Good Bye, Summer Food

We've had a couple of freezes. Saturday I picked all the rest of the basil (about a gallon bag) and tonight's dinner featured basil. The tomatoes are the last from a friend's garden.
Dinner tonight:
Caprese Salad, Pesto and Pasta (corn/quinoa), and Italian sausage. So good, and so seasonal.

Weekend in May

It was a warm and busy weekend. Yesterday, Wiz and I went to the farmer's market. We bought local honey, radishes (which I prepared and Lulu the lab ate all of them but one), spring Walla Walla onions, greens, and asparagus. Wiz wanted a bar of soap, so I let him get one. (Wouldn't you buy your kid soap?)This afternoon, I was lazy. I sat in the back yard and knitted. (I want to get a table and chairs to put in the corner where it's shady.) We have irises (not many blooming) and the hydrangea is still going full tilt.
It's a cotton and silk blend, this yarn. It should be a nice summer evening sweater, when I finish. It looks like it's only going to be another few repeats before I'm finished with the body.
A close up in dappled light of the lace pattern.
This is a picture before I knitted this afternoon. I sat all by myself in the backyard with my ipod, water and knitting. I don't get to do that often.

If you like mushrooms

...this will make you jealous.

They are delicious. They may not be pretty, but they taste wonderful!

Spring Break

is here for the boys, not for me. The Collar and I get to sleep in a bit though.

Whenever they are home, I wind up doing a lot of things to be in ear shot, but not necessarily present. (They fight less without a witness.)

So I made a loaf of g/f bread from a Bob's Red Mill mix. It's not bad.
I also made g/f granola (it's pretty much not a recipe yet) because I'm tired of hot cereal. Granola isn't exactly picturesque.
Since it's spring break, we've been seeing signs of spring.
Strawberries from California:violets:and the magnolia is blooming.

Creative Weekend

I cut out some aprons:

Sewed one.

Made a loaf of gluten free bread.

Started a pair of socks.Started a hat. (No picture of the hat, but it's almost finished.)

And found a desk!

Christmas Dinner

We did something different this year for Christmas dinner. The boys requested Chinese turkey (yes, from that movie) but I couldn't find any. We went with goose, because it plays a big role in lots of stories (okay, so they are all versions of A Christmas Carol but that's okay). I forgot to take a picture of it.

Patiently waiting for the goose.
Poor Game Boy is just wasting away. We never feed him. Our menu was simple: goose, red cabbage with apples, and mashed potatoes. Of course we had wine. I think it might be illegal to not have wine with festive occasions here (ha!).Dessert was also new. (No creme brulee this year. We'll have it sometime though, because it's a once a year treat.) Instead we had chocolate lava cakes. Oh, my goodness. It was also amazing. What is really funny is that my cousin who lives in California, made it too. It's a keeper.

Kate's Crostata Recipe

a.k.a galette (one's Italian, one's French. Basically the same dessert.)

Ingredients:

Fruit (I've made it with apples, pears, and peaches). About 3 large apples worth.
Butter
Pie Crust
Brown Sugar
Spices (I use ginger, cinnamon, and ancho chile pepper.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Peel and slice the fruit.
Prepare the pie crust. I roll it into a rectangle, but traditionally the crust is round.
Place crust on parchment paper on a baking sheet.
Liberally butter the crust.
Arrange the fruit in a single layer on the pie crust.
Sprinkle brown sugar and spices over the fruit.
Bake for about 17 minutes or until the crust is golden brown on the edges.

I serve it plain, but you might want to add whipped cream.