WONDERS OF MY WORLD

It is so easy to be grateful at this time of year...holding the wonder of the garden in my hands, knowing the journey taken by each and every yield!  Freddie and I sit down to our evening meal each night and are truly awed by what lies before us.  I am often overwhelmed by what the soil, sun, air, nutrients, toil, sweat, implements, and attention, to say nothing of 'higher powers', to name just a few, have brought to my table.

Eggplant, onions, zucchini, garlic, fresh oregano, olive oil and salt and pepper tossed together, and roasted....

(A wonderful book.)

Rigatoni boiled al dente, mixed with fresh chopped basil, shredded Organic Valley's Raw Milk Jack Style cheese, the roasted vegetables and last years roasted tomato sauce...

a grating of Romano Cheese over all and baked for about 25 minutes in a 375 degree oven...

 

Cucumbers, dill, onions, tomatoes just picked and seasoned with olive oil, wine vinegar, oregano and salt/pepper...made early enough to marinate for an hour or so...

 

And a new idea of mine, save some dough from Sunday's pizza to experiment with 'fresh flat breads' for the week's meal.  Here dough hand stretched, brushed liberally with olive oil, covered with thinly sliced tomatoes, chopped basil, kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper,

simply a wonderful 'bread' to accompany our meal.

My garden, my hands, my table, my father, my mother, my kitchen....microcosm of creation.  

Here in my small world is encapsulated the whole.

CORY AND CARRIE

Just back from a 4250 mile round trip drive to Portland, OR to Cory/Carrie's wedding.  The wedding was simply lovely in all respects!  The setting, outdoors at Edgefield Winery, was beautiful, the ceremony touching...presided over by Freddie's newly 'ordained' brother Todd.  Family members gave deep and meaningful readings which, it was obvious the wedding couple truly valued.

I have never, at any wedding I have ever attended, seen so much love and devotion on the groom's countenance...honestly, it looked like Cory could simply burst with love and happiness.  (The bride's back was to me during the service, but I bet the same can be said for her as well.)  Here is a couple that, to me, epitomize deep and real and lasting love for one another.  

CARRIE AND CORY

(Todd to the left) 

While we were out west we stayed with Freddie's sister Barb and her husband Allen.  It was so good to spend time with this delightful couple, we had many a good time and lots of laughs. 

Mount Hood is visible from Barb/Allen's home, and we did take a day and go up the mountain.

It was fun to watch snowboarders and skiers doing their thing in August. 

The view from Mt. Hood.

Freddie and I had a wonderful time.  

On another note, the drive there (and back) was harrowing, 12 hour days on the road, brief nightly rests in (expensive) motels and rarely, if ever, good food (except what I packed).

Next time, the train, OR a staggered trip with stops of a couple of days along the way.  

Still, it was wonderful to be a part of this wedding, and seeing and being with family!

(Mmm....it is good to be home, however.)

*TAKE TWO LITTLE GIRLS AND A LARGE CARDBOARD BOX...

We recently purchased a new outdoor grill, our old one finally burned itself out.  It took us two evenings to put it together, and when complete we were left with a huge, heavy-duty cardboard box and multiple pieces of Styrofoam.  For some reason, I just love boxes, boxes of any kind, and I hated to just discard this one.  Well, it just so happened that my granddaughters would come for Nonnie day the very next day, and somehow I knew this would be a major attraction for them.

When they arrived, snacks ready on their table, all was ignored in the excitement of the simple, unadorned box.  It wasn't unadorned for long....

I soon became a 'go-fer'....nonnie can you get us a curtain?  Nonnie can you get us a lamp?  Can you make a little lamp for inside?  We want to make a village, do you have more boxes?  and on and on and on.  I loved each and every moment of this highly creative play.

Nonnie can I have the tiny pig and mouse, please?

A cozy home for Snuggly Bear and his good friend, 'Orange Girl' (she is made from dried orange rinds)

Nonnie, we need something for a roof over us, like a fort....

Pretty soon the living room was transformed into a wonderland.  I had fetched countless 'props', always asked for with a please.  

These two creative, imaginative young girls played, absolutely absorbed, for 2 1/2 hours, until I finally said, it is time for lunch.  They reluctantly left their village.

Take two little girls and a cardboard box and magic happens!!

CHARD PIE

Swiss chard is plentiful now, and this cold snap, and I mean cold, just seems to perk up the lovely leaves.  Swiss chard was something we often ate when I was growing up.  I fondly recall a soup my mother made with Swiss chard, onions and garlic of course, and tomatoes, it was delicious and I make it often myself.  This time I wanted to try something different, and decided upon a Swiss Chard pie.

