epic spring salad. homemade healthy.

I like to make salads epic. Ever since I was young I would try to scoop up all the "jimmys" at the bottom of the salad bowl. That's where all the salty brined goodies are, all the nutty bits and herbaceous bites. The right balance of salty, sweet, creamy, crunchy, and acidic can raise an everyday salad up to epic proportions. 


This week at the farm, raspberries were the star. There we were, just our sun-kissed faces popping up from behind the line of raspberry crop. I found that looking up from below for the berries was choice. Seeing that flash of juicy red flicker within the greenery sparked miniature bursts of excitement within. We picked and picked. Dark, deep purple berries, young bright berries, and sunny golden berries speckled the half-pints. Each little berry hand picked for our community to savor. After hours of picking, we each just hand a handful of pints to contribute. Our bellies were already fermenting the cosmetically-deficient berries as we readied the beautiful berries for selling. 

Rion's friends came to visit during the week of raspberries, so naturally, we had to make a huge farm dinner. Rion's friend is an spiring chef in Austin, TX, so I brought out the big salad guns to get them excited about our farm super fresh eating. We piled raspberries on the fresh tender salad greens and sprinkled chives on top. Sarah's homemade raw goat chevre added a salty bite, and roasted beets from a neighbor farm added deep rooty sweetness. The only non-farm salad topper were almonds, which I candied with butter and sugar before adding to the salad. 

We all noshed on the goodness. So many jimmys to search for! So enjoy this salad, and make sure to give thanks to all those who pick raspberries! 

mustard. homemade pantry.

mustard.

I plan on starting a mustard revolution. A huge upheval in our culture, where mustard, with its nostril burning pungency and tangy burst of flavor, will rise to the top of the condiment hierarchy and rule the table-side arena. 

So I really appreciate mustard. 

And there's a mustard for everyone. No one is left mustardless in the mustard kingdom. Honey mustard for the sweeter crowd, super spicy horseradish mustard for those strong at heart, or champagne mustard for impressing those at a mustard gala. Yellow mustard is for those new or shy to the mustard world and those folks need your help in the good cause of real good mustard. 

sourdough cornmeal pancakes. fermented eats.

Sourdough Cornmeal Pancakes (with orange!)

So every Friday, after four days of weeding thousands of onions under the sweet hot Oregon Sun (I'm talking very southern Oregon), we celebrate with some pancakes. My partner Rion and I have gotten our method down, where I whip up the ingredients in a big bowl and he starts a'flippin them, one at a time on two cast irons (that's his style). We always seem to have some folks coming by for a bite, planned or not, and it is always such a wonderful morning feast. The dew is still rising from the leaf while we munch down our mini pancake stacks.