Smithy

Someplace, I actually have the music for that. I think the Depot Museum put together a music book called the Duluth Ditty Bag some years back, and I couldn't resist it. It's been really interesting, writing about this place and having people like you pop up with memories about it from earlier years. It's fun to read the memories. Thank you.

That Cub is the one I go to most often, for the reasons you describe. Now there's a Festival Foods in town, and their selection is pretty good too - although still not up to Cub standards. The cabins you stayed in may well have been the Star Harbor Resort cabins in Castle Danger, that were demolished to make way for the Grand Superior Lodge. I lived less than a mile from there at the time, but I've forgotten what happened to all the cabins. I just remember the funny quirky statue of the round-bodied little man with the top hat. I hope he's safely in somebody's yard. There are other cabins around the area too, that have been moved or destroyed, so you might have been in one of those. I was thinking of someplace called something like the Cross Creek Bakery, but I don't know if that's right. They have, or at least used to have, a wallful of bread racks with boules and long loaves, all artisan styles made on the premises. The Angry Trout Cafe specializes in seasonal foods and sustainable business, and they do an excellent job of it. They make a point of composting, recycling, that sort of thing. I think if you take something to go, you get a coffee cup that they picked up at a yard sale rather than some throwaway paper or styrofoam thing. Don't quote me on that; I might be thinking of somebody else.

Thank you! I'm glad you've enjoyed it!

Welcome, LikestoEatout! I'm trying to imagine the variations. Must have been at your end, unless you went around the lake? ← We have done the Circle Tour a few times but we vary the ways we go through Wisconsin. Now that 61 has been changed and widenend some, the traffic sure is crazy, I miss being able to pull over and walk along the shoreline. Have you ever noticed the chalet high on the bluff near the tunnel outside of Two Harbors? That's Jumerhof, owned by Jim Jumer of Peoria. My uncle did all the woodwork for him and I have had the chance to go up there, a spectacular view of Lake Superior. And to keep this food related, one of my favorite places to eat is Birch Terrace in Grand Marais. ← Grand Marais has a lot of great places to eat. There's at least one good bakery on the way to Grand Marais, too, around Tofte or Cross Creek. I was sorry not to get that far up during this blog time.

Impossible!! I've really enjoyed your blog, and the amount of detail. I feel like I've learned quite a bit about your neck of the woods! ← That's good to know. Thanks! I ran out of the house this morning without breakfast, so in the mid-morning I broke down and started in on lunch. Again, it was leftovers reheated in the microwave. I didn't bother to photograph it; you can see the original at the bottom of this post, but there aren't any noodles this time around. About 5 minutes later, an all-office announcement was made that donuts had arrived.

Welcome, LikestoEatout! I'm trying to imagine the variations. Must have been at your end, unless you went around the lake?

I'm 99% sure that it is. I find it pretty funny that they're selling these in the supermarket! Back when I was in college (and bored) in Kansas, we would occasionally try "hedge apple bowling", using these crazy-looking fruits and empty beer bottles...sometimes "hedge apple bocce"...or if we were feeling mean, we'd just chuck 'em at each other... They are indeed supposed to repel rodents and insects, but I don't know first-hand whether this is true. ← Thanks for that! Yes, they were in a novelty bin, with a little typewritten sign giving some old-timer's memories about them. They have a bit of a citrusy smell to the skin. I haven't tried to cut into mine. I'm sure, if I set it out someplace to discourage ants, that an inquisite dog will chew it or the cats will be playing with it. I love the idea of hedge apple bowling. Sounds like something we'd have done, too.

Oswego's the largest city in Oswego County, about 18,000 people big. Does that mean 5 Oswegos equal 1 Duluth? MelissaH ← I dunno! How many songs do you have about Oswego? We only have one that I know of; the refrain goes Oh, to tell you the truth I like it in Duluth I think that means you need 5 things that rhyme with Oswego. Hmm. Now I remember the old song "Two to Duluth", about the woman trying to buy train tickets, and the ticket master replying "Ta rum te dum te dum" to the hapless woman because he thought she was saying nonsense syllables. They sure knew how to write 'em back in the 20's.

