For company last night, an impromptu delicious meal with collards and new potatoes from the garden.

We started out with a glass of local Black Bridge Winery Chardonnay. These are my family’s heirloom crystal goblets. I remember family holiday dinners across the table from my twin sister Mary, tipping up these glasses as we’d drink our milk, viewing the world in bright blue.

I had plenty of collard greens from three humongous plants which courageously overwintered here and have grown up into flower.

And a handful of the first potatoes of  my 2012 garden, sliced and sauteed (in butter) with a thinly sliced onion and very tasty, medium spiced chicken/turkey andouille sausage from Applegate. I packed the collards into the pot with a splash of water and squeezed on the lid. Meantime, I simmered black eyed peas – organic and wonderful from Stahlbush Island Farms, out of Corvallis, Oregon, find them in the frozen foods section of health food markets.      The North Fork Valley of Colorado where I live is successfully growing anasazi, pinto and black beans – just fantastic! And the finished dish… with a nice spiciness –

Followed with fresh organic local apricots and cherries…and Pamela’s gluten free lemon shortbread cookies….