Years ago I lived on Aquidneck Island (home to Newport, Rhode Island) and every June we’d head over to Quonset View Farms, high up in the middle of the island where the cold fog off the ocean just kisses the plants and fades away in time for daily sun baths. The soil must be pretty special there, too, as I swear I’ve never tasted strawberries so sweet and juicy. At Quonset View, it was hard to get out of the field without eating most of your berries.
Ever since then, I haven’t really been able to eat much in the way of commercial strawberries, which tend to be hard and white in the middle and short on flavor. I wait 11 months for the real deal. It’s kind of torturous, but pretty blissful when the local berries ripen. I try to pick enough to freeze some for later months, too, but they never last very long.
My longing was made even worse this year by the fact that Rebecca has been selling strawberry plants at the farm stand where my garden is. Every day that I pass by these beauties, another berry ripens on one of the plants, red and juicy and drooping seductively on its green stem, just begging to be eaten.
It's hard to say no to cheese. Since I never tasted Parrano cheese I was more than happy to accept a sample to try. Apparently it has been around since the 1970's but I can't recall ever seeing it at the market. It's a semi-firm cheese created by a Dutch cheese maker who went to Italy and was inspired to create a Gouda that would be reminiscent of Northern Italian style cheese. It's aged for at least 5 months and often described as tasting like a cross between Gouda and Parmesan. I'm not sure I agree with that assessment, but I can tell you it's buttery and has a caramel like flavor that complements tomatoes beautifully.
Sure, drinking a cold beer is one's of life's simple pleasures. But why not be happier by eating beer too? Meats like beef and venison taste better when cooked with beer, which is why beer spiked chilis and stews and beer-infused pot pies taste so great.
My current comfort food of choice is chocolate. It seems to sooth all muscle aches after a long day in the vineyard. Don't worry if you've never attempted a souffle, this recipe is easy and foolproof and it doubles nicely if you want to serve it at a dinner party. The souffle rises very nicely, it was even higher than is shown but souffles do start to shrink if you don't serve them right away.
I am obsessed with shrimp tacos right now! We are eating them at least twice a week and even that isn't enough for me. They are such an easy meal to put together. Sometimes they are more fancy than others and other times it's just the tortilla and shrimp.