She's back!

Wow, I've really been neglecting the blog! I've been a little preoccupied with continuing shoulder pain/mobility issue (turns out my minor surgery in January left me with a severed spinal accessory nerve, so my trapezius muscle is pretty much paralyzed. Desperately seeking a surgeon to do nerve repair in the short window of time that remains for that type of surgery, or looking at a major tendon transfer surgery next year) and honestly haven't been cooking very much.

The wheels of local eating have been turning, however. We've enjoyed ramps, morels, and asparagus, and the regular market season has mostly begun. In the garden, the shallots and fava beans are growing nicely (and fava bean flowers are very beautiful!); peas aren't doing so well (most of the ones planted directly failed to germinate); leaf lettuce is almost ready to harvest, and the new herb garden is planted and slowly doing its thing. I have cowpeas, roma beans, and cannellini waiting to be planted, as well as leeks and scallions.

The freezer is still astonishingly full! We have corn, green beans, berries, peaches, marinara sauce, Brussels sprouts, celery and green peppers all still in stock. It's hard to eat out of the freezer when fresh food is available, but I am planning some tasty treats like corn chowder to tempt us.

Our CSA's start next month, and there will be extensive blogging about how many meals you can get out of a CSA share ( we have both vegetable and fruit shares this year.)

My stores of dried beans have been replenished, as well as my treasure trove of red ruby popcorn (thanks Pop and Judy for both!) Looking forward to trying the dried crowder peas (which are strangely misshapen, due to to the crowding in the pod that gives them their name) and appaloosa beans, as well as the variety whose name I have totally forgotten (but don't worry, I wrote it down somewhere!)

Tonight's woefully unphotographed dinner featured marinara sauce from the freezer, augmented with fresh asparagus and shitakes and herbs from the garden; it was served over fresh pasta from Pastaria at the North Market. I bought A LOT of asparagus this week, so I am trying to come up with new ways to serve it! (Roasted and topped with fried cheese is a current favorite.)