Starting with one pie crust...

...which  I decided to roll thin snips of fresh basil into the dough as I folded it over itself amid the chunks of butter...

I thought this would be a nice addition to the various flavors, and by the way, I was correct.

1 tbs. olive oil                                          3-4 eggs
3/4 c. chopped onion                               1 c. milk
1 clove garlic, chopped                           1/2 tsp. salt/pepper to taste
1 c. grated cheese such as Organic Valley's Raw Milk Jack style  
3 slices bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled (optional)                         1 tbs. chopped fresh dill           
1 bunch Swiss chard, cleaned and chopped
1 fresh tomato, sliced

Heat oven to 400.  Roll out your pie crust and put into pie plate, I used a 9".  Heat oil in large skillet add onions cook until softened, add garlic saute a while longer.  Add chopped Chard stems first, cook for a few minutes, add greens until they wilt.  Turn off heat.  Beat eggs, milk and salt together.  

Spread chard in pie crust, add cheese, add crumbled bacon, pour egg mixture over top, sprinkle with the dill.  Cover with sliced tomatoes and a bit more dill, and bake until center no longer jiggly, 40-50 minutes.

Let sit about 10 minutes before serving.  May be served warm or at room temperature.

As usual, I wanted to serve a fresh salad, but this time with a twist.  I took a fresh zucchini and using a potato peeler, made thin ribbons which I marinated for a few minutes in balsamic vinegar...

...after making my traditional salad, I added curls of this marinated zucchini for taste and beauty.

A really fine meal with crusty fresh bread/butter.

And for me, (my husband does not like beets, though he will try them every time) beets fresh from the garden, steamed and served with butter and snips of fresh dill.

We feel blessed when we sit down to our evening meal, every single time!

SO WHICH IS BEST??

Growing up in rural Fredonia, NY in a close circle of Sicilian neighbors and relatives, homemade pizza was an every Saturday event.  We lived with my mother's mother, about two miles from town, the last house on Liberty Street....acres and acres of land behind us and adjacent to us on the right, along with Canadaway Creek.  It was certainly an idyllic setting to grow up in.  Surrounded by such land, filled with vegetable gardens, vineyards, and lots and lots of fruit trees.  Most of the elders, if not all, came over from the 'old country', as did both sets of my grandparents.

My grandmother made bread every Saturday, and of course a couple of pizzas as well.  I do not know what kind of flour my grandmother used, but I doubt it was Tipo '00' flour.  

I have been subscribing to La Cucina magazine for many years, and continue to read about the best pizzas in the WORLD... which are in Naples, Italy...Neapolitan pizza.  I have also read that the only flour used for pizzas in Naples is '00' flour.  (As well as the only tomatoes, which would be San Marzano, which having found some seeds this spring, I started my own San Marzanos.)

This flour is certainly not easy to come by in the States, and it is quite expensive, as well.  Several years ago I sent to NY city for some and did the 'taste test', and some thought the '00' pizza better than the pizza I have developed and made over the years.  

Now, my pizza (this one I have developed) happens to be my favorite pizza, but I am still intrigued as to pizza made with '00' flour.  Recently I had a friend visit an Italian store and he noticed this flour and brought me two small bags (traded for fresh bread, he wouldn't tell me what he had paid).  So a new test was in the making.

Although I made both of the dough balls above, I tend to call the one on the left 'my' pizza as opposed to the other.  As you can see, my dough is flecked with grains, where the '00' flour is very white, and in fact very fine.  '00' means finely ground, and it is very high in protein content...and the 7-grain bread flour I use is also very high in protein, though not so fine.  

...stretched out 7-grain...

...stretched out '00'...

The other thing about Naples pizza (it is essentially a street food) is that it is simple, lightly topped and fold-able...

My 7-grain topped with my traditional toppings, roasted pizza sauce, thinly sliced pepperoni, Organic Valley's raw milk jack-style cheese, freshly grated Romano Cheese, and slivered basil leaves.

I also topped the '00' flour pizza in this manner, and with no rising after topping each, they went directly into the oven...for a quick, perhaps 10-12 minute baking. 
(They are baked in a very hot, preheated 500 degree oven on adobe tiles.)

Here they are just out of the oven, ready for Freddie and I to taste,

along with a fresh salad. 

