Cape Cod Farmers Market

 The sun, ocean and fresh sea air are a great combination for creating some new recipes and new memories with family.  We went to the cape to visit family. Before we left on our trip I made sure to check out where are the farmers markets were. This is what I found.
 It the Cape there are farm stands every and they did have one farmers market every Tuesday down the street from my Aunt's house.
So I went to go check it out and found that they had a nice size market. I was super excited to see a meat purveyor there. Even though I am a vegetarian it was still nice to see that.
  Okay so we bought some item fresh organic items and started to create :)

Here are some recipes from that weekend:

*Chicken Salad*

- 1 whole or half cooked    chicken (shredded)

- 1/4 cup                 mayonnaise

- 1/2 cup                 mustard (any type in the fridge)

- 3 stalks                 celery (diced)

- 1/2 or less             red onion (diced)

- 1/3 cup or more    sliced almonds (toasted)

- 1/3 cup or more    dried cranberries

- 1 or 2                    Lemons (zest and juice)

-To Taste                Salt and Pepper

Shred chicken and mix everything in a bowl. Sever on toasted whole grain bread.

*Watermelon Salad*

- 1/4 of watermelon (1 inch cubes)

- 1/2 red onion (sliced thin)

- Lemon zest and juice

- Extra virgin olive oil

- Lettuce (any type is fine)

- Feta or Goat cheese

- Sliced almonds (toasted)

- To Taste Salt and pepper

Mix cubed watermelon and sliced onions together with lemon zest, juice and olive oil. Let it sit for a  minute then add lettuce, cheese, almonds, salt and pepper. Toss and sever.

Summer Melon Cocktail

With summer at its peak this month, I started looking for amazing melons at the local farmers markets. From the standard watermelon, cantaloupe and honeydew, to the unique like casaba, yellow watermelon and orange watermelon.
 I saw this strange yellow thing with skin that looked like it was setting in the sun for way too long. 
 I started to talking to one of the workers and asking questions like What is this? It looks like it bad, is it? What is this called? and What does this taste like?
He answered: Its a melon (duh) called Casaba. It's not bad, its actually perfect right now. The taste is more like a cucumber and savory.
 So, I bought on and brought it home and stared at it for a while thinking 'What the heck am I going to do with this?' and this is what I came with.

Casaba Melon Cocktail

 Ingredients:

• 1 each                 Casaba Melon
• 2-3shots              Vodka
• 4 cups                  Ice
• 3 each                  Lime(cut into 8 pieces)
• 1/2 bunch             Mint
• 1/4 cup                Sugar (add more or not so such depending how you like it)
• Salt to taste

 Equipment:

• Blender
• Knife
• Cutting board 
• Glasses
• Muddle 

Directions:

Skin and seed the melon.  Cut melon into chucks. Put half of the cut up melon, vodka and ice into blender. Blend. Add some of the sugar and a little salt. Blend. In glass muddle two pieces of lime, sugar and some mint leaves. Add melon vodka mix. Garnish with lime and mint.

Easy Macaroon Recipe

    About 6 years ago, a family friend asked me to help make some finger foods for a party. So I asked her what types of hors d'oeuvre would she like. She just wanted simple things but she did make a BIG point about having Macaroons. that was the one thing that could not do without at the party. I thought to myself, 'Crap! I  always had a time with those cookies in Baking class.' 
   Later that week I started making macaroons. After many failed attempts and  replacing  the garbage disposal, I finally had a recipe that was quick to make and easy to bake.

Macaroons
Ingredients:
1 bag        shredded coconut
1/3 cup     flour
2/3 cup     sweeten condensed milk
1 tsp.        vanilla
1 zest of lemon (I like to use meyer, if available) 


Equipment:
Mixing Bowl
Wooden Spoon
Silicone Baking Sheet
Baking Sheet  
Small Ice Scooper


Preheat oven 350 F
Mix coconut and flour. Add condensed milk, vanilla, and zest. Mix.
Scoop macaroon mixture ad place on baking sheet.
Place in oven for 5 minutes. Turn set timer for 5 minutes or until golden brown.

Harley Farms ( Goat Dairy Farm)

   From the two hour back road drive, the tour of milking and cheese making process and the tasting of the different types of goat cheese, Harley farms was worth.

Here are some pictures of my Goat Cheese advanture

View of garden and goat pasture.

Dairy goats.

Future Dairy goat :)

The Rockstar Elivs

Milking Station

 Cheese making process.

Mixing and portioning the goat cheese out.

Labels for all cheeses.

Cheese shop.

All types of goat cheeses.

   The farm is sustainable, meaning that they only keep enough goats to milk and don't go over a curtain number of dairy goats, kids and male goats.

Spring

 Spring is here! After a long winter, we are glad to see new fruits and vegetables popping up at the local farmers markets. That means wonderful asparagus, strawberries and many other items are in abundance. So many farms have these fresh delicious items that you may not know what to do with them.
 Strawberries for instance are sweet, juicy and delicious served on their own. Washed and served, that's always the best way to have them. If you want to jazz it up some more, then I have a few simple recipes for you.

Strawberry Sauce:


2 pints               strawberries
1/4 cup              water
3 tablespoons    sugar
2  each              lemons
pinch of salt

Wash, core and cut strawberries in half. Add strawberries, water, sugar, lemon zest and salt in a pot. give it a quick stir. Bring it up to a boil and simmer for 10 mins or until done.

Note: you can add vanilla or mint.