Friday, July 31, 2009

Weekend in New York

Gifts from the Garden

I'm leaving town tonight to visit some good friends for the weekend in the Thousand Islands region of Upstate New York. I'm really looking forward to a nice relaxing weekend. One of the great things about visiting friends in the summertime is that the question of what to bring as a gift of appreciation for your hosts is a no-brainer... everything comes straight from the garden!

Yesterday I picked some hot cherry peppers and stuffed them with sharp provolone cheese and prosciutto ham. They went into a large glass jar and then I filled it with some good Olive Oil, some additional sweet and hot peppers, and some fresh Oregano and Basil from the herb garden. These Cherry Poppers will be perfect for munching on while the house full of great chefs prepares dinner. (Everyone who will be staying at the house this weekend is a talented cook, and we all have a wonderful time preparing meals as a group production!)

This morning I went out and harvested some Detroit Red Beets, some Baby French Carrots, and some Cherry Tomatoes. These will be perfect in any type of salad we choose to make.

My weekend hosts are avid gardeners themselves, although living in upstate New York, they have had even cooler conditions than I have experienced here in the Mid-Atlantic, so I know they will appreciate anything that I can bring them straight from the soil. I had really expected to be bringing some nice ripe tomatoes with me, but I still do not have anything to harvest. (Except of course the container grown Cherry Tomatoes)

Detroit Red Beets


Baby French Carrots

3 comments:

Stephanie said...

Nice carrots and beetroots :-) I hope you would have an enjoyable weekend with your good friends. Btw, do you just throw away the leaves of the carrots and beetroots? Or can be used to make vegetable soup.

Christopher Paquette said...

I never throw away the greens.... I either steam them or use them in a salad.

Stephanie said...

That sounds good! Have a wonderful day.