Mid July already?  Say it ain’t so!

Eat your Wheaties early this Saturday, and get to the market before the strawberries and cherries are gone at Door County Fruit. (Shoppers reported smelling the strawberries from Segoe Rd. last week.)  Their fruit sells out faster than an Illinois governor, so don’t dawdle.

How much freezer space do you have?  Blueberry season begins with Flyte Family Farm; The Statzs’ are bringing more currents and  cherries; Vivian Green, Black Earth Valley, Sai Vang and several other vendors have blackberries and raspberries;  these summer goodies are  easy to freeze, and in the dark of winter you won’t be tempted  to compromise your food budget on those soulless plastic boxes with more miles on them than my old mowing shoes.

If you feel more of a commitment to the glories of summertime fruit than mere shopping, Morningwood has Boyne and Caroline raspberry bushes to begin a patch in your garden.

Prairie Farm Produce offers you an opportunity to be a hero by surprising someone with a bouquet of  eye candy….you can indulge yourself often with these sweets: the calories in flowers accumulate only in the soul.

When you stop by Dreamfarm for eggs or goat cheese, be sure to ask about their Day on the Farm event (sponsored by REAP) coming up Sunday the 24th.  Rain or shine, this is a fun way to get a taste of farming without  that pesky dawn to dusk work schedule.

Dreamfarm’s stand is next to Potter’s Crackers where you can get Nancy Potter’s latest seasonal creations, Carrot Graham, Summer Dill and Basil Walnut Pesto crackers.  (Potter’s Facebook page is here.)  Visit their beautiful new website-online ordering too!

Dolci’s Italian American Sweets has added new goodies, too:  pizzelle cookies (perfect cuddled up to a scoop of Sassy Cow’s ice cream) and Italian flatbreads that want only a cheese (Schroeder’s, Murphy’s, Edelweiss) and sausage (Pecatonica Valley, Jordandal, Hawk’s Hill, Jen Ehr) platter to begin an antipasti buffet.  Did you check Jordandal’s Facebook fan page for this week’s special?  The fan pages are public and don’t require a facebook account to view them.

Westside Community Market has a new fan page; there’s a 5$ market gift certificate waiting for the first person to like the page and post which photo in this newsletter matches our profile photo.

It seemed like everybody was carrying around these adorable little honey bears last week.  Bonde Bee has them for a limited time. (Is it too early to say “stocking stuffers”?  Nonetheless, the honey never spoils, and you’ll be so glad you stashed some for the holidays)

Making a Meal of the Issues this week…listening to Joy Cardin discuss the book “Weeds; In Defense of Nature’s Most Unloved Plants” with author Richard Mabey might make you feel better about the state of your garden and lawn, and this TED talk from Jonathon Drori about saving seeds might make you feel better about the state of the planet.

Recipes!

Let the  first recipe speak for itself:

(Note:  I do think that it’s shameful to ever “discard” garlic–and probably bad luck too–so if you don’t want the rest of the clove, give it to me.)

Pick up bread (Stella’s, Honey Bee Bakery, Madison Sourdough) smoked sausages, veggies, and you’ve got a summer dinner on the deck without lighting up the grill.  (Your favorite grill master can still wear his funny apron.)

Linda Schultz gave us the next recipe and stresses that you can make it with all the summer fruits:

“This is a baked dessert from the ingredients used to make crepes.  It’s French and it’s delicious!”

Clafouti with Fruit

1 lb berries or your favorite fruit of the season

1¼ cups milk

4 eggs

½ cup sugar

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup flour

1 ½ Tablespoon melted butter

¼ cup powdered sugar

Method:

*Place fruit in an 8 cup baking dish

*In your blender or food processor, combine remaining ingredients (reserve the powdered sugar) and blend until smooth.

*Pour the batter over the fruit and bake 50-55 minutes at 350 degrees.  Dust with reserved powdered sugar and serve warm.  (Really good with whipped cream or ice cream)

Web Extras:

There’s a tasty cherry tomato salad recipe from Kitchen Gardener’s International here.

The Honey and Jam blog has a beautiful berry story with a tea and blackberry sorbet recipe at the end.  (The recipe would be excellent with any berry that you like)

If America’s Test Kitchen fine tunes a recipe, you know it’s going to be good.  Their Best Blueberry Muffin recipe is here.

Here’s a luscious vegan blueberry cheesecake that everyone will like.