Tomato Cobbler

Tim won't eat raw tomatoes but he loves cooked tomatoes.  We decided to make a savory cobbler and this was quite good.

Tomato Cobbler

Oil or butter for the baking dish
3 pounds ripe tomatoes (8-10 medium), cored and cut into wedges
1 tablespoon cornstarch
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup all-purpose flour, plus more if needed
1 cup cornmeal
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick ) butter, cut into large pieces and refrigerated until very cold
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup buttermilk, plus more if needed

1. Grease a square baking dish or a deep pie plate with the butter or oil.  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

2. Put the tomato wedges in a large bowl and sprinkle with the cornstarch and some salt and pepper.  Toss gently to combine.

3. Put the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and baking soda in a food processor along with a teaspoon of salt.  Add the butter and pulse a few times until the mixture comes together, add a spoonful or two of flour.  If the mixture is too dry, aadd a few drops of buttermilk.

4. Gently toss the tomato mixture again and spread it in the bottom of the prepared baking dish.  Drop spoonfuls of the batter on top and smooth a bit with a knife.  (Try to leave some gaps so that the steam from the tomato mixture will have a place to escape as the cobbler bakes.)  Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, until golden on top and bubbly underneath.  Cool to just barely warm or room temperature.  To serve, scoop servings out with a large spoon.

Stuffed Zucchini with Brown Rice, Ground Beef, Red Pepper, and Basil

It was a beautiful day.  The weather was cool and we could be outside without dying from the heat.  We started painting the garden sheds and then moved onto an assortment of other projects, the windowbox, a beachchair re-do, weeding - a very relaxed randomness.  Tim decided to try a couple new recipes along with steaks we had in the freezer.  We now make and jar that Charred Red Pepper Sauce as a stock sauce in our basement so there are several jars of that ready for steak or chicken.   The stuffed zucchini was really good.  It could have been a meal on it's own but we overeat on a regular basis - yum very good.

Stuffed Zucchini

2 large or 4 small round zucchini ( or use regular shaped zucchini)
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
2 tsp olive oil
1 lb. very lean ground beef
1 tsp italian seasoning
1 tsp chopped garlic or garlic puree
1/2 tsp  ground fennel seed
1 cup cooked brown rice
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh basil
3/4 cup coarsely grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup chicken stock

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Cut stem and flower ends off zucchini, trimming off the smallest possible amount of the skin and taking care to cut it off evenly, since this will show.  Cut zucchini in half lengthwise, then using a pointed teaspoon or melon baller, scoop out and discard most of the zucchini flesh and seeds, leaving an even 1/2 inch of flesh attached to the skin.  If your zucchini are rolling around a lot, you can cut a thin slice on the bottom side of each to make them sit up.  Microwave zucchini 3-4 minutes on high.

Heat olive oil in frying pan and saute chopped onions and peppers until they are just starting to soften, about 5 minutes.  (They will cook more in the oven, so they don't need to be fully cooked at this point. )  Remove onions and peppers to large mixing bowl, then add ground beef to hot pan and cook until starting to brown.  When meat is about half cooked, season with italian seasoning and ground fennl and add garlic,  and continue to cook until meat is well browned, breaking it into small, pieces with the side of your turner.  Remove cooked ground beef to mixing bowl.

Add cooked brown rice, chopped basil, Parmesan cheese, and chicken stock to meat and vegetable mixture, and gently combine.

Choose a roasting pan with slight sides, just big enough to hold the zucchini.  Spray pan with nonstick spray or a light misting of olive oil. Stuff zucchini with stuffing mixture, packing in as much as you can into each zucchini, and mounding it up as high as you can, until all stuffing is used.

Put zucchini into roasting pan, putting them close together so they hold each other stuffing side up.  Roast uncovered 20-30 minutes, until zucchini is tender crisp, and filling is hot and slightly browned.  Serve hot.

This will keep well for a few days in the refrigerator and can be reheated in the microwave.

Camper Obsessed

Tim sent me this link because he knows how obsessed I am with vintage camper trailers.  There is something so romantic and free about these beautiful little dwellings.   My Dad loved travel trailers as much as I did - I think this is how I want to live the rest of my life.

Noah's Windowbox

It rained Saturday morning, so I went down to the basement to start working on a windowbox that I have been constructing since April.  I bought all the cedar wood and hauled it down to North Carolina to visit my Uncle and Aunt.  My Uncle has a great woodshop and I had bought these vintage wooden brackets from an architectural salvage yard for the brackets that support the box and thought he could help me build them while I was down there for a visit.  The brackets became an entire project on their own and quite complicated and we spent the week just constructing cleats and reinforcing the brackets.  Months later, I am just now getting around to building the windowbox.  Unfortunately, the vinyl liners determine the size of the boxes and the box just kept getting larger and larger.  The box sits on top of a shelf and is removable leaving the shelf for Holiday decorations like pumpkins, gourds and evergreens. However, the box is now so heavy - I don't think I am going to be able to use the original cleats and brackets.  It is built like Noah's ark or Noah's coffin.  Now, I am going to have to build a series of posts to support the box which means it will be next summer before this window box goes outside.  Thank goodness for long winters and a large basement.  The brackets will be saved for a porch project so nothing is wasted.

July Gardening

July is my favorite month of the year.  Despite the last couple hot, rain-less weeks, everything is flourishing.  It is the prettiest time of the year in our garden. Large mounds of daisies and coreopsis in white and yellow everywhere.  The snowball hydrangea bushes outside our back door are huge and beautiful.  The center bed in the garden is so full of daisies, bee balm and hydrangea that we will have to transfer half of everything in the fall.  I started a memory garden for my Dad in the back yard.  My friend, Mary, gave me money towards a bird bath and I created a small berm for the birdbath and planted white scented Rogosa roses with other perrenials.  I cried the entire time planting the berm.   My Mom will like that I did this for him.  It was nice having cocktails in the sideyard in the shade looking at everything in bloom and having a quiet weekend to ourselves.

