New Project...

I could barely contain my excitement when I picked up my very first CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) bag yesterday evening... and can you blame me? Look at all the goodies I got for just $20!

(Clockwise from left)
Purple Hull Peas
White Hakurei Turnips
Bag of asian greens
Cucumbers
Baby Summer Squash
Yellow Peppers
Purple Eggplant
White Eggplant

To be honest, I've never worked with peas, turnips, or asian greens, so this will be an adventure! I will be getting one of these each week for the next 9 weeks and I plan to make some exciting new dishes with these exciting new ingredients! And please... if you have any suggestions, let me know! (Purple Hull Pea recipes anyone??)

Last night I did use those precious little summer squash on a yummy pasta dish. I just sauteed them with some shallots and added some (homemade) frozen pesto. Then I boiled some penne pasta and tossed it all together. I knew I could get Mr. Smith to eat squash! All I had to do was disguise it in pesto and pasta... two of his favorites!

So- keep checking back for the next 9 weeks for recipes (and, I'm sure, some epic recipe failures)!

~ Mari

P.S. If you're in the Macon/Warner Robins area, here is the website for the CSA baskets.

Jazz Fest 2011: A Culinary Escapade

I've been MIA for a bit... apparently since Easter (I could have sworn I'd been dilligently blogging this whole time...).  My apologies.  I just got back from Girls State (that place I go for 10 days each year and can't ever seem to explain what the heck it is) and my soul got it's fill.  Now, it's time for my tummy to get it's fill by making some yummy summer meals.

But, before I start taking photos of each meal Ryan and I gobble up this summer, I will give you a little Cajun food porn from our trip to Jazz Fest 2011 in New Orleans, LA. The music was great... but we all know what my favorite parts of the trip were:

The first night we ate at Nola (one of Emeril's restaurants)

Delicious arugula, watermelon, sliced almond, manchengo cheese salad
with mint vinaigrette

My meal: braised pork shank served atop goat cheese polenta.
It was big. Real big.

The Kitchen



Welcome to Jazz Fest!

Crawfish Monica

Fried Sweet Plantains

Sweet Potato Pone

Crawfish Sausage Po-Boy

Fried Green Tomatoes

California Benedict

Yep. It was all pretty dang delicious. Hope you enjoyed looking as much as I did eating!


~ Mari

Back from the Honeymoon : Part III : Seafood

I had some of the best seafood I've ever eaten in my life on this trip... also some of the most unusual. Nothing like the crunch of an octopus tentacle to start your day off right...

Vernazza, Italy - Cinque Terre

Polpe e Patate

(Octopus and Potatoes)

Dubrovnik, Croatia

Mussels with fried Calamari

Venice, Italy
Rialto fish market

Venice, Italy

Octopus, Shrimp, Sea Snails, and Cuttlefish Roe

Murano, Italy
Fried baby shrimp, Scallop, white fish salad

How cute are those whole baby shrimp? It's the original popcorn shrimp!

~ Mari

Back from the Honeymoon : Part II : Pasta

There's some pretty intense food pornography going on here... I hope you can handle it. ;)

Vernazza, Italy - Cinque Terre

Ligurian pesto and spaghetti

Capri, Italy

Homemade pasta with roasted tomatoes and clams


Capri, Italy

Tagliatelle pasta with lemon cream sauce

Corfu, Greece

Pastitsio

Dubrovnik, Croatia

Pasta with seafood

Murano, Italy

Homemade seafood ravioli

Murano, Italy

Spaghetti with shrimp

Venice, Italy

Lasagna

Venice, Italy
Tagliatelle with mushrooms

What did I tell you?

YUM!

~ Mari

Mari-Not-So-Bland Goes to Print

I recently wrote an article for the Middle Georgia food magazine - "M Food & Culture" and it's published! Check it out here! (page 62) It takes a minute for the magazine to load, but it's pretty cool because you can look through the whole thing.

Look out world... here comes the not-so-bland!