Hi, Miligai! The pot is an enameled cast iron casserole, or braiser, I picked up on eBay a while ago, when Fifi hypnotised a bunch of us into buying Le Creuset in a very informative thread about the cookware. This particular braiser is from a brief period when LC was doing art deco style, and I've never seen another like it. (That makes me wonder if it's really LC, but what the heck - I like it, and it works.) When I first started making this style of potato, I did it in a covered sauce pan and it worked fine. However, I learned this winter that braisers really and truly do work better if they're made of a massive material such as cast iron, or clay - I presume because the braiser evens out heat fluctuations, but I don't know whether anyone's really figured it out yet. I highly recommend the eGullet Culinary Institute's course, The Truth About Braising: an eGCI seminar and lab. Several of us spent the week comparing techniques, cookware and results, and the ensuing discussion taught me a lot. The link I gave you is to the introduction, but from there you can go to the various lab sessions and question and answer sessions. The Q&A and discussion threads are still open, too, so you can take the course on your own, draw conclusions and continue the discussion. I used this braiser on the stovetop of my electric stove. It could be done in the oven, but for something quick like this I find the stovetop more efficient. I scrubbed a dozen or so of the new potatoes I bought last weekend, leaving them whole. They went into the pot with 3 tbsp butter and 1/3 c. water. It's important not to use too much water, because if you do you'll have steamed potatoes with soft peels. The result is different. Simmer on low for about 20 minutes, then add a couple of cups of sliced carrots. Simmer until everything's tender, then toss all with a few tbsp. of chopped dill. I've had these stalks of dill standing in a vase in the kitchen, just for this purpose. Why exactly the potatoes come out differently when braised, instead of steamed, I don't know. I do know that with only a small amount of water in that pot, it's pretty much evaporated by the time the potatoes are done. That leaves the potatoes with a buttery silky sauce in the bottom of the pot so that when you toss everything together it coats those tender-crunchy skins. When you bite into a potato it pops in your mouth like a grape and the buttery sauce mixes with the smooth young potato meat...oh, it's a treat! I'm not posting the recipe on RecipeGullet because it isn't mine to post, but this should give you enough to go on. Otherwise, I recommend picking up a copy of the New York Times Cookbook.

I've heard great things about the Grandpa Woo, including their meals. The captain has it about right. The folks with money for vacation homes are snapping up the land as previous generations cash in on their land holdings. As a result, the shore land is becoming much more fragmented and the land values are going up. Long-time residents find their own property values going up; that's nice if you want to sell, but not so nice if you want to stay and can't afford the property taxes. Meanwhile, the struggle escalates between people who want vacation land with minimal development (except their nice big new homes) and the people who want businesses and industries that will provide good jobs and support local businesses (these grocery stores about which I rhapsodize, for instance) and schools for their children. It's a classic balancing act, hardly unique to this area, but focused especially by Lake Superior. Uhm, back to food: I've never tried freezing smoked fish, but after this week's buying spree I think I'll have to. Thanks for the tip.

Here in Oswego we still don't really have aisles that look like these. Of the three grocery stores in town, only one is set up such that you can pass someone else without scraping something off a shelf. Our produce is getting better, even in just the two years we've been here, but when I need a produce orgy I have to drive the hour to Wegman's.How big or small a town do you feel like you live in? Do you feel "safe" running to the grocery store in whatever you happen to be wearing, or are you pretty much guaranteed to run into someone you know and you feel like you need to at least put a baseball cap and a non-holey shirt on? Enjoying this slice of your life tremendously! MelissaH ← I don't live in town at all, so I have to get dressed enough not to be ashamed if my car breaks down and I have to hike. Duluth, at around 86,000 people, is puny by California standards but is the 4th largest city in Minnesota. Still, between my social activities over the years (sailing, music, dancing, flight instructing) and the friendly nature of the area, the odds are I'll run into somebody I know. Sweats, okay. Low cut tube top and shorts, depends on my mood. Bathrobe, absolutely not. It's not unusual for people to wander into the store wearing their obvious work clothes, though (paint stains, garden dirt) so I don't feel conspicuous when I wander in with acid burns in my jeans...depending on where those holes are . How big is Oswego? Thanks for the kind words about the blog. I've been wondering about giving too much detail.

