Summertime dinner

It's getting to the end of summer. School in these parts is in full swing. Columbus North defeated our neighbor, Columbus East, in the 41st installment of a cross-town football rivalry last night on ESPN. It seems like leaves could start falling any day. And our tomatoes still haven't ripened. We must have 10 little cherry tomatoes on the plants in the pots I started in Greenwood, but frequent (daily) watering and TLC hasn't given us a single taste. I did harvest one very small green pepper today in hopes that either the plant would put out some more flowers or give it up and let the tomatoes have more nutrients.

It's been a tough transition. You forget until about two weeks after a move just how much it costs to start living somewhere. We taxed our finances selling the house in Fort Wayne, maybe spending 15% of what we got for it just getting it to market. Then you have to take into account all the new deposits, waiting for the refunds and figuring out what (read: where) to eat when you haven't had time to go to a grocery. Add to that that when we moved into the apartment, we moved a whole lot of frozen food. We really saw how it disappears when it's easy to get to and now we're down to the last scraps from our big freezer and any canned goods that made the journey. Buying meat for the first time in five years is a big shock.

Anyway, we're at one of those junctures where we're stretching food dollars until we get some breathing room. But it helps inspire creativity. And so, tonight, we have a riff on a BLT.

Nothing special, except where it comes from.

Let's ignore the bread, cheese, processed cheese product, and mustard.

The highlights are the other bits. Under a pile of cheese sticks are slices from our solitary green pepper. It was small but strong. It is surrounded by "stolen tomatoes". Last weekend, when we were in Marysville, Duncan asked if we could pick tomatoes. They were behind my parents' garage and very fruitful. What could be wrong. He picked a couple and we took them in to Grandma. She says it's okay and gets us a container. This is when I find out that the tomatoes behind their garage belong to the neighbors. My parents lend them space in their yard that was once a failed garden. The neighbors tend it carefully and use my parents' water to produce some great tomatoes. But Duncan and I stole them. So we brought our exploits home with us. He'd like them even more if he knew they were stolen (AVM reference).

The bacon is from our 2010 share at Hawkins Family Farm. It is excellent Tamworth bacon, processed at W&W near Andrews, IN. The pickles I made last summer from our share of cucumbers at the farm. They're the instant dill sort. Not as authentic as a brined, kosher dill, but less moldy!

And there you have it. Something from several places we are connected to. I'm starting to think that "all local is relative."