Common meal

I am a little sad.  I made some kickass dishes last night for common meal and kept thinking "gotta take some pics"...and then didn't.  Preparing for common meal is such a whirlwind.  And yesterday we did it sans Cap (he has bowed out this semester due to work constraints...though he will help with cooking things beforehand).

Anyway, I made Easy and Delicious Sausage Frittata, Sautéed Apples (Paleo Comfort Foods), Creamed Spinach (Paleo Comfort Foods) and a simple fruit salad with an incredibly luscious cantaloupe and local, organic blueberries from the beginning of summer.  Cap made his signature corn bread and jello.

Dinner was a hit.  It was the first time making the Sautéed Apples (I used Honeycrisp apples, Kerrygold butter, pecans and Penzey's cinnamon) and they were comforting and delicious.  The frittata was, indeed, easy to make.  I used Vacchiano Farm's Sweet Italian Sausage and it was so scrumptious.  The savory of fennel and pork, the pop of black pepper, the sweet of the yam and the creaminess imparted by the pastured eggs and coconut oil...a lovely dish. 

Sag ran running from the room to spit out the creamed spinach.  I was pleased to get a better result this second time around. (I am a kinesthetic learner and though I dislike making mistakes, I really do tend to learn from them quickly and efficiently.)  This dish took the most time to prepare and, for me, was fussy.  (Squeezing more and more water out of thawing frozen spinach is so not my idea of fun.)  Also, it simply is not as creamy as dairy creamed spinach.  Dropping this expectation is crucial in fully enjoying the dish.

There were virtually no leftovers despite triple batches of the spinach and apples, a double batch of corn bread and a batch and a half of the frittata.  My peeps left happy and full.

And now, an ode to my sister.

This morning I scrambled my leftover chard from the farm (originally braised with liquid leftover from the slow cooker pork) with a pastured egg.  I grilled a piece of corn bread leftover from last night with Kerrygold butter.  I had skipped the bread last night, but this morning, I heard the siren song of a piece with butter and fig jam.

My sister brought us a small jar of fig jam months and months ago.  I love everything figs, especially fig jam.  So I have kept this precious jar on the top shelf in the pantry.  Despite it being full of sugar.  Because I love fig jam.  And my sweet sister.

So, when I was inspired this morning, I considered it, and went for it.

Man, jam is SWEET when you haven't eaten it in a year!  I was really surprised by the sugar punch.  But, I enjoyed my crunchy crusted buttery corn bread with jam.  Yes I did.

(Oh and chard when it comes straight from the farm?  A wonderful toothiness remains through the tenderness of gently braised leaves.  Yum.)

As the kids and I picked up the living room in preparation for our guests, we came across the pine shaving curl my sister and brother-in-law brought to us Monday.  I asked the kids to place it on the seasonal shelf.  Simple, sweet, seasonal, sisterly.  We're planning on going up to the cabin in October and can't wait!

Peace.