Whitefish! Seriously, any fresh water fish would be great. Perch, smelt, walleye. Anything. This has been a delightful blog and I'm glad that I've caught up in the past couple of days. And I miss the great assortment of good smoked fish you have available. Be thankful for what you have up there -- every area has its own strengths and weaknesses when it comes to food, and you've capitalized on your region's strengths. ← Thanks, Varmint! The smelt aren't running right now, but I bet I can find some other freshwater fish for tonight. Mm. Lake trout!

Good morning, all. It's the last day of my blog. Slightly overcast, and we'll soon see whether it feels more like fall or summer. I'm about to go out for a quick walk, and then to work. Are there any particular things you'd like to see me cook tonight, if there's time? I have in mind a short ice cream demo, which can otherwise be posted to the Ice Cream Cookoff thread. Aside from that, it depends on how late this blog stays open and what you might be interested in seeing.

How 'bout them hors duvers, ain't they neat? A little piece o' cheese, and a little piece o' meat! --Mason Williams, "Them Hors Duvers" We did a comparison of smoked fish tonight. By the time we were done, we had little interest in other dinner. There's a ton of fish left over. When are y'all coming up? As noted above, Russ Kendall's and Smokey Kendall's are not the same place. I picked up this lot at Russ K's. From left to right: whitefish, salmon, herring, cisco, trout, another whitefish. Another view: I got as close to the same thing as I could from Smokey Kendall. They didn't have herring. Set up on a platter, unfortunately already raided before the camera came out, we could make side-by-side comparisons. The herring is in the center, whitefish at the upper left rim, then cisco, trout, salmon. The two salmons were the most different: Smokey's, on the bottom, was harder and paler than Russ' red salmon. Smokey's salmon was drier and harder. Russ' trout may have been sweeter. They might be two different varieties of salmon, now that I think of it. In both cases, we found the whitefish and herring to be mild but a bit bony, the ciscos pretty fishy as well as bony, and the salmon and trout to be oiliest and most flavorful. Actually, we liked the trout best, with the salmon following. It's been a long time since I had smoked trout. Thanks, SnowAngel, for goading me into it. Northern Waters Smokehaus salmon is in a class by itself, since I bought it with a coating. I love that black pepper and coriander coating (you can get other coatings, or none at all). The black pepper heat pounces with the surprise factor of a healthy predator, just as you're commenting on how tasty and mild and juicy the salmon is. I use this salmon often in pasta dishes. I should have mentioned, too, that this place will vacuum pack and ship their stuff. I took a picture but seem not to have uploaded it. If someone asks, I'll post it. Otherwise, I'll assume it's not important. My husband, who normally doesn't like salmon, actually preferred the non-coated salmon to all the other fish except the trout. By the time we finished with all that tasting, we weren't up for much more dinner. Dinner was braised potatoes and carrots, tossed with dill. Leinenkugel's Honey Weiss beer to finish it off. Load the potatoes into a braiser (or sauce pan with a lid otherwise), add butter and a pinch of salt and a small amount of water. Simmer the potatoes about 20 minutes. Add the carrots and simmer on low heat a while longer, until everything is cooked. If the water was the right amount to begin with, it will have just about evaporated, leaving a nice buttery almost-crunchy texture to the potato skins. This was plenty, and it was good. Edited to add cooking time for potatoes.

