"There's just two things that money can't buy, and that's true love and home grown tomatoes!"

Growing up, when we didn't grow our own, we'd buy fresh tomatoes each night from the old Italian woman across the street. She had a small garden and vegetable stand and my father would send me over each night to buy about 1 pound -- freshly picked, right off the vine. They'd be gone between dinner and the next morning when he'd make himself tomato sandwiches for breakfast that he'd eat over the sink!

Now, these were very special tomato sandwiches, because they were made on "Daddy Toast," a term my sister and I gave to what had heretofore in my father's family been called "toast in the pan." This was the equivalent of a grilled cheese sandwich without the cheese, toasted on both sides of the bread, top crust cut off, and grilled in a cast iron skillet which was NEVER cleaned and thus kept seasoned. Certainly, not healthy by today's low-fat standards!!

My mother thought it was awful stuff; my sister and I LOVED them!! He'd get the cast iron skillet going just at the right heat and put his bread in butter side down and while it cooked, he'd butter the top side and then flip them. With fresh tomatoes, salt and pepper, mmm, mmmm, nothing could be finer!!! By mid-October, we'd all be in serious tomato withdrawal!

The post title is taken from a song by Guy Clark -- I first heard it in a cowboy bar just outside of Boulder, Colorado. At the time, it made me wish my Dad was still alive -- he would have loved this song! I tried to upload it, but I'm missing a step somewhere . . . . so here's the url:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-QzLIjL1u4.

My Dad would have been 98 today -- so Happy Birthday, Dad! Hope Heaven has been bringing you lots of homegrown tomatoes!

Gini

What is Len Having for Dinnner?

So, riddle me this....

What is Len having for dinner?

It;s red and luscious,

a meal for the sinner,


It's color is rojo

It's scent screams sabroso



Que es?







Eso si que es!

Christmas in July

Hi Everyone,

I'm not doing too good a job of cooking this week, so I thought I'd share something that my family and I prepare at the Christmas holiday as part of the traditional Polish Christmas Eve dinner. They are called pierogi, and you may have eaten them before, or heard of them. I found this pierogi recipe in a very unlikely place - The city of Pittsburg website! PIttsburg, ..a bastion of Polish culture. I tried to put some of my own photos in, but can't find my file for them...sorry, so instead I'll give you this youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSDkn3EMh1I. I am having a lot of difficulty putting the live links in...so sorry!

Pierogi dough recipe from Pittsburg: http://pittsburgh.about.com/od/recipes/r/pierogies.htm

• 2 cups flour, plus extra for kneading and rolling dough
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup sour cream, plus extra to serve with the pierogi
• 1/4 cup butter, softened and cut into small pieces
• butter and onions for sauteing
• ingredients for filling of your choice (potato & cheese filling recipe below)

Preparation:

Pierogi Dough
To prepare the pierogi dough, mix together the flour and salt. Beat the egg, then add all at once to the flour mixture. Add the 1/2 cup sour cream and the softened butter pieces and work until the dough loses most of its stickiness (about 5-7 minutes). You can use a food processor with a dough hook for this, but be careful not to overbeat. Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for 20-30 minutes or overnight; the dough can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Each batch of dough makes about 12-15 pierogies, depending on size.

Prepare the Pierogies
Roll the pierogi dough on a floured board or countertop until 1/8" thick. Cut circles of dough (2" for small pierogies and 3-3 1/2" for large pierogies) with a cookie cutter or drinking glass. Place a small ball of filling (about a tablespoon) on each dough round and fold the dough over, forming a semi-circle. Press the edges together with the tines of a fork.

Boil the pierogies a few at a time in a large pot of water. They are done when they float to the top (about 8-10 minutes). Rinse in cool water and let dry.

Saute chopped onions in butter in a large pan until onions are soft. Then add pierogies and pan fry until lightly crispy. Serve with a side of sour cream for a true Pittsburgh pierogi meal.

And that is just the dough...to make the fillings, go to the website...it's a good source of information.

Pierogi, delicious, and a lot of fun! (and work!)

AudioPal Widget- Erin's Eggplant Parmesan part 2

I found it - but still can't figure out how to drag it into my post.

