Heirloom Popcorn

I am a huge popcorn fan, I usually eat popcorn 3-4 days a week. I like making my own popcorn this way i can control the butter, salt, pepper, etc. I was recently at a Worlds Market just looking around and while moving my cart from one aisle to the next my eyes looked upon a large tube of heirloom popcorn. I immediately snagged one and put it in my cart. The three variety's of popcorn that are in the tube are Classic Yellow, Crimson Red and Black Jewel popcorn, one pound of each popcorn. I like to mix them all together while making popcorn at home, pouring butter over it and using different types of salt. I am sometime in the mood for cracked black pepper. Below is a photo of the kernels all mixed together and a photo of what the popcorn looks like after its been popped.

Monte Cristos: The Anytime Sandwich

Renee and I have been craving Monte Cristos since returning from our trip from Vermont. The Monte Cristo is a unique sandwich in which can be enjoyed at any meal period. For a condiment some people prefer jelly, which isn't that bad. However, maple syrup is were its at. Warm or cold, its a match made in heaven. For those of you that don't know what a Monte Cristo, well there are many variations, mine is as follows: You take two pieces of Texas Toast(usually found on the bottom shelf of the bread isle) and dip into your french toast batter and let sit and soak up the eggs for a few minutes. Using a flat-top skillet on medium heat place on your two pieces of bread. While this is cooking get the slices of ham and turkey and two pieces of Swiss cheese, you will use this amount per sandwich. once the french toast is ready to flip, flip and place Swiss cheese of cooked side of french toast. Place the turkey and ham on the other side of the skillet and heat. Once heated pile onto you french toast with the melted Swiss cheese and create a sandwich. Remove from the skillet and slice in half or in quarters. Serve with maple syrup. Our sandwiches came out great and were so delicious, great to serve with some sauteed potatoes with onions and garlic. You will be full after eating this sandwich and will soon become a follower. I have some photos of Renee and I making them at my place.

My Brother-The Modern Day Farmer

I had been anticipating my trip to Vermont for over a year and a half to visit family, stand-up to my brothers wedding and hitting up some breweries and cheese makers. The unexpected surprise was how much of a "rural farmer" my brother has become. Mark and his wife Jade have 5 chickens that lay eggs with more on the way(my brother told me there names, I just cant remember there names, they sound cool though). Anyways Mark has more on the way for laying eggs and some for there meat.

The five chickens he has, each lay one egg a day, however, there are alot of varibles that can come into play inwhich you may only get 4, 3, even none. Mark told me that after Irene hit Vermont, the chickens did not lay eggs for a week.

One day, I woke up and made Renee, Mark and Jade breakfast. We had bacon, potatoes with wild ramps(read post on Wild Ramps to learn more) and eggs benedict with eggs that had been collected earlier that morning, you cant get any fresher than that. The yolks are so yellow that i over cooked the eggs thinking they needed more time. Mark just got back from his honeymoon with his wife Jade and they already have purchased more chickens, mostly meat chickens, hell he even just purchased a pig!!! Yeah a pig for 100 bucks!!! Fresh bacon, ribs, pork tenderloin, trotters, etc., so jealous. I am so proud of what my brother has been able to accomplish in life, being down to Earth, self sustainable in some aspects is just awesome.

Here are some fun facts that i learned while taking care of the chickens when my brother and his wife were on there honeymoon: -Fresh eggs dont have to be refrigerated for up to 3 weeks. -The color of a chickens ears tells you the color of there eggs -Chickens only lay eggs for about 2 years -Chickens dont sleep, they rest on there roost -Chickens usually lay eggs around 2 hours after you let them out of there coop in the morning -They need 12 hours of sunlight to lay eggs, so in the winter, Mark needs to add special lighting in the coop

Wild Ramps

One of the many things i was excited about going to Vermont was i knew the wild ramps were coming into season. Wild ramps are a wild leek, they are mostly found on the east coast and have been found as far south as Alabama. Wild ramps have a small white buld, rose pink stalks and broad green leaves. The odor of ramps is that of garlic and onions, this can be smelled just by walking through them in the forest. They are in season from late March to early July, but of course Mother Nature plays a huge role in there harvest.

I wanted to get some ramps while in Vermont. Being a native Vermonter, i have my spots to harvest ramps, fiddleheads, etc, however a good chef and or forager never tells. We got to the spot were i would always harvest ramps in the past and the hillside was covered with them right next to the stream. I picked ramps in sparatic spots and only taking a few at a time, replacing the dirt as i go, as not to disturb the enviroment in hopes of them coming back again next year. Renee got into the harvesting of ramps as well but only managed to pick four of them. We put them in a plastic bag with roots and all(they will last this way with some water for about a week in a refrigerator. Renee and I used them in potatoes we served at breakfast with my brother Mark and his wife Jade, we even but them in our scrambled eggs. They were very delicious, a mild sweet onion flavor, earthy and very fragrant. I have a bunch left and cannot wait to cook them up, a friend of mine posted pictures of them in rissoto, this i must try.