Family Dinners

One of my favorite things about living in community is sharing meals.  Or, as I like to call it, family dinners. We're essentially our own little family, right?

We started out having group dinners/potlucks every other Tuesday, but that's shifted a bit.  Now we'll plan it on occasion, but it tends to happen spontaneously, when a few of us are in the kitchen making different dishes. We'll join forces, share our respective dishes and end up with a collective feast versus a simple meal for just one or 2.  

This week our theme has been using the outdoor cob oven.  We love that thing.  It hasn't been used much since early spring, but we're bringing it back.  Last night we threw in some sweet potatoes and ranch style beans w/ bacon on top.  The night before we made 2 pizzas covered with heirloom tomato sauce (from where? the expo!), cheese, tomatoes, eggplant, onions, peppercinis, olives, bell peppers, garlic OMG it was delish.  We actually had some extra dough laying around so we made an impromptu pizza last night as well.  Add to that a fatty salad made with freshly harvested with tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, basil, garlic, balsamic & olive oil - YUM.  

Since we're in the middle of what appears to be a heat wave - it had cooled off for a bit but now we're back to the 100's - we've been eating and preparing our family meals outside on the picnic benches.  The yurt just gets SO hot - and it's no fun to cook or eat in that heat.  There's also a circular cob bench that surrounds a fire pit out there - we threw some wood in there last week (when it was much cooler) and dined around it as the sun went down.  

Wait - let's not forget about dessert.  Mimi made a zucchini crisp - kinda like an apple crisp but with zucchini.  Nutritious and delicious! 

As you can tell, there's no shortage of fresh food around here, and we're so grateful for it.  As I write this, there's a crock-pot of fresh tomato puree on its way to becoming homemade ketchup.  And did I mention all the apple butter Cassie & David made and canned a few weeks ago from tree-ripened apples?  

I wonder what's on the menu tonight ....