"Dessert Still Life," Georg Flegel. Oil on wood, 22x28 cm. Alte Pinkothek, Munich.
As soon as I saw this still life by Georg Flegel I thought of my mother in-law, Valerie. Val always has the prettiest dishes at her house in San Diego, like the wine glass and footed blue bowl in the painting, and when we visit her at Christmastime we are serenaded by her collection of pet birds. She even keeps sesame candies like the white ones pictured above in her kitchen. (But no mice or bugs, for the record!)
This summer Rami and I have stuck pretty close to Austin for work obligations and such, so I am already dreaming of the winter when we’ll get to travel to visit Val and other family for the holidays. Since I’m longing for cooler weather, I’m mixing in some holiday favorites to our meal plan, along with chilled soups and other summer dishes.
Here’s what we’re getting in the Local Box:
- Yellow or White Peaches- Caskey Orchards & Cooper Farms
- Mango- G&S Groves
- Lady Cream Peas- Just Peach, Gundermann
- Onions- Gundermann Acres
- Assorted Squash- Massey Farm
- Yellow & Orange Tomatoes- Engel Farms
- Portobella Caps- Kitchen Pride
- Cantaloupe- My Father’s Farm
- Assorted Peppers- Fundermann, Animal Farm, Engel Farm
- Red Potatoes- Gundermann Acres
- Wednesday: Lady cream peas with peppers, onions and tomatoes; skillet cornbread
- Thursday: If we get enough portobello caps in our box to use them as pizza crusts, I’ll be making this recipe for grilled portobello pizzas, substituting a chopped tomato from Engel Farms for the cherry tomatoes in the recipe. If we don’t get enough, I’ll make or buy a pizza crust and top it with the sliced portobellos, plus all the ingredients the other recipe calls for. Either way we’re have mango smooothies for dessert.
- Friday: This is my adventurous meal for the week, and I’m going out on a limb to try this recipe for White Gazpacho with Canteloupe. White gazpacho is a traditional spanish chilled soup made with almonds, bread, oil and vinegar, and sweet Texas melon sounds like the perfect complement for those flavors. I’ll minimize the risk of culinary rejection by serving the soup with crusty french bread and a few kinds of local cheese.
- Saturday: We’re celebrating Thanksgiving in July with this slow cooker turkey breast and onions, and summer squash stuffing casserole.
- Sunday: I’ll shred some of the leftover turkey breast and mix it with barbecue sauce for sandwiches, with grilled balsamic-glazed peaches for dessert.
- Monday: We’re going to try for a healthy sloppy joe supper with this intriguing recipe for Vegan sloppy joes, which calls for lentils instead of beef or soy protein. On the side we’ll have simple potato packets.
- Tuesday: Leftover awareness night!