Tuscan Salad

This is a delicious summer salad. It can be eaten on its own or as a side and uses plenty of fresh vegetables. I first enjoyed this salad while visiting our friends Steve & David in Cold Spring NY on a much needed summer break from the city. After the weekend, I couldn't get it out of my mind and begged them for the recipe. It is now an almost weekly staple in our house. Amounts are approximate - you can dial it up or down depending on your taste. This will last for a few days in the refrigerator but after about 3 days, it gets kinds funky.

1 lb. wide variety of tomatoes diced, cherry tomatoes can be quartered
1-2 English cucumber(s), diced (you can also use a regular cucumber and remove seeds)
1/4 - 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced and diced
feta cheese crumbled
balsamic vinegar
olive oil
salt & pepper

Combine all vegetables in a bowl
Add balsamic vinegar and olive oil in an approximately 2(oil):1(vinegar) ratio
Mix well and add salt and pepper to taste
Add in feta and mix well

Can be served immediately or refrigerated.
I recommend letting it marinate for a bit then re-tasting to test flavor - add any additional ingredient as necessary.

Next Stop, County Fair!

Here it is. The long awaited first crop of the season: a tomato and a squash. There is tremendous pressure to make them the star of the dish where it will make its debut. I have not ruled out bronzing to preserve their posterity. In any event, I am thrilled to have picked my first vegetables. From my assessment, more tomatoes, yellow squash, cucumbers and zuchinni won't be far behind.

I'm Sorry We Have No Bananas

If you haven't guessed by now, I am a chef by necessity. When I have food laying around I imagine what I can make with it before it goes bad. This necessitates my need to cook. I was getting tired of looking at the bananas on my counter turn black. CityBaby just came out of a banana phase. While banana daiquiris came to mind, I thought banana bread would appeal more to the masses. I found an easy and delicious recipe on food52.com, a fairly new cooking site. (Side note: cookstr is also another great resource although it is still in its beta stage.)

Here's the recipe:

3 overripe bananas (the blacker the better, unless they're moldy!)
1 cup light brown sugar (packed)
10 tablespoons butter (unsalted), at room temperature
2 eggs
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
1 cup chocolate chips (optional)
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees; move rack to lower-middle position. Generously grease a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan.
2.Beat bananas with an electric mixer until smooth. Add brown sugar, butter, and eggs, and mix until completely incorporated.
3.In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, and beat until smooth, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
4.Stir in the walnuts and/or chocolate chips, if you're using them.
5.Pour batter into prepared pan, and bake for one hour, or until bread is a deep brown and an inserted skewer comes out clean.

And here's my rendering, taken with my phone. Tastes much better than it looks:

Doughn't Do It

After last week's Challah Extravanganza, I had lots of yeast and flour hanging around. So, the spirit of being thrifty, I thought I would try my hand at ppizza dough. I was looking for something fast and easy. Ater perusing several recipes, I landed on an Alton Brown. Anyone familiar with Alton knows he can be a bit verbose and his written recipes are just the same. I wasn't looking for a whole origins of yeast lesson so I got started on the ingredients. The most appealing quality about this recipe was the use of the mixer - no hand kneading or rolling. My hands didn't need to touch the dough once. I followed the instructions perfectly. I then decided to scroll down 2 pages to see that the dough needs to chill in the refrigerator for 18-24 hours. Ooops. I was looking at pizza tonight for dinner. Oh well. I stuck it in the fridge and pulled it out 30 minutes before baking. It was a little tough to roll out and not as light and airy as doughs I've bought. It was very elastic and kept retracting on the pan (I went square - a tip of the hat to my hometownNew Haven style pizza) but once I got the sauce and cheese on top of it, it stayed put. It didn't roll out evenly so some areas were doughy. I really prefer thin and crispy. In lieu of a pizza stone, which I don't own, I think I would put it on the rack next time. In any event, I decided next time, I'll just buy the dough. Although I do have one packet of yeast left....pretzels anyone?

Next Caller, Please

Lately I've noticed that talking to my parents is like a radio call-in show. Upon calling, I can instantly hear the other parent talking in the background. Then whichever parent I am on with has to instantly relay the information to the other. Then there is inevitably whispering which I know means no one is listening to me. I know they are whispering about "where is the newspaper?" or "did you get the mail?." It's just plain insulting. The thing that really pushes me over the edge is the "what?" and I don't know if they are talking to me or to the other parent. So, it becomes this game where I am essentially eavesdropping on their conversation. The ironic thing is that I clearly remember my parents complaining that my grandparents would do this exact thing, for example, each would get on the phone and you could never hear my grandfather because he was on the "extension", whatever that means. I suppose life does repeat itself. I guess I should warn CityBaby.

Garden Update

So, we are just about at 50 days which is the average blooming time for most of my crops. Here's what we have: a bunch of tomatoes but none ready to be picked. Some large and very green peppers growing off the yellow pepper plant. I am holding out that they still need to turn and were not mis-marked. Some very auspicious looking yellow squash. For example, if I was going to feed a mouse family they would be perfect for them. The beans and eggplant and green peppers look like they might never make it. And I have already uprooted the lettuce. We'll try again next year on those. I have one cucumber plant that is taking off, 4 that are still small and one I lost. I am optimistic about the one thriving since it has a lot of flowers on it which means vegetables are growing right behind it. So, no crops yet and it's technically almost summer and I have not tasted one vegetable yet but as you can see from my pictures, I should be cooking up tomatoes and peppers soon.

