One Last Summer Together

I remember seeing a documentary film, by photographer, Bruce Weber, called The Chop Suey Club.  It was a great movie about personalities he had met during his life and the influence that they had all played in his life.  He had a musician friend and his wife pass away that had lived nearby where they had a summer house.  He put the pictures of the two people on his piano where he could see them while he played his piano so that they could all spend one last summer together.

As I stood in the backyard grilling dinner, I wandered around to the front and looked down at the garden and the pond.  I imagined one last summer with my Dad, my brother, Chris, brother Stephen - where the four of us would be sitting in adirondacks and sharing beers and laughing.  Mom, Christina, Toni would be in the house cooking dinner while Sarah, Chelsea and Devin would be playing in the yard together.  I imagined us having just one last summer together laughing and enjoying each other's company.  Just one perfectly normal summer with each other.  I put everyone's picture on my bedside table and will keep them all close this summer.

Grilled Scallops with Salad and Hoisin-Orange Sauce

Grilled Scallops with Salad and Hoisin-Orange Sauce

Sauce:
1- 8.5 ounce jar hoisin sauce
1/3 cup orange juice
1 1/2 tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar
1 tablespoon grated orange peel
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons minced peeled fresh ginger

Salad:
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons oriental sesame oil
1 teaspoon fish sauce ( nam pla)
1 bunch bib lettuce, trimmed
1 medium cucumber , peeled, seeded, cut into matchstick-size strips
1 medium carrot, peeled, cut into matchstick - size strips
3/4 cup cilantro leaves ( from large bunch)
1/2 red onion, very thinly sliced

Scallops:
1 1/2 teaspoons whole coriander seeds
1 tablespoon oriental sesame oil
1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
12 large sea scallops
Vegetable oil

For sauce:
Mix all ingredients in bowl. ( Can be made 1 week ahead. Cover; chill.  Bring to room temperature before using.)

For Vegetables:
Mix first 4 ingredients in large bowl.  Add lettuce, cucumber, carrot, cilantro, and onion and toss
to blend. Season with salt and pepper. Let stand 30 minutes or chill up to 1 hour, tossing occasionally.

For Scallops:
Stir coriander seed s in small skillet over medium heat until fragrant and slightly darker, about 2 minutes.  Transfer seeds to plastic bag.  Using mallet or hammer, coarsely crack seeds.  Combine sesame oil and ginger in medium bowl; mix in coriander seeds, then scallops.  Let stand at least 30 minutes or chill up to 1 hour.  Prepare barbecue ( medium -high heat).  Thread 3 scallops onto each of  the 4 skewers.  Brush barbecue rack with oil to prevent sticking.  Grill scallops until just opaque in center, about 3 minutes per side.  Divide vegetables among 4 plates.  Top each with scallops and serve, passing hoisin-orange sauce separately.

White Gazpacho

Memorial Day Weekend.  Saturday was a complete was out - and I do mean wash out.  It rained the entire day on Saturday.  We had to change out entire plans for the day and focus on indoor projects.  The entire house turned upside down as we convert the office into den.  Packing up tubs of paperwork and detritus from four years of ignoring this room.  I have officially decided that I have become a horder!  We had a lovely dinner at our neighbor's house - Mel and Marni.  Grilled Salmon and Gazpacho and a delicious chocolate- peanut butter cake for my birthday.  It was a very nice evening and we hadn't seen them for weeks so it was great catching up.  Life up here would not be what it is without our lovely friends, Mel and Marni.  

On Sunday, we managed to get out into the yard despite everything being soaked and planted, and weeded and mowed grass.  The front yard takes two hours by itself and I have to break it all up so I don't kill myself.  The sun came out and we pulled a lot of the outdoor stuff from the basement out including the grill.  Tim made a wonderful meal - we did not get enough gazpacho and Tim made a different version which was so good!

White Gazpacho

1/2 medium head cauliflower, cut into 1 inch florets
 2 slices of crustless white bread
1/4 cup pine nuts (11/2 ounces)
2 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
1 large shallot, coarsely chopped
1 1/4 cups blanched slivered almonds
1/2 cup medium seedless cucumber, peeled and coarsely chopped,
1/4 cup finely diced cucumber
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt

1. In a large saucepan of boiling salted water, cook the cauliflower until tender, about 8 minutes.  Drain, rinse under cold water until cool and drain well.

2. In a blender, combine 1 1/2 cups of cold water with the cooked cauliflower, bread, pine nuts, chopped garlic , sherry vinegar, chopped shallot, 1 cup of the slivered almonds and the coarsely chopped cucumber; blend until smooth.   Add the olive oil and pulse just until incorporated.  If necessary, add more water to thin the gazpacho.  Season the soup with salt and refrigerate until chilled, about 1 hour.

2. Preheat the oven  to 350 degrees.  Spread the remaining 1/4 cup of slivered almonds in a pie plate and toast for about 6 minutes, until fragrant lightly golden.  Ladle the gazpacho into bowls . Garnish the soup with the toasted almonds and the finely diced cucumber and serve.

Upcoming Memorial Day Weekend

With the long weekend coming up, I have a laundry list of projects that I want to start.  However, part of the joy of the projects was when I was finished - I would FaceTime with my parents and show them the projects by camming.  I had given my Dad an IPad for his birthday a few years ago and one of the things we really enjoyed was FaceTime.   Because my parents couldn't get up to NY that often, it would allow them to be as present as possible with what we were doing in the garden or work on the house.  Our wifi worked outside and inside and I could show them a new bed I had put in or new flowers blooming or new wallpaper.  It was so much fun without having them actually being here.

However, I am finding it hard to get motivated for all of the work that begins this weekend.  Somehow a lot of the joy has been taken away because of my Dad's death.  I always loved to please my parents. My Mom doesn't really like the technology so it was something my Dad and I could do.  He seemed like a little kid with a new gadget.  He was thrilled with the cam and how we could share.  My mom gave me back the IPad and I took it home and keep it in case she changes her mind and wants to learn how to use it.  However, I came across photos on the IPad that I took of my Mom and Dad the weekend of his birthday when we gave it to him.  I just cried.  I love our house and garden, it's just that I won't be able to share it with him anymore.  I miss him so much.

Good Bye Dad

It's been a very stressful and exhausting 3 weeks.  My Dad went into the hospital for a stroke and he seemed fine but within a week was on a respirator and dying.  He died last Saturday.  I haven't had any time to grieve with planning the service and helping my Mom get through all the changes that will have to take place in her life as a result of his death. I had to fly to Vegas for work after the weekend of the service.  I have a trade show I have to attend and after setting up the booth came back to my hotel room to collapse and catch up with sleep. I crawled into bed and was looking at photos on my laptop and finally had time to just lie in bed and cry.  The above picture of my Dad feeding the fish in our pond is one of my favorite pics of him.  I was so glad that he got to see Bovina and the house and gardens before he passed away.  He seemed so happy that day.  I think he would have loved to have lived here.  Goodbye Dad, I will miss you very much. I love you.