Good Food Down on the Farm

We had too much cabbage and broccoli in the garden this year to use fresh, so I gave some of each away, and decided to try pickling some for a change. I've made sauerkraut in the past from cabbage, but was somewhat disappointed in the results. So this year, I found a recipe for pickling cabbage that calls for strips of red bell pepper, which I don't care for, so I substituted julienned carrots (also from the garden). There are several recipes for pickling cabbage that include carrots, so how bad could this be? We'll sample it in a few weeks to see how it turns out, but the cabbage looks nice and fresh - hoping it retains a little "crunch"! Then for the broccoli, I decided to use the recipe we've used for several years for pickling asparagus - it's spicy and tasty! Have to wait a couple of weeks to sample the broccoli, too - let the pickling brine work its magic!

This time of year is when we totally savor the fruits of the garden, especially the corn and tomatoes! Last night's supper was some of our Andouille Sausage Links (from our Berkshire hogs) with Corn, Tomato & Black Bean Salad . I had picked a bunch of corn and cooked it the night before, cut it off the cob and had it chilled in the refrigerator. Last night, I rinsed the black beans, added tomatoes and red onion and made the lovely dressing that has honey and chili powder in it - what a great combo! This savory-sweet, cold salad was a great complement to the spicy sausages!