Thursday, April 29, 2010

Chard Pizza, and Other Eats

Sawyer will eat anything. And I mean ANYTHING. Food or non-food. It's actually kind of a problem. He is great at the table, I mean, this is a kid who was eating pizza before he had teeth (?). But out in the yard he's a real nuisance. His outdoor tastes include dirt, bark chips, rocks, flowers, chicken poop... I could go on, but my stomach is turning just thinking about all of the yucky things he's put into his mouth. Let's just say that it's a BIG NO-NO in our house to leave the toilet open when he's around. Um, yeah, I'll spare you the details...

But he sure is cute when he's being all calm and thoughtful and stuff.

So, what do you do when you have a kid who eats everything? I guess you build an all-you-can-eat sand buffet in your backyard.

I think this picture pretty much sums up Brent's feelings about the backyard. It's just one big project after another around here.


These boys do love their new sandbox- nice work, Dad! Sawyer thinks this sand variety is particularly palatable.

(Somebody fix that baby's diaper already!)

Jack is developing some interest in playing music. You can go ahead and laugh as I tell you that he seems to be pretty good with the harmonica. And the child sized accordion that we own. I'm sure he'll go far with these talents.

Now I want to tell you about my newest love interest: chard. Swiss chard, that is. Years ago, when our garden consisted of a basil plant and a few tomatoes, Brent and I had a CSA. It was kind of cool- fresh, organic and local veggies delivered to us once a week. But some of the stuff went to waste. I just couldn't figure out a use for so much fennel. And then there was the chard. Soooo much chard. I mean what the heck? No matter what I did with it, it tasted terrible. And the name- chard- it sounds totally disgusting. Why would anyone eat that stuff voluntarily? It made a nice addition to the compost that year.

But now that Brent is working for Lost Creek Farm, he's been coming home with stories about people who actually seek out the stuff, like, obsessively. As in, they always run out of chard because people just snatch that stuff up. And turns out it's some "super food" that will prevent cancer and make you live forever, or something like that. So we decided to give chard another chance. Ladies and gentlemen, I present you...

Swiss Chard Pizza! It's absolutely delicious, I swear it is! Even Jack (Mr. Picky) ate it with gusto. I loosely followed this recipe and OMG try the crust recipe here. Parchment paper. Who knew?

Brent's trifecta: Swiss chard and salad greens courtesy of LCF. Beer from Hop Valley.

And let's have one last shout out to the chard! Isn't it beautiful?

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