Well, we’re back from the farm! L and I went on a little adventure to nana and papa’s farm in Ohio for nana’s 90th birthday! (The brown bag apple pie smelling temptingly good from the trunk – it made it in one piece though). We had a BLAST there. I had been before, but had stayed at the hotel near the interstate so was never able to truly appreciate it all for what it was. This time was different.

If your family is anything like my family, and M’s family for that matter, big celebrations revolve around food, so I thought it was more than applicable to write about my adventure. The day seemed to be about plan the meal, make the meal, clean up the meal and repeat. I think I had barely finished my cup of coffee when I began chopping vegetables on nana’s butcher block for lunch – and I loved it! With guests dropping by from far away places you never really knew who was going to need to eat what when, so we had to be prepared.

My favorite quote from the trip had to be from Aunt Jan. We had spent Friday morning on breakfast, then lunch and then we were off to nana’s tea from 3-5. It was beautiful – both Ginger and Jan worked so hard on it! And the food (in abundant amounts of course) was amazing. I’m still thinking about the little tea sandwiches with asparagus and herbed cream cheese. Needless to say none of us were even remotely hungry yet as it was wrapping up I hear Aunt Jan on the phone in a very urgent tone ‘make SURE you preheat the oven for the homemade blue cheese and walnut crackers that need to bake for cocktail hour.’ There was literally no more room in my stomach!

Aunt Jan also inspired the potato recipe listed in this post. I can’t recall the exact recipe she had shown me – so, I kind of went with it and ended up with an amazing side dish. Panko crumbs on roasted herbed potatoes – gives it that perfect little crunch, who knew?

So enjoy the potatoes if you make them and some of my favorite snap shots from the farm – the beautiful scenery, the dinner bell, tea time, L’s much needed nap with papa, coloring on the side porch, and more.

‘Farm Potatoes’
Recipe from Aunt Jan and my memory

Ingredients:

- yukon gold potatoes, cut into chunks
- heaping TBS of dijon or grainy mustard
- TBS of freshly chopped rosemary
- salt & pepper
- good drizzle of olive oil
- 1/3 cup panko bread crumbs

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Toss all of the above together aside from the breadcrumbs. Roast in the oven for 15 minutes, toss potatoes with panko bread crumbs, and then roast for an additional 10 – 15 minutes.

Happy 90th Nana!
Courtney



















P.S. With 6 trips scheduled over the next few months I’ve created a ‘travel’ area on the right hand side. Stay tuned for pictures, recipes, and inspiration from across the country!