Goodbye Mr. Burns

It's been a long and painful summer.  My Dad's death in April was particularly difficult and unexpected.  Getting my Mom resettled in a new life has also been challenging.  However, the last 3 weeks have seemed endless as we said our goodbyes to one of the loves of our life.  Mr. Burns, our 15 year old siamese developed kidney failure.  We knew he wasn't feeling well for weeks but couldn't figure out what was wrong and then we took him to the vet and found out that he was very sick.  So, for the past three weeks, we have been trying to make him comfortable, well fed and giving him lots of fluids.  Unfortunately, nothing seemed to be working and his condition got worse very quickly.  We had to say goodbye to him this week.  One of the most difficult things I have had to learn was that our pets will not live with us forever.  My first love, Rupert,  my beloved sheltie, my firstborn and the first to pass and I thought I would never get over it.  Burns was the sweetest most lovable cat.  He only lived to give love back to you.  It was particularly hard for us to finally say goodbye and he will be greatly missed.  We came upstate early this weekend and while we worked in the garden, I know the both of us were thinking about him the entire time.  

Deviled Eggs

One of my favorite things to do during summer dinner parties is to pull out all my depression glassware.  I love the pattern, Candlewick, and this deviled egg platter is one of my favorites.  I found it on one of my last trips to Hickory, N.C. The handle is a little "hearty" looking but so Americana.  The deviled eggs were quite good too.

Kellie's Cole Slaw

Lots of great side dishes and Kellie's cole slaw was so good!

Jalapeno - Lime Slaw

1/3 cup Lime juice
1 teaspoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon Kosher Salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
3 tablespoons Extra Virgin olive oil
1/2 cup thin slice (vertically) red onion
1 (16 oz.) package broccoli slaw and carrot slaw
4 Jalapeno peppers
Use your discretion - Mango, watermelon and cilantro (chopped)

Combine 1st four ingredients and whisk.  Gradually add EVOO and whisk.  Add onion, cilantro, coleslaw, fruit, thin slice jalapeno.  Add seeds for extra spice.  Toss and coat well.  Cover and chill at least 1 hour prior to serving.  Can substitute cabbage slaw instead of broccoli slaw.

Mexican Chicken Stew

There was so much good food this week but I asked for a couple recipes of my favorites!  Jean's chicken stew was delicious!

Mexican Chicken Stew

Ingredients:
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, roughly chopped
4 large cloves garlic, roughly chopped
2 jalapenos, seeded and sliced
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried cumin
1 (28-ounce) can chopped tomatoes
3 cups shredded cooked chicken ( I buy a rotisserie chicken and shred it)
Few dashes Worcestershire sauce
3 to 4 cups chicken stock (usually I add 5-6 cups)
1 lime
1 cup cooked white rice (I make the yellow spanish rice and add that)
Kosher salt
Sour cream, for garnish
Fresh cilantro leaves, for garnish

Directions
Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and saute for 1 to 2 minutes. Add garlic and jalapeno and sweat until soft and translucent. Add spices and cook for 1 to 2 minutes until fragrant and aromatic. Add tomatoes, chicken, Worcestershire, and stock.

Bring to a simmer and cook 20 minutes.

Cut the lime in half, squeeze juice into the pot, and then add the juiced halves as well.

Add white rice and cook 5 minutes longer to warm rice through. Season, to taste, with salt.

Ladle into bowls and garnish with sour cream and cilantro.

The Bear Ate My Truck

After four days of eating and enjoying ourselves, everyone left Tuesday morning to head back home including Tim because one of our cats was sick.  I stayed up to clean up, finish planting and eat lots of leftovers.  During the week, we usually put all the garbage in the back of the pick up to take to the dump.  However, apparently I didn't get to it fast enough because a very hungry man-eating bear started eating my truck.  I glanced out our window and there was a black bear trying to get at the bags of garbage in the back of the truck.  I freaked out and started shouting at him from the front window - that is why he is giving me this "don't bother me" look from the driveway.  Yelling didn't seem to help. I tried standing on the front porch and throwing various things at him but he just began to eat the handles on the camper shell.

I called my neighbors, Mel and Marni, who said they would drive over in their truck to be sure that I was okay.  They told me to just keep making a lot of noise and stay close to the house.  For lack of anything else, I started singing the soundtrack from Gypsy really loud from my front yard? I know, there are much more frightening soundtracks to sing - Hands On A Hardbody comes to mind but I know all the lyrics to Gypsy.   The bear didn't seem much impressed by the show tunes and continued to gnaw on the truck.  Marni and Mel pulled up the driveway and he suddenly ran away.

Marni got out of the truck with a whistle and for a moment I had a flashback to a 70's disco.  Mel and I emptied the truck of the garbage and I grabbed a hose to clean the pickup and wash away some of the odor.  They left, I locked all the doors, turned on all the outdoor lights and grabbed a couple pots and pans to make noise.  After 10 years of being here, we have never seen any animals - this freaked me out a little especially being by myself.  I went to bed and didn't sleep much.  The bear came back and you could hear him walking around outside sniffing for scraps.  I was just too tired to go bang on my Le Creuset to get rid of him and spent a sleepless night.  I thought about throwing him some of Jean's leftover Nutella paninis but they were too delicious to give up.  Go away, Bear!

July 4th Bovina Bonanza

Our July 4th Festivities started off with a bang and four days of fun, food, and fireworks.  We had to order an outdoor tent at the last minute because it rained for the four days but it did not keep us from eating, gardening, shopping and having a good time.