I may have given the idea that I only shop in the offbeat or elite places, and that's where all the changes have happened. I'd like to correct that, if I did. Tonight on the way home from work I stopped at Super One to pick up a couple of things. It could have been Zup's, if I'd thought of it in time. As I looked around, I realized anew that the change in the mainstream supermarkets has been as staggering as anything else. Zup's in Silver Bay has expanded and grown; it's better now than the best Duluth store was 25 years ago. Meanwhile, the Duluth stores have expanded as well. I generally get produce from Cub because theirs is best. During the week I do the oops-I-still-need this shopping at Zup's or Super One. Zup's has a good meat department, in particular, and they too have smoked fish. Think about it. How long have you been able to see grocery store aisles and produce like these? If you live in a large city, you may take it for granted now. In northern Minnesota it's still too new. While I was in there I found a new fruit called a "Hedge Ball". Have you ever seen it? They carefully state that it's not to eat, but that it can be used to repel insects or rodents in your house. I wonder what would happen if a Siberian husky ate it? The claim is that the pioneers planted these around their lots (in a hedge), hence the name. Is this really an osage orange? Look at that skin pattern. It reminds me of brain coral.

I think it might indeed be a doll house effect. The newer resorts go quite the other way, toward the pampering luxury units. Funny, isn't it? I wish you'd been here for the smoked fish. Right now I feel I could ward off a squadron of mosquitoes, without benefit of DEET or wet burning wood.

