Labor Day

There is nothing like revealing you have a blog to a new person to finally get your butt in gear with a new post. So...here goes...

On Labor Day, I hosted a get-together with friends that could have easily been called a Harvest Party. There was Vinegar Marinated Potato Salad made with potatoes from one friend's garden and fresh eggs from another friend's backyard chickens. A couple other friends picked sweet corn to share with me, and I tossed it together with radishes, jalapenos, and flat leaf parsley from my own garden to make Fresh Corn and Radish Salad. And, after my distress over my zucchini plants not producing, not one, but 3 friends left zucchini on my front porch, some of which became Lemon Blueberry Zucchini Cake.

As we waited for the the charcoal to be perfect for grilling brats, we sipped on white sangria made with the ripe and juicy Colorado peaches flooding the area and snacked on appetizers of a slightly altered recipe of Spinach Meatballs tossed in some recently canned marinara sauce (also from a friend's tomatoes), cherry and yellow pear tomatoes from my garden, fresh mozzarella balls (from Costco), and toasted garlic baguette. And, those brats? They were smothered in my very first attempt at homemade sauerkraut made from a volleyball-sized head of cabbage that yet another friend left on my porch. (I have great front porch fairies, don't I?)

It was a great night, even if we were forced to abandon the fire pit and move the party indoors when a few sprinkles became a downpour. Hubs and I are blessed with good fortune and great friends.

Labor Day may traditionally signify the beginning of fall, but I am going to hold onto summer as long as possible. Even after that party menu, I still have a few ears of sweet corn left and some of those garden potatoes. My garden is lacking substantial tomatoes for canning, but is still producing lots of cherry and yellow pear tomatoes. There is, also, always basil growing until the frost takes what I haven't preserved for winter. This all means that Potato and Corn Salad is the perfect late summer salad to make an appearance On My Plate.

Potato and Corn Salad

(adapted from Cooking Light)

2 cups small yellow potatoes, halved

3 cups fresh corn kernels

2 cups assorted cherry and yellow pear tomatoes, halved

1 1/2 cups red bell pepper, chopped

1/4 cup minced shallots

2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, torn

Cook potatoes in salted boiling water until tender. Drain and chill.
In a large bowl, whisk together shallots, vinegar, mustard and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Add potatoes, corn, tomatoes, and bell pepper to the bowl and toss with the dressing.
Sprinkle with the basil. (Serves 4)