Yesterday was an absolutely picture-perfect autumn day here in Seattle!  Sunny, warm if you were in the sun, with the leaves in full color.  I took the opportunity to do the end of the year pots-on-the-deck cleanup including the pots of herbs and peppers I'd been growing all summer.  At this time of year being able to do that work when it's not raining is a real bonus!

 

Being tender annuals most of the herbs were ready to go, although for a moment I entertained thoughts of trying to get the basil to hold on just a little longer!  I quickly reminded myself of other years' experiments and how the results were more trouble than they were worth.  I decided it really was time to let go. 

 

One plant I had a really hard time with, though, was my Corno di Toro pepper.  Corno di Toro is a sweet, mild Italian pepper.  Although technically it's in the bell pepper family it's not as strongly flavored as the bell peppers you find in the grocery store and it can be used in lots of ways.  It's really great for stuffing, in salads, or added to braises or rice dishes where it enhances, not overpowers.  My plant this year was extremely prolific.  This was especially surprising to me as I planted very late in the year.  But once this plant started flowering the bees were all over it.  I've been eating peppers all summer and yesterday I harvested the basket you see above.  And there were still some blooms and lots of tiny, little one-inch peppers still on the plant.  Pretty amazing, especially since it was grown in a pot. 

 

I've been planting this pepper variety for several years and will continue to grow it in the years to come.  When you are planning your garden next spring, see if you can't find a place in your garden (or in a pot on your deck) for this wonderful pepper. 

 

 

 

Okay, I really can't keep track of all the restaurant promotions that are now offered!  I don't say this in a bad way, I think most of the promotions are good both for consumers and restaurants.  Consumers get a deal and are able to try new places at bargain prices (or return to those they love); restaurants get the opportunity to bring in more traffic and (hopefully) attract repeat business. 

 

The newest offering in this line of promotions is one called 4for48, 4 courses for $48.  A higher price-point than most of the promotions but it offers an additional course and includes locations that normally don't participate in the other offers.  It runs throughout November, Sunday - Thursday evenings, with the exception of Thanksgiving. 

 

There are only thirteen restaurants participating including Lark, Le Gourmand and Crush.  You can check the 4for48 website for the full list and information about each restaurant, including links to their website.  In theory, the actual 4for48 menus are on the restaurants' websites but I couldn't always find them.  Perhaps they will be adding them when the promotion actually starts tomorrow. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you've spent anytime in Little Italy in New York, you'll know that it is slowly disappearing, being consumed by the surrounding Chinatown.  But there are still a few hold-out businesses anchoring the heart of Little Italy around Mulberry and Mott streets.  One of these businesses is Ferrara, a bakery and cafe.  I'm attracted to this place for many reasons, not the least being that my Grandmother's maiden name was Ferrara.  I have no idea if she was related to these Ferraras but I'm sure there is a very good chance.  When her family first emigrated to America they made their home in New York, and most still live in the area. Only my grandparents eventually moved to the west coast.  And Ferrara was established about the same time my Grandmother's family landed in New York.  So I like to believe there is a connection. 

 

 

 

 

 

In addition to the idea that I'm possibly related to the proprietors are the attractions of the gelato and pastry cases.  There are two gelato cases - one inside and one out - filled with brightly colored creations.  I'm not sure I've ever had a scoop of these confections that capture the imagination of my tastebuds but I love looking at them.  I have, however, enjoyed the pastries numerous times.  Ferrara is always one of my first stops when I get to New York.  I purchase a selection of their little cookies, take the treasures back to my hotel room and then happily munch on them over the days of my visit. 

 

 

 

 

 

There are several varieties of the cookies:  some shaped like crescent moons; some flavored with hazelnut; some filled with raspberry or apricot; others dipped in chocolate; basically something for everyone.  In addition to the cookies, one or two of the mini cannoli seem to make it into my shopping bag, too.   Filled with creamy ricotta these rich little bites are the perfect size. 

 

 

 

 

 

Although Ferrara draws its share of tourists, I love that the locals still patronize it, too.  In the past I've been in line behind tiny Italian grandmas and fireman buying boxes of treats to take back to the station house. 

 

I can't speak to any of the other food here but, for me, no trip to New York is complete without a box of Ferrara cookies. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The last time I was in New York I had dinner at craft.  The dinner was part of an event and there was a ton of food.  And while the dishes felt a little disconnected they were all good.  In addition, the space was warm and welcoming.  I liked it a lot and decided that the next time I was in New York I'd try it out under more normal circumstances. 

