summer dinners

Last night was a perfect late August night...golden sunshine, a slight breeze. We enjoyed a light dinner on the deck, savoring the evening. Heirloom tomatoes, basil, fresh mozzarella, and olive oil all combine to make a lovely salad, mmm...summer.

The gentle breeze soon became a cool wind, I awoke to a chilly morning. I bundled up and headed up to market for 6:30. The cooler temps had me thinking about comfort food; something warm, hearty. Everywhere I looked, there were eggplants. I decided it would be a good night for eggplant parmesan. The day has been cool and grey, with temps in the 50's, lows into the 40's tonight (did I mention that it is August?). I bought Juilet tomatoes to make the sauce, 2 medium eggplants, basil and fresh mozzarella. When I got home I started the tomato sauce, and sliced and broiled the eggplant. I do a lighter version of eggplant parmesan, adapted from a Deborah Madison recipe. Instead of breading and frying the eggplant, I brush it with oil and broil it (sometimes I grill it). It is then layered in the dish with the cheese, bread crumbs, chopped basil, and sauce. I guess it is more of a gratin. The freshness of the ingredients shines through. It is one of my favorite dishes.

Okra was also at the market. Tomorrow night's supper: Gumbo with chicken and sausage. I love shopping like this. Seeing what is available and designing meals around seasonal produce. I read cookbooks like novels, there is usually one at my bedside. Reading cookbooks has made me a more intuitive cook. Over time you start to see patterns of flavors and combinations. That knowledge, along with a well stocked pantry and local seasonal produce leads to incredible meals. A few of my favorite cookbooks: Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison; Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet and Mangoes and Curry Leaves by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid.

spinning round-up

I have caught the spinning bug. I love spinning out on my deck on a sunny day. Here are my latest yarns: A worsted weight yarn, spun from Briar Rose Fibers BFL in muted purples, greens, pinks and blues. I am thinking of using it in combination with a solid colored yarn for a sweater for me.

Blue Ring Octopus. This is spun from Merino Lambkins roving from Enchanted Knoll I love spinning this roving, it is so soft. Destined to become a hat for Whyboy. He likes to wear the yarn around his neck.

Saffron Bouquet, SW BFL, from Fluff Fibers. Spun worsted, sport weight. This yarn feels very silky, will make some lovely socks for someone.

Quite possibly my most favorite yarn to date. Midnight. Polwarth combed top Dyed by David at Southern Cross Fibre, Navajo plied, worsted weight. I am planning on using it for a pair of Fiddlehead Mittens for me. I love spinning Polwarth, and David's color sense is amazing!

Now back to the wheel....

up north

Frogs. Frogs were the theme for our recent trip 'Up North'. On the 6 hour drive up, I knit away on my Tadpole socks. The pattern is easily memorized and I love knitting with the yarn. We stayed at the Garmisch Inn, a beautiful resort on a lake, near Cable, WI.

Cable is a great place to visit. We enjoyed breakfast at the Brick House Cafe (ok...we ended up eating breakfast there everyday, very yummy). Had pizza at the Rivers Eatery. We went for a bike ride on the Wild River Trail, a CAMBA trail. The single track portion of the ride was a bit of a challenge, but we got to go over a really cool bridge. We swam in the lake...it has been a cool summer in Wisconsin, the water was cold!! We spent a lot of time hunting for frogs along the river. Whyboy loved catching frogs. He declared himself an expert 'frog catcher', and told everyone we met about his frog catching technique. J and Whyboy did some fishing...no bites. One day, we drove to Bayfield, WI and caught the ferry over to Madeline Island. Whyboy played along the Lake Superior shoreline at Big Bay state park, while J and I soaked up the sun. Mostly, we just slowed down for a few days and enjoyed just 'hanging out'.

On our first morning, I sat out on the balcony, enjoying the view, drinking coffee, and knitting away on PK's socks (which I am trying to finish by September). For most of the trip I knit away on these socks. On the last night, I realized that that I mis-counted for the gusset, and would need to frog back to the heel flap....well, at least I had 6 hours of knitting on the ride home.

blackberrries

In front of my meme's house, there was a blackberry bramble. Meme was my father's grandmother. She spoke French and a few words of English. We would pick berries in the morning, and she would make crepes. Her crepes are legendary in our family, they are the standard by which all other crepes are judged. She expected us to eat at least 2. We would fill them with fresh blackberries, a bit of brown sugar, and drizzle maple syrup over the top. If we would slow down in our eating meme would tap our plate with her fork "mange, tout, tout" ("eat, all, all"). I think of her in the summer, when I eat blackberries in my morning yogurt.