Welcome!

So this is blog attempt #2 for me. I failed miserably attempting to blog about my daily life, so I've decided to reign myself in a little.
Something I've been very interested in is cooking and gardening. This blog will give you a run down of recipes I am trying, as well as my adventures in gardening and who knows what else!

John and I have been doing a farm share this year from Enterprise farms in South Deerfield MA (www.enterpriseproduce.com). The share combines produce from their farm, as well a variety of other small organic farms across the east coast. So far we have loved getting fresh produce each week, and have gotten to experiment with different produce that we wouldn't normally think to buy.

An example. Yesterday I decided to find a recipe to use wheatberries (a wheatberry is the entrire wheat kernal except for the hull). Yes, I know this is not produce, but I got it in our share too! Here is the recipe I used, and I was pleasantly surprised that it was quite tasty and did not have the too grainy texture I was worried about. This recipe is brought to you by.... Martha Stuart!

Brown basmati Rice with Wheatberries:

1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
2 cups brown basmati rice
1 cup wheatberries
5 cups water
grated zest of 1 1/2 lemons
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 scallions (white and green parts) very thinly sliced
1 celery stalk
1/2 red, green and yellow bell peppers, diced small
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cup safflower oil
salt and pepper to taste

1. In a large saucepan, heat butter and saute rice for 3 minutes. Add wheatberries, water and the zest of 1 lemon. Simmer, covered, until the rice and wheatberries are tender but still crunchy and the water has been absorbed (20-30 minutes). Remove from heat and drain.
2. In a medium skillet, heat the olive oil and saute all vegetables over medium heat for 3 minutes.
3. Combine grains and vegetables in a large serving bowl. Add lemon juice, safflower oil, remaining lemon zest,season to taste, and toss well.
4. Serve at room temperature. NOTE: I like to eat this hot because I don't like things cold or at room temperature. It works well either way! Also, I put a little dollop of sour cream on top too just because. :)

So, if you've ever wondered how to use wheatberries, this is the post for you!