Happy 4th of July!!!

Happy, happy, happy 4th of July to everyone!

I'm writing this as I listen to sporadic explosions going off in the distance all around my house. Gotta love this holiday!!!

I've got to say that I had a fantastic holiday even though it did not entail much at all. Yesterday, we sent my brother off to travel the world (more on that later), and today, we slept in (accidentally), made a HUGE lunch together, and watched a movie. Didn't do a whole lot, but it was a great break from the everday routine. Just sat around, cooked together, and all-around enjoyed each others' company.

Today, I tried out a couple different recipes with the help of my best girls overlooking the event. This is one of my favorite pictures of the 3 of us and will remain a staple in my kitchen!

First off, with all of my delicious corn from our CSA, I tried to find a new angle for corn other than on the cob. I'm getting at least 6 ears of corn a week and was looking for a way to spruce it up. What better way is there than to add BACON!!!

Here's the recipe for Corn with Bacon & Green Onions (real original title, right?) that I got from Tasty Kitchen. I adapted it to be organic and GF (the fresh cheese makes it GF).

You're gonna need:

4-5 ears of fresh corn (you could also do a 10 oz. bag of frozen organic)
2 bunches of green onion Got this from the FM
6 (or 7...or 8) slices of bacon (Once again this is from Hillside Heritage Farm. I will never cook with another again)
1/2 cup fresh shredded organic cheddar cheese
1/2 cup organic heavy cream

Go ahead and cut that bacon up into bite-sized pieces and fry those guys up in a large skillet. I'm telling you, this bacon cooking even SMELLS better when cooking. I'm in heaven!

While that's frying, go ahead and chop up your green onions to get them ready.

Also, you'll need to get your corn kernels off the cob if you're using fresh corn.

I bought this lovely corn zipper to help with my de-cobbing.

It worked like a dream!

Once that bacon is done, scoop it out of the pan and set aside, but leave the drippings in the skillet.

Add your green onions to the drippings and let those cook until they get soft.

Once those green onions are soft, turn your heat down to low and add your corn and fresh grated cheese. Stir these and let them cook for about 5 minutes.

Finally, add your bacon back in and add your cream. You can add a little salt & pepper here to taste if you like, but I forgot to and I found that it certainly didn't need it. Stir that and let it cook for another 5 minutes or so. Once you let all of those flavors meld together, you are ready to eat.

Let me just say here that I would like to officially change the title of this recipe to "Oh My Deliciousness!" This was SO unbelievably good and a perfect use of my corn!

Now, to pair it with something....

Decided to make Balsamic Glazed Grilled Salmon
(This recipe is GF, but not organic....but still tasty!)

You will obviously need some fresh salmon fillets. We got these beautiful looking specimens at Whole Foods. Yum!

For the glaze, you need:

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 Tb. lemon juice

2 Tb. water

3 Tb. brown sugar

lemon juice from 1 lemon

1 tsp. Tabasco...I think I added a lot more than this

Pepper both sides of your fillets to get them ready for the grill. When grilling, oil some foil to set the fish on and perforate it a bit. The hubs is responsible for all grilling actions since he is truly the expert, so I have no pictures of the cooking process.

Mix all of the glaze ingredients together until the sugar dissolves. Use this to spread on the salmon as you grill it. This makes a nice crunchy glaze on the fish.

When you're done, if you want to use more of it, just throw it in a saucepan on low heat until it's heated throughout and you can spread it on your salmon before you eat it.

I also paired these two recipes with some fresh green beans from the FM.

What a perfect Fourth of July meal!!!

Not your traditional burgers or brats, but I thought it was pretty fantastic.

Next, I'll share what we had for dessert. And no, it's not apple pie...

Happy holidays!!!