Block Party

Our neighborhood has a yearly block party. Block parties do seem to be coming back, although not every neighborhood does them. There's something cool about the sense of community that you feel after spending an afternoon with your neighbors. We are very friendly with quite a few of our neighbors, but at the block party we often get to meet newer neighbors who moved in during the past year and we all get a chance to catch up on what's been going on over the summer. The kids all enjoy having the run of a few yards to play in and the enormous amount of food just waiting for them to dig into all afternoon.

Our block party is something we look forward to every year, not only because we get to see some neighbors that we normally don't run into but also because everyone brings food to share! This year was no different since we had over 20 families participate. There was everything from hamburgers, hot dogs, sausage sandwiches, broccoli salad, potato salad, corn on the cob, chips and dip, and a wide range of desserts - just to name some of the delicious food that was there.

After a trip to a local farmer's market this morning, I was able to make a simple orzo salad that had some fresh vegetables in it. I had some beautiful green zucchini, fresh corn and heirloom cherry tomatoes in different colors. I didn't really follow a recipe this time. I sauteed the corn and zucchini in about 1 tablespoon of EVOO and then tossed it with some Italian seasonings before tossing with the orzo. Then, I added about 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese and combined to allow it to melt into the other ingredients. Lastly, I added the halved tomatoes and did a quick toss of everything together. It was really quite tasty for something I made with really fresh ingredients. A bonus was how colorful and pretty it turned out!


farm market orzo salad

We went crabbing again this past weekend, so I'll be sharing a bit from that in the next day or two.

Comments

Dragon said…
Your salad looks so fresh and delicious! I'm glad you had great time at your block party.
A block party sounds like fun - never heard of it before actually! The salad looks very colourful and fresh - yum
Jenny said…
What a fabulous looking salad! I bet your block party ate it in no time!

Crab fishing, wow, do tell! My boys would love to go do something like this!
Block parties are so much fun! What a great colorful salad to bring.
Leah said…
Every night is a block party in our neighborhood -- we're pretty lucky that way I guess!

Yummy salad, by the way. ;-)
Patsyk said…
Dragon - thanks, it was so nice to be able to use fresh produce direct from the farmer's!

Beth - block parties seem like they were popular years ago, but are coming back. I really love that our neighborhood is holding on to this tradition.

Jenny - I'll have my crabbing photos and story up in the next day or so... so many pictures I am having to really go through them! :)

Lisa - thanks!

Leah - you ARE lucky! It's funny, but since the block party last Sunday it seems like the whole neighborhood has been out after dinner each night this week. It's been a great way to spend the evenings.
RecipeGirl said…
Lucky you... I absolutely love block parties. We do community happy hour parties once a month on Friday afternoons at our community park. The kiddos play and run wild while the adults share good food and wine!
Patsyk said…
recipegirl- sounds like you have a lot of fun in your neighborhood every month! I love the idea and may have to suggest something similar to my neighbors... we are outside nearly every night as it is!
Anonymous said…
This is gorgeous. I am just starting to cook with orzo.

Thanks for your kind comment on my blog. Speaking of culinary school, here is a similar salad that I learned in school:
http://finefuriouslife.com/2008/02/18/mock-summer-salad/

I was surprised to learn that zucchini could be eaten raw.

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