FoodieTots.com

I had these lofty ideas of my summer break with the kids, that the boy and I would spend leisurely afternoons in the kitchen while the foodie bebe napped. Of course, it turned out that we’ve spent many days rushing from camp to story time to the pool, and I’m lucky to throw together a quick dinner most nights. But today, we made time for a trip to the store (between the dentist and baseball) and the boy and I finally baked something sweet — a peanut butter pie. For fellow blogger Jennifer Perillo and the unexpected reminder that life is often far too short. Read her post (with tissues handy), and bake something with the people you love this weekend.

the foodie tots bake peanut butter pie

(The recipe for peanut butter cream pie can also be found on Jennie’s blog.)

It’s melon season! The foodie tots and I can’t get enough of melons in every size and color — we’ve enjoyed cantaloupe, honeydew, sun melon, a melon that looked like cantaloupe on the outside but was green like honeydew on the inside, and of course, watermelon. Now, I consider myself something of a watermelon expert, having been quoted on the subject in the Washington Post (cough), but I was still shocked to spot orange watermelon at the Reston Farmers Market this past weekend.

After tweeting a picture, a friend suggested sprinkling fennel pollen on the melon. I couldn’t find fennel pollen at Whole Foods (uh, where else would it be?), but remembered that Cypress Grove‘s Purple Haze chèvre is made with lavender and fennel pollen. And so this quick summer appetizer was born: extremely thin slivers of watermelon, drizzled with extra virgin olive oil, a heavy pinch of sea salt, and topped with crumbled Purple Haze chèvre. It’s not really a recipe as a suggestion: you could mix it up with flavored vinegars, use plain chèvre to keep it local, and/or top with fresh mint or basil or any other herbs from the garden.

The kids were intrigued — the boy asked for a helping of “my” watermelon alongside his straight-up slices, and the bebe nibbled a few crumbs of chèvre before turning her attention back to the melon. What’s your favorite watermelon recipe? (And you do buy seeded melons, right? Remember, Seedless is Soulless. ;-))

{This is, obviously, a not-so-meatless recipe. Check back next week for a fresh and seasonal Meatless Monday recipe.}

As a devotee to all-things-dairy, I was excited to spot the “Goaterie” blog party mentioned on Twitter. Of course, there’s more to goat (or from) than cheese, so it seemed time to give the meat a try. Fortunately, I knew right where to turn for “happy” goat meat — Painted Hand Farm at the Bloomingdale Farmers Market in DC. When I asked which cut of meat would be best for cutting up, I was steered towards the leg — more meat than the shoulder. I bought two small leg pieces and headed home to research recipes. I originally had a curried dish in mind, but the Middle Eastern kabob recipe jumped out at me. I had read complaints about goat meat’s toughness, so I employed my favorite tenderizing marinade: yogurt. In this case, goats-milk yogurt, of course. The result was quite tasty — grilled to medium rare, the meat was still tender and moist. It has a flavor somewhat in between that of lamb and chicken, and in fact, goat meat has less saturated fat than even chicken. I used my favorite purple bell peppers from the market, but you can use any color you prefer.

Recipe: Middle Eastern Grilled Goat Kebabs
Adapted from Blue Kitchen

Ingredients:

• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1/4 cup pomegranate molasses
• 1/2 cup goat milk yogurt
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 pounds trimmed goat meat, cut into 1-inch chunks
• 1 bell pepper, cut into chunks
• 6 bamboo or metal skewers
• pita bread

For yogurt sauce, layer the following in a small bowl:

• 1/2 cup goat milk yogurt
• 1 tomato, diced
• several leaves fresh mint, chopped

Instructions: Heat small skillet over medium heat. Add cumin seeds and stir until lightly toasted, about 2 minutes. Grind cumin in mortar; add garlic, salt, pepper, oregano and cinnamon and grind to a paste. In a large bowl or 1-gallon plastic bag, mix the spice mixture with pomegranate molasses and yogurt.  Add goat meat and rub to coat pieces evenly with the marinade. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. While meat marinates, soak bamboo skewers (if using) in water.

Preheat grill to medium-high. Remove goat from marinade. Thread goat pieces and pepper pieces on to skewers. Grill, turning frequently, for 5-7 minutes for medium-rare. Serve with yogurt-tomato sauce and warm pita bread. Makes 3-4 servings.

This post is being shared with the Goaterie event hosted by Creative Culinary and La Fuji Mama. If you’re curious about cooking with goat meat, check out Goat: Meat, Milk, Cheese by Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough.

Washington, DC’s first ever Farm-to-Street Party takes place tomorrow, Saturday, July 16, on V Street, NW, between 13th and 14th Streets. (Right outside Busboys & Poets.)

Part of the inaugural Eat Local First DC local foods week, the Street Party will feature activities for kids, a chance to soak Busboys & Poets owner Andy Shallal in a dunk tank, a pie-eating contest, and of course, locally-sourced food, beer and wine. The event is sponsored by Think Local First, a coalition of locally-owned businesses supporting sustainable economic development in DC. Buy tickets online ($15, includes 2 food tickets) or at the door.

Summer’s here and farmers markets are open all across the country — even in Minnesota, I hear.* I’ve written before about how fabulous farmers markets are for kids — my son will eat anything a farmer offers him to sample, especially if it comes on a toothpick. Earlier this week we went to the Crystal City FreshFarm Market (Tuesdays, 3-7pm) after school, and after sampling our way from end to end stopped to get frozen yogurt from the Sweetgreen truck. One of the boy’s teachers spotted us in line and called him out for having dessert before dinner, to which he replied, “Actually, I already ate dinner at the market!” (He had quite a balanced meal, really — beef jerky, cheeses (though he declared the ashed-goat log was “weird”), breads, lots of cherries, berries and apple slices, and apple cider.)

There’s nothing I love more than a good local food-social media collaboration, so I have to share this summer promotion that landed in my inbox: When you check in to a farmers market on Gowalla this summer, Frigidaire will donate $1 to Save the Children‘s Kids’ Cooking Academy Summer Session. To trigger another $1 donation and enter for a chance to win a new Frigidaire Gallery® French Door Refrigerator, you can make a commitment to eat fresh at www.maketimeforchange.com. (Enter daily until September 20.)

Do you follow your local farmers market on Facebook or Twitter? It’s a great way to get the scoop on what’s fresh each week. Local peeps, you can follow @FreshFarmMktsDC, @DelRayFarmMkt and the West End Market (@knerq) on Twitter. And of course, find us @foodietots.

P.S. Pictured above are the first Virginia peaches of the season! Courtesy of Westmoreland Berry Farms at the McLean Farmers Market (Fridays, 8am-noon). Look for bicolor corn, raspberries, blueberries, peppers, summer squash, tomatoes, okra and much more at the markets this weekend.

* Our dear friends moved to Minnesota several years ago. The boy has it in his head that Minnesota is practically at the North Pole, so he’s always talking about how they have “snow that never melts” there. In fact, just yesterday I heard the following in the car: “When you made me be born, you didn’t just have a normal human baby, you had me with T-Rex vision! I can see all the way to the North Pole! And even Minnesota!”

Disclosure: As part of the Foodbuzz Publisher Program I received a stipend from Frigidaire for writing about this promotion. As always, the opinions expressed in this post are my own.