 

On this most recent trip I didn't have enough time to do all I would have liked and so I wasn't going to make it back to craft.  However, I did have an opportunity to visit craftbar for a quick cocktail one evening.  Craftbar is quite different than craft in the way it looks and feels.  Instead of warm, glowing wood and interesting lighting, craft has hard surfaces.  A cement bar, dark chairs and floor.  The bar was very dark and the dining area seemed to be lit by spotlights. The whole place felt incongruent to me.  The dining room didn't feel like it belonged with the bar; the bar seemed casual, the dining room more formal; I wasn't there long enough to really figure it out but it wasn't a place I wanted to hang out. 

 

 

 

 

 

I ordered a special fall drink they had on the menu, a spiced Manhattan.  The idea was great - Makers Mark infused with warm fall spices, garnished with an orange slice.  It sounded wonderful.  But the infusion was way too strong.  The spice was so overwhelming as to make the drink rather unbearable. I was very disappointed. 

 

I can't say the place wasn't good.  I wasn't there long enough and certainly didn't give the menu any sort of trial.  But there are so many great places in New York that I really don't have time to give any disappointing place a second chance.  Perhaps if I lived there I would try it again but I won't go back the next time I'm visiting. 

 

212.461.4300

 

 

 

 

 

 

Saturday night found M2 and me outside the Theo auditorium waiting for the doors to open to Café Nordo, a traveling dinner and show.  When the doors opened we were the only patrons outside the venue so the fanfare prepared by the actors/servers fell just a little flat, although we appreciated it.  Once checked in we settled into the waiting area with a glass of champagne and watched the other guests arrive. 

 

 

 

 

 

The auditorium space has one area sectioned off with fabric panels forming a roughly shaped dining room.  An irregular pattern of Oriental rugs lines the floor further defining the space, and several dining room tables, each able to seat 8 to 10 people, rims the edges of the "room".  After a few minutes in the ante area we were ushered to our table by Wyandotte, our server for the evening.  Each of the server/actors is named for a breed of chicken (Cochin, Silkie Bantam, Andalusio, Rosecomb) as this dinner is all about chicken.  More specifically it's about local, sustainable, seasonal food featuring chicken.  The seating process was repeated with the other 30 or so guests and their servers until all were seated and the show began.   

 

You can think of Café Nordo as sort of a Teatro Zinzanni "light".  There are no acrobats or magicians or jugglers but there is a show with the maitre d', servers and a "chef", providing entertainment and food for thought between and during each course. 

 

The courses are presented as part of the skit; a little riddle sets the stage for the presentation and then the server explains what is served.  Or you can plan ahead and see the full menu here. 

 

 

 

 

 

The opening amuse bouche, a grassy green shot topped with Crème fraîche and lemon curd was light and refreshing. 

 

 

 

 

 

The second course, a poached egg was presented on a "nest" of shredded Parmesan and whole wheat, placed on greens and served with a goat cheese béchamel in an egg shell so that you could add as much or as little as you liked to the dish.  The egg was perfectly poached, the nest provided an interesting crunchy texture and the béchamel was tangy and rich. 

 

 

 

 

 

The soup presentation was really fun.  Bowls with crispy potato chips, julienned zucchini, chanterelle mushrooms and a dumpling filled with chicken-liver pâté were placed on the table.  Then the servers came around with watering cans filled with the broth and proceeded to fill our bowls from the watering cans.  Very fun, although I cannot imagine doing this in my home!  

 

 

 

 

 

The main course was beautifully roasted chicken stuffed with pork sausage, peppers and onions and served with Habañero-infused, dried cherries.  The whole dish was very succulent and I especially loved the cherries, which I plan to try to replicate at home. 

 

 

 

 

 

We finished with a gruesome-looking but lovely-tasting chocolate panna cotta with fresh berries made to look like fresh liver on a blood-spattered dish.  Considering the upcoming holiday it seemed right in place, but it was a little hard to reconcile what it looked like with how it tasted.  Although it was good, I wish the chocolate flavor had been a bit more pronounced, as Theo chocolate is one of my favorites but it was a little lost.

 

We had a great time at dinner, due in part to our friendly tablemates and the overall entertaining atmosphere.  The dinner/show runs through November 22, Thursday - Saturday only.  If you go make sure you check all the "fine print" on the website.  A vegetarian offering is not offered, for instance.  A flight of wine is included in the dinner but the alternative for non-drinkers is simply water. 

 

It's a little hard to tell who exactly is behind the tour.  The program lists Chad Fuhreck as the Chef de Cuisine.  I believe he is on staff at Theo and I'm sure the actors were local.  But the show does travel so there is someone behind the overall concept who pulls together the events in each city. 

 

For more information and tickets see the Café Nordo website.

