my sister lucy was working on a piece for eat boutique and kindly asked me to write up a recipe for the illustration. here’s the recipe portion of her final work, but the rest of it is a glorious how-to on growing the high maintenance yet radical little root veg! look at the whole thing on her site here or check it out on eat boutique. quite the skill she’s got, wouldn’t you say?
rosa was the goodest lil chick lady, she’ll be greatly missed by all of our brood, both human and feathered.
last week while I was away there was a death in my family. My favorite chicken one of our Silverlaced Wyandotes Rosa Parks died of egg block. It was quick, 2 hours. She went from completely fine to bad very quickly but there was nothing we could do. My mom is ordering 2 plymoth rock’s today but Rosa will always be my favorite. She was such a beauty. RIP chicky.
so excited! hooray hurrah for first freelance pieces, especially ones illustrated by a glorious sister!
For Diner Journal.
coming soon
hello dinner last night, how are you? in keeping with the household theme of meatless monday, the family meal evening last was thus: lovely and fresh seasonal veg paninis. each slice of the tuscan loaf was smeared with a bit of bright ricotta, then piled high with layers of thinly sliced squash, tomato and spinach. a sprinkling of sunny paris and slight swipe of pesto rounded them off before they were topped with the other slice and sent to the press! it was quite the convenient meal, as we were eating in two shifts last night. fasj, kirb and i making the first bunch, lu mom and charles the second. but despite the disconnected eating schedule, each mouth got a hot sammy right on time.
fresh veggie presses
seasonal vegetables oyu enjoy, sliced quite thin (i used zucchini, summer squash, tomato, green pepper, spinach and onion)
fresh thyme and rosemary, minced
balsamic vinegar
ricotta cheese
basil pesto
salt and pepper
a hearty tuscan loaf
to make:slice the bread into desired width, and smear the inside side of each with some of the fresh cheese. season this with salt and pepper. meanwhile, soften the sliced onion in a pan with a bit of oil. once translucent, sprinkle in the rosemary and thyme, and a glug of balsamic vinegar. reduce a bit. layer the sliced veg atop. brush olive oil on the panini press or grill pan, whichever you prefer, and press and grill the sammys until they are golden brown and the ricotta subtly melts.
dinner last night: stuffed zucchini. twas quite a hit, everyone cleaned their plate and raved about it, such a pleasant surprise. recipe is as follows.
stuffed zucchini
one zucchini per person
shallot, carrot and celery, each in a small dice
ground turkey, extra lean
italian spices (basil, rosemary, thyme, sage, salt, pepper)
your favorite marinara sauce
to make: hollow out each zucchini half, making sure to reserve some of the insides for the filling. place zucchini in a baking dish, drizzled with a bit of oil, salt and pepper. bake in a 350 oven for 10 minutes. in the meantime, soften the shallot, carrot and celery in some oil, and chop the reserved zucchini while waiting to soften, then add to pan. once soft, add turkey and brown. stir in spices and a bit of sauce over low heat. fill each zucchini with this mixture and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, if desired. bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. Spoon additional sauce atop, and enjoy, hopefully with friends!
older genius illustrator of a sister is illustrating a piece i’m writing for diner journal. words cannot express how lucky and honored i feel to have my words paired with such glorious and imaginative drawings. such the one-of-a-kind talent!
the beginnings of some bread making things for Diner Journal
a compote it was! after finding some wild berries the other day, i was a bit in a conundrum as to how to use the meager store i’d collected. tasting the little things did indeed confirm what the neighbor lady had told me- terribly bitter and a bit unsweet.
thus, last night, the berries turned compote. with a quite simmer in water, sugar and a splash of balsamic for excitement, they yielded a spread with a pleasant amount of depth. the only thing i wished was that i still had some of that glorious soft spanish cheese to pair it with!
hello most pleasant surprise walking home! i’ve seen these lil rubies in the yard of our neighbor, and she told me that they were wild strawberries. instantly, my heart was a-flutter with desire to pluck one up and taste, but alas she warned me, they’re quite bitter.
walking home today, i came upon a few more by the side of the road once more. i couldn’t resist, had to pick just a few, just enough to taste. perhaps i’ll toss them into a saute pan and make a quick compote for toasts or throw them in a salad with sharp cheese and a vinaigrette. we shall see!
so proud of the littlest sister!
my sister kirby has a passion for animals of all kinds—especially bees. she made this awesome video about our bees
enjoy!
the main dish for the birthday gathering was thus— butternut and two mushroom risotto. lu and my mom were kind enough to gift me with the financials necessary to get quality ingredients to craft a table of deliciousness to enjoy with friends. i hadn’t made risotto in some time, and i knew that a certain booth at the market would be vending sacks of shitakes, so this is what i came up with as the main event.
creamy, like any risotto should be, this luscious mess of rice also featured subtle sweetness from the orange squash cubes and woodyness from the two mushroom varieties i used, shitakes and cremini.
butternut and two-mushroom risotto
1 c cubed and roasted butternut squash
1 c total mushrooms, cubed and roasted
scant 1/2 yellow onion, small dice
1 1/2 c arborio rice
4-6 c chicken stock
parmesan cheese
to make:saute the onion in a bit of oil until soft and translucent, then add in the rice and stir to coat each grain with some of the oil. simmer the stock, and add 1/3 cup at a time, stir after each addition and allowing the liquid to absorb in between, until the rice is slightly al dente. stir in the parmesan and roasted veg, season with salt and pepper, and finish off the heat with a final 1/3 cup of stock to ensure creaminess on the way to the table.
