As I think back on all the wonderful meals I've had in the past few days, I am exceedingly thankful for having the opportunity to enjoy local produce grown by committed farmers.  Sweet peppers, purple beans, eggplant, summer squash, and tomatoes all found their way to the table.  With a flourish of flavor, the colorful, fresh vegetables of summer said "so long for awhile" as fall snuck up on us.

A crisp couple of nights threw a knockout punch to the tomatoes and squash, but that white kiss also sweetened up the chard and kale.  The story is pretty routine, but always new in some ways.  This season the chill forced my daughter and son-in-law to pick many green tomatoes that are now beckoning to me from inside their jars where they are transforming into pickled tomatoes.  That caused my mind to race backwards a few decades and see a vision of rows of pickled green tomatoes sitting on shelves in the basement after my mother transformed them.  I can still taste their complex sourness replete with the flavors of dill, garlic, and other pickling spices.

GREAT TASTE features home cooks this week, and I'm really looking forward to tasting some amazing dishes created by people who prepare food with love and love to share it.  Mary Adam is always talking food when I see her at the At Home Store.  She continually elicits sighs from me with some of her descriptions of meals she's recently created.  Mary is making two dishes for us-hearty chicken soup and savory biscuits.  Rosemarie Camp is cooking one of my favorite vegetarian dishes-polpette di melanzane, which is a beautiful way of saying eggplant meatless meat balls in tomato sauce.  By request from her co-host, co-host Kathy DuBois will prepare linguine with turkey meatballs and marinara sauce.  We might even have more.  Bottom line:  if you are in the neighborhood, missing this live show at Hy-Vee is not an option if you like to eat.

We're going to share tips for making the time in the kitchen more enjoyable.  Each of us has a little different take on that topic.  Tom Allen will play a bit of music.  We've got a book to give away, and there is always the unexpected, whatever that means.

It's GREAT TASTE live at Hy-Vee, 7:00 pm Wednesday or on the stream at www.kruufm.com.  60 minutes of delicious radio that you can actually taste.