The Weblog
Your Weekly Reminder to Order; Try Bruschetta!
Good evening to everyone within The Wednesday Market community.
The Market is open for ordering. Please remember to place your orders by 10 p.m. on Monday. Orders are ready for pick up between 3 and 6 p.m. on Wednesday. We are now in full swing with summer vegetables. Be sure to check the website for all of this week’s product offerings. Here is the link: http://wednesdaymarket.locallygrown.net/market
I am writing to you from my Aunt Sharon Dean’s dining room table in Peachtree, North Carolina, just outside of Murphy. I don’t know how the weather has been at home, but here in western Carolina, it is sublime! Today was sunny and warm – but not too hot – with low humidity and a stunningly clear cobalt sky. The low temperature will dip into the mid-50s overnight, and more of the same is predicted for the next few days.
This evening, 17 family members and I sat down for an alfresco supper. Our menu consisted of grilled sweet corn, grilled eggplant (thanks Elise!), bruschetta made with heirloom tomatoes, freshly made hand-grated coleslaw, Mom’s potato salad (best in the whole world!), platters of sliced cucumbers, tomatoes, and sweet onions, Aunt Sharon’s homemade chili, my sister Teresa’s pickled cauliflower, and grilled hamburgers and hot dogs. We concluded our meal with ice cold watermelon and an assortment of pies: blueberry, cherry, apple, and bourbon pecan. Needless to say, we are all stuffed! What a pleasure today has been preparing our feast while visiting with my favorite kin!
Here is a quick and easy way to use up an abundance of tomatoes: make bruschetta. Dice several tomatoes; add a clove or two of minced fresh garlic, a splash of balsamic vinegar, and a pinch or two of salt. Kosher or sea salt, if you have some, makes this dish especially tasty. Finish with a chiffonade of basil. To chiffonade basil, take several large leaves off the stems, stack them one on top of each other, and roll up tightly along a long side. Make very thin parallel cuts until all of the basil has been cut. You should have a pile of deliciously fragrant basil “ribbons” when you finish. Scoop it all up and add it to the tomatoes. Stir gently, taste, and add more garlic, basil, or salt to suit your taste. Cover and let sit at room temperature for an hour or two – if you can wait that long! Slice a baguette or loaf of Italian bread on the bias, brush with olive oil, and grill until the bread is toasted and golden, turning once to make sure to toast the other side. Be careful and check the bread frequently so that you don’t make burnt toast! Top the grilled bread with a tablespoon or two of the tomato-garlic-basil mixture and enjoy!
As always, we thank our customers and farmers for your commitment to our Market. We appreciate your support of the buy-local movement, and we’ll see you on Wednesday.
Thanks,
Beverly