Souvenirs

Most people bring back souvenirs from their travels. T-shirts, coffee mugs, key chains, sea shells, all manner of reminders of the good time they had. We were on vacation last week, and like good vacationers, we brought home souvenirs, but not of the traditional tourist variety.

We, I am thrilled to report, returned home with culinary treasures from The Spice & Tea Exchange. Tasty travel reminders include 3 bottles of Tuscany Blend spice rub (actually, only two of those are for us, one is for my sister. Sister, if you’re reading this, please act surprised when your package arrives.) We also scored a bottle of Backwoods Hickory spice rub and an experimental size package of pizza seasoning. Our bag of goodies also contained packages of espresso sugar and backwoods hickory rub for friends. Plus, we went armed with an extensive shopping list for another foodie buddy who, bless her heart, is the one who turned us on to this amazing little store in the first place (thanks, Angela, this is one of the best pieces of life wisdom anyone has ever given us).

Another dear friend and amazing cook (miss you Tam) gifted us with a different version of a Tuscany Herb mix and Sicilian Sea Salt with fresh lemon zest. Divine!

And, did I mention the produce market? In this little beach community on Florida’s east coast there is a farmer’s every Friday and Saturday. From the moment we stepped out of the car everywhere we looked was a farm produced symphony for the eyes. And, then, the aroma…the scent of fresh basil wafted on the sea breeze, we knew for sure we were in for something good. After perusing all of our options, we came away with two cantaloupes, a watermelon, three pounds of yellow squash, three pounds of green beans, five red bell peppers, three beefsteak tomatoes, a pint of cherry tomatoes, three & half pounds of peaches, three cucumbers and two bunches of that basil.

Now, I’m sure you’re thinking that’s more than enough produce for a household of two, but there was one more unexpected pleasure in our path. We stopped into a national mass merchandiser in a neighboring town and were amazed to discover beautiful bicolor corn on the cob for five cents an ear. Yes, friends, that is not a typo, five cents an ear! We promptly secured 21 ears (we set out to get 20, but my husband says he was so overcome by the bargain that he temporarily lost his ability to count). Never one to let grass grow under his feet, he grilled them all immediately upon our return home. After we sampled four ears between us, he cut the remainder off the cob then packaged and froze it for future use. Its destiny lies in tacos, corn salsa and assorted salads.

Speaking of destiny, it’s time for me to help those peaches reach their destiny in the form of a Top Crust Peach and Cardamom Pie. My whole life I thought I didn’t like peach pie, and then I tried this recipe from the August 2009 Bon Appetit magazine and realized “oh, this is what peach pie is supposed to taste like.” If you have some ripe peaches waiting to fulfill their destiny, today just might be their lucky day…give it a try.

http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2009/08/top_crust_peach_and_cardamom_pie