Earlier I started talking about how things have changed in the last 25 years. Today I'm going to discuss it in the frame of the North Shore and Duluth, by way of leading you to a smoked fish tour. The North Shore of Lake Superior was not even passable by road, a century ago. People went to Grand Marais, some 90 miles upshore from Duluth, by boat or not at all. In the summer the mail came the same way. In the winter an Ojibwe man named John Beargrease ran the mail by dog team, and every winter there's a commemorative sled dog race along the same route. Fast forward a few decades, and there was a road that ran inland but generally not along the shore. That road is now county road, not state, and not considered very scenic. It's a wonderful back-route detour to avoid the tourist traffic, if you know it. By the time I got here, the highway ran right up the shore, but it was twisty and rather narrow, and a couple of bad patches netted overanxious truckers every winter. As transportation has gotten better and tourism has increased, the road has been steadily improved. I'm not always sure it's an improvement, really: the better the road, the faster people travel it. The highway folks would know whether the accident rate has gone down. I don't. I do know the traffic's heavier and faster, although usually not when I'm driving the road. Tourism has also meant an increase in building, and a tendency to go more upscale in the resorts. Certain areas like Castle Danger have always had tourist resorts. Some have been sacrificed to the grader to make way for newer, larger, fancier resorts and condos. Some have managed to stay the same. Some have adapted in their own way. Cases in point, all within a half mile of each other: The Gooseberry Park Cabins have been around as long as I can remember. Although they've gotten a face lift sometime in the past decade, I believe they're the same size they always were. By the way, that's Lake Superior in the background. This picture doesn't show it clearly, but the Wisconsin shoreline, at least 20 miles away, was clearly visible yesterday. A similar set of cabins, with a quirky little statue out front, was demolished just up the highway maybe 10 years ago, to make way for the Grand Superior Lodge and Conference Center. Note how much bigger everything is? They have condos for sale or rent, hotel rooms for rent with a couple of conference rooms, and a smashingly good restaurant and bar. I have to admit, I like the restaurant, and the conference facilities have come in handy. Still, it represented a major change to the area. You'll find things like medallions of venison in a port wine sauce, or pecan-crusted walleye, or some other interesting twist on local food. Just across the road from the Gooseberry Cabins, and perhaps still owned by the same people, is the Rustic Inn. The Rustic has done a fine job of adapting and expanding, and as far as I know they do a booming business. Their meals have always been good when I've gone, but to the best of my knowledge it's still basic down-home cooking, done beautifully. I could be wrong, it's a while since I ate there except for their pies. Now, here's how they adapted: see the two end buildings, one saying "Pies" and the other saying "Gift Shop"? They used to be joined by a much smaller, shorter segment. I think that segment held the actual restaurant, but my memory may be wrong. When the business had to be relocated to make way for the highway expansion, they moved those two segments and joined them with a significantly larger, nicer restaurant. It's lovely inside: hardwood floors, comfortable seating, and... ...the best pies on the North Shore, perhaps in the state. Don't let anyone kid you about this: the Rustic Inn's pies are far better than Betty's. They regularly make apple and chocolate pies, that I can recall. The chocolate pie crust is flaky and delicate, just spiced with cinnamon. When the season is right, you can get tart sweet strawberry rhubarb pie, or blueberry pie, or mixed berry pies. Fresh produce at its finest. I thought about stopping to buy some pie, but right now I'm overwhelmed with smoked fish. Take my word for it. Stop in some time and try it for yourself. Castle Danger, where these photos were taken and where I lived for a time, is about 9 miles up the shore from Two Harbors. Roughly the same distance downshore from Two Harbors is the fishing community of Knife River. There are at least 3 smoked fish operations there as well as a small diner. I went first to Russ Kendall's Smoked Fish, as it's the one I usually think of when I go to Knife River. SnowAngel, is this the one you mean? Inside and behind the counter is an amazing variety of fish, all smoked on the premises and most from Lake Superior: trout, cisco, herring, whitefish, 2 kinds of salmon, and smoked shrimp. No, the salmon and shrimp aren't local. You can't see it in the photo, but the young woman holding a whitefish for inspection was wearing a tee-shirt that said "Fish aren't for farming. Eat wild fish." The sketch was of a fish riding a tractor traveling down neat rows of fish tails coming up from the ground. I came away with whitefish, cisco, herring, and a bit of salmon. I'll show you my take later and describe the differences. Here are salmon, cisco and herring, so you can see relative sizes. We had a lovely chat, the energetic young woman and I, and during the course of the conversation I learned that Smokey Kendall is not Russ Kendall, and that the place I know as "Betty's Bar" also sells fish! I hadn't realized that before, although the sign out front clearly says so. I backtracked to Betty's. This place is the local watering hole, and every so often there's an old-timey music jam session. The other fun thing about Betty's is her Betty Boop fixation. If you look very closely, you'll see salmon, cisco, whitefish and trout on the counter in the lower left of the picture. I had to do a comparison, you see. These two places, which may or may not have been founded by brothers (depending on whose story is right) have both been in business for decades, are quite unchanged, and thriving. Now let's go down the shore to Duluth and Canal Park, to see some changes. I'm going to focus on my two favorite businesses in the Dewitt-Seitz building. You saw its exterior some time ago. First stop: Northern Waters Smokehaus. They've been in business about 5 years, and they represent the beautiful side of change: more choice than ever before. Check out these meats! I didn't get the andouille sausage in there, but to my tastes it's pretty good. It probably isn't hot enough for true Southerners, but it has a nice texture and spice. (Up here, many natives think that ketchup is 'hot'. That's changing too, but allowances must still be made.) There's a fine selection of artisan cheeses, both domestic and imported. You can try nearly anything. You aren't obligated to buy. I was looking for Bravo Farms cheddar, and they were out, but I came away with some Beaufort cheese and (what else?) smoked salmon. Oh yes, I was nearly forgetting the fish! I was suprised to see that they did have smoked whitefish; it's never registered on me before. They are the only place I've seen with flavored coatings on their smoked salmon: dill, Cajun, black pepper and coriander. You can also get plain smoked fish. This shot shows multi-striped fish - the variety pack, so to speak - but filets with only one coating, or none at all, are also available. That's whitefish at the left. This place also has a deli section with excellent sandwiches. I dithered over a gyros today but thought better of it and moved on. I have an unbelievable amount of stuff to try, at this point. The Blue Heron Trading Company just celebrated its 20th anniversary. They're the local gourmet food, kitchen gadget and cookware store. Cooking classes here fill up in a heartbeat - as in, the day the schedule arrives in the mailbox. There's an excellent selection of condiments, oils, sauces, olives, etc. as well as glassware, dishes, and fun textiles. A lot of my glassware has come from here, and this was one of the places we registered at for our wedding. If I want to try a tikka sauce and have no idea how it should taste, I have 2 choices: make it blind out of a cookbook, or buy a jar here and try it out. In the foreground, a small part of the selection; in the background: the class kitchen. In the background, you can see the original building vault - I assume this room was the accounting office originally, but I don't really know. A sketch of the original lift bridge is over the door. I've spent a lot of money on tablecloths and napkins here over the years. See what I mean about the selection? You would NOT have seen this 25 years ago. I bought a tube of tomato paste and let Jane get back to work. I forgot to buy saffron. Two other changes I can point out: (I don't remember sushi being in the Twin Ports area, ever, but now it's back.) ... and... ...don't get me wrong, the rise in tourism has also brought in a tide of chain restaurants, just like every other place. I've ignored them because I'm far more interested in the Vietnamese restaurant in the Dewitt-Seitz building (or the Lakewalk Cafe, for that matter), the new India Palace down the road, or the long-standing Wrazidlo's Meats that flourishes in its third generation. I'm sorry not to have pictures of these last three. You may have noticed, I don't eat out much - too much fun to cook, myself - so I can only show you what's there from the outside. As for Wrazidlo's, that's a definite oversight. It's my favorite butcher, and the folks there are terrific. They even have smoked salmon. Edited to correct a labeling error.

