A friend of mine always made forts in the yard when she was a kid. Anything could become a fort—a dog pen or a bush with a lot of branches. She and her friends decided a fort was always more homey if you could cook in it. So, they would throw a blanket over some branches and put a board down for the floor and get some instant pudding and a bowl and some spoons.They would mix the instant pudding and just sit in the fort and eat it out of the bowl. A perfect summer day.
SNOOPY IS YUMMY
Other people remember summer with different foods. Sure, there’s the typical stuff: watermelon, ice cream barbecue. I loved the Snoopy and Mickey Mouse ice cream bars from ice cream trucks. They were really just chocolate and vanilla ice cream made to look like the head of either character, but sometimes the faces would come out misshapen, as if they were in face melt from the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark. Well, they usually were in mid melt, but of the heat-related variety. Popsicles and ice cream bars aren’t at the top of everybody’s summer food list, however. ‘When we got to be teenagers my sister and
I would love to make potatoes with onions,’ says thirtysomething Karas. ‘We’d just cut up a bunch of potatoes and an onion and stir fry them in a cast-iron frying pan with butter or oil. They always stuck, but they were so good.’ She’s quick to point out she still makes them, but then remembers, ‘Well, not since I’ve been doing low carbs. So sad.’
FINE DINING AL FRESCO
Her big family would go out to Reds Drive-In all the time as teenagers, on the South Side, near where they grew up in Beverly. ‘I always had a Cheesedog,’ she explains. ‘You’d get it with celery salt and fries. It was so much fun.’
JUST LIKE IN ITALY
If they stayed in, sometimes on Friday nights, her mom would order food from Foxes Beverly Pizza Pub. ‘It was the best. We would get either a huge tub of cheese ravioli or a couple pizzas.’ She loved that flat cardboard crust ‘and the distinctive cheese, and the cornmeal on the bottom, and the way they cut it into squares instead of triangles. I don’t know why the squares make it taste better but they do. I wish I had a Foxes pizza right now.’
Foxes also made tomato bread, which was just French bread with garlicy oil and sliced tomatoes and mozzarella cheese. ‘I make a version of it with whole wheat English muffins,’ she says. ‘Toast them first so they don’t get too mushy, then top with tomatoes, basil, garlic, olive oil and cheddar and parmesan cheese.’ Just bake in the oven until the cheese is bubbly. She even thinks her version is ‘way better than the original —and a little better for me. Just a little.’
SUMMER IN THE CITY
One thing that will make any recipe better is summer fresh produce. Chicago’s Green City Market is just the place to buy it. Now in its fifth season, it can be found every Wednesday from 7 a.m. until 1:30 pm, at the south end of Lincoln Park, where North Avenue and Stockton meet, just north of the Chicago Historical Society, through Oct. 29.
The Green City Market is an outlet for locally produced organic foods, and includes more than lettuce and tomatoes—though those are mighty fresh and tasty. You can also find herbs, grains, organic breads, vinegars, Artisan cheeses, mustards, honey, and flowers. To really connect with the farmers, pick up some super fresh beef, poultry, or eggs.
A BIG BUSINESS
While annual sales of organic products in the Chicago metropolitan area are estimated to be between $60 million and $80 million, only three percent of this organic produce is supplied by local organic farmers. Much of the produce is actually shipped from California, Mexico, Florida, and the Netherlands.
Markets like this one are a benefit for the smaller farmer and supports growing conditions that are positive for the future of our environment. These farms promote biodiversity, by planting a wide range of plants, and don’t rely on chemicals. Not only is the produce free of pesticides, but organic farming protects the soil and water. Some hope that the Green City Market is only an interim step, that will eventually lead to a year-round market centrally located in the city.
What can you do in your own garden? Learn about the benefits or composting and more the first Wednesday of every month at the Market during the weekly ‘sustainable issues’ series, hosted by Ken Dunn.
For information, call (847) 835-2240 or visit www.chicagogreencitymarket.org.
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See the front page, left side directory of WindyCityTimes.com for Dining Out listings.