A New Love- Farm Fresh Eggs

A few weeks ago when Nick and I were riding our bikes we saw a sign for farm fresh eggs.  We decided to pick some up and we have been hooked ever since.  

It doesn't get much fresher or free range.  The lady marks each egg with the date it was laid.  You pick  them up from the refrigerator on her front porch and leave your money in the jar.  Farm fresh eggs really make a huge difference in cooking and eating.  Definitely one of the perks to living in a small town!

Salad Lyonnaise

Last summer while Nick and I were backpacking through Europe we stopped in Lyon, France.  Lyon is the second largest city in France.  Nick's cousin and his family live there, so it was the perfect opportunity to visit with them and see more of the country.  Computer access was hard to come by when we were in Europe and so I never blogged about this particular stop.   

This is the view from a high point in the city- in person you could see the Alps off in the distance.

Isn't this beautiful?  Hard to believe we were there...

It was the first really nice weather we had in days and we had the best time soaking in the sun.  We decided we were going to go out for a real french meal for lunch.  Lyon is famous for their Salad Lyonnaise.  There were little bistros everywhere, so we chose one downtown and ordered a local wine and the special salad.  The salad is basically a poached egg, bacon (or lardons as they are called in France) tomatoes and croutons with a simple dressing.  Easy but delicious.

We have recreated this several times since and each time we are instantly transported back to that day.  I made this for dinner one night last week and knew I needed to share it.  The picture I took was sadly lacking because it was dark, but we will just pretend mine looked this good!

Salad Lyonnaise

serves two

A couple handfuls of frisee lettuce or curly endive torn into pieces

4 strips of bacon sliced thin

french bread, cubed

tomatoes diced

2 poached eggs (fresh eggs work best for poaching- I learned this after many failed attempts)

juice of one lemon

extra virgin olive oil

1/2 a teaspoon of dijon mustard

salt and pepper to taste

Cook bacon over medium heat and drain on paper towels.  Drizzle cubed bread with olive oil and toast in the oven (about 400 degrees) until lightly browned. 

Mix the dressing using the lemon juice (or white wine vinegar), evoo, mustard and salt and pepper.

Poach the eggs.  Here are some helpful tips on poaching eggs.

Layer lettuce, bacon, croutons and tomatoes on a plate. Pour dressing over the salad and top with the egg.  

Pretend you are at a French bistro and enjoy!!

Oktoberfest

On Friday, some of our friends in Blacksburg hosted an "Oktoberfest" party.  We made authentic German food and tasted German beers. Nick's mom and dad both have a German heritage (clearly, with a last name like Scheuer!)  Nick's mom was a big help and provided authentic recipes for us. We feasted on brats, German potato salad, sauerkraut, spaetzle, and schnitzle.  Turns out German food is pretty delicious.

                    

For dessert we had apple kuchen and apple strudel- yum!

Our lovely hosts- Katherine and Bynum in their awesome costumes.   Thanks for having us guys!

Crows Nest Farm

Nick and I recently discovered Crows Nest Farm- its a little farm that grows vegetables. You can pick your own or buy what they have already picked. We went for the pick-your-own route and it was so much fun. Here I am with my basket of veggies-

Some of what we picked- basil, squash, zucchini, tomatoes, and jalapenos.

It doesn't get much better than fresh, summer, local produce! Here is peek at what we made with some of the goods- grilled shrimp and tomatoes with basil vinaigrette- yum!!