Friday, July 30, 2010

Moles



Moles are furry little blind mammals that burrow underground and eat worms.  They like to dig lots of tunnels in places, like your lawn and flower beds, to store their worms and generally make a mess of things.  In earlier centuries, in Europe, they were called mouldywarp, mould meaning soil and varp meaning throw, or essentially, “one who throws soil” or “dirt tosser”.  We thought gophers were making the mess but it turns out we have moles.

Beer Glazed Black Beans


I got a new cook book for my birthday, How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman.  A food writer for the New York Times, Mark is know as the “Minimalist” and I’ve been a regular reader of his blog Bitten Blog for a few years.
I adapted his recipe for beer glazed black beans for dinner and they were very tasty.  The flavor of beer and beans go together really well, and I’m sure this dish would work with pinto, kidney or white beans. This recipe is quick and easy and could be made even faster if you use canned beans, however, I cooked by own.  Black beans cook in 15 minutes in a pressure cooker.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Daring Bakers' Challenge: Swiss Swirl Ice Cream Cake


The July 2010 Daring Bakers’ Challenge was hosted by Sunita of Sunita’s world-life and food.  Sunita challenged everyone to make an ice cream filled Swiss roll that’s then used to make a bombe with hot fudge.  Her recipe is based on an ice cream cake recipe from Taste of Home.

Friday, July 23, 2010

First Peach of the Season


We picked the first ripe peach yesterday.  It wasn’t as ripe as it should have been, I think Mr. RK was a little excited to taste the first peach.  We’ll leave the others on the tree for a few more days to sweeten up.  (They are very fuzzy peaches!)



Broiled Blackberry Corn Cake


This is one of those situations where you get lemons so you make lemonade.  I was intrigued by a recipe from Jeremy Jackson’s The Cornbread Cookbook for caramel corncake.  It sounded very tasty so I thought I would give it a try with the addition of blackberries.  

Friday, July 16, 2010

The Last of the Apricots


We picked the last of our apricots today.  This giant beauties are delicious and I will be sad when we’ve eat them all.  Apricot are one of my favorite fruits and these homegrown ones have been exceptional.  They’re much bigger than the ones you see in the stores (thinning in the spring really helps produce bigger fruit) and much better tasting because they ripen on the tree.

Strawberry Ice Creme


I’m on a quest to make really good non-dairy ice creme.  The ingredients in ice cream that traditionally give it that wonderful thick, creamy texture are cream and eggs.  Being allergic to eggs and and trying to avoid foods with cholesterol I’m searching for the perfect vegan ice creme recipe that will give me the “mouth feel” of full fat ice cream without the offending ingredients.

Sunday, July 11, 2010

First Tomato


This is my first tomato of the season!   Yes, I know, it’s just a little tiny cherry tomato but it’s the first.   I get excited by these things.  It’s beautiful, and I’m going to eat it for dinner tonight.  I’m going to cut it in half and share it with Mr RK.

Monday, July 5, 2010

Back Alley Visitors


We have an alley behind our house that’s well traveled by the wildlife of our neighborhood.  This afternoon we had a new visitor to the alley.  This sweet little girl, who was probably born in Sorich Park this spring, came to visit with her mother and older sister.

Saturday, July 3, 2010

July Garden Harvest


I love going out in my garden in the morning to see what we’ll be eating today.  This is what I picked.  I also have a little spinach left, lots of kale and chard, some lettuce, basil, cilantro and onions.  I harvested the garlic last week and it’s drying out in the shed.  
We picked blueberries raspberries and strawberries to put on top of our oats for breakfast.  I also picked the first (4) ripe blackberries.  The blackberries are my favorite.  We’re going to have a big crop this year because of the heavy spring rain.  

I also picked the first ripe apricot.  Our tree is full of big ripening apricots but a good number of them are molding on the tree.  I think is due to the rains that brought me the bumper crop of blackberries.  Nature is a good example of the yin/yang concept.  Things tend to balance out.
Due to the heat that is ripening the fruit in our yard, the peas are winding down.  The peas don’t like the heat so the plants are starting to dry up.  We’re still picking a few each day but they won’t be around much longer.
I also picked my first green bean today.  It’s a French bean from seed I bought in Paris a few years back.

Friday, July 2, 2010

Roasted Asparagus Salad


I went to a family event last weekend and my contribution was this roasted asparagus dish.  It was so tasty, I’m making it again for a July 4th get together with neighbors.  This is a perfect party platter because you can cook the components up ahead of time and assemble it later, especially if you’re going to be traveling.