away

Just a quick trip... The beach is calling.

waiting for tomatoes

While I'm waiting, waiting, waiting for my very own tomatoes to ripen (so slow this year!), I've been using up what's left in the pantry. And though I'm soooooo ready for the first warm tomato off the vine, I still think it's amazing what a can of whole, peeled plum tomatoes can become. Throwing in some fresh herbs (tarragon, for instance) and making a quick sauce for some spectacular homemade ricotta gnocchi yielded some incredible results the other day.

Waiting for tomatoes might not be quite so hard after all...

Ricotta Gnocchi with Tomato-Tarragon Sauce

(inspired by and adapted from: this)

For the sauce:

Ingredients:

2 Tb. olive oil

1 small onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 Tb. fresh tarragon, chopped

1-28 oz. can whole plum tomatoes (broken)

sea salt

Heat oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and a pinch of salt. Saute for a minute or two, until translucent. Add the garlic and tarragon and saute for 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes and their juice, bring to a slow simmer, and cook for 20-30 minutes, or until sauce has thickened to desired consistency. Season to taste with salt.

While sauce simmers, prepare the gnocchi.

For the gnocchi:

Ingredients:

1 Lb. Ricotta cheese (I use part-skim)

1/2 Cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 tsp. sea salt

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1 - 1 1/2 Cups flour

See recipe: here.

simplicity in string beans

Perhaps they taste so perfect because they were so nearly ravaged. Perhaps their flavor has intensified with the anticipation.
One thing is for certain - steamed for just a moment and eaten with two fingers and a fleck or two of sea salt, each squeaky bite is bliss.


How do you like your string beans?

pause

A moment of rest after the rush of the holiday weekend.
Well-earned after blueberry-picking, tidying, and entertaining.

Of course there were also a trio of homemade condiments, blueberry pie, honey ice cream, jam, and a well-loved potato dish that made their way out of the kitchen over the last 3 days. Not to mention yet another of Deborah Madison's: Blueberry Lavender Compote.
A spoonful or two of the compote's syrup stirred into a glass of sparkling water compliments an afternoon pause perfectly.

nibbling, munching and audible gasps

One evening last week I took a walk out to the garden to visit the tiny veggies and to assess the workload for the following morning.

I took note that there would still be lettuce for picking and even snapped off a few remaining pea pods before I noticed the beans.

At which point I let out an audible gasp.
Nearly the entire center of four rows devoid of leaves - munched to the stalks, tiny beanlettes left exposed! Barely a plant was left un-nibbled.

Heartsick, I then discovered the evidence:
Deer. In the garden. Feasting away.
Needless to say, a better fence is in order; however that is not immediately possible. The current method of deer defense involves the application of a wretched-smelling (though all-natural) repellent solution around the perimeters.
When one grows vegetable plants, she can expect to defend the crop from all manner of detrimental insects and weeds, slowly, day-by-day, a bit of work here, a bit there. It is quite another thing to wake one morning and find the entire garden bare - a very real possibility with deer, rabbits, or even raccoons sniffing about.
I am fortunate to have lost so little, though it still makes me sigh to see those bare stalks. My home would not be the same without my animal neighbors, but with a little luck and some perseverance, perhaps I can turn their attention from my own garden back to the wild.

In the meantime, I'll take in the survivors and savor my harvest just that much more.