 

 

 

 

 

As the weather turns cold it is sometimes hard to remember that the Farmers' Markets are still going strong.  In fact, fall is one of the best times to visit.  Not only are vegetables and fruits in abundance but the summertime crowds have dropped off so you can easily make your way from one vendor to the next.  And, much of the fall produce will hold longer and better than summer produce.  So at this time of year there are many items you can purchase now that will still be good over the coming days and weeks.  Saturday I snapped a few photos at the Seattle University District Market.  This represents just a portion of what was available.  I think it's time you visited your local market!

 

Mobile Market Directory:  I just came across the application and haven't tried it out but it looks promising!  I like to visit markets when I travel and this might be just the ticket!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Daniel Boulud's latest entry into the New York dining scene is DBGB Kitchen and Bar.  This new concept takes a common New York street food and elevates it to fine dining.  There are fourteen versions of sausage on the menu, which also includes a large selection of seafood, burgers and French-brasserie style dishes. 

 

While wandering the streets I happened upon DBGB and, although it was in between meal times, decided to pop in to check it out.  The front of the restaurant is comprised of huge plate glass windows which are covered in culinary quotes.  These huge windows flood the front rooms of the interior with gorgeous natural light.  The back rooms are cozier and my impression, although I didn't go check them out, was of wood and masculinity. 

 

 

 

 

 

I sat at the bar which is surrounded by large mirrors with menu items and more culinary quotes covering them, echoing the plate glass windows.  I ordered a nice glass of Zinfandel and Pâté Campagnard, a pork and chicken liver pâté .  The pâté was excellent!  Full of flavor yet light and delicate.  A little bit of the pâté on the crusty, rustic bread with onion or pickle was a great combination of textures and flavors.  The gentleman seated to my left ordered one of the sausages - I neglected to ask which one - and declared it to be wonderful. 

 

The place is large but yet was so busy that people were lined up waiting for tables.  Still, those waiting seemed to be seated fairly quickly.  I think the next time I return a proper meal in the dining room will be in order. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I've just returned from a quick weekend trip to New York.  It's been two years since I was last there!  Hard to believe so much time has gone by.  Normally when I travel to New York I take a long list of new restaurants and bars I'd like to check out.  This time, however I went list-less.  As I've mentioned, the last several weeks at work had been super busy.  So I decided that I would spend my time in New York simply wandering and agenda-less, maybe returning to places I've enjoyed in the past and, if I felt the need, I could jump online to search for the latest and greatest. 

 

The weather wasn't very cooperative while I was there - a mild nor-easter was coming in - so I awoke Sunday morning to strong winds and pouring rain.  I decided I'd wander down to a coffee shop that was about a mile away so that I'd get a little exercise before settling in with a cup of tea and the paper.  I spent a good 90 minutes there watching the surrounding neighborhood wake-up, the locals coming in for their coffee and the continuing rain. 

 

 

 

 

 

On my return trip back to my hotel I noticed a bakery across the street.  The window was filled with an array of breads and thought I'd pop across and maybe grab a quick photo but as I got closer I realized that it was Boulay Bakery and Market,, a place that would have been on my list had I made one.  I eagerly made my way inside to see what I'd find.  As you enter there is a small space between the outer and inner doors.  That space was filled with the sweet-tart fragrance of apples.  I looked to my left and realized there was an entire wall of apples perfuming the space.  I absolutely love that idea! 

 

Once inside there is a dining room/seating area to the right but I turned to the left where the bakery and take-out area is located.  I really didn't spend much time looking at all that was offered but did notice a large soup/salad/prepared food bar; chilled cases filled with cheese and meats.  It seemed it would be easy to pop-in and pick up everything you needed for a meal at home. 

 

I focused on the bakery products, looking for something to take back to the hotel to have as part of my breakfast.  There was all manner of tarts and breads and pastries but my eye quickly noticed something rare.  Canelé!  I've talked about canelé before.  I knew one of those would be going home with me.  There were so many great looking options but I was trying to be mindful of the fact that my time in New York was limited and there really is only so much one person can eat.  So I restricted myself to one canelé and one fragrant orange muffin.  The gorgeous macarons called my name, too, but I manged to ignore them. 

 

 

 

 

 

When I returned to the hotel I made a little breakfast picnic in my room with the canelé, some hot soprasotta I'd picked up the day before and an apple from the big bowl of them in the hotel lobby.  I decided to save the orange muffin for Monday morning.  The canelé was amazing!  The outside was the perfect sweet, slightly-burned, crispy caramelized crust and the inside soft and custardy, sweet and rich.  So good, in fact, that Monday prior to leaving for the airport I returned to the bakery and purchased some to bring home. 

 

The orange muffin was also very good with just a hint of orange flavoring the vanilla batter. 

 

 

 

 

 

The one bad thing about "discovering" this bakery is that now it will probably go on my list of places to return to the next time I'm in New York.  That list is getting way too long - I'm going to need to visit for months at a time to allow time to go back to all my favorite places and yet have time to try out a few new! 

