scrimp scrampi

This weekend on public tv, Lydia Bastinsomething cooked Bucatini with toasted breadcrumbs and garlic. I tried it, but added shrimp; it turned out pretty good...a little dry, but still mostly yummy. On the side was swiss chard from the garden, and a summit bohemian pilsner, delicious.

Menu; something old, something new

unbelievably, the tomatoes just keep coming from the garden! Yes, they are mostly green...but right now I have 2, no 3 bowls full and 2 paper bags.
Also, my mom told me a story last night about how her mom used to bring her bowls of brown butter sauteed greens with a creamy bechamel sauce, after she married my dad and moved out. So sweet, so I tried googling the name my grandma called it (ein braune) ? to no avail. I found the recipe below...who knows if it's the same, but hopefully it will still honor the memory.
This week:
- fried green tomatoes
- creamed brown butter greens (with the rest of the chard)
- coq au vin (had frozen chicken and half a box of wine)
- stuffed squash (I have 4!)

Herbs for the Winter

Today I harvested the herb garden, and spent the evening washing, bundling, and hanging them for drying. They taste so good in the middle of winter, a little bit of summer's fresh flavor in my recipes. Sage, tarragon, thyme, lavender, rosemary, chives, thai basil, mint, and lemongrass (although I have no idea what to do with lemongrass.)

To the Woods...

Here's the pork shoulder...one of my favorite recipes. Even more delicious with apples from the farmers market, and homemade bread.

Menu: week of October 6

A picture of Sara toasting me with her pint, totally unrelated to this post.

This week's menu:
- green chile chicken tamales
- black bean soup
- no knead bread
- fried green tomatoes
-garlic pork shoulder

I also need to finish an order of 20 hats for sale at Corazon, (my very very favorite gift shop by the way) and get the garden put to bed tomorrow. Hopefully I'll also have time to fix the front door, and clean up the front porch a little.

J and I took a quick trip to the Global Market to grab a delicious dinner from Holyland of Rotisserie chicken, hummus, feta and olives; and to Uncle Hugo's Mystery Bookstore for a new Sci Fi book for him.
Going to bed early to get everything done tomorrow!

Summer's End; the last of the garden

Green, red and cherry tomatoes, squash, chard, basil, this crazy sunflower that we have no idea what it is. Seriously, does anybody know what this is?



It's perennial, grows about 6-12 feet high each season, gets thick stalks, and blooms these beautiful yellow flowers the last week of summer. I'd love to know. Let's see...been another very busy week. Made the soup from last week this week...I don't think it's that great. But the pork recipe is amazing, that's a repeat.
On a much more amazing note, my brother and his wife just had a new baby! Julia Mary, born on Tuesday, 6 pounds 15 oz. She's perfect. Ben and Henry are so proud, and they'll be such wonderful big brothers.