On Wednesday I hiked with neighbor Luke to Terrace Pond. Although there are No Swimming signs posted both at the beginning of the trail and at the pond itself, Luke assures me this used to be (and probably still is) a popular swimming hole.

The trail, like the other hike that Rick and I took back in the fall, is an uphill climb with a few rock scrambles. Here is Luke at the beginning of the trail.

And up the rocky trail we go! See the blue blaze marks on the rocks?

The view from the first uphill climb. Pretty! It was a gorgeous day: clear blue sky with not a cloud in it, perfect temperature, and lower humidity.

A bit further up the trail the rocks got a bit more dramatic. I wasn’t brave enough to join Luke in admiring the view. Can you blame me or do you think I’m a wimp? (Actually I was mindful of twisting my back again since it’s mostly healed.)

Luke thought this mushroom looked like a slightly over-cooked pancake and I agree.

The trail was easier than I thought it was going to be and after a few more rocky places and a few bogs we soon reached our destination: Terrace Pond.

The water was clear and calm. Bullfrogs were giving a concert from the edge of the pond sounding very much like they were plucking guitar strings. We stopped to eat a bite of lunch before heading back down.

Luke showed me this cool sheltering overhang that made a sort of cave. It would offer a lot of protection from the elements if you needed it.

Are you getting the idea that New Jersey is one rocky place?

These Indian Pipe Plants took advantage of a mulchy spot on the rocks.

The hike back down took about half the time of the hike up. All in all a very pleasant hike and a great way to spend a few hours. Next time we need to find the loop trail that goes all the way around the pond for more of a challenge!

Tonight I held a baby bat in my hands. No, really, I know what you’re thinking (ewwwww!) but I really did. And it was very cool. Rick and I were out swimming tonight after it was dark by the light of the Tiki torches. We were doing laps in the *almost* 80 F degree pool water (finally!) when I noticed something strange crawling right along the edge of the pool. At first I thought it might be a frog due to its ungainly gait. When I got close I realized it was tiny baby bat!

With our bat population down here in New Jersey by a huge degree due to a fungus that has been affecting our bat population, I was ecstatic to see this little guy! He was insistent upon going into the pool no matter how Rick or I tried to redirect him. He seemed to be unable to fly. Finally I jumped out of the pool, let him climb on my hand, and transported him to the railing where he would at least be safe from puppy-everything-goes-in-my-mouth Bella who was also out with us. He felt strange to my hand. Not like the hummingbird which I held last year; not like a rodent-like creature either. I felt its wings a bit and maybe its feet. I can’t describe him quite. Not creepy though. 

When I put him down on the railing he started crawling along. We weren’t sure if it was hurt and unable to fly, or just too young to fly.

I jumped back in the pool and continued swimming. About ten minutes or so later I decided to get out and see if it was still making its way along the railing. I found it not too far from where I had left it. I spoke softly to it and said something like “are you still here” and with the breath from my voice it spread its tiny wings and flew away.

I can only hope in that instant it finally learned how to fly. Am I just plain weird that I feel quite blessed tonight?

See you next year, little fledgling bat ...

Now my blog posts about the produce we get from our CSA (Bear Swamp Farm) will be named CSA and whatever week we happen to be in for our distribution. If you want to read just those entries all you have to do is enter CSA in the search box and all those entries will be ready to view. The first two entries have different names, so you can find them by clicking on “CSA 2009” under the categories listed on the right side of the blog.

Last week’s included what you see pictured above: Swiss chard, beets, fresh garlic, and two kinds of lettuce. The lettuce was young and tender and was eaten just in salads and on sandwiches. The freckled lettuce was kind of funny. When I reached in my box to pull it out my first thought was gosh, this has lots of dirt on it. I’m going to have to wash all that off when I get home. Was I surprised to find that it wasn’t dirt—just spotted lettuce. It had a wonderful peppery kind of taste. Absolutely delicious!

Pedro seems to be struggling with the weather and different kinds of creatures in his garden. Here are a few excerpts from his weekly newsletter:

I love his sense of humor about all of his trials. But really, what would Bear Swamp Farm be without at least one bear?

It’s interesting to try and use what we get in a new recipe. I hate to just braise/cook/wilt/whatever and have it as a side vegetable dish. Too boring! I scan the recipes online at either allrecipes.com or epicurious.com. Epicurious has mostly recipes from Bon Appetít, but it does have other recipes as well. Food & Wine’s web site also is a good source. As always, the recipe can be found by clicking on the link which will take you directly to our personal recipe book. This way I don’t have to take up space with the actual recipe in the post, plus if you want you can just print it out directly from the recipe archive.

We made a delicious Swiss Chard and Leek Tart with the chard. It was ever so creamy! The puff pastry tart shell made making this a breeze!

We have several good beet recipes but I wanted to try something new. I had picked up some golden beets at our local farmer’s market with the idea of mixing the two together. When I found Golden and Crimson Beet Salad with Oranges, Fennel, and Feta I knew it was meant to be tried! The flavors were fresh and all the ingredients worked perfectly together. The feta cheese added just the right amount of saltiness to the citrus. The beets, especially the red ones from the CSA, were wonderfully sweet and oh so good! Yum!

We used to eat beets only occasionally, but they are fast becoming one of my favorite vegetables when in season. If you think you don’t really like them, try tossing them with some olive oil, kosher salt and pepper, then roast them in the oven (400 F; cover the pan with foil) until they are just tender. When cool, the skins will slip right off. I dare you—go ahead and try them!

Update: When I picked up our distribution for this week (nope, not telling you yet; next week!) I told Pedro about the “freckly” lettuce and how good it was and that also I had thought it had dirt clinging to its leaves. He told me that strangely enough the lettuce is called Freckled Amish Bibb!

Beergaritas poolside.

Lately I’m beginning to think my blog is turning into a food blog. Not so. Not really. It’s just that we’ve tried a lot of new recipes recently and for the most part they’ve been very successful. And yummy. And tasty. And ... well, you get the picture.

I subscribe online to a weekly email from Food & Wine regarding seasonal or themed recipes. I always follow the links and it’s part of my morning routine, this scouting out of new things to eat. The following recipe is a result of just that. We tried them a week or so ago and fell in love with this “grown-up” version of hot dogs on the grill. Since we had the hot dogs already in the fridge, we had them again yesterday. (Note: we grilled early in the day knowing that we are supposed to get heavy t-storms this evening; hence no grilling.)

This recipe is called Cross-Hatch Hot Dogs on Grilled Croissants.

You prepare a cabbage slaw and toss with a sherry vinegar and honey dressing. The recipe calls for minced red peppers (hot ones) but since we couldn’t find any, we sprinkled some hot pepper flakes on the cabbage instead. Trust, me; these will do the trick just fine.

Next, the hot dogs** get skewered and sliced at an angle on three sides and rolled and coated in a ketchup/soy/garlic glaze. Here is what they look like when first tossed on the grill:

And here is what they look like after they “blossom” as they cook.

Spread the croissants with a dijon mustard and butter mixture. Grill them.

Assemble the sandwiches, eat and enjoy! I usually slice my hot dog in half so it lays on the croissant better.

For the full recipe just click on the link above.

**We used Applegate Farms Stadium Organic Uncured Beef Hot dogs with no nitrates added.