~ Mari

New Favorite Food

It's a Lychee fruit! I had not eaten one of these things as of last week, and now I can't stop! Dang are they delicious little guys. The tree is native to China, but I got a bag of them at the Dekalb Farmers Market it Decatur, GA. Which is, by the way, the most amazing food store I've been to in the United States (possibly the world). LORD have mercy is it wondermous. Guess who I saw shopping there yesterday? Eli Kirshtein from Season 6 of Top Chef! Exciting stuff.

But, back to the lychee. According to Wikipedia, these little guys were so in demand in Imperial China that there was a "Lychee Task Force" of guys (with extra fast horses) that brought lychees from Canton. Yeah. They're kind of a big deal.

Another fun fact about lychee fruit is that the Chinese use it instead of a pacfier because of its healthly qualities.

The lychee has a hard spiny skin that is pink (and apparently turns brown when refrigerated). But, once you peel that dino-like skin off, the fleshy succulent fruit underneath is exposed. I wish I could describe how they taste, but it's almost impossible.


All I can tell you is that they are sweet and juicy and DELICIOUS!

And guess what the best part is? They are good for you! They are full of vitamin C and studies have found that they prevent the growth of cancer cells - especially breast cancer. How much better can it get? Better. They are even said to help the common cold and shrink swollen glands. As of right now, nothing is really ailing me, but that's not going to stop me from devouring them! I have a feeling this bag isn't going to last very long.

So, next time you're at a specialty grocery store (they might even have them at Kroger), grab a lychee or two (or 24...) and don't let their prehistoric exterior fool you. Enjoy!

~ Mari

Wedding Goodness (Beach Cookout Installment)

Sorry it's taken me so long to get around to posting wedding stuff! It was all a little overwhelming at first, but now that it's been a month, it is exciting to re-live everything!

This is the first installment of photos (taken by the amazing Sherri Aagenes). I apologize for the high-resolution-ness of them, but photos are so much more lovely when they are big. ;) Anywho, we did a beach cookout instead of a rehearsal dinner because... well... there was nothing to rehearse! We had no wedding party and we wrote the ceremony ourselves, so there was no need to have a big shin-dig to practice the ceremony.

Ryan's parents hosted a beach cookout at the Hunting Island State Park pavilion (next to a very old and very cool lighthouse) that started at 3:30 pm on Saturday, May 15, 2010. The weather was perfect, the food was amazing, and the company was great!

the beach at Hunting Island is littered with driftwood and fallen palm trees

the perfect setting for some pre-wedding photos

ryan and I - and our respective parental units

i got the idea for our "guestbook" canvas artwork on the offbeat bride tribe

each guest got a square to color as they so chose

the food was fantabulous - lowcountry boil & BBQ

mom & me

It was a fabulous day at the beach! :)

Happy Memorial Day!

Hope everyone had a fabulous Memorial Day! It is raining here in Kathleen, but we had our Memorial Day festivities last night, so all is well. Above is crudite and crackers with roasted red pepper hummus. A great way to start off the evening!



Our meal consisted of large hunks of prime rib (oh yeah....), steamed broccoli, and roasted fingerling potatoes. Twas delicious!

And then there was dessert... I made individual trifles (brownies, chocolate fudge pudding, snickers bars, and cool whip) that were ridiculously easy!

So, happy times to everyone!

~ Mari

The Best Mother's Day Gift Ever

Photo courtesy realsimple.com

Too bad I already got my mom something for Mother's Day or I would be all over this... artisan ice cream from Jeni's Ice Cream in Columbus, OH. Not only do their flavors sound amazing (recommended on "The Best Thing I Ever Ate" on the Food Network), they SHIP the homemade ice cream to your house! I can't even stand it!

Photo courtesy The Flirty Blog

So, though I didn't get any ice cream for mom for Mother's Day, I might have ordered some... just for the heck of it. :) Check out some of these flavors:

Salty Caramel

Queen City Cayenne

Thai Chili

Dark Chocolate

Goat Cheese with Roasted Cherries

Meyer Lemon Yogurt

Yummers, right? I know. So, if you're looking for the best Mother's Day gift ever, or just want some darn good ice cream (on your doorstep, no less), I would check out Jeni's Ice Cream. I can't WAIT to get ours in the mail! I will post pictures (if I remember to take them before I eat it all) and tell you about the amazingness as soon as they arrive!

~ Mari