It’s always been my dream to have a midsummer party, complete with fairy lights in the trees, small bites made with locally grown ingredients, and lots of chilled Champagne. I would love to add in a fire pit and lots of comfy seating and friends laughing and talking into the night. We now have the yard for it, but this year it doesn’t seem like we have had the time. We’re bogged down with some house projects and some major stress with a crooked former contractor (there will be SO much more on that when I am allowed to discuss), so entertaining hasn’t been a top priority.
Midsummer’s bounty from Red Fire Farm has buoyed my spirits during this past week, which was particularly tough. Our CSA share this week included carrots, sweet corn, celery, watermelon, cucumbers, zucchini, two cartons of blueberries, sage, basil, chives, green onions, kale, and lettuce.
While we’re not entertaining large groups, we did make time on CSA day for a family barbecue, My father-in-law is visiting from Ireland, and casual back yard get togethers are an easy way to enjoy our yard, family, and great food. We grilled the sweet corn right in the husks, along with some carne asada and buffalo burgers. A grilled Japanese eggplant from an earlier CSA share and a huge salad rounded out the meal.
I received a sweet surprise when I cut into the CSA watermelon; it was yellow! And it was so incredibly sweet and juicy and good. I love being messily covered in watermelon juice. 
I wanted to do some prepping of veggies from our share so they didn’t go bad quickly, so I decided to make an oven roasted salsa. I used CSA heirloom tomatoes, peppers, and an Aisla Craig onion along with a red tomato and red hot chili peppers from my own garden. Roasted up and blended together, the salsa is actually great cold with chips or hot as a sauce over chicken and veggies. I love how simple and healthy it is.
I took the sage and oven dried it at 180 degrees for a few hours. Sage to me smells like instant Thanksgiving, and sadly I am already thinking of the stuffing I will make that chilly morning in November. At least I will be able to bring a piece of my favorite season into it!
The rest of the week will include lots of salads and kale smoothies along with stuffed zucchini. I feel so grateful that we have amazing Massachusetts farms to bring food to our tables, and I look forward to sharing more!
Have a great weekend!
