Most people look forward to eating out, however that is not the case with us.  We love dining in, especially this time of year with the garden kickin' it into full gear.  Picked our first peppers, and what better to go with them are some onions and sausage.  Made some "Cosi" rolls for sandwiches.  Ok, a Cosi roll really doesn't exist, but that's what we call them.  Why, you ask.  Well, when we lived in Queen's NY, I would take the girls into Manhattan for dance class a few times a week.  There were these chain sandwich shops, called "Cosi" we would eat at alot.  Similar to Atlanta or Panera Bread.  But with one HUGE difference.  They would bake the bread for the sandwiches in each shop.  When the employees weren't making you your sandwich, they were throwing bread in the oven.  Of course, how could I not quiz these people about what they were doing!   They made these flat loaves of bread.  Not flatbread, but flat loaves.  The bread was incredible and made for a wonderful sandwich.  It was like the size of a normal slice of sandwich bread, but tasted like a grinder roll.  Very cool.  Use  your normal sandwich bread recipe that you like, (this was a 2 lb. recipe) form like you are making bagettes, place on a cornmealed baking sheet, and squish the doe flat.  I brush with an egg wash (careful not to let any drip or it will stick) sprinkle with kosher salt and poppy seeds.  (The salt on top of the bread is fantastic!)     Give it a shot.  Don't depair, give it a few tries, it's worth it!    

The "Great Potato Experiment" has drawn to a close and we came to a few interesting conclusions.  If you recall back from blog post, dated 3/14/2011, I planted some seed potatoes in a garbage can cut in half.  I also planted a handful directly into a raised bed.  I waited for the green tops to flower and start to die off pretty good before harvesting.  
As you can see in the pictures below, I easily pulled the garbage can off the potatoes and broke apart the mound.  There were a decent amount of potatoes, but seemed smaller than the ones that I planted directly into the ground.  Also, I found significant ant damage to many of the potatoes in both circumstances.  Will treat soil with DE (Diatamcious Earth) next time I plant.  If I had a garden with limited planting space, I would recommend using the garbage can situation.  But I think next spring, I will devote more bed space to my plantings.  I still will use the garbage cans.  Another factor in regards to potato size may be that I need to get them planted sooner.  It got very warm down here early and that may have effected the potato.  We have eaten about half of them, and they were extraodinarily creamy and yummy!!!!  Just as I had hoped.   The thought of eating our own organic potatoes made us "giddy"!  Grocery store potatoes are one of those vegetables that are inundated with chemicals.

 

Constant mid to high 90's for the past month leaves everyone feeling... ick.  Rushing to get everything done before noon is sometime difficult, but we still manage to take time to enjoy the farm.  The animals seem to be coping just fine.  

Attended Piedmont Dairy Goat Show in Fletcher, NC, just outside of Asheville.  The weather was beautiful and the mountains are always amazing.  But the best part was seeing all our friends!    Of course, all the goaties, big and small, are just beautiful to watch, however, with each passing show, our family of friends have become so special to us and we so look forward to seeing them each time.  It boggles my mind why more families aren't involved with such a family friendly activity.