Nick and Ruby Gamboa came to visit us this weekend from Houston. I have looked forward to their arrival all summer. I remember vividly sitting in my garden wandering if the cucumber plants would still be producing when they arrived. Would the sunflowers be blooming or would the peppers be in full force? The Gamboas were originally friends of Pank’s . He spoke so fondly of them, that we became Facebook friends. Until this weekend, we only knew each other virtually. When they walked through the door Friday night, they felt like family!
The four of us had our own little taste of Nashville. We took them to Village Pub and Beer Garden, The Pharmacy, Corsair Distillery, Woodland Wine Merchants, Germantown Café, Edley’s, Arrington Vineyards and even Turnip Truck. It was fun showing them around, but our back yard was where the action was. It seemed like the zucchini turned into baseball bats over-night. There was no lack of beans, tomatoes or cucumbers either. We canned pickles and bottled a batch of peach brandy that I had been brewing for a long while. Good lord that recipe makes a bunch of brandy! Ruby has bookmarked a few sustainable Texas farms and Nick is planning their new garden. This tickles me to death! Now, they are headed back to Houston and we miss them dearly!
It will be such a joy to hear what Nick and Ruby do with their local food inspiration. Corbin In The Dell was intended to be a conversation starter. It is through relationships that we can make a powerful change in our food chain. By connecting the relationships of farms and culinary related professionals, there is a great conversation to be had. Some folks feel like the phrase “farm to table” is trite. While I get why they feel this way, it is so very important to talk about where your food comes from. It’s simply a supply and demand issue. The more people who demand quality food from their suppliers, the quicker shift happens. The day when factory farming is a thing of the past, steroid and antibiotic injected cows and chickens are no longer fodder for food documentaries and cancer causing produce are banned in America will be the day I finally shut up. Meanwhile, I offer social media strategy and content for folks who give a damn about where their food comes from.
After all this preachin’, we all could use a little snort of brandy…
Peach Brandy
| 3 quarts sliced peaches3 sliced lemons
2.75 gallons distilled water 10 lbs sugar 2 packages dry yeast 4 lbs raisins |
Boil water and sugar. Let cool. Dissolve yeast in a small amount of warm water. Place peaches and lemon in a 5 gallon crock with water, sugar and yeast. Keep covered. Stir every day for 7 days. On seventh day add raisins, cover and let stand for 21 days. Using a strainer and cheese cloth, filter the fermented liquid. Using a funnel, pour this massive batch into bottles or jars. |
