Rolla Farmer's Market Finds - Peach Time!

Rolla Farmer's Market finds include purple potatoes, tarragon, basil, tomatoes and peaches.

Rolla Farmer's Market Finds - Peach Time!

Mid-July in Missouri is a time of bounty and farms, and Rolla's Farmer's Market, offer a wonderful variety of locally-grown foods. On a warm Saturday morning, it was easy to scoop up tomatoes and basil, one of my favorite food combinations.

I have basil at various stages growing at home but the smell of the freshly-cut basil was too hard to resist!

At the same table, a rare find, a little bouquet of fresh tarragon and fingerling purple potatoes, some red inside, others white. Growing up in Lima, Peru, where potato varieties are more prolific than North American apples, it was nice to have a potato choice.

And last, but not least, ready to eat peaches, picked that morning. I had planned to make a cobbler but one of the peaches didn't make it home. The rest have been rapidly disappearing from the bowl on the counter so may have to get more peaches next week.

Charlotte

Spring Decorated Deviled Eggs

Edible pansies make a lovely garnish on deviled eggs.

One of the advantages of meeting monthly for a bee club are the goodies people bring to share.

During our March 2016 Rolla Bee Club meeting, a plate of deviled eggs showed up for a snack beautifully garnished with small spring pansies. Pansies are edible and make a lovely garnish for eggs as well as salads and other dishes.

How to Use Flowers as Garnish

For many of my friends, pansies mark the beginning of the growing season. If you buy them from a garden center, you are buying plants that have been treated with pesticides to prevent bug damage.

Please wash them before using. Use a spray bottle with warm water and gently spray so you don't damage the delicate petals. Allow to dry. Cover if refrigerating.

Other Quick Green Garnish

Adding color to any dish does not have to be complicated. Herbs not only make a nice garnish but add a nice pop of color.

These deviled eggs also had a sprinkling of fresh sliced green onions that added a nice touch of green. Delicious!

Charlotte

Guavas

I was walking by the fruit display at a local grocery store when a Chinese man pointed at the pile of fruit. "Guavas," he said to no one in particular. In Brazil, I told him, we grew up with trees in our back yard with both white and pink "goiabas." We would eat them straight off the trees. Once in a while, the fruits would be collected for a jam-like concoction we would add to homemade biscuits. In China, this gentleman told me, they are much larger, more the size of a papaya.

There are 100 different species scattered around the world, although most trees can be found in Central and northern South America and related countries along the same equatorial zone. About the size of a lime, this small guava tastse like a cross between a pear and a strawberry, not too sweet but definitely a fruit.

According to one of my cookbooks, you can eat these with salt and pepper. Hawaiians like to dip sliced guavas in soy sauce and vinegar. I like to eat them as is; each has about 100 calories. They are rich in dietary fiber, vitamins A and C - one guava has four times the amount of vitamin C in an orange. Because they are a tropical fruit, they are usually available in December and January.

Have you tried a guava?

Charlotte

Lettuce Butterflies

Lettuce butterflies are a great fun, and easy, treat.

Using Romaine lettuce, cut 3 to 4 inch pieces, then trim wings. Add reduced fat peanut butter, almond butter or a favorite butter spread; spoon 1/2 tsp and roll in your hand.

Place in lettuce center; shape the head at the end with toothpick.

Break toothpick in half; add to head so the butterfly can easily be picked up with fingers.

Charlotte