we recently fried up some okra from our garden and it was delicious! we ate the tasty treats with ribs and collards from maddy’s and cole slaw from chik-fil-a. it was a hodge podge of our favorite southern delights!

fyi, maddy’s collard greens recently won best overall at the east lake farmers market collard greens cook-off and they are pretty awesome!

– ryan & gub

maddy’s ribs

1479 scott blvd.
decatur, ga 30030
404-377-0301

fried okra recipe:

ingredients:
5-8 large okra sliced

egg wash:
2 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup milk

batter:
1/2 cup corn meal
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp parsley

directions:
– clean okra and slice
– heat oil in a frying pan at medium heat
– dip okra slices in egg wash and then in the batter
– gently place battered tomatoes in frying pan and fry until golden brown
– flip okra and fry the other side until golden brown
– place on okra guard to let cool and drain the oil
– serve with bbq or other southern treats

our summer garden provided its first vegetable of the season! we have lots of okra and tomatoes that are very close to being ripe, but this cucumber won the first crop of the season award. we made a tasty cucumber & tomato salad with it, adding the lemon cucumber mentioned in yesterday’s blog post.

– ryan & gub

cucumber & tomato salad recipe:

ingredients:
1 cucumber diced (peel if desired)
1 tomato diced (or 1/2 package cherry tomatoes diced)
1/4 cup italian dressing

directions:
– clean tomatoes and cucumber and dice
– place in serving bowl and mix with italian dressing
– let vegetables soak in dressing for 30 minutes or more
– serve cold

the east lake farmers market is up and running again on saturdays from 9am to 1pm. it’s open through october and can be found at the corner of 2nd avenue and hosea williams drive in the east lake/kirkwood area. the market features lots of local farmers selling fruit, vegetables, eggs, salsas and all sorts of other stuff.

with tomato season finally upon us, we picked up some beautiful heirloom tomatoes from ora farms on our last trip to the market. we grabbed an early girl and an orange blossom. check out our july 4th blog post for a great tomato pie recipe we used with these wonderful tomatoes!

we also grabbed a couple of lemon cucumbers, which we had never tried before. these were quite interesting. the inside was slightly sweeter than normal cucumbers with a little softer texture, but the outside texture was very course and bumpy with small black seeds and they were the size of lemons. they were odd, but worth trying.

this saturday is the 2nd annual peachapalooza at the east lake farmers market. it’s a juried cooking competition celebrating all things peach! stop by to sample some amazing peach creations!

– ryan & gub

east lake farmers market

2nd avenue and hosea williams drive
atlanta, ga 30317

saturdays
9am – 1pm
may – october

here are some progress photos of our summer garden! as you can see, it’s moving right along.

– ryan & gub

a couple of months ago we planted our summer garden! we became quite swamped with clementine shortly afterwards, however, and never got around to writing about it. well, here we go!

back in may, we spent a nice saturday afternoon with gub’s mom getting our garden ready. we weeded and prepped the soil and planted our summer crop. we planted various tomatoes, green & red bell peppers, okra, corn, cucumbers, basil and mint. we can’t wait!

more progress updates to follow!

– ryan & gub

ps…in case you were wondering, our corn is knee high by the fourth of july!

with the intense georgia summer heat, our garden has seen better days. but we have had some new bell peppers recently and they’re tasty! here’s to cooler days ahead and more veggies.

– ryan & gub

we heart peaches and boiled peanuts from our nearby roadside produce stand! david’s produce & specialties has the feel of an old general store and offers all sorts of southern goodies. they sell locally-grown organic produce, including great heirloom tomatoes and shelled peas, as well as homemade sweets, preserves and sauces. the homemade layered cakes are supposed to be amazing, although we haven’t tried them.

– ryan & gub

david’s produce & specialties

3561 lavista road
decatur, ga 30033
404-325-0709

we picked our first ripe cantaloupe and it was amazing! as a tribute, we gathered photos to show the life of our melon.

fyi, we learned that you can tell if a cantaloupe is ripe by lightly thumping where the stem meets the navel of the melon. if the stem easily breaks off, it’s ready!

– ryan & gub

check out our beautiful big red tomato! it was one of the last before our tomatoes were ravaged by the squirrels.

– ryan & gub

we found these two half eaten tomatoes in the garden today. i guess the chipmunks have found a way under the fence…  what to do?
– ryan & gub