Challah? Holla!

I was desperate for a child-friendly activity today. We've been climbing the walls all week and have exhausted coloring and painting and building with blocks and all of our play-doh is a deep gray from having mixed every color together. So, what's a good Friday afternoon actvity? Challah. Challah is one of CityBbay's (and my own) favorite foods. The teacher at school claims it was his first word. It's sweet and doughy and when it's warm, oh, it's breathtaking. What's not to love about it? And with Shabbos looming, I decided to try it. I did my research. I went straight to the experts but quickly ruled out Rita Brownstein and decided to go with Joan Nathan, she's our Mario Batali and Martha Stewart all rolled into one. So, as I learned Challah is hard work and an all day affair. Nevermind the two types of dough and making sure the yeast is actually dissolved. The kneading. Oh, the kneading. 10 minutes felt like hours and my arms felt like noodles after. Here is the dough post kneading, rising for the last time and fresh out of the oven:






































I learned a couple of things that I'll incorporate next time. I didn't need as much all-purpose flour. I will definitely use my mixer to knead it next time. And, I cooked it with a small pan of water in the oven. This was a tip I received and apaprently makes the bread softer on the inside. I got the recipe from Joan Nathan's Jewish Holiday Cookbook. Good Shabbos.

Whoop! There it is!

Yesterday, just after lunchtime I retrieved my phone from the depths of purse and was shocked to see 3 missed calls from a friend. No messages, just missed calls. Something was up. So, I called one back and she asked me in a state of panic, "Did you get a call from DHEC?" Uh, no. She instructed me to listen to my voicemail but gave me the lowdown. A child in CityBaby's class was infected with whooping ocugh (Pertussis, to you experts) and every child needed to go on antibiotic. I fle into a panic. Called DHEC, called my pediatrician, called my husband, called my parents...oy, the drama of it all. I learned more than I ever needed to know about infectious diseases. And, now I've got a potential carrier monkey running around my house....for the next 3 says...with no help. We're quarantined. It's contagious. And, it sucks.

Garden of Nothin'

For those of you playing along at home, here's the latest from the garden. We are up to 12 tomatoes with one starting to turn reddish. Squash flowers have fallen off and if I inspect really closely with a magnifying glass I can see the start of a squash bed behind the fallen flowers. I have to use a very strict visualization technique here. The yellow peppers are still green but getting bigger. And there is one really large cucumber plant - I like to call it the "mama" plant since it is heads above all the others. A friend asked me this week if I was disappointed in the garden. And, my truthful answer was...yes. I am disappointed. I thought I would be knee deep in vegetables by now. I know we have a long growing season. I know I started from scratch. I know vegetables take an average of 50-60 days to grow. I know. I know. I know. But I just don't want to accept it.

Back outside to watch my boiling pot boil.

Camp

I just finalized CityBaby's summer camp plans. It brings back so memories for me. It's only day camp and he's not even 2 but I know it'll be the start of the lifelong friendships he'll make and the memories he'll create. I recently connected with my camp online as an alumni and have been receiving emails and updates about their goings on. My father and brother both attended the same camp, as well as many of my other relatives. I enjoy seeing the progress it has made. And recognizing the landmarks of my youth. I am also amazed at the innovation. You can email your child and watch them via webcam. I remember when pre-printed stationery with check off boxes (the weather is....warm, the counselors are...nice) was de rigueur. For the sake of the current campers I hope they chosen to hire a cleaning staff (I hated the chore wheel) and improved upon the kosher cheese - that stuff was scary. Now that his summer plans are finalized, I'm off to order name tags that I'll affix to everything he owns.

Inventory

This morning I walked the fields and took inventory. We have 9 tomatoes - green and in varying sizes. The largest is currently the size of a golf ball. We have 2 very small peppers. They are green but growing off the yellow pepper plant so I am assuming at some point they'll turn. (Side note: did you know a red pepper is a green pepper that has been left on the vine too long? So, why are they so expensive????) And we have a lot of squash flowers. The lettuce may be a goner - I've been informed that it should bloom within a week and produce leaves almost instantly. The watermelon and eggplant don't look so hot either. I am very impatient and have expressed my disappointment in the lack of bounty and the amount of time it is taking, but was informed by some experts that it is only May and our growing season goes through September here in Charleston. We have a long season ahead of us.

Summer Reading

All my girls are back. Just in time for summer reading. Although, who's kidding who, I enjoy summer reading all year long. I'm not exactly cracking Joyce or Tolstoy. Here's what is on my wishlist (note - some of these don't release until I'll be working to fill in my tan lines):

Fly Away Home by Jennifer Weiner - releases 7.13.10
Promises To Keep by Jane Green - releases 6.15.10
Last Night at Chateau Marmontby Lauren Weisberger - releases 7.15.10
Heart of the Matter by Emily Giffin - releases 5.11.10
The Island by Elin Hilderbrand - releases 7.6.10
The Carrie Diaries by Candace Bushnell - currently available
Mini Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella - releases 9.21.10
Arm Candy by Jill Kargman - releases 5.13.10
The Seven Year Bitch by Jennifer Bell - releases 5.13.10
I'm So Happy For Youby Lucinda Rosenfeld
Orange is the New Black by Piper Kerman

With this kind of release schedule, I'll have a new book a week. I had better get reading.....