Weekend Foodie Warriors- Take 21!
Hello hello, again, Foodie Friends 🙂 Hope you had a fantastic weekend! In this edition of Foodie Adventures, we made homemade Peach Jam with friends, checked out some Food Trucks for a good cause, and created a Shark Week Shrimp & Pasta Dish!
Peach Almond Jam
Recipe here: https://pimentoandprose.com/peach-almond-jam/
It was rainy a few days this week, and with the success of the first batch of jam we made about a month ago, I decided to tackle another seasonal favorite fruit, peaches! We went to the South Carolina Peach Festival and brought back a bushel and a half (about 1-2 pounds worth) of peaches, and I got some friends together the next weekend to make some jam.
We started by blanching the peaches, dropping them gently into a bowl of boiling water and then shocking them in an ice bath to stop the cooking process.
Some lemon juice, sugar, and eight cups of peaches later, we have this!
Funniest part is we underestimated how many peaches we had and had to transfer all of this to my big lobster pot before going any further 😂
After adding the sugar, pectin, and stirring for a while, we added in the vanilla and almond extract to this.
The finished product! The whole kitchen smelled amazing at this point 😍🍑
These jars were the hardest, it took three of us to fill all of them, one person removing the hot water from the jars, one person pouring the jam, and one person sealing the lids closed.
This was a fun activity, I ended up giving a bunch away to friends, family, and neighbors since we made so much. My roommate has already put in a request for another round of plum jam, so that’s coming up next!
When Zach first introduced me to Virginia Tech and their local Alumni Chapter, one of the first fast friends I made was a local realtor named Donald Barbour. We both were huge foodies, and spent the first few minutes comparing notes on how to make the best mac and cheese, what is the best side pairing for BBQ, etc.
Fast forward to today, and I think of the Barbour’s as family now. Love hanging out with their kiddos, Nicole (his wife) and I will talk back and forth fairly regularly, and Donald and I are still comparing notes on new restaurants, food trucks, and local businesses that open up!
He also gets to do this video series through Keller Williams in his spare time, think of it like a localized version of Guy Fieri’s Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives, where he meets and talks with local restaurants, businesses, and the like, learning their stories and getting to sample or try out what they make. I’d love to be able to incorporate videos like his into Pimento & Prose Blog 2.0! 🤗
Below is the link to his latest review, check it out: www.facebook.com/JMMTeam/videos/334958917388639
So back to the reason we’re here, food trucks! Donald’s office was throwing a Food Truck Rodeo at a local farm in Simpsonville to benefit kids in local schools, and were collecting supplies to fill backpacks for local kids in need. They do a great job of having events like this that are a lot of fun but give back to good causes as well.
The Food Truck Rodeo included Food Trucks, corn hole, face painting, and a bounce house for the kids, as well as local vendors and stores selling items or giving away free swag!
There was live music, a magic show, and improv comedians there too, so there was definitely something for everyone!
The backdrop was this absolutely gorgeous farm on the outskirts of Simpsonville, the Historic Hopkins Farm, which hosts events like weddings during the year as well.
The food trucks there were some of my favorites! Groovy Dawg, who likes to hang out at Fireforge Brewery, has amazing brats, hot dogs, and sausages.
Tacos & bla bla bla is the place I love getting my gorditas al pastor fix (see blog here for that review), along with a place I hadn’t heard of yet, Woodchips Smokehouse, based out of Honea Path, SC. I didn’t try that one out but my friends thought it was yummy!
Of course we couldn’t forget about dessert! Molly and Myles was there to cool us all off 😁🍦 See last week’s review of their ice cream shop here.
What I was waiting for was the Cousins Maine Lobster Truck, which *fun Fact*, I once waited in line for FOUR HOURS to get food from this truck…I’m dedicated/crazy, I know 😂 Read all about that adventure here in Weekend Foodie Warriors #2 for a recap!
Needless to say, I was ready for redemption!! I waited in line for no more than 15-20 minutes this time, and the sweet sweet lobster and the friends I made in line were worth it 🤗
My haul, from right to left- the Connecticut Lobster Roll (served on a New England Style hot dog roll, warm with butter – my favorite way to eat a lobster roll), tots, and a whoopie pie!
Whoopie pies, if you’ve never had one before, are cake-y cookies (typically) filled with a whipped cream-like frosting, and they’re super soft and delicious.
Donald caught me cheesin’ with my lobster roll, it was an awesome night making new friends, with good food, for a great cause!
Shark Week 2019 Recipe: Shark Bait Shrimp Pasta
Recipe here: https://pimentoandprose.com/shark-bait-shrimp-pasta/
I am quite the animal lover and food puns/dad jokes/plays on words are my jam, so when I realized it was Shark Week I had the perfect idea!
I bought some lobster bisque from Cousins Maine Lobster and wanted to use it as a pasta sauce, so starting with that idea, I came up with the idea for a play on a scampi this weekend.
This started with the veggies, asparagus and mushrooms, and while that was sauteing, we made the pasta. I had a special bronze-cut linguine from Lidl I had been meaning to finish up and I knew it would soak up the sauce really well.
The shrimp got sauteed in a 1-1 garlic, lemon, & basil butter and olive oil mixture, which I then added the lobster bisque to to finish infusing the flavor. I know this may be controversial but I also included some (non-dairy of course) parm cheese, which could have been subbed out for its dairy counterpart as well.
Then everything was tossed to coat and I had my lunches prepped for this week! Shrimp doesn’t last really long in the fridge though, so this is definitely a recipe to share, or just eat it quick! See below for more pictures and the link above for the recipe online 🦐🦞🍝
So how was your weekend Foodie Friends? What’s your favorite thing to cook on a rainy day? Sound out in the comments below or let me know your suggestions of what dishes or places we should visit next. As always, feel free to like, comment, & share 🤗
2 Comments
Enjoyed the edition. Peach jam. I will try the shrimp dish, as well.
It was pretty yummy, I’m having it for lunch today!