 

 

 

 

 

Wow!  Fall is a busy time of year in the Seattle area.  There are tons of great food and wine events and many of them benefit non-profit organizations which is a nice way to double your fun.  Here are just a few you should think about. 

 

This event will feature Cabernet and Cabernet-based blends.  Small bites like risotto (smoked chicken & butternut squash or wild mushroom) at the Shilshole Bay Beach Club. Meet artisan winemakers who have hand-crafted these wines, take in the show of paintings by Haris Purnomo of Jakarta, Indonesia, and meet local artists presenting their work. This event benefits the Center on Contemporary Art. 

 

Some of the wineries pouring that night are:   Otis Kenyon Wine, Palouse Winery, Brian Carter Cellars, Chatter Creek Winery, Forgeron Cellars, Tefft Cellars, Hestia Cellars, Kestrel Vintners, Whitman Cellars, Milbrandt Vineyards, Wilridge Winery, Nota Bene Cellars, Windy Point and many more. 

 

For tickets and more information go here.    

 

This is the 17th year that Elliott's celebrates the beginning of oyster season.  There are events throughout October and into November but the big party is the celebration on November 7. Elliott’s hosts the biggest oyster party on the west coast with 30 varieties of local oysters shucked to order, fresh seafood dishes, live music, more than 50 wines from Washington wineries, and beers from Fish Brewing Company and Maritime Pacific Brewing Company.  

 

The Oyster New Year bash benefits the Puget Sound Restoration Fund’s Henderson Inlet Community Shellfish project. Henderson Inlet used to be one of the most productive shellfish growing regions in South Puget Sound but pollution and increased population have taken their toll on the tidelands.  You can even help the cause just by ordering and enjoying a dozen oysters.  For every dozen oysters sold during October, Elliott’s will donate one dollar to the Puget Sound Restoration Fund.

 

For more information and tickets for all of the events go here. 

 

This event always conflicts with something else on my calendar but I always think it would be a really fun time.  It's a great opportunity to get to know some of our wonderful local chefs. 

 

Fifteen Seattle-area restaurants and their chefs will each donate, prepare, and serve a five-course meal paired with wine, exclusively for their table of ten patrons. Each chef is assigned their table at the beginning of the night by a random spin of a wheel. The chefs then prepare the meal in the same room as the patrons, and even sit down to join their table guests throughout the night.  The participating chefs include:  Bobby Moore from The Barking Frog; Jack Strong from Salish Lodge; Greg Campbell from Third Floor Fish Café.  You can see the full list here. 

 

This event benefits Solid Ground's Operation Frontline (OFL) program - a direct outreach program providing culinary, nutrition, and budget planning classes to Washington State families at risk of hunger and malnutrition. 100% of ticket sales and the night's proceeds go directly to OFL.

 

For more information and tickets go here. 

 

 

 

 

Finally!  Yesterday I finally pulled together the lasagne recipe I told you about on Friday.  And it was worth the wait.  This savory summer-to-fall recipe combines basil and winter squash into one warming dish. 

 

Lasagne is a traditional Christmas Eve dinner in my family and I started making this one years ago when searching for non-beef option.  My brother doesn't eat pork or beef and I wanted something that wasn't just a meatless version of "real" lasagne.  I found a recipe from Giada DeLaurentis and have used it as a starting point for my own version.  

 

You'll notice her recipe calls for butternut squash but I often substitute pumpkin - really any winter squash could be used.  And I generally just roast a whole pumpkin and then puree it.  If I've roasted a large pumpkin I use the amount I need for the recipe, reserving the rest for muffins or bread. In a pinch you could probably use canned pumpkin, too.  I never have but I'm sure it would work okay.  She also calls for the addition of amaretti cookies.  I added them one year but found, for the expense, that they really didn't add much to the overall dish and so now I never use them.  Sometimes I also add a layer of sautéed mushrooms but really I love this pretty much as is. 

 

I don't care for no-cook lasagne which her recipe uses, so I don't use them, instead cooking my noodles prior to assembly.  Yesterday I made this one with fresh, homemade pasta - it was very exciting to make the entire dish from scratch!   

 

I think it's a beautiful lasagne with the small orange and green stripes.  However, to really see those stripes you need to let it rest and set before serving - as you are supposed to do with all lasagne.  I actually cut the piece above from my leftover chilled lasagne since I wanted the stripes to be really visible.  I know, that's kind of cheating, but if you let the lasagne rest for 15 - 20 minutes yours will look very similar. 

