Computer Crash

The title of this post is self-explanatory. Just two posts into a new blog, my computer crashes, taking my photos and files with it. It's currently in the shops where they're going to try to save my data, but I'm not holding my breath.

Since I can't upload any photos right now, or post any of my old ones, this will be a text-only post. I thought today I'd dish on something that'll become obsolete in a matter of days: summer produce! While autumn is hands down my favourite season, the fresh food that's available in the fall and winter months are nothing compared to what's there in the summertime. Here's a list of some things I'll miss dearly now that summer 2012 is becoming a fading memory:

1. Fresh figs - This was my first year trying fresh figs. I'd only ever had dried figs before, and I can't say I was ever a fan; the only way I'd ever eat them was boiled down into preserves. Fresh figs, on the other hand, are something else. My favourite way to eat them is on homemade pizza with goat cheese, basil & red onion.

2. Apricots - You just can't go wrong with apricots. They taste great underripe and overripe. I always ate them on their own, or alongside some goat milk yogurt with a quick breakfast.

3. Watermelon - The quintessential summer fruit. I tried yellow watermelon for the first time this summer, but I still like the pink variety the best.

4. Field tomatoes - These tomatoes ruined grocery store tomatoes for me. Their flavour is deep and pronounced, compared to the bland market variety. Great eaten as is with ground pepper.

5. Pickling cucumbers - I know these are meant to go into jars, but I like eating them fresh too. The rind is hard and bitter, so it's best to eat them peeled. I prepare them with white vinegar, salt, and ground pepper, the way my mom always made them when I was a kid.

6. Cherries - Cherries don't have a season--they have a moment. Unfortunately, I always over eat them when they first come into season and can't stand them the rest of the summer.

While this season is done and over with, I'll be on the lookout for new fruits and veggies to try next summer, so feel free to share your favourites in the comment section.

What To Expect

Pumpkin pie with a sweet & salty pecan crust. Recipe snitched from Oh She Glows.

This is a food blog, so I suppose I should clarify what kind of food you should expect to be seeing.

Over the years I have gone from the kid who set fire to burritos in the microwave to the lady who cooks and bakes everything--or at least almost everything--from scratch, using wholesome and simple ingredients to create flavourful and fancy dishes. As a student on a budget I don't have tons of cash to throw around for food, so my meals are a feast for the eyes but easy on the wallet. It's the best of both worlds!

Also affecting what kinds of things you'll see pop up here is my diet. I've done the vegetarian thing, the vegan thing, the pescatarian thing, the gluten-free thing... I've done everything. Seriously. Nowadays, I don't place any restrictions on what kinds of foods I'll eat. While I'm generally an unusually healthy eater, I'm no stranger to sweet potato fries and nachos and salsa, so don't be surprised if you see something greasy or salty pop up here.

One thing I don't eat is cow dairy, but that's chalked up to allergies. I recently found out, however, that I can tolerate goat dairy, and so have been eating up creamy goat milk yogurt and crumbly goat cheese. I went years without eating proper cheese and yogurt, so I consider this stuff the food of the gods. They'll be popping up regularly as I experiment with them in new and exciting recipes. Or, you know, as I eat them straight-up from their containers. No shame here.

While blog writing is jolly good fun, I must whisk myself off to work, so I'll end the post here. Next up will be photos and recipes of delicious things such as nectarine-pecan breakfast bread, date squares, yorkshire pudding, thai coconut shrimp curry, and black-eyed pea gumbo. Please, do try to contain your excitement.

An Introduction

To keep things simple, I'm going to christen this blog with a quintessential opening post.

My name is Kat and I'm your prototypical poor student slash wannabe writer with a flair for cooking and baking. As a woman who appreciates her privacy and who guards it with gusto, I don't plan on divulging many if any personal tidbits on this site. Instead, This Sandwich Has No Mayonnaise will be a showcase for my recipes, photos, and anything food-related that I care to share.

If I've sparked your interest, feel free to follow me as I try, and likely fail, to regularly update with my trials-and-errors in the kitchen. I promise I'll do my best to keep it interesting, or at the very least bearable.

Cheers.

P. S. To the person who took the URL "thissandwichhasnomayonnaise" in 2009 and never published anything, damn you.