The South, week 3

I can't remember where this week went; I only know that I've been sweating a lot. The watermelons are in in south Georgia, and we continue to partake of them. Tomatoes are everywhere. Peppers are starting to ripen. Leave a cucumber alone and it turns into a melon overnight.

We don't grow sweet corn ourselves, because to get decent pollination you need to plant a big block of it. We don't want to spare the space. And why should we, when so many other folks around here grow it? It's easy to get, and man, is it good.

Elsewhere in the steamy southland...

Molly made a frittata-like zucchini casserole (photo at left) with eggs from her own hens and zukes from her own garden. The side dish of roasted veg came from her own garden and from a farm 1.5 miles away. She washed it all down with beer from the Duck Rabbit Brewery in Farmville, N.C.




Steph is posting about last week's OLS meal this week, and will be posting about this week's OLS meal next week. Got it? Good, because you'll want to see what she's been doing with all her farmers' market gleanings.

The Purloined Letter has been somewhat wilted by the heat, so she only wants salads most days. But she managed to get close enough to the stove to make homemade Norwegian whey cheese. And then she served clafouti for dessert, which makes me want to ask for a dinner invitation.

Jen sneaked actual fruit and vegetable matter into her meat-and-potatoes-loving husband's meal. Behold the glory that is Squash (incognito) fritters.

Laurie's ratatouille on cheese grit cakes also passed muster with her husband, who normally spurns squash and eggplant.

Jeff and Joyce's cheddar studded meatloaf patties and mashed potatoes were so good, they forgot to take a picture. But here's what they had to say about it.

Like me, Jasmine stopped eating meat at age 16. And like me, she has since added it back into her diet. But beef and its kin are still a little foreign to her. Read her blog to share her first experience with locally raised buffalo.

Summer vegetables + mandoline = Jessica's work lunch!

Paulette served a local meal with local drinks: a perry (hard pear cider) from a local winery for the grownups, and muscadine grape juice for the kids.

The recent heat and humidity reminded Maggie of her childhood on the banks of the Missouri River. The perfect accompaniment to that feeling was oven-fried catfish.

Stew, whose Week 1 microwave soup you may recall, has taken eating locally at work to a whole new level. Her coworkers are even starting to notice!

And in other fish-related news, has anyone heard of Barramundi? Joanne hadn't before this week. But she was delighted to discover that it's a farmed fish that is raised in Florida in an environmentally friendly manner. She baked it in a coconut crust with a side of mango and orange salsa. She also served a salad made with local greens and Georgia melon.

Pattie has just eaten the last of her homegrown Purple Peruvian potatoes. And you should also check her blog to find out about her field trips to a local chocolatier and a cut-your-own sunflower farm.

A beef hash with vegetables was the special chez Bibliotecaria. It fed her for four days (!) and helped her clean out the fridge before a business trip.

Amy has been under the weather lately, so she craved something souplike. She made a hearty beef stew with golden zukes, tomatoes, potatoes, and onion. Dessert was fresh fruit, and plenty of it: blackberries, figs, and the first melons of the Carolina summer.