Is it Summer already??

I think it may be summer. Ok, so technically, it doesn't begin for another month and a half. But what's up with the weather here lately? It's been in the 80's (although it's not the 90's yet!), humid, sticky, random afternoon thundershowers. And the beautiful, bright colors of summer lighting up our lives at this Wednesday's Farmer's Market.

Oh, the seductive scent of strawberries lingered in the air this morning while the humidity rose. We were parked next to Vest Berries today and across from Witten Farm, so how could we miss it? Strawberries make me want a lassi. Let's make one! Here's a lovely Casa lassi recipe!

Casa Nueva's Strawberry Lassi (for parties!)

1 1/2 C Filtered Water
3 quarts Plain Yogurt
1/2 C Honey (try some from Cantrell's!)
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 1/2 tsp Sea Salt
Juice of 1 Lemon
3 C Strawberries (check out berries from Vest Berries, Witten Farm, Cowdery Farm, Yankee Street Farm, and the list goes on...)

Put all of these ingredients into a gallon-sized pitcher. Use an immersion blender to blend thoroughly, and then pour into tall glasses. Stick straws in the glasses. Garnish the tops of the glasses with a couple of slices of strawberry, and then drink deeply for good health.


Cowdery Farm had a beautiful display of crisp green beans, luscious cucumbers, colorful basils and gorgeous red and yellow tomatoes! I happily bought some of their green beans and snapped a few pics of their mouthwatering produce.


There were so many photo ops today, what with all the amazing things everyone was offering. I bought deep green heads of broccoli from Vest Berries and itty bitty baby zucchini from Proffitt's Farm. The owner told me that the very first zucchinis that pop up on his plants don't get pollinated, so he cuts them off, rather than let the fruit rot. After he does this, the plants seem to really flourish! And then he gets to bring these babies to market to sell to folks for dipping in some ranch dressing (or Casa Nueva's Creamy Garlic salad dressing!), or for cutting in half and stir-frying. That's what I'm doing for dinner tonight!

The torrential rain didn't dampen my spirits today. There were many vendors with a variety of products today! Wednesdays are a great day for zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes, broccoli, apples, strawberries, honey, eggs, pork, angus beef, peas, green beans, breads, sweet treats, jams, jellies, cheeses, herbs and greens! Oh my!






And salsas! Did I forget to mention salsas? Come visit Casa Nueva's table and get yer fresh, locally made salsas! We use Ohio tomatoes and delicious peppers from Cowdery Farm and Shade River Farm. See you this coming Saturday!