corn

"Yam" by Bruce Guernsey + Sweet Potato Puree with Charred Corn

How are you coming along on the resolutions you set back in January? One of my 2012 goals that I like very much, is to curate my life. It means I'm going through my closet and getting rid of anything I don't love. I'm not renewing magazines that I don't read cover to cover. I'm only saying yes to social activities that have a value-added component for me. Also, I culled my RSS feed.

Things had gotten out of control the way zucchini plants do this time of year. I'd just had enough. I was subscribed to too many blogs, and I accepted the fact that I couldn't get to them all. Also, my priorities had changed. Since launching The Giving Table last year, you can only imagine how the category of the food system has emerged in my feed. Suddenly, I was subscribing to more and more blogs tackling issues like school lunch reform, the food bill, and global hunger, and reading less design blogs. So I took the plunge. I kept the handful of design blogs I really enjoyed, and let my new priorities lead the way. Even worse, I was subscribed to well over 100 food blogs, which wasn't sustainable, either, so I hit delete without remorse.

"To Be of Use" by Marge Piercy + Cheesy Corn Crostini

We're poised to wave goodbye to spring in favor of longer days, warm breezes and the satisfaction of summer. This is truly a poem for June, then, as it praises the labor, the farmer, the gathering, and the feasting of the coming season. (Also, thanks go to The Yellow House for posting this poem last month and providing some of the inspiration here today.)

"Edamame Haiku" by Katie O'Connell King + Asian Panzanella

Think of haiku as today's equivalent of a tweet, in the sense that there's a fixed number of characters you must stick to in order to convey an idea. Instead of 144 characters, you have 17 syllables to make an impression.

Poetry can carry a lot of emotional weight. Its lines can wade through deep territory and cause you to ponder the very things you try to avoid thinking about on a daily basis. It can open a wound or illuminate a small experience, making you grateful for having read it in the first place. But there's also something to be said for the lighthearted, and I think we could use a little bit of that today. This haiku is about the "glossy tender bean" edamame, and describes some of the humor involved in eating them.