Two Years Down...Two Hundred To Go!

A few weeks ago, my husband and I celebrated our two-year wedding anniversary! It's hard to believe how quickly two years has flown by. On our actual anniversary, we celebrated by having crab cakes, baked scallops, and sautéed green beans. Remember those gigantic green beans from a few weeks ago? Yup, we ate those! For dessert, we shared a slice of Banana Cream Pie from Dangerously Delicious Pies (side note: I am working on replicating their Baltimore Bomb Pie - which actually is the bomb! Stay tuned for a post!)

The following weekend, we took a brief trip to Philadelphia, where we celebrated our anniversary by dining at Morimoto - the Iron Chef's restaurant. We went all out and did the omakase menu, which is an eight-course tasting menu of all of the most popular and more unique items. Some of our favorites included the tuna carpaccio, the lobster, and the waygu beef. With the exception of the lobster, everything we ate was either raw or rare. This was a really delicious way to celebrate our marriage - we left feeling full but not bursting at the seams.

Dessert at Morimoto

We also did touristy things, including the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, eating cheesesteaks, and climbing up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Liberty Bell

The coolest thing we saw was the Magic Gardens, an outdoor sculpture/mosaic garden that was started in 1994. Isaiah Zagar, a local artist, transformed his side yard (and the surrounding buildings) into a labyrinth with every inch covered in eclectic murals made of tile, mirror, glass bottles, and other trash. It was really impressive to see, and it's hard to imagine how long it took him to make such an amazing and unique outdoor art installation. 

Overall, we had a great time in Philadelphia! We did a lot of walking and a lot of eating. Most importantly, we celebrated our love - and that's the best way to celebrate an anniversary.

Summer Veggie Tart

Considering fall is about to start, it only seemed appropriate to finally post this summer veggie tart...that was made almost a MONTH ago. Have I mentioned that I've been busy this summer? Anyway, this tart was made with 100% vegetables from the CSA - remember those six ears of corn? Well, I didn't eat them. Instead, I froze the kernels and then defrosted them so that they could be a part of this delicious meal. The tart was based on Smitten Kitchen's Burst Tomato Galette with Corn and Zucchini. I used frozen pastry crust, as a shortcut, since it takes a while to make fresh dough. While Deb @ Smitten Kitchen molded the dough into a circle, pleated the edges, and overlapped the filling, I just left the dough in a rectangle and folded up the corners to make a crust. I don't think my changes made much of a difference (although, fresh dough is always better than frozen), but it was just a bit easier and faster this way. I can't seem to remember if this was served with a salad, but if it wasn't it should be in the future! This was a healthy, quick, and easy dinner - it was light yet filling. Perfect for a summer evening.

Zucchini Pizza

Remember a couple of weeks ago there were zucchini in the CSA? Way back when, during Week 11? Things have been really busy, so this post is a bit overdue. Zucchini pizza was a quick and easy way to use up the rest of the zucchini. Just preheat the oven to 350 degrees, slice the zucchini in thin rounds, bake for 15 minutes. Top with sauce and cheese and bake until cheese is melty and gooey. Yum!

Sour what?

This post is dedicated to my dad, a real New Yorker. He grew up in the Bronx and Queens, always yells at me to wawk the dawg, drinks his cawfee in the morning (well, not so much anymore), and most importantly, he eats his hot dogs with mustard and sauerkraut. If you aren't from the New York area, you probably think sauerkraut is stinky and gross. But it really is delicious, not only on hot dogs, but also on Reubens! When I picked up a head of cabbage from the CSA a few weeks ago, I knew I couldn't make more stuffed cabbage (no room in the freezer) and I'm not a huge fan of cole slaw (sorry, Mom!)...so I decided to ferment it...and make sauerkraut!

Believe it or not, this is probably the simplest recipe that ever existed. There are only 2 ingredients. Yes, you read that correctly...TWO INGREDIENTS: cabbage and salt. There are other variations, such as Bavarian sauerkraut which includes juniper berries, but this recipe is just for your basic sauerkraut. And it turned out great! Here's a link to the recipe I used: Homemade Sauerkraut. Since I did not have any cheese cloth, I just used coffee filters (as you can see in the above picture), and it seemed to work just fine.

So far, we've only eaten it with hot dogs, but I plan on making some Reubens with it, as well as making homemade pierogies.

CSA Week #14

14 weeks! More than halfway done, which is kind of crazy! Here's what was ripe for the picking this week:

Rainbow chard (that chard pasta is one of our faves!!), watermelon, red onions, and poblano chiles.