Peaches and Poetry

What does summer fruit have to do with poetry you ask?

The fragrant and juicy ripe peaches, which are abundant where I live at this time of year, often make me think of high school English lit class, and some particular lines from "The Love Song of J.Alfred Prufrock" by TS Eliot

I grow old ... I grow old ... 

I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled. 

Shall I part my hair behind?   Do I dare to eat a peach? 

I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach. 

I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each. 

I do not think that they will sing to me.

There is plenty more to the poem. Some of it easily digested, other parts needing further research and thoughtful consideration.  However, those are the lines that stuck over the years; as did the excitement my teacher expressed when leading the class discussion on the author and his work. To me the words were the musings of a man unhappy with growing older and having missed chances.  I took them as an inspiration to try to do more, to be more, to not look back with regret. 

"Live life to the fullest people!" Take chances and let things get a little messy.  The moments that are the most juicy are also the most rewarding and memorable.

Plus- the peaches are truly delicious: fresh on their own, on ice cream, with cheese, in a salad, baked into a cobbler..... 

There's more to Mascarpone than just dessert.

Butternut squash ravioli with bacon and mascarpone

With fresh peaches

On toast... For example, cherry pecan bread

Wanting to write about food

Everyday I want to learn and to write more about food.  It isn't easy when there is so much information floating around out there already.  What should I contribute to the global culinary conversation?  

I caught part of "Julie and Julia" on TV today and I recalled how much I enjoyed the books on which the movie is based.  And also it reminded me that if you want to write, so simply have to start somewhere and push forward.  

I don't need to have a large scale project as my focus.  I talk to people about food all day and that knowledge can be typed up too. So get ready for a whole lot of cheese articles coming your way!

Simple, but Effective, and Delicious

Sometimes the simple dinners are the most satisfying.  Such as good bread and great cheese!

One my favorites happens to be semolina bread topped with something rich and creamy.  

Semolina bread is made with durum flour.  This is the same type of hard wheat that is often used for pasta.  It has a nutty flavor and a high level of gluten relative to the soft wheats generally used in pastry.   While pasta and semolina, such as the rosemary and sea salt one pictured here, are to my mind Italian  food items, there are other dishes from North Africa and the Middle East based on durum wheat too.  

In Algeria, semolina pancakes and bread (ghraif and kesra) come from the Berber culture in N. Africa.  Other Berber dishes using this wheat are flatbread (avrum) and dumplings (tikerbabin).  The culinary influence from North Africa extends into Sicily through semolina couscous similar to what we refer to Israeli couscous in North America.

But what to put on top of this wonderful bread? 

I say cheese!

 

Personally, I tend toward mild and creamy, especially if it is on a bread with extra savory elements like the rosemary sea salt.  Burrata and fresh ricotta are excellent all on their own.   However, bacon jam is a stellar addition to this pairing.

And what is burrata you ask?  They take fresh mozzarella and shred it, soak it in cream and then stuff that wonderful mixture inside a mozzarella ball.  This is usually done with a cows milk mozz rather than the buffalo milk one but you get all that moisture and rich flavor too!

I often use burrata for my cypress salad instead of mozzarella since the cheese holds the other elements together quite well.

Wishing For A Foodie Summer Vacation

Time for Slow Food to focus on cheese!  This summer is the big Slow Cheese event in Bra and with the Expo 2015 being held in Milan, this is a great time to be in Italy for foodies....

With a cherry on top

Today's Pairing Post

Yes - it is a another antipasti platter but with carefully selected items to be eaten together... Yum!

Charcuterie    Toscano salumi and Lonzino

Olives: Sicillian green

Bread:  Greatful Bread Everything Crackers

Cheese: Sbrinz - Raw cows milk from Switzerland; Mozzarella di Bufala from Italy; Fresh Chevre from Georgia; Rembrandt aged gouda from Holland

Gluten-free Apple Tart

My gluten-free baking experiment....  not because I'm trendy, or celiac - but because I am curious.

There is a lot of information out there about how many people actually have Celiac disease or may be gluten intolerant/sensitive.   However, it does seem to be the trendy self-diagnosis as well.   I too very briefly tried going gluten free for a while, but it is simply not possible for me.  First and foremost - I have my doubts about the nutritional value of going wheat free without a doctor telling me to do so and then helping me with the process.   With those doubts, the amount of concentration devoted to eliminating the offending grains became overbearing.  

Instead, I choose to enjoy everything I eat. Spending huge portions of my time and energy worrying about it takes all the joy out of a meal.  

I subscribe to the Slow Food principles of paying attention to my food and understanding where it comes from, but also to taking time to savor the cooking and the consuming of my meals.  Choose to appreciate the good food!

With all of that said, I still decided to try making a gluten free dessert....

Shrinky dinks!! Creative Christmas ideas

My friends and I began a tradition recently - an annual dinner and craft night - to make shrinky-dink holiday ornaments.   We all have very different styles overall, so of course our decorations have vastly different looks.   Plus the skill levels vary a lot in the coloring and cutting out process too.

Shrinky Dinks were started in the 1970's and I remember making them in the 80's with my friends for holiday decorations.  We also would make window ornaments that looked like stained glass by shaving crayons onto wax paper.

Today's Pairing Post -- grilled cheese with cornichons

Some things just say fall weather comfort food - like grilled cheese sandwiches!!

There are lots of ways to amp up the traditional combo of melted cheddar between buttery slices of bread - this just happens to be one of my personal favorites: add cornichons and use sunflower bread.

