I will never go frozen again

Y'all, I had a revelation and a gardening success tonight, all at the same time.

So, I've been growing garden peas this year. I've grown sugar snaps before, but not for years and never a basic garden pea. I had visions of fancy pea puree and whatnot, but I probably won't have a big enough crop for that, so I decided to pick some tonight and just cook them with dinner. (Dinner, by the way, contained three things and two of them came from my patio garden. I'm a little proud. Imagine if I had more than just a patio!) Anyway. This whole time I've been wondering why I've never actually seen fresh peas in the produce section - sugar snaps, snow peas, but not garden peas, except for bags of frozen peas. I can now say that it take a lot of pea pods to produce a dish...and the shelling is a process. Although it was my first time doing this, so I guess I probably don't know the most efficient way to do it. I'll say this, though: it was WORTH it.

I picked probably 2 dozen pods and shelled them, leaving me with about half a cup of peas. These peas, for the record, bore NO resemblance to the frozen peas I've always eaten. I generally support frozen vegetables - healthier than canned, and they fill the gap between fresh seasons. But this was a totally different vegetable! I've told you about my weird allergies before, and they meant I couldn't snack on them raw, but I wanted to get as close as I could, so I blanched them. I brought a small sauce pan of water to boiling, tossed them in with some sea salt, and 30 seconds later drained them and dished them with a tiny bit of butter. They were SO GOOD. They still had a pop, a crunch, like fresh peas, and a juiciness to them. I hope the plant produces many more...maybe I'll even stop long enough to get pictures of the next round!

Baking the Opposite of What I Preach

  
It is time for true confessions. 

Today, I did something totally opposite of what I usually blog about. Nothing about it was local. Nothing was seasonal (unless you REALLY stretch seasonal). Nothing about it was organic, or even remotely healthy. But sometimes, it's just really important to have Funfetti.

Yes, you read that correctly. See, I was in Target the other day (source of all things good and dangerous...and just wait till they start making their own brand of liquor...and you know they will...Archer Farms Gin, anyone?), looking for random red white and blue picnic stuff for my fireworks picnic with EPB tonight, and spotted a box of "Stars and Stripes Funfetti". I could not help myself. While I believe strongly in baked goods from scratch - and in fact have a darn good cupcake recipe that I've made before - I feel like Funfetti supersedes all rules.

A little history. When I go home to New Orleans, I usually stay with my friend Jen. (Yes, I know you all think I'm from Philly/Jersey. I am...I just have other homes too.) Anyway, Jen. She gets an excuse to clean up her guest room (to her husband I say "you're welcome"), and I get time with my friend and her family, plus fun drinks and home-cooked food. This also includes, not infrequently, Funfetti cupcakes.

Meanwhile, I grew up in a house of where convenience foods dared not tread - my mother made, among other things, all my birthday cakes from scratch - whether this was for health or economic reasons, I don't know, but probably both. Other things that came from scratch: pâtés, yogurt (easily 20 years before that was even remotely hip...she's always been ahead of the curve), the world's best red sauce (a recipe I've acquired but can't bring myself to share here...at least not yet), and waffles that needed no condiments whatsoever. It wasn't till many years later (I guess college?) that I baked from a box. While my mother is still my bar for a superior baked good, there is something lovely about the boxed mix - and it still holds some novelty for me. So: imagine my excitement when one day during the my last stint living in New Orleans, I went over to Jen's after work - and there were Funfetti cupcakes! This was my first encounter with the fascinating combination of cake mix and sprinkles, and I was hooked. I think she also sent me back to Chicago with a box for the road trip...that was a big Funfetti summer.

Anyway, when I saw that box in Target - I knew it had to happen. So, thanks for the introduction, Jen, and happy Independence Day, everyone!