 

A nice thing about lasagne is that you can assemble it a day ahead of time and then pop it into the oven the next night.  It takes an hour to cook, but if you've assembled it the night before it can be a great midweek meal.  And, depending on the size of your family you can get two or three meals from one lasagne.  I often freeze individual pieces and can pull them out for a lunch or quick dinner at any time. 

 

This is a great fall dish and I think you'll really like it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

As with most places in the U.S. summer has suddenly turned to fall.  Here in the Seattle area we've had a glorious summer and very lovely fall, but the rain is supposed to return this afternoon and be with us for most of the week.  So I spent much of yesterday out in the yard tidying up in preparation for winter.  I came back into the house around 5:30 pm and suddenly it dawned on my that my plans for pumpkin lasagne were going to have to wait. 

 

I had intended to make the entire dish, including the pasta, from scratch.  I should have taken a break during the day to prepare the pasta but hadn't.  While it doesn't take that long to make pasta you need to allow an hour because after mixing and kneading the ingredients the dough needs to rest for 30 minutes.  Add to that hour the assembly and baking time for lasagne and suddenly dinner time would have been later than I wanted.  Instead I decided to hold-off on the lasagne until today (and I will make that pasta early in the day!) and satisfy myself with a savory snack. 

 

One of my favorite Northwest Cheesemakers is the Rogue Creamery in southern Oregon.  They have a whole line of cheeses but I am especially enamored with their blues, of which they make several.  Last night I cut off a wedge of Oregonzola, their version of Gorgonzola, and let it warm up a bit.  The flavor is quite tangy and is great with a glass of wine. 

 

I paired it with some new crackers that are becoming favorites of mine.  I'm not sure how long they've been available, but I've recently discovered a line of crackers from Blue Diamond.  You may recognize the name from their line of almonds.  They sell almonds in just about every flavor imaginable from natural almonds to smoked to honey-roasted, with several other varieties in between.  Now they have a line of Nut-Thins, rice crackers made with nuts.  They are thin and crispy like a rice cracker but the nuts give them a great, well, nutty flavor.  There are several varieties and so far I've tried (and liked!) the Hazelnut and Pecan versions. 

 

So last night's dinner was simple and satisfying.  A little glass of wine, some gorgeous cheese and nutty, crunchy crackers.  But I'm really looking forward to the lasagne tonight! 

Through the end of October Sur la Table stores are offering free sharpening for two knives.  In my experience they can sometimes turn them around in as little as an hour, although you should allow a day or two.  

 

They are also offering free shipping on any knife set or individual knife over $49. 

 

Find store locations here (many across the U.S.) and get details on knife sharpening here or free shipping on knives here.   

 

 

 

 

On Friday, I roasted a big tray of tomatoes in addition to the pumpkin.  One of my favorite uses for my garden tomatoes is in Roasted Tomato Soup.  I found the recipe in Gourmet several years ago, although it looks like they recently published it again as the link will show.  Because the tomatoes are roasted the flavors are concentrated and the tomatoes become very sweet.  You could actually use a good on-the-vine supermarket tomato in this recipe, too.  The only "hard" part of the recipe is that you need to run the soup through a sieve to remove any large pieces of seed or skin but that only takes a couple of minutes.  Make sure you do it though or you'll be sorry!  Other than that this soup is very simple. 

 

 

 

 

 

Although I normally use a red tomato, for this go-round I used Golden Rave tomatoes - my plant has been especially abundant this summer and on Friday I'd just picked another huge bowl of them.  This summer was the first time I'd planted them but they will be back in my garden again next year.  Golden Rave is a yellow, plum-style tomato.  They are medium-sized and fairly meaty.   They gave the soup a gorgeous golden color. 

 

Once you've made the recipe you'll see it's easy to customize it with your own ideas.  I use different herbs, sometimes add smoked paprika or other spices, occasionally add different vegetables (I'll roast a few peppers along with the tomatoes, for instance).  And, the recipe calls for heavy cream, which makes a delicious soup, but I sometimes leave it out altogether or substitute 1% or whole milk.  I often make the soup up to the place where you add the cream and keep that base in the refrigerator.  Then I'll just scoop out a bowl or two's worth of the base, add a couple of splashes of milk or cream and heat that up for my lunch. 

 

 

 

 

 

The normal garnish for this soup is a Parmesan wafer (recipe linked to from the soup recipe).  The wafers are really delicious - even on their own with a glass of wine - and look beautiful on the red version of this soup.  This weekend I  made the wafers and ate them along with my soup but because they are golden they just blended in with the soup and didn't look good as a garnish.  So for the photos I decided to try something new.  I used a slice of fresh mozzarella, topped with a slice of red tomato and a little sprig of thyme, since I'd used thyme in the soup.  I loved the contrast for the photo but even better the mozzarella melted a little into the soup and the freshness of the sliced tomato in contrast to the warm, roasted flavor of the soup was really good! 

