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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My apologies to anyone who, like me, has spent many summers bent over a boiling pot and then a cold water bath, preparing tomatoes for canning or sauce-making or what have you.

This entry is for anyone who needs a little instruction on tomato processing.

Step 1: Boil a big pot of water. Drop in tomatoes, about 4 at a time, and blanch for about 60 seconds or until the skins split.

Step 2: Submerge tomatoes in a cold water bath. Core them and peel them over/under the water so you don’t make a mess of the juices.

Step 3: This is where it gets really fun. Unless, like the big dork that I am, you find peeling tomatoes really relaxing. Turn those beauties into whatever you want — keep them partially whole and can or freeze them for later use, or crush them up and cook them down into a homemade sauce with fresh basil and oregano, kosher salt, a little sugar, a dash of red wine, a squirt of olive oil or a chunk of butter — whatever your little heart desires.

Last night, when I took these pictures, I made a batch of tomato sauce. I chose not to bother with straining out the seeds, but next time I may try to strain them out for a cleaner sauce. I have found that I like the flavor of butter in the sauce very much. But I am still working on perfecting the recipe.

Thanks to my good friend Randy for these lovely tomatoes. If I had to rely on my piddly plants, I’d have nada so far.

In case you missed it, check out today’s Front Burner column about the Mason jar’s 150th birthday this year. The actual birthday, I guess, would be the patent date of November 30, but with so many pressure cookers hissing away during the summer months to preserve veggies from the garden, it seemed like a great time to wax nostalgic about the versatile container.

As I wrote in the column, my memories are full of Mason jars. And those jars in my mind are filled with everything from Grandma’s damson preserves to Paw-Paw’s honey to the squirrel torsos Mom used to can for Dad’s eating pleasure.

In fact, our pantry was always lined with a whole rainbow of fruit- and veggie- filled Mason jars. And that was just the beginning. They hung out in the shed, filled with seeds, and in the garage, filled with nails and pins and anything else my dad or my grandfather saw fit to fill them with.

I’d love to know your fondest memories of the Mason jar. Does anyone collect them? As you’ll see in my column, they can be worth quite a bit of money if you know what you’re looking for.

Matthew Rowley, who wrote a book called “Moonshine!” shared a recipe with me for the story, but it came in too late for press. I’ll share it here instead.

It’s not what you’re thinking, you naughty kids! That stuff is illegal! This is a recipe for a spiced-up homemade “ketchup” that Rowley says is tasty on everything from sandwiches to soup to roasted meat. Sounds like a great way to spice up meatloaf, too.

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Here’s an addendum to my comments about Oak Steakhouse in Charleston. My father asked me to bring him back a good recipe for shrimp and grits, and this one came straight from the man himself, Chef Brett McKee. For a twist, these shrimp are served over creamy polenta instead of grits.
Check it out, and enjoy!

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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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Well, Thanksgiving is over and my 16-pound turkey has already been reduced to a big pot of stock that’s waiting at home in the fridge rignt now.
But when I walk in the door today and smell that rich odor of turkey still hanging in the air, I’m not sure turkey soup will sound very appetizing.
Not that this year’s Thanksgiving bird didn’t earn a rave response from my guests. I bought it from Weathertop Farm in Floyd County and I don’t believe I’ll ever buy another store-bought bird. My Dad said it might’ve been the best turkey he’s ever eaten. Now there’s a compliment!
I brined mine overnight in a brown sugar and kosher salt brine, then stuffed it with celery, onions, carrots, apples and bay leaves and sprinkled the top with rosemary and pepper. In a roasting bag, it took less than three hours to reach 165 degrees.
But no matter how delicious it was, after a couple plates of leftovers and a turkey sandwich or two, my appetite for turkey is waning. At least I haven’t resorted to making turkey waffles like Sally Forth in yesterday’s comics.
In an effort to put an exciting twist on the last bit of turkey in my fridge, I believe I’ll try out the Thai Chicken Noodle Soup recipe that ran with last week’s column. A little hot sauce, some cilantro, some rice noodles and voila! Maybe we can power through the last scraps of the little bird.
In case you missed that recipe, here it is again. And if you’re looking for another tasty way to transform the last of your turkey, keep an eye on the video player below for a casserole demonstration that should appear within the day.

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