Grilled Cheese, Pickles, and McConnell's Farm

Lunch.

Grilled Cheese: fontina on sprouted grain bread.

Homemade pickles. I bought my father a book on pickling and a case of mason jars a couple years ago, and it hasn't stopped since. These weren't spicy, but in general he usually puts at least one jalapeno in each jar, the heat is super intense. The neighbor down the street however, gave us one of his batch where he thought it would be a good idea to put two whole habanero peppers in addition to jalapenos into one single jar! I'm telling you, this is a BAD idea.
Sliced Peaches. It was sweet and had a nice texture (not mealy), but there's nothing like the peaches from McConnell's Farm in Aliquippa, PA.

McConnell's Farm.

I used to live in Pittsburgh, PA and had the pleasure of working in restaurants (Kaya, Eleven, Dozen Bakeshop) that insisted upon having as many local ingredients as per season allowed. I honestly remember my first McConnell's farm peach. We had a dessert on the menu at Kaya that was simply sliced peaches drizzled with a cardamom syrup. This dessert actually changed the way I looked at sweets. Prior to this I primarily baked in order to satiate my sweet tooth. However seeing the flavor of the peach complimented by the light cardamom syrup, instead of masked, made me realize that the raw food itself can often be the best way to be eaten. As well, I started making desserts that were more about whatever fresh ingredients were available, not about sugar. Anyway, the point is, this peach was just fucking amazing. A couple summers later I was now working at Eleven. The farmers pulled up in the back of the restaurant and we were loading in the wooden crates. The Chef was stuffing his face with peaches and had juice dripping all over his face and chef coat. He sets down another crate and peels back the corn husk and just goes right in. It never dawned on me to eat raw corn. This is probably because most corn isn't grown well enough to taste good raw. Oh boy, let me tell you, when I bit into this raw cob, my world was in a whirlwind. How is it that I will ever be able to enjoy a grilled corn cob or a fresh peach ever again if its not from McConnell's Farm? Let me tell you, I had been having a rough summer, but when I tasted that corn I felt a true happiness that I hadn't felt in quite a while.