Welcome to flamingobear. We're the Martin family. Jenn cooks a lot. Tim eats it. And the trees are awesome.
Sugar snap peas are one of our favorite vegetables because they’re easy to grow and even easier to eat. In French they’re aptly named “mange tout” which means “eat all”. No shelling is needed, but if the pods are stringy, remove the strings by snapping off the stem ends and then pulling the strings up the inside curves and down the outside. That’s it – now they’re ready to eat. Easy peasy.
Earlier this month in Nashville, the rains came down, the floods came up, and a building floated down the interstate. We were lucky and escaped with only a wet basement. However, many more were not so fortunate, including “our” farmers, the Delvins, who lost 70% of their crops, including about 90% of their strawberries.
We’ve talked many times before about our love for Delvin Farms, and that love continues to grow as they’ve fought through major flooding issues without complaint.
Well, this week, our love for Delvin led Jenn and Lindy to be featured on the Brentwood Homepage. [Click here for the original article.]
Jenn’s too humble to mention it, but I think this is totally cool. Her post on Oatmeal Bread is being featured on Saveur’s Best of the Web right now.
That’s my wife!
Some of Jenn’s foodie readers had a request… They wanted to be able to print the recipes, or at least to see them without the pictures and whatnot in the way.
Well, we clearly want to have happy readers, so I’ve added a link to the individual pages, right next to the picture of the author. If you’re on the homepage, where there are many posts listed, you won’t see it… But if you click through to the page for a given recipe, and then look for the words “printable version”, you’ll be well on your way.
From that page, you’ll be able to read, print, or even email the simple version of the recipe. Check it out, and let me know if you have any trouble with it. And only print it if you have to… I’d rather have you save some paper.
Tim
Each year, my foodie wife is kind enough to our girls to let them choose exactly what they’d like to eat for their birthday (well, within reason). This year, she’s spoken with Oakley about it several times. When she asked yesterday, this was the response…
Well, we’re returning to a bit of normalcy after getting robbed (literally) a week or so ago. We’ve finally been allowed to replace the computer, monitor, and camera that are really a regular part of our routine. And so, blogging and excessive life recording may now resume!
Something that doesn’t stop these days is tomato production, and we’re grateful for it. Our window sills often look just like this…
“I do not like broccoli. And I haven’t liked it since I was a little kid and my mother made me eat it. And I’m President of the United States and I’m not going to eat any more.” – George H. W. Bush
I, however, do like broccoli. My family, including my 3, 6, and 8 year old girls, likes broccoli. And yes, even if they didn’t, I’m one of those mean mamas who would make them eat it – at least until one of them becomes Madam President! Which one or ones will it be? (As a side note, I’m glad to see broccoli in the new White House organic vegetable garden.)
So, until the White House, how do we fix broccoli here at the Martin house? Of course, broccoli with cheese is a classic. So much so that one year we grew broccoli and had the girls sprinkle grated cheddar around the plants as a fun and unique mulch! I also like to steam it and add a big splash of freshly squeezed lemon juice and big sprinkle of kosher salt. But perhaps my favorite way to prepare broccoli is to roast it. Using the Barefoot Contessa’s recipe as a guide, it’s easy to create what the Amateur Gourmet calls “the best broccoli of your life.” Perhaps even George H. W. Bush would like broccoli if he had it like this!
Isn’t there something magical about popovers,? No yeast, baking soda, or baking powder is needed to transform a handful of simple ingredients (just eggs, milk, flour, salt, and butter) into edible hot air balloons. The steam that’s created in the hot oven is what makes them pop – and makes us smile! Piping hot and dripping with butter and honey (from our neighbor’s bee hives, no less!), Tim rates a bite of this culinary marvel as one of his top 10. Stay tuned for the other 9…
One bit of advice: Resist the urge to open the oven door! Opening it allows heat to escape and causes the oven to cool down. This, in turn, causes the steam inside the popovers to condense and the popovers to collapse. Instead, take a peek through the oven window to see the magic at work!
Keep reading…