen was always filled with red ripe tomatoes. There was something magical about eating those sandwiches, with the luscious tomato juice dripping down my chin. Grandma, my little sister and I enjoyed them with glasses of ice tea in the summer heat, while sitting in the middle of her beautiful wild backyard garden. If you don’t serve them in your garden, they taste just as delicious standing over the kitchen  sink. 

FARMERS’ MARKET UPDATE

 

           Update: Thirty-three vendors attended Sandhill Farmers’ Market this week. 

Wyatt and Sam Rennick sell Sweet Southern Kettle Korn

 

The sweet corn and okra are fabulous so don’t miss picking some up next week. The peaches and blueberries are ready; blackberries are finishing up. Look for cabbage, beets,  potatoes, all varieties of summer squash, cucumbers, green beans, eggplants, okra, peppers (banana, hot, bell-green or purple). Local ripe tomatoes, snap beans, cantaloupes and honeydew are ready. Shelled lima beans and peas are also for sale.

A variety of beautiful squash from Conyers' Farm Produce

 

CORN AND TOMATOES – JEWELS OF SUMMER

 

    

 

Vine-Ripened Tomatoes

 

Fresh vegetables are the jewels of summer. Farmers’ markets are usually the best place to find colorful vine-ripened tomatoes and the sweetest corn. I found  the beautiful produce in these photos at Sandhill Farmers’ Market off Clemson Road across from Village at Sandhill.  I used them to make the recipes in this post including the Corn Fritters and Corn & Tomato Bake. Stop by your local  farmers’ market and pick up the some of best produce you will ever taste. 

LES DAMES D’ESCOFFIER HOLD CULINARY TAG SALE & RAFFLE

Does the idea of a romp through the kitchens, attics and garages of  Charleston’s top culinary professionals for a unique shopping spree sound irresistible?  

 

 

If so, then join the Charleston Chapter of Les Dames d’Escoffier International (LDEI) for a CULINARY TAG SALE on Saturday, June 12, 2010 from 9:00 A.M. to  12:00 P.M.  The event will take place at The Real Estate Gallery at 214 King Street, Charleston, S.C.

LDEI  is a worldwide philanthropic society of professional women leaders in the fields of food, fine beverage, and hospitality.  The invitation-only membership, composed of 27 individual chapters across the United States and Canada, is highly diversified and reflects the multifaceted fields of contemporary gastronomy and hospitality.  

  

The Dames will part with many of their personal culinary treasures and will offer their professional services in order to hold the tag sale.   Proceeds will be used for the chapter’s culinary scholarship fund for South Carolina women.  

FRESH GREENS FROM THE FARMERS’ MARKET

Shoppers obsessed with freshness should visit a farmers’ market for the cornucopia of beautiful produce picked just hours earlier. Vegetables and fruits will maintain their nutritional value and flavor when prepared soon after picking. Summer is a great time to “lighten up” your diet with tasty veggies, adding them to meals in place of heartier cold-weather dishes. Other market products like meat, eggs, milk, cornmeal and cheese also offer tremendous nutritional value.  

Chicken Cutlet Salad with Strawberry Balsamic Dressing

 

Chicken Cutlet Salad with Strawberry Balsamic Dressing

 

If you’re looking forward to the fresh taste of spring, look no further than chicken and fresh fruit when trying out some new, lighter recipes.  Chicken works well with delicate flavors like mint, and is a perfect complement to fresh strawberries. 

SANDHILL FARMERS’ MARKET – HOME GROWN IN SOUTH CAROLINA

 

Sandhill Farmers' Market

 

Heather’s Artisan Bakery

 

Beautiful flowers, garden-fresh produce, lively music and friendly, familiar faces: all the signs of Spring at the Sandhill Farmers’ Market, which opened last Tuesday. Twenty seven vendors were on hand for the opening day. 

SPANAKOPITA – A SAVORY PIE FOR EASTER

 

Here is one of my favorite recipes for Spanakopita – a Greek spinach pie with flaky phyllo pastry.  It  would be delicious served  along with roast lamb and new potatoes for Easter – or at anytime of the year. A dessert made from lemons would be the perfect finish. Spanakopita also makes a satisfying meal with a hearty Greek salad on the side. The Greeks often serve this dish as a snack. 

.

Kerrygold Pure Irish Butter: The Pot of Gold at the End of the Rainbow

            MAY YOUR DAY BE TOUCHED BY A BIT OF IRISH LUCK!

 

Ireland is famous for it’s creamy delicious butter produced by grass fed cows who are said to produce “the sweetest, richest milk in the world.” Irish cows grazing in open pastures are happy cows, yielding superior summer milk that is used for making Kerrygold butter! 

The rains, winds and warming influences of the Gulf Stream contribute to the lush greening of the “Emerald Isle. ” The grass in Ireland grows fast and thick, and is chock full of nutrients. Nature’s abundant green color is said to exist in forty different shades. 

 

GOING GREEN ON ST. PATRICK’S DAY

GREEN is the color that takes center stage on St. Patrick’s Day, which is Ireland’s national holiday honoring its patron saint. There is a “wee bit of Irish” in all of us on March 17th, as we don green clothing and put shamrocks and green paint on our faces and hair. We make merry at the annual parade in Five Points and may even drink a celebratory pint of green ale while listening to Irish bands and the Gaelic tunes of Palmetto Pipes and Drums.   

.

There are many good reasons to wear green and to serve green foods on St. Paddy’s Day, not the least of which is to avoid being pinched by a leprechaun!  “The wearing of the green”, represents an old Gaelic tradition created around feast day celebrations when people wore green ribbons and shamrocks.  The “luck of the Irish” has come to be represented by the color green.  

.