Here's a mystery weed for y'all: what is it? It really is a mystery to me, so unless someone else comes up with an answer, don't expect one here. Russ asked me whether it was "anything worth keeping" and I said no, to which he breathed a sigh of relief. Then I started looking at it more. It doesn't have much of an odor to me, and it has no more than a green taste, nothing recognizably herby. Flowers are pretty, though, aren't they? There's more growing in my unweeded garden, so losing this particular plant from the pavement won't hurt anything. Still...I could give Russ a start if someone on eGullet said "That's valuable! Don't pull it!" and told me what it is.

That's a nice idea! Thanks!

I'm having an afternoon snack of potica. You guys started it.

This looks so good! We like stuffed thighs but are not overly fond of pesto. I have used roasted red peppers and cheese among other things. Tying them is a bit of a pain at first but it is surprising how how quickly one gets the knack of it. Haven't tried dental floss though. ← What do you use to tie them? Heavy thread, as for a turkey, or something lighter? (I'm guessing not nylon!)

Thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying the tour. No, Ichi-Ban hasn't shown up yet. We spent a lot of time looking for him this morning. My old (over 17 years) cat, Tab Hunter, once spent 3 or 4 days gone, and I finally found him up a tree. I'm hoping that will happen this time too, and that Ichi-Ban hasn't become some coyote's meal. He can climb. This morning was the usual cup of coffee, then a prolonged woods trek, then a slight change to the pita sandwich: smoked turkey with avocado, and a plum on the side. So far that's been stretched out to cover lunch as well. I'll edit this to add photos after I get them uploaded. (It tasted better than it looks.) We also noted hairy woodpeckers, red finches, black-capped chickadees, and - a new one! - Gray Jays (a.k.a. Canadian Jays, a.k.a. Camp Robbers) at our feeders. Alas, none of the photos was worth uploading. Edited for photos and bird breakfast commentary.

