You may have noticed that the Virginia Department of Agriculture challenged Virginians last week to eat local for one day. It was part of Virginia Farmers Market week, a special designation by Gov. Tim Kaine.

Blog reader Deb seemed to take that challenge to heart. Or maybe she didn’t hear a thing about the challenge and just wanted to enjoy some tasty local chicken, dairy and produce. She sent me this photo of her lunch yesterday with this description of what she bought on the market: “The chicken, cabbage and green apples for the slaw, potatoes and eggs for the potato salad and deviled eggs, green beans and red bell pepper, fried green tomatoes, corn on the cob and peaches for the cobbler. Barbara Kingsolver would be proud.”

She would indeed. I’m proud, and hungry, too!

I didn’t go all out like Deb, but I did buy a gorgeous head of white cabbage from the market on Friday and fried it up last night to go along with grilled pork tenderloin and big, fat slices of my neighbor’s tomatoes.

The whole house now smells of cabbage, but it’s worth it for one of my favorite side dishes. Cabbage is easy to cook, but I’ll post my method below for anyone who has never cooked it up before. Other ideas for fresh cabbage? Shoot me a message!

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The weekend flew by as usual, with a few blessings thrown in. I harvested my first round of cherry tomatoes (oh, the sweetness) and threw some lime on my other plants to hopefully rid them, once and for all, of the blossom-end rot.

More importantly, I learned that blog reader Lori gave birth to a bouncing baby boy, Samuel, early Friday morning. That makes regular blog reader Kathy a proud grandma! Congratulations to them!!

Let’s continue to brighten up this Monday morning with a cookbook giveaway! This week’s feature book is “Organic Marin: Recipes from Land to Table” by Tim Porter and Farina Wong Kingsley. It was produced by Marin Magazine and includes a forward about organic gardening.

Even if you don’t grow or buy all organic, there are some wonderful recipes in this book. I was immediately drawn to one for a shaved zucchini salad with Italian sheep’s milk cheese, which I will share below the jump.

If you want to win this beautifully illustrated, hardcover book, write in and tell me why you think you are most deserving of a little cheer on this Monday. I’ll accept entries until 6 p.m. today. If you have won previously, you cannot win. Thanks!

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As opposed to losing Skins….that being the Redskins….oh, okay, never mind.
My sincere apologies to all the Redskins fans out there. And my sincere apology to mice everywhere — although this picture doesn’t match the recipe below, it amused me so much that I just had to use it.
What better way to drown the sorrow of your team’s failure (as a Denver fan, you can trust that I am familiar with that feeling) than with a plate of cheesy, fattening potato skins?
Potato skins are one of those appetizers I could probably make up as I go along. But since I’ve had some problems in the past with that game plan, why not actually follow a recipe this time?
Look for it after the jump. And tell me this: Do you ever make homemade potato skins? If so, what is your favorite topping, besides the cheese?

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…and what have I done?
Well, I have cooked. And eaten. And drank. And fed people. And then started cooking again.
I have baked sugar cookies, chocolate chip cookies, macadamia nut cookies and date cookies.
I have feasted on London broil, cocktail shrimp, pad Thai, crab dip, meatballs, miniature egg rolls, lobster amandine, pistachio-crusted salmon, chicken piccata, breakfast casseroles and much more.
I have torn open boxes of Frango chocolates and cans of piroulines; crates of tiny, liquor-filled chocolate bottles and bags of Belgian candy; pillowy sacks of brownie mix and pancake mix.
I have stocked my kitchen with cooking-themed gifts — a pink spatula, a digital thermometer, a tea pot, a tea ball, a fridge magnet with measurement breakdowns, a tiny frying pan for melting butter or browning nuts.
About 10 days (and probably 10 pounds) later, I wonder which dish, which candy, which gift I treasure the most. But it isn’t any of those tangible things. Instead, it was the chance to laugh with my dad over a plate of Thai food and to get in the kitchen with my mom and cook up a big meal like we used to.
Food would be nothing without fellowship. That’s what the holidays always teach me.
But I cannot ignore the dishes I learned to make and the joy of eating them, too. Surprisingly, when I thought back on my Christmas holiday, I found that the easiest, most simple dish I learned to make was my favorite. And the most subtly sweet cookie I learned to make tasted the very best.
Here are my top two recipes of the holiday season. If you aren’t tired of cooking yet, give them a try! And please write in and share your own culinary experiences this holiday season. Which recipe are you most likely to make again before next Christmas?

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