Quite honestly, there IS something about the pizza made from the '00' flour, and I truly loved it, perhaps a bit more than I love my own pizza.  The production of the dough is far more involved, and takes two days of work, and I still have enough for two more pizzas in the fridge.  

I am going to make the two pizzas again this week, and top the '00' in an authentic Napolino way...and try again...and when my San Marzanos are ripe, I will try yet again.  I know I won't often make this pizza as opposed to 'my' pizza, but once in awhile, perhaps.  

This morning I canned peaches....

and then had one of my favorite, summer sandwiches....so simple with the ingredients shinning through to the palette.

Good bread, in this case a bagel, Hellman's mayonnaise, fresh basil leaves, and fresh tomatoes (in this case sweet cherry tomatoes from my Amish neighbor) and more mayo on top.  
So simple and so delicious.

BEANS, BEANS AND MORE BEANS

An abundance of green beans led to canning Dilly Beans.

 

two heads of dill per jar

one dried cayenne pepper per jar

(if you want just a bit of hotness)

Pack clean sterile jars with clean beans, reaching about 1/2 inch below top of jar...pack tightly.

Meanwhile, be heating 2 1/2 cups white vinegar and 2 /1/2 cups water, 1/4 cup pickling salt...to a boil.

Put pepper, 1 clove garlic and 2 heads dill in jar, fill with hot mixture to 1/2 " of top, seal with sterile lids, place in hot water bath and boil for 10 minutes.

Best if not opened for at least two weeks!

On another note, Monica and I have The Rural Alphabet hanging in Tivoli, in Portage.  This is a very upscale assisted living/nursing home facility, simply beautiful and ultra modern.  They held a reception for us Friday evening....

this is part of a small, but enthusiastic group that attended the reception...

Monica and our cards and book display

...and me...

We were pleased at the reception we received.  They will be selling our cards/books in their Gift Shop.  

HARD CHOICES

Although I am spending much time fighting weeds...mostly coming from the straw mulch I put down, there are so many vegetables ready each morning I can barely choose which to have for our dinner.  In fact, sometimes we just have them all!

Haricot vert a French green bean that is very long and slender, and by the way, the best green bean I have ever eaten.  I grew them for the first time last year, and saved enough seeds to give some away, and to plant two long rows myself.  They are presently prolific, and I pick a large pail-full each morning.

Broccoli heads are coming in also, and we have had broccoli in many ways....the simplest was sauteing onions and garlic in butter, adding slightly steamed broccoli, stirring about, then adding 4-6 farm fresh eggs, (my friends Geri/Steve have by far the best eggs in the world) cooking until set.  Serve with fresh crusty bread, a little bit of heaven.

First head of cauliflower this morning, more broccoli and beans...

...onions are sweet and add to every dish...

We have been getting a few cucumbers each day, and our very favorite way to eat them is...clean and cut off the ends, score each cucumber with a fork, slice thinly...slice fresh onions very thin into rounds, salt/freshly ground pepper, plenty of chopped fresh dill week, and Hellmans mayonnaise, a generous amount.  It is good to make this a couple of hours ahead and let it sit in the refrigerator. (We go through a great deal of mayonnaise in the summer, and the only one I use is Hellmans.  Hellmans has a new one out using olive oil, but I have as yet been afraid to try it, as I love the original so much.)

A wonderful taste of summer.

We love plain steamed green beans served with butter, but I always make extra to use in this salad.

Cut up steamed green beans, onions, a bit of fresh minced garlic, cucumbers if you wish, plenty of fresh chopped dill weed, sliced cherry tomatoes, salt/pepper and dried oregano.  Dress with good olive oil and wine vinegar, a little heavy on the wine vinegar as the beans soak it up and add very much to the great flavor.  This dish should be made a few hours ahead and left at room temperature to serve.

Our favorite way to eat fresh broccoli is raw, in the above salad.

Clean and cut a smallish broccoli head into bite sized pieces in a medium bowl.  Cook a couple of strips of bacon (or turkey bacon) until crisp, sprinkle over the broccoli.  Chop a freshly picked onion into small pieces and add, sprinkle a handful or two of sunflower seeds over all, and a handful of dried cranberries.  Dress with about a cup of mayonnaise, a tsp. of cider vinegar, a sprinkle of sugar, and salt and pepper, adjust all to your taste.  Toss completely.

The very last of the peas served over a salad of fresh greens, cucumbers, onions, tomatoes and sliced radishes, topped with homemade Blue Cheese dressing, another summer favorite.

We have at least two of these salads each evening, and one night this week we had only salads, three or four, for dinner.