THE BIG TOMATO

This is the largest tomato that has ever appeared in the garden!  It was so large and heavy that I could not resist weighing it on my kitchen scale and then photographing it for proof.  

Bicolor Mortgage Lifter

Herb Garden Update

 

The herb garden

Chives

Tarragon

Marjoram

Purple basil

Regular basil and Lemon basil

 

Oregano

Sage

We Won!!

Two First Places

One Third Place

Not bad for our first entries!!

Garden Update

Today's tomato harvest!

Pruden's Purple Tomatoes

Speckled Romans

Strawberries

Pumpkin peppers

Leeks

First green bean pod

Baby bell peppers

Friday Night Tapas

While on a long, fast paced walk earlier in the morning, I planned this tapas dinner for the evening.  It was simple to prepare and I had almost all of the ingredients needed right here in my kitchen.

 The first plate

Fresh heirloom tomatoes, garlic stuffed olives, 

marcona almonds and manchego cheese

Mini tarts made with fresh mini pear tomatoes with a custard of eggs 

and goat cheese and fresh from the garden tarragon

 

Roasted vegetables with David's wine- balsamic drizzle

 

Roasted potatoes bravas with homemade sauce 

 

The plate of food!

 T

This 2005  Bodegas Barbadillo Vino de la Tierra Cadiz is a blend of Tempranillo (50%), Syrah (25%), Merlot (10%), Cabernet Sauvignon (10%), and Tintilla (5%) and was a cheap purchase from Corti Brothers.  We agreed that it was nothing special, non distinctive and difficult to describe.  Neither of us could discern any fruit, felt it was slightly tannic and improved only a little bit with subsequent glasses.

This was a pleasant surprise from Corti Brothers: an inexpensive Spanish red with lots of fruit--wild cherries, says Lynn--gentle but not negligible tannins, and a pleasant, long finish. I left the price tag on the bottle; a bargain at $9.99.

State Fair Entries

Here are our three entries into this year's State Fair competition. All of these were made with at least one local item, including the juice from the limes from the lime tree and local pomegranates. 

Pomegranate- Cranberry Jelly

Bearss Lime Pepper Jelly

Bearss Lime Curd 

 

Ripe Tomatoes

 The tomatoes have begun to produce some very colorful and abundant fruit.

Firsts!

The first Old Ivory Egg

The first Flamme

The first Black Cherries 

The sliced tomatoes are so beautiful!

 A

Another harvest with the Flamme, Black Cherries, Pruden's Purple and Speckled Roman.

 

 

The amazing Speckled Roman

Blackberry Picking

For the past few years, we have looked forward to July. Usually one day during each of three of four consecutive weekends, we find our way to the American River Parkway to pick the wild blackberries, which are in great abundance.  The berries have been juicy, delicious and fun to preserve.  

The American River

The wild blackberries

The first berries, ready for the freezer

T

A berry tart, made from freshly picked blackberries and homemade lime curd.

 

A slice of berry tart

Homemade Pasta

After mixing the pasta dough in the Kitchen Aid and letting it rest for at least one hour, the small pieces of dough were fed through the pasta maker to the thickness of number 4.

The dough pieces rested on the baking sheet with sprinkled polenta, awaiting the cutting of the ravioli.

The cooked ravioli

The finished ravioli

Ravioli stuffed with tallegio, ricotta salata and parmesan cheeses and parsley, topped with a mushroom sauce.

With the remaining pasta and cheeses, the next night allowed for the creation of a lasagna, that tasted completely different than the ravioli with the addition of a few other items.  It was equally as delicious.

 

Ready to bake

The finished lasagna!

Solstice June 26, 2010

The annual Solstice celebration was another successful evening with some new and exciting foods to share.

 

Stuffed figs

(Fresh figs, cream cheese, toasted almonds, soy bacon and fresh from the garden chives)

The figs were hand picked the day before from a tree just a few blocks from my house!

 

        Strawberries with mascarpone

(strawberries tossed with balsamic and fresh cut herbs from the garden, then topped with mascarpone and soy bacon) This is a photo from the cookbook, since we neglected to photograph the real thing.  It was really pretty and very interesting flavors. 

 

Tomato and basil skewers

(Marinated bocconcini in olive oil, chopped fresh basil and chives from the garden, and parsley, threaded on the skewers with sliced cherry tomatoes and basil leaves)

                                    Grilled stuffed grape leaves
(Brie with toasted pines, chopped fresh from the garden spicy oregano wrapped in grape leaves)

 

The tomato and pepper flatbread

(homemade flat bread dough made with my new Kitchen Aid topped with fresh sliced tomatoes, lite mozzarella cheese, sliced mini bell peppers, garlic and fresh basil chiffonade)

 

Pesto flatbread

(The same homemade flatbread dough, topped with pesto, sliced portabello mushrooms, goat cheese, sliced onions and goat cheese)

   Preparing the blackberry ice cream(a puree of the basic ice cream ingredients with a reduction of berries with seeds milled out- a two hour process!)

 

The finished berry ice cream was so creamy and the most delicious of the berry ice creams made to date!

                               

David's chocolate fudge ice cream

 

and the wines we enjoyed...........