Crickets; watermelon salad

Not ONE comment or reaction to "the pillow." I'm in hysterics, y'all. Does everyone hate it? Methinks so. Hah!

Ok, have you made this salad yet? It is just too fabulous. I literally eat bowls of this daily. Arugula from my garden, newfound gem of a feta from the farmers market, melon, best quality oil and aged Balsamic, mint, salt and pep. You need to have this in your life!

Yum

People, fresh fava beans are a pain in the arse, but they are so worth the effort. 

You must first peel away their thick, puffer-jacket, fleece-lined shells to access the beans within. Then, you must blanch those and finally, slip the inner bean from the outer skin. That last step is particularly irritating because by that point in the game you're like, "Bean, come on. I want to eat you! And not even with a nice Chianti!"

Persevere! Because when you finish, you are left with a bowl of spectacular green, just waiting to be incorporated into something wonderful.

prepared fava beans

I myself most often make my fava-and-mint puree because slathering it across slices of hot, olive oily bread leaves me deeply happy.

mint

I did just that earlier this week and each day since. Today too, and I felt happy every time. It's awfully difficult to feel blue when faced with this color green. You know?

Guess what else this time of year offers? Watermelon AND real arugula. Real arugula, as opposed to clamshell arugula, is not just a lettuce. No. Real arugula has a fiery kick of which I never tire. Oliver loves it too, though it always leaves him fanning his tongue. I will never tire of getting him "somefing to dwink" for relief. It's adorable and I groove on his liking spicy lettuce.

With said arugula and watermelon (and also that mint!), you can make one of the best salads in the world. Starting now, I intend to eat at least one serving of this every day, not least because Ol and I discovered a remarkable feta cheese at the farmers market last weekend.

Promise me you'll get some good olive oil and some aged balsamic vinegar (or make your own by reducing some balsamic with a bit of sugar). Put two handfuls of real arugula on a plate and top it with chunks of watermelon. Crumble feta all over and drizzle with oil and the old vinegar. Sprinkle with salt and freshly ground pepper. Go!

Watermelon Rind Preserves- video, pie

The sour cherry pie was scrumptious! Wow! You might recall that when we were in Louisiana visiting my parents in late May, I made my mom vats of pickled watermelon rinds. She loved them, secreted them away, shared them grudgingly and just finished the final jar yesterday. Good as they were, they weren't quite what she remembered so fondly from her childhood; those were watermelon rind preserves. I knew I needed to try making some. Both make terrific use of the part of the watermelon usually tossed out with little to no regard, and as you know if you read Em-i-lis with any frequency, I love to avoid waste and go "head-to-tail" whenever I can. Last night, still feeling rather spunky and light despite the loss of power and resultant temp increase in our home, I realized that as my gas stovetop was still functional, I could finish up the rind preserve project I'd commenced earlier that day. My mom has some weird food allergies, and I love to make her things she can eat with abandon. And you know how I feel about canning. So... I can't wait to taste them and give my mom the big jar when I see her next.