I was introduced to smut at an early age...or...guacamole en molcajete!!

Well, it's officially summertime. The weather is getting warmer, the rain is seeming to dissipate, and it won't be long until we are able to get some really fresh produce. I have a tiny garden this year. I planted some tomatoes and a jalapeno plant. you see, every time I try to go big and have a huge garden, I end up failing to keep up with it. I'm more of a do-er than a maintain-er. So, this year I thought I would plant a small amount that I could manage, and so far things are looking pretty good. I love making pico de gallo, so I thought that having tomates and jalps would be a good thing. another thing I will be using these for is guacamole en molcajete. (click below for vid!) It's very simple to make and really fresh and versatile.

I also have a video up on you tube if you'd rather see it there. Other food pics are sticky chicken thighs with chickpeas, tomatoes, and bacon, and a little tuna and potato salad with sugar peas. The chicken dish was sort of an improv of a jamie oliver recipe called "pot roast meatloaf", but I obviously switched out the ground beef for chicken.

other stuff:

summer also has had me thinking about food memories. for example: corn day. Two words that can strike fear into the heart of any nebraska kid. You see, corn day involved waking up super early and picking 47 truckloads (ok, perhaps my number has been a bit skewed by nostalgia) and then bringing it back to your grandma's house to shuck ear after ear while the grown-ups sit inside and laugh at the toil that overcomes your soul (I later learned that they were blanching, cutting, and bagging the corn to be frozen. The worst part about corn day was smut. No, we didn't have a secret stash of nudies to browse, I'm talking about the straight-up funk that lives under the husk of some unlucky ears of corn. It stinks, is usually covered in bugs and was usually wiped on some part of me by my brothers. I hear it's a delicacy in some countries, probably the same ones who eat donkey wieners and boar buttholes. there was an upside to corn day, however, and that was, well, obviously the abundance of corn that would later grace our tables throughout the year. Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, and tuesdays were all incomplete without this sweet golden staple. Since it is just mames and I, corn day has kind of fallen by the wayside, but I know it still goes on strong. perhaps I will revive the tradition when I have kids of my own who can learn the value of the sweet sting of sweat from a hard days work...

do you guys have fond/unfond(?) food memories? let me know in the comments secth. pieces

dish

DISH recommends:Lodge cast iron 10.5 inch griddle. I use this thing almost every day. It's great for everything from frying eggs and searing meats, to roasting potatoes (I like to slice the tates thin and fan them out in a galette, like this. seasoned with a little salt and peps and olive oil and roasted at 400, they're hard to beat. $22.95, but I picked mine up at the teej for way less. also, they still have those sweet wusthof ikons I posted about, and they have added a couple of santokus to the mix. check it...

also recommended:flip video camera. Mames got one of these free at neocon and I have been playing around with it. used it to record the guac vid and is pretty handy. the youtube link is a better quality...don't know the price as we got it for free, but loves it...