Sorry, I don't know about that market in Cloquet. But now you know about the Makinen market. I don't think I've bothered with the Cup and Saucer, ever. If I'm eating out in Two Harbors, chances are I'll go to the Blackwoods Inn. It's part of a chain of 3 or 4 (Two Harbors, Duluth, Cloquet? and/or Proctor?) but it's still excellent food. For one-of-a-kind, go another 9 miles north to the Rustic Inn in Castle Danger, or for that matter the Grand Superior Lodge more or less across the way. Or stop shorter and go to the New Scenic Cafe on old highway 61, around French River. I didn't know that about the Coke cans. That's a good one. It doesn't look as though this blog will encompass a fly-in breakfast or lunch, but I may well work in another aerial photo or two. In the meantime, here's a bit of information. Have you ever wondered how one of these gets up on land, or back down again, without wheels? Here's how:

It took me a second take to read this right. I was wondering what a mumpkin (rhyme with pumpkin) was I'm thinking of getting A the Pimsleur Arabic (Eastern), I've heard very good things. How did you start learning Arabic? ← My husband dragged me along in the souks in preparation for a camping trip, with me being besieged by people shouting at me in every conceivable language. At every turn I'd try to say the equivalent of "don't want" or "no thanks" and by accident be saying "don't know" or "hello" instead. That's how I started. After that, I picked up a copy of Russell McGuirk's Colloquial Arabic of Egypt. It won't help with the alphabet or reading, but it started me off on the phrases. Russ tells about being at almost the same language skills as I was when he first lived in Egypt. One day he frantically jumped aboard the People's Ferry (across the Nile) as it was slipping away from the dock. He bonked somebody on the head with his tripod. As the victim turned angrily to Russ, Russ said, ever so politely and quickly, in his very best Arabic, "No thank you!"

I headed home tonight, camera in hand, taking photos to continue the discussion about changes along the North Shore. I bought smoked fish at two places. I learned a lot. I did not continue into Duluth for my final smoked fish because of the hour. I had things to taste and things to write. When I got home, I learned that Ichi-Ban, our beloved firstborn-of-the-litter not-quite-year-old cat, still hadn't come home from his overnight excursion. He's never been away this long. We spent the hours beating the woods, to no avail. The upshot is that dinner was a mere skeleton of what I'd planned, and there is no photo essay on changes to the North Shore. Tomorrow, I hope. In Egyptian parlance: bokra, mumpkin, insha-allah. Tomorrow, maybe, God willing. (SnowAngel, did you know that Russ Kendall and Smokey Kendall are not the same person? They don't even run the same business! They're rivals!) Dinner, such as it was, was pesto chicken. There were to be fabulous sides and salads and mint ice cream, all from the garden. Sorry. There was toast. The pesto is pesto - basil from my garden pots, walnuts from California via my freezer, olive oil and salt and grated parmesan from wherever. I assume you're familiar with this, but believe me, if you aren't, ask away! This recipe is an adaptation of one in Cooking Pleasures magazine, June/July 2003. I've made a few changes, but not enough to claim it and post it. Put the pesto into boneless chicken thighs. (The original recipe specified boneless skinless chicken breasts, with pockets slit in them for the pesto. I didn't have any, and I prefer thighs anyway.) Roll the thighs up and skewer them closed with toothpicks. Brown them in olive oil, making sure that they're cooked safely through. When the chicken is adequately cooked, remove it to a warming platter and put it in the oven. Deglaze the pan with cherry tomatoes cut in half (the largest of these were from our garden pot). So goes the recipe. I added some of the red wine I was drinking. Deglaze, cook down until there's a nice sauce with tomatoes. Pour those over the serving platter, and serve at once. Remember to warn your dinner guest(s) that there are toothpicks in the meal. I'm wondering about thread to tie the chicken rolls closed next time. Russ said I could just use dental floss; then he could eat and floss at the same time. Such a deal, eh? The wine in the photo and the sauce is a Dogajolo dry red table wine of Tuscany, 2004. It's mostly sangiovese. Pretty good with the chicken. Russ is drinking MGD light. The chicken is drop-dead simple and drop-dead good. I recommend this treatment.