A little Wedding Bliss

So we survived the three weekends in a row of weddings of all good friends.  It was such a fun and exciting time, but a little to busy for my liking.  I am happy to say that I am sitting in my favorite coffee shop, sippin on a dark roast, and blogging, a hobby I have not done in some time.  And as I am sitting here, I am watching the vendors and volunteers pack up the Waltham Farmers Market.  I really have nothing to blog about accept weddings, since that has been my life lately.  I went to the farmers market today for the first time in three weeks!!  I was hoping to go to the Kennebunkport Farmers Market while I was there last weekend, but I didn't have the heart to ask the bride to stop at the farmers market between hair and make-up on her wedding day ;)

I have been fortunate that I can stop at Strawberry Hill Farm on my way home from work and continue my local lifestyle.  I also talked my husband into taking a detour from Maine last weekend and going to Springdell farm to stock up on meat and veggies.  It was a much needed trip and they still have some tomatoes too!  Things seem to be settling down at the market these days.  I couldn't find any red tomatoes today, only green.  I bought them anyway because I love to pickle these.  There are many root vegetables such as celery root, carrots, parsnips and there are the greens such as kale and swiss chard too.  Apples seem to be plentiful as well.  

With all the wedding fun, I managed a way to connect my blog and the weddings!! There appears to be an fantastic trend of putting fall vegetables in centerpieces and bouquets and I have found the courage to cook them!  Every wedding for the last three weeks has had either basil, kale, artichokes, and plums!
At one of the weddings I got to take home the fabulous centerpiece full of plums, kale, and artichokes!  And of course, I had to cook it!

The first thing I did the next morning was chop up the kale.  I like to try to sneak kale into dishes so my husband doesn't notice.  I chopped up the kale and sauteed it with some olive oil, onion and garlic.  Then I added some great northern beans and served it with some fresh fish.

The real challenge was the artichokes.  I love artichokes, but I'll admit that I buy them canned.  With the help of you tube, I was able to figure out how to cook this beautiful vegetable.  I made grilled artichoke with garlic mayonnaise.  The first steps are to peel the stem, cut off the top, and trim the leaves on the choke.  Then cut in half.  Here's the tricky part, scooping out the seeds.  The seeds are super small and are covered in these feathery like strings, which get all over the kitchen.  And the video makes it look so easy, just scoop it out with a spoon.  Well I had my knife in there and tried to cut it out.  By the third artichoke, I found the best way to do this was cut a half circle with a knife and scoop it out with a spoon and put some muscle into it!  After you have the fun with the seeds, steam the artichokes on high heat for 5 minutes and then low heat for 25 minutes.  Be careful when you take them out, I squished one by accident.  Set on a plate and brush both sides with some olive oil and sprinkle a little S&P.  Grill on each side for about 2 minutes.  Let cool and enjoy.  These really were good especially to dip in the garlic mayo.  The garlic mayo is simple to make and you can do it while steaming the artichokes.  Take one half cup mayo, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, and mince two garlic cloves and mix well.  If you are up for a little challenge, try it out!  I hear butter or mustard goes well with artichokes too!

And those plums... those were great as is!  A sweet late night snack after getting home from a night of dancing.

So I guess I managed to eat this centerpiece!  Congratulations to the happy couples!!


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