Coincidences? While sipping our coffee this morning, Farmer Ken and I compiled our weekend agenda ~ harvest tomatoes, cucumbers, and chile peppers. Wrap some overdue birthday packages for mailing. But most importantly, Number 1 on the list: Order denim shorts from Yoder’s Department Store in Shipshewana. Ken and the Indiana Amish farmers have similar body […]
TREATS! NO TRICKS! FROM THE SIDEWALK HOUSE + A GIVEAWAY.
Gramma’s Sugar Cookies ~ Mama’s White Fruit Cake, Crab Salad, Boiled Cookies ~ Mommy Binckley’s Chicken Perlo, Yellow Squash Casserole, Tartar Sauce ~ Bess’s Kibbee and Stuffed Grape Leaves ~ Gloria’s Fried Shrimp ~ Bill’s Irish Coffee with Susan’s 7 Layer Bars (one of the best dessert combinations evuh imho). In our files, precious recipes from family and friends […]
Lady Bella de La Bones Spooktacular Gala
Early in October ~ on a really cold and wet Saturday morning ~ we were awakened by Lady Bella de La Bones’ personal messenger, B. Ball Bat banging on the window. He was sent to notify us that Bonie Anne Clyde would arrive in the next few days to prepare for Bella’s annual Gala at Ghoulton […]
Tugs of War!
Tug of war. Finn and Charley ~ one pulls, the other pulls. Back and forth. Eventually one wins the battle. And then it starts all over again. If only it were that easy . . . In the tugs of war of life, sometimes we find ourselves tugged in many directions. Too many. And if […]
Spring, Spring, Spring Sang the Robin
Robins have returned to the Sidewalk House ~ and for them, a highly anticipated feast of cherries is reason enough to stay. Before long, our cherry tree will burst into bloom! And then there will be tiny green cherries forming inside the fading flowers. And then, before we can blink an eye, we will be fighting the robins […]
Pimento Peppers ~ And Pimento Cheese, an Iconic Southern Specialty!
Open just about any traditional Southern refrigerator and you will find a bowl of Pimento Cheese. Served in everyday sandwiches or as party food, it is an iconic staple of the South. A simple mixture of grated cheese, pimientos, and a dab of mayonnaise (preferably homemade), it is often spiffed up with a little of this or a little of that ~ garlic, hot sauce, cayenne pepper, […]
A Little Datil Just Might Do It!
Datil Peppers. My dad used to rave about the Datil Pepper Sauce made by his friend Luther. I don’t know why because Daddy isn’t really into cooking but he was always happy to have a bottle of sauce in the fridge. Perhaps he mixed it into his special sauce for smoked mullet? Luther passed on but his sweet wife […]
Some Like ’em Hot! Some Not!
Peppers, chiles, chile peppers. On the Scoville Chart, they are ranked mild to screaming hot. Fresh, roasted, smoked, dried, powdered, pickled. Colorful. Seasoning or main ingredient, peppers are an integral ingredient in cuisines around the world. Here on OF’s Farm at the Sidewalk House, we grow a few varieties of peppers each year. Along with the usual jalapenos and […]
Oktoberfest at the Sidewalk House
I have been to Munich and I have been to the Hofbraus Haus with my daughter years ago. I have been in a German bierzelt ~ on a cold and rainy day in July ~ where an oompah band was playing to a rowdy crowd drinking from bierkruge that should have been too heavy to lift. But Oktoberfest in Munich? Nope! Our […]
Abbondazza
Tomato season! Love it! We plant, we wait and wait, and WAIT! And suddenly the kitchen counters are covered in an abundance of tomatoes. Garden tomatoes. Sun kissed. Colorful. AND so delicious. Worth the wait? Oh my YES! On OF’s Farm at the Sidewalk House, Farmer Ken grows a variety of (mostly heirloom) tomatoes; each year some favorites and each year […]