Ever since my friend Lucy has gone all green thumb with an amazing garden (and since partnering up with several people in SWMO to create our very own Slow Food chapter), I’ve been getting a little crazy in my own kitchen.

One of my favorite experiments lately involves Raw Milk. Lucy told me how to skim off the cream and whip it into butter, and then so smartly explained that the milk left at the bottom is buttermilk. Duh, right? So that will be used for the fried green tomatoes that will sadly finish off the last of the veggies left from summer.

I have to say, I’ve had a lot of fun baking bread, making butter, and simmering fresh vegetables into soup stocks and tomato sauce over the past few weeks. It’s kind of nice to be able to make so much from scratch and feel like I’m escaping the preservatives and hormones that are in most of our food. Thanks for all of the inspiration, Lucy!