Erin's Favorite Eggplant Parmesan

The other day a friend told me she had forgotten to eat all day. I find this simply incomprehensible. I can honestly say that never in my entire life have I forgotten to eat. Sure there have been days where I have been too busy to brush my teeth never mind grab lunch while taking care of a screaming newborn, or trying frantically to finish report cards or even setting up stations for a class that incidentally is usually on lunch break. But never ever, even in the course of those harrowing hours of no sleep, raging hormones and deafening screeching have I forgotten that my stomach was empty. Perhaps the problem is mine, perhaps it is not normal to think about food as often as I do – and for sure I like to indulge in it’s yumminess a bit too often.

Eggplant parmesan ranks up there with my favorite all-time foods –to think about and to indulge in! I love Italian restaurants – would love to go to Italy and check out all those beautiful sights. But in the meantime my mini Italian experiment involves eggplant parmesan and finding the best around. My current favorite comes from a tiny Italian restaurant in North Attleboro Square. Portabello Restaurant is adorable, filled with dark wood, dim lights, a small cozy bar, open kitchen and lots of atmosphere. The staff is friendly and the food divine. The eggplant I like best is actually served as an appetizer only and comes with the usual layers of fried goodness, savory sauce, and melted cheese but in this case is also served in a bed of pesto cream sauce that is simply heavenly. I order the appetizer portion as well as a small side of pasta as my dinner and dip the pasta, the bread I save from the basket and anything else I can (I would probably dip my fingers if I thought I could) into that pesto cream sauce….ummmmummmyum.

Portobello’s has a second location in South Boston and although I have never been to that one, the menu features the same delicious choices. I would highly recommend checking out one of their locations and testing their eggplant parmesan – I promise you will never forget it.

http://www.cafeportobello.net/

Okay so for the tech piece here, I did photos from a website, the restaurant link and an audio piece thanks to Len's advice - now I just have to find where the audio went when it "posted"

Calamari

FUN WITH CALAMARI

I enjoy calamari especially if I am in good company

(friends and a bottle of cabernet sauvignon)

LA CUCINA SICILIANA

the food of the eolian islands and sicily

[click and watch]

It is fun if you fish it yourself!

It is also exciting to prepare t yourself

Calamari Ripieni alla Liparese (Stuffed Squid Lipari Style) Ingredients

12 medium squid

1 pound ripe cherry tomatoes

1 cup breadcrumbs

1 onion

1/4 cup capers

1/4 cup finely chopped parsley

1/4 cup chopped green Sicilian olives

1/4 cup grated pecorino cheese

6 basil leaves

extra virgin olive oil

freshly ground black pepper

salt to taste

Method

1. Clean the squid by pulling the tentacles and head away from the body.

2. Remove the mouth from the head at the base of the tentacles.

3. Cut away the head between the tentacles and eyes and discard the mouth and head.

4. Hold the body of the squid under cold running water, peel the outer skin, then squeeze out the insides and pull out the cartilage.

5. Rinse thoroughly the inside of the hood and try not to puncture it.

6. Chop the tentacles and put them in a mixing bowl with the breadcrumbs, pecorino cheese, capers, green olives and parsley.

7. Salt and pepper to taste.

8. Chop six cherry tomatoes and add them to the stuffing, then evenly mix the ingredients and fill the squid with the stuffing.

9. Seal the open end of the squid with toothpicks and set aside.=

10. Dice the onion and cut the remaining cherry tomatoes in half.

11. Heat the olive oil in a large pan over moderate flame and fry the onions until they are transparent.

12. Add the chopped tomatoes, salt and pepper to taste and cook a few moments, the lower the flame, add the squid and basil then cover and simmer for about fifteen to twenty minutes.

13. Ladle the sauce onto a serving platter and arrange the squid on top and serve.

I Cannot Tell a Lie! This Is What I Ate for Dinner!

And it was GOOD, too!

I have no remorse. It's summer. It's hot and sticky. It's been hot for quite a few days in a row now. Enough with healthy eating. Summer gives us wonderful fresh fruit and berries and . . . . ice cream!

It cools you down. It revs up your metabolism (at least for a while). And if you do it right, you can squeeze in your 5 daily servings of fruits as well as some dark chocolate to keep the blues away.

What could be better? Okay, I know the drill: It's also milk/cream, cholesterol, sugar . . . . but it's only summer once a year. Go ahead. You know you want to. So break out the ice cream and LIVE a little. Winter will be here too soon . . . way too soon!

Gini