Purple hull pea salad

I’ve been working on the pickle section of my book, and I’ve concluded that just about anything can be brined and preserved. Fruit, vegetables, meat, and eggs—it’s a rare food that doesn’t get a flavor boost from vinegar, spices, aromatics, salt and (sometimes) sugar. So when I was trying to come up with new ways to serve the pounds of purple hull peas I brought back with me from Texas, my decision was simple: I’d pickle my purple hull peas.

If you’ve never had the pleasure of eating purple hull peas, they’re a field pea that is similar to black-eyed peas, but with a more delicate and sweet flavor. They’re also prettier with their light-purple blush.



My family never grew purple-hull peas because apparently with these good looks comes high maintenance—they’re a lot tougher to shell than other field peas. But if you do persist, you will be rewarded with a creamy, light pea that needs little adornment to taste wonderful.
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Blueberry peach cornmeal cobbler

I stayed with a friend in Austin this past week. When I arrived at her house, I handed her a Fredericksburg peach that I’d picked up in the Hill Country. And before I even had a chance to sit down, she had sliced the peach in half and shared it with her daughter.

Later that night, I offered to pick up the tab at dinner to thank my friends for letting me sleep at their place. “Are you kidding?” said my friend. “You brought us peaches. You’ve already repaid us more than enough!”

Earlier in the week, I had spent the night at my grandma’s farm. Her peach tree was full of fruit, but they weren’t quite ripe. Fortunately, my mom had brought a box of Fairfield peaches on a recent visit. And before I even had a chance to sit down, my grandma had deftly peeled one of the peaches and cut it into slices to share.





As we were eating the peach slices and wiping the juice off of our chins, my grandma asked if I wanted her to bake me my favorite pie—chocolate. “Are you kidding?” I said. “When the peaches are in season, I want a peach pie instead!”
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Summer squash enchiladas

For the past few years, my family has decided that Tex-Mex is the way to go on Christmas. We don’t get too fancy as my mom’s working at church, but there will be chili, guisada, guacamole, tortillas, salsas, beans, rice and Uncle Austin’s squash enchiladas.

Of course, it’s July and nowhere near Christmas. But if you have zucchini in your garden, you’re well aware of the bounty these plants produce—it can be staggering. And right about now, you’re probably begging friends and neighbors to help you eat some of this prolific vegetable.



Now, I don’t have a zucchini plant, but I did find myself with a surplus of summer squash. And after making a couple of casseroles and batches of pickles, I realized I’d have to come up with something else to use up my supply. Thanks to inspiration from my Uncle Austin, I made summer squash enchiladas.
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