 

If you are looking for a meal that is great for the changing of the seasons - combining summer's flavors into a cozy fall dish - I highly recommend this soup. 

 

You can find the recipe here. 

 

Seattle is home to many roving restaurants and the number seems to be growing every day. Tracking where each venue is located at any given time can be a little challenging, although most have websites with calendars and you can subscribe to their Facebook or Twitter streams.  Or it might be that knowing where they are is not the issue but coordinating your schedule with theirs might be the challenging part.

 

Well today you are in luck!  From 11:00 am - 3:00 pm at least eight of the mobile marvels are gathering in one spot.  The hard part, of course, will be choosing just what to have.  I've read that a couple of the vendors will have special (maybe smaller) offerings for this gathering but so far nothing indicates that they all will.  Instead, it seems most will be featuring something they are known for. 

 

Marination Mobile, Skillet, Maximus Minimus, Gert's BBQ, El Camion, Parfait Ice Cream, Dante's Inferno Dogs and Kaosamai Thai  are all participating. 

 

The event will be located in an empty lot in Interbay at  1616 W. Bertona.  If you want seating, bring your own!    

 

 

 

 

 

Well, that was an unintended break!  The job-that-pays has been crazy the last six weeks or so.  A big project I've been working on was completed early this week.  I've been recovering the last few days and am finally starting to settle back into a more normal life.  It feels good! 

 

During the project summer turned to fall and I've emerged into sunny days rimmed with crispness, summer fruits giving way to fall produce and shorter days which pull me back into the kitchen.  Last weekend I made a gorgeous braised roast that lasted me most of the week.  Today I roasted my first pumpkin of the year. 

 

In the photo above it's just been pulled from the oven and the skin removed.   If you look closely you might see the steam still rising.  I roasted the pumpkin cut-side down which actually steams it while roasting.  As the steam rises it forces itself between the meat of the pumpkin and the skin.  Once cooked the skin separates from the meat with no work at all.  I was able to remove each half in one whole piece. 

 

After the pumpkin cooled I tossed half at a time into a food processor and processed it until pretty smooth.  There was still a little texture but I wanted to make sure any strings were completely broken down.  You don't need a food processor: you can use a blender or even just mash it by hand.  If you mash by hand just make sure you pull out any pieces that are stringy, if you see them. 

 

There are so many ways this pumpkin can now be used!  Pie, of course, bread, muffins, cookies..... but I have something different in mind for a good portion of this one.  One year while looking for a vegetarian lasagne recipe I came across a butternut squash lasagne recipe by Giada DeLaurentis.  It is absolutely delicious!  I've made the recipe using both butternut and pumpkin and like both versions.  This time of year is perfect for it, since the recipe also calls for basil.  So, while I still have basil in the garden (it's days are numbered with the cool nights we're having) and pumpkins and squash are newly available I'm going to take advantage of both. 

 

Tomorrow I'll whip up some fresh pasta and tomorrow night or Sunday all the pieces will come together in the perfect summer to fall transitional dish. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think I've mentioned before that my heritage is half Italian.  My mother's father was born in Italy, although his family migrated when he was two.  My maternal grandmother was born in New York but she and her younger sister were the only siblings of the nine in the family that were born in the US.  My grandparents (and all the kids) moved to the west coast during World War II, first to Vancouver, Washington to work in the shipyards, eventually making their way to Salem, Oregon where they lived out the remainder of the 94 years that they both achieved. 

 

Some of my earliest memories are of the Italian Plum trees in the backyard of the house where they lived.  At the very back of the yard two large trees flanked a pathway that led from the house to a gate that led out to the alley.  There were so many plums on those trees that there were plenty for my grandparents, our family and my mom's sister's and two brothers' families. 

 

We generally met about this time of year for a massive picking party.  The yard would be littered with those that had ripened early and dropped from the trees.  Ladders and buckets and bushel boxes would be evident everywhere you looked.  The uncles and older cousins would be up on ladders picking the highest fruit, while the younger ones would be assigned whatever they could reach from the ground or they'd be running full buckets from those on the ladders to the bushel boxes.  Often the aunts would be inside making jam with the first bucketfuls to come from the tree.  

 

And at some point during the day there'd be lots of food - maybe big pots of spaghetti or a picnic lunch to which everyone had contributed.  There was always food. 

 

By the time we were done each family would have several bushels to take home to can or make into jelly and my grandparents would have stacks of filled jam jars ready to be stored and used over the winter. 

 

Italian plums always bring back memories of those fun family occasions.  So today while I was at a friend's house to help her pick her Italian plums my mind kept wandering back to those warm summer days filled with family and food. 

