pedie

I would think not. First of all the flavors are very different...the amaretti are almond and they sweeten and compliment the flavor of the squash. The Anisette cookies are anise flavor and are much harsher in flavor. Also the textures of the two cookies are quite different and would affect the feel of the puree. Just my opinion. If you try it, let us know how it comes out.

That cookie recipe looks great...it is going on the Christmas Cookie list. Also, I am sure they would freeze well to be used in future Squash ravioli recipes!

We spent the weekend putting in the winter garden: Fava beans in two areas to improve the soil and plus...I love favas...with a little chianti! Snap peas and snow peas, chinese cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli, some lettuces, and GARLIC! I also sowed some arugula seed in an area where it can just go wild. I am fighting the birds for my seeds. I actually saw them trying to dig up the peas I planted. The squirrels have also been very aggressive this year...getting my heirloom tomatoes because I left them on the vine for "just one more day!"

I am coming into the forum late and your yen for squash ravioli has probably come and gone. My recipe came from the Veneto region of Italy and is also used as a filling for the large tortelli that they make there. It makes enough filling for 2 eggs pasta. 2 cups butternut squash, roasted and pureed, 6 amaretti cookies, crushed, 1/2 cup paremsan cheese, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, pinch salt, plain breadcrumbs. Mix squash, