Corn-ucopia

The garden continues to do pretty well. Getting to eat okra every day is such a treat – I can’t believe that until last year I barely ate the stuff! Also, cucumbers are so delicious, and I love having them daily, too. My tomatoes are starting to slowly gain color and grow, and I’m really looking forward to them (pink and yellow varieties). We’ve devoured all the green beans but planted more, have tons of chard, herbs, and lettuce. I was so pleased to find out today that some of my peppers are growing. The first round I planted failed miserably this year, but some from my second round have just started showing signs of life.

The green onions have gotten enormous but still taste fantastic, and the leeks are getting thicker and thicker. I can’t wait to have some leek soup this fall and put some on the grill. I’m also collecting dill and cilantro seed to keep in with our spices (they taste fantastic). Also, my fennel is still growing strong and getting thicker, so I look forward to experimenting with my (disappointing) fennel allergy to see what I can actually handle without getting sick.

The big news (and reason for the title of the post) is that my corn came in! This is my first year growing corn, so I am really excited that not only did it work well, the first ears have tasted delicious! And since Eliza discovered her love for corn ON the cob this weekend, she’s already helping me eat it. She’s got some chompers on her!

Beer and Art

Last weekend Lynne, Eliza, and I headed up to Ann Arbor to visit her family and attend some amazing events.

First, Lynne’s dad and I went to the Michigan Brewers Guild Summer Beer Festival in Ypsilanti.  Since I’ve become a bit of a beer snob, this was right up my alley.  Also, it was great to taste beers from so many brewers I don’t normally have access to in Indianapolis since they were all Michigan microbreweries. 

Overall, there were some big winners, big losers, and lots of interesting palette action.  We each were able to try 32 different types, and for the beer geeks you can read a full review HERE (read it, it took some effort to compile).  For lazy readers, the best of the night were New Holland’s 2008 Dragon’s Milk Bourbon Barrel Aged Stout and El Mole Ocho (mole as in the Mexican sauce, not the rodent).  Worst of the night were Liberty Street Brewing’s Clementine Lemon Thyme and Woodward Avenue’s Vanilla Porter.  We had great beers at Bell’s too (as if there was any doubt), enjoyed some bbq pulled pork sandwiches, and met some really interesting fellow beer-samplers.  There were 54 breweries with over 400 beers, so we plan to make this an annual event – it’s the only way to try them all!  Next time I’ll do some pre-planning via www.beeradvocate.com, just to make sure I don’t miss out on any highly ranked beers.  Check out all the brewers that attended here and let me know what I totally missed but should have tried!

(Photos are from my phone, so sorry about the poor quality)

The city was packed with people over the entire weekend for the 51st annual Ann Arbor Street Art Fair.  It was my first time attending, and I was quite impressed.  Hundreds of artists of all types set up booths through the city and U of M campus, so no matter what type of art you were into, there was plenty to see.  Photography, paintings, metal, wood, ceramics, jewelry, you name it, it was there.  We enjoyed a lot of the photographers’ works but having learned more about the art, we found ourselves looking at pieces much more critically.  To top it all off, they had some excellent street food that went well beyond what you’d find at a state fair.  Mahi mahi, coconut shrimp, and crab cakes anyone?

I’m pretty sure we’ll do it all again next year!