 

My friend most generously gifted me with as many plums as I wanted and I ended up with about twenty five pounds of fruit!  The first several pounds have simply been washed, allowed to dry a bit and then split and the pits removed.  I placed the plum halves on silicone lined baking sheets and they are now in the freezer being individually frozen.  Once frozen I'll package them in Ziplocs.  Freezing them on the sheets will keep them as individual pieces so I'll be able to pull out as many halves as I need in the future.  Many of those will go into tagines or other braised meat dishes. 

 

I also plan on making a few batches of jam and am still pondering what I'll do with the balance.  However, I'm pretty sure there's a clafouti somewhere in my future and perhaps some sort of plum ice-cream or sorbet... so many options.  But for now, it's time to remove the plums from the freezer and package them up!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the things I like to use my colorful tomatoes for is Bread Salad.  You can find a zillion recipes online for this salad and you'll see they all have similar ingredients.  I like to do a simple version. 

 

Generally I start with a nice rustic bread, cut it into 3/4" cubes and then lightly sauté it in olive oil.  I often add a little minced garlic and dried herbs to the pan, too.  And today I even added some chopped onion.  As with each step of this recipe you are free to add whatever sounds good to you. 

 

Once the bread is toasted on all or several sides, I remove the pan from the heat and let it cool a little.  The bread will get a little crunchier as it cools.  Next I cut tomatoes into 1" cubes.  Today I used several varieties from the garden but you can use just one type if you prefer.  Add some torn basil to the tomatoes (there's both a purple and green variety in the photo), toss everything with a little olive oil, salt and pepper. 

 

You can also mix in the bread at this point but I like to place some of the bread in the bottom of a bowl, heap the tomatoes over the top, drizzle with balsamic vinegar, add a few shreds of Parmesan cheese and then toss a couple more pieces of bread on the top. 

 

 

 

 

 

I am generally blessed with gigantic tomato plants that grow amazingly tall and produce like crazy.  Although I take very good care of my tomatoes and have a great spot to plant them, I know some of it is luck because of one very specific thing.  Tomatoes deplete the soil pretty extensively and, especially in our damp northwestern climate, they are subject to all kinds of maladies and diseases.  So they should never be planted in the same place two years in a row. 

 

Well, I have a small yard and don't really have room for crop rotation.  In fact, other than herbs that are planted throughout the yard, strawberries that have managed to spread everywhere, and a few things grown in pots on my deck, tomatoes are the only crop I grow.  So there's nothing to rotate them with.  This means that I've been planting them in the same exact place for over ten years.  And yet each year they grow so tall and produce so emphatically that I find myself searching for new ways to support the vines and hand out tomatoes like crazy to anyone who expresses even a passing interest in them. 

 

But this year the spell was broken.  Last fall I didn't amend the soil as well as I normally do.  And I planted very late this summer.  There were a few other things that slipped this year, too.  Although I don't have the bumper crop that I'm used to I still have lots of tomatoes.  I've been eating them like crazy and even with that they are gaining on me.   I planned to can a few jars this past weekend but had a little stove incident late last week and so have to hold off until I can get the stove serviced.  Keeping my fingers crossed that it's back to normal tomorrow... And I'll continue to have tomatoes ripening well into October.  Some years it's been into November!

 

In the meantime, I love looking at all the beautiful colors and shapes and sizes.  I plant several different varieties since each has their own special use. Some are better for slicing, some for sauce. Plus, I love to create colorful recipes that use several varieties.  It's nice to have some that ripen earlier in the season, and yet I love the heirlooms that take a little longer to achieve their full flavor and color.  In my garden this year I had two red varieties, Early Girl and San Marzano; a prolific yellow Roma style called Golden Rave; the giant Yellow Brandywine, which is actually orange colored; the striped Green Zebra; and a purplish-red variety that was marked as Vintage Wine but appears to be something entirely different.  Each has their own flavor and texture but all have that wonderful fresh from the garden tomato taste. 

 

If you have not planted vegetables in your yard before I encourage you to make a plan now for next year.  You don't need much room to grow.  The area I use for the tomatoes is about 2'x12'.   Select an area that gets a lot of sun.  For many people the planting strip between the sidewalk and the street works well.  If you want to grow tomatoes they will benefit from a location protected from wind and that holds the heat.  For instance, I plant mine next to the south-facing side of my house.  The area stays warmer overnight as the heat accumulated in the wall of the house releases once the sun has left the area. 

 

Once you've chosen your location you can take steps this fall to give your plants a head-start in the spring.  Weed the area so that nothing is pulling nutrients from the soil over the winter.  Amend the soil with 2" to 3" of good compost so that it has a chance to become part of the growing medium.  Cover the area with something to protect the soil from our winter rains.  I generally use leaves that I've picked up with my lawn mower, so that they are cut up into smaller pieces thereby breaking down easier than whole leaves.  But whole leaves will be fine, as is straw.  In the spring you'll remove this cover and add it to your yard waste or compost pile. 