Cool Stuff to Follow -- Updated

There are far too many blogs and sites posting all sorts of information online about food and about global news - culinary, political, environmental, etc.   I think that all of these categories are inexorably and intimately linked.   The problem is the overwhelming amount of information available.   How does one sort through it all and find the time to follow anything with depth?  I am still working on this problem myself.  I'll let you know when I come up with a solution.   In the meantime, I will continue to update my list of sites which feel contain something worth checking out.
Today I am adding two: Modern Farmer and Global Post.

Antipasti - A Super Simple Dinner

Barely Buzzed, Point Reyes Toma -- Genoa salami, Bresaola, Saucisson Sec -- Semolina

Sometimes you just don't have the energy, time or inclination to "cook" dinner.  This does not mean that you can't still eat well. Avoid the fast food drive-thru or the frozen meal in your fridge....

Grab what is was easily available from the grocery and/or market ( I have an advantage here - hooray for working in a wonderful gourmet shop) and put together your own antipasti platter.

Cheese/Bread/Charcuterie/Wine - pick whatever combination sparks your imagination.  Or do like I do and ask the experts behind the counter.  I've got the cheese and bread under control but I like to see what the folks at the meat counter or the wine shop recommend.

And then for dessert; hot tea and fruit.    Plenty of the meal will be seasonal choices - particularly the cheese and fruit.   And the best part of this dinner?   You will probably have enough leftover for lunch the next day.  

For fall - pear and earl grey tea

Why I dislike food porn, but still post food pics

                                             

Let's start with full disclosure.  I do take food photos to put on Instagram and Twitter all the time.

Most of them are are work related and feature cheese.  And in my opinion, cheese is truly one of the most photogenic foods.   

The rest of my foodie pictures are usually either superbly plated desserts which are edible works of art or my own recipe creations which tend to look odd but creative.   My own cooking falls in the category of possibly the least photogenic of foods.  And I am ok with that because it tastes goood!

What I dislike so much are the folks who feel the need to interrupt the flow of a meal by taking pictures of each dish and posting them.  Not only it is rude to your fellow diners to force a pause for the photo but put your phone away already!  And then there are the numerous posts over one evening.  Does anyone really enjoy seeing course after course of someone else's meal on their computer screen?

I pledge right now to only blog and tweet a single plate from a meal and limit the pictures to truly amazing dishes.  Food as an artistic endeavor should be celebrated.   As someone who follows the Slow Food movement, I prefer to stay in the moment - to enjoy the food and the company; to appreciate the effort put into producing the ingredients and the complete composed meal I am eating; to be thankful for all that I have and for my good fortune to eat this well.

Forget BLT, I want a BPT

I started with good bread, toasted; 

Added pimento cheese, the good chunky lightly spicy handmade kind;

Then topped that with crispy bacon....

And then because it is sunny, warm springtime-- heirloom tomatoes are already arriving!

These may not be as juicy and full of flavor as the ones which will come along later in the summer.  However they sure are gorgeous and tasty on my BPT.

Bacon Pimento & Tomato sandwich !!

Nothing says Spring like baby goats... And great goat cheese!

That's right - it the time of year when the goats are kidding and the sheep have been lambing - Spring!

And after the baby animals comes all that fresh milk and fresh cheeses!   Creamy chevre; soft ripened rounds; lightly aged crottin, ash covered pyramids.

 Coming soon---- pictures of some of the baby goats from Capra Gia farm.  

Local goats provide wonderful fresh cheese!

"Cake" Art

Yes - Your eyes are being deceived.   The cakes are made of wood and coffee grounds!   Dessert as art is not new.   As I continue to post here, pastry can beautiful, delicate, whimsical and creative as well as super delicious. Now with my own dessert and savory pastry creations.....   sometimes they look good, but possibly not quite to the level of art.   However,  they generally taste wonderful.   I tell myself that the less that ideal shapes and colors are the elements that indicate "homemade" to the diners enjoying them.

Eat Dessert First - ice cream edition

Oh. I am in so much trouble now.  I have been resisting the urge to get ice cream from Jeni's for weeks. Even though I walk past the store everyday and the weather has warmed up - I held out until today.

 

Big problem. Big. Huge. (Thank you pretty woman). I loved it. Loved it.  It was a great way to end a long work day.

I got the Wildberry Lavender and the Riesling Poached Pear.  Unusual flavor but very light and refreshing.  Reminded me of some of the melon gelato scoops I had in Italy in the past. The girl at the counter said Jeni had been experimenting with essential oil to get these flavors. And apparently there will be more seasonal treats to come.  Another customer mentioned the he already missed the fall/winter flavors that have been switched out for more springtime berries and fruits.

Some of the flavors I tried today were richer, heavier - but also delicious.   

Next up: Goat Cheese with Cherry 

Tasty April Fools!

Is that a fried egg on top of that cupcake?   Or spaghetti and a meatball?   Maybe....

Or it could be that a clever pastry chef made some fun creations to fool us all.   

Cakes full of lemon curd and topped with sugar designs and butter cream icing - Yum!

Happy Valentine!

And what is inside you ask?

Yummmm.  Chocolate mousse and fresh berries!  

The real question is cup of hot tea, or glass of prosecco?

Age is just a number

So I went to run errands looking like this...

And was inspired to take a couple selfies.  It isn't like me to do it but I got such a boost of confidence at the grocery store!

I stopped on the way out to buy a lottery ticket.  The clerk asked me if I was 18.  Even after I said yes she asked for my ID.   I guess my surprise seemed suspicious.  Anyhow, I couldn't stop thanking her and giggling the whole time.  

Over 30,and under the weather with a nasty cold, but still lookin' underage!  Woohoo!  

To be fair I have had this shirt since I was 19. And from a thrift shop no less....

Maybe this bodes well karma-wise for my lottery chances?!