 

In the spring you'll be rewarded with nice, rich soil ready to support whatever seeds or plants you select.  A little work now pays off later.  So start your planning so that you are ready to go in the spring!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm not exactly sure why, but carrot cake is a fall thing for me.  Which I think is rather odd, because I look forward to carrots in the spring and throughout the summer.  Maybe it's because carrot cake generally has walnuts and sometimes grapes and those items make it feel like autumn to me.  Or maybe it's because the richness of the cream cheese frosting is too much for warm summer days.  Or perhaps it's just one of my many idiosyncrasies.  That's probably the most likely explanation. 

 

I was at U-Village on Saturday and remembered that Trophy Cupcakes had recently opened a location there.  I popped in and picked up a carrot cupcake to go.  This new location does not have any sort seating inside, although on a nice day there is a lot of outdoor seating nearby. 

 

The cupcake was deliciously moist and tender.  The cream cheese frosting was a tad bit too sweet but by removing a little of it the cake and frosting came back into a nice balance.  It was just what I needed with an afternoon cup of tea. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have no real complaints about my life.  It's a very good life no matter how you slice it and dice it.  But sometimes in the midst of all that goodness I find that I've overlooked something I would have liked to do.  And that was the case on Sunday.  I made it to Rover's final Sunday brunch of the year - something they have not offered before and there is no guarantee it will ever be offered again.  I wish I'd indulged a couple of more times over the summer but at least I made it to this last one. 

 

 

 

 

 

J and I arrived for our noon reservation and were seated at a white linen covered table in our section of the dining area.  If you have not been to Rover's it's located in a house turned restaurant so the dining area is a charming set of small rooms each with just a few tables.  This lends an intimacy and feeling of coziness to the dining experience.  We ordered Mimosas, made with freshly squeezed orange juice and a rosé cremant.  The color of the wine intensified and altered the orange juice color making it reminiscent of a sunset.  Cremant is a softer sparkling wine than Champagne so the resulting drink was flavorful and smooth with a hint of celebration. 

 

Rover's is known for its prix fixe dinners and offered both a two and three course menu for brunch.  There was also an a la carte section of options. While sipping our Mimosas we perused and negotiated and strategized wanting to make the most of this one-time event.  We wanted to pick the best of the best (at least according to our palates) and to squeeze in as much as possible without stuffing ourselves silly.    It was a tough decision but we finally decided on three a la carte dishes that we would share.  Our waiter was great at helping us orchestrate the order of our courses. 

 

 

 

 

 

We started with Hudson Valley Foie Gras.  This is a favorite item on Rover's menu and is always offered, I believe.  However, what is served along side it changes regularly and always includes some luscious seasonal ingredient.  On Sunday the foie gras was perfectly seared so that each bite was a rich, melt-in-your-mouth experience. It exemplified the kind of food that makes you want to close your eyes so that nothing distracts from the flavors and textures you're experiencing.  On the plate was a roasted, thinly sliced, fresh peach along with a sprinkling of blueberries, the pan juices and stripes of harissa hollandaise.  Adding any of these items to the foie gras enhanced it.  Using bread from the basket provided, we didn't let the plate go until we'd completely cleaned it. 

 

 

 

 

 

In some ways I wanted to just end there and savor the flavor of that first dish for the rest of the day.  But soon it was followed by the next plate we'd ordered, Two Poached Eggs over Braised Pork Belly, Sauteed Spinach and Harissa Hollandaise.  I really need to learn how to poach eggs.  I can do it but when I experience one that is expertly done I know how much mine are lacking.  The eggs used at Rover's come fresh from a local farmer which is probably a big part of the secret to their success.  Silky on the outside and filled with a liquid gold that sauced the pork belly, spinach and toasted baguette it elevated this take on bacon and eggs to a new level.  It was time for another little pause to savor what we'd just enjoyed. 

 

 

 

 

 

We ended our meal with a continental finish, the day's cheese platter.  As I have mentioned before I love when I get to really participate in my food and something like a cheese platter is a lot of fun for me.  You have the cheese and other little treats to mix and match with it.  I can't really do justice describing this dish since I don't know all the names of the cheeses.  There were five varieties each with their own special quality.  Some were local, some imported.  Cows, sheep and goats were represented.  All provided a unique flavor or texture so that the plate was a little treasure chest of jewels.

 

So, sadly, the brunches are over - at least for the time being.  However, the Friday lunches continue and, of course, so do dinners.  I think it's time to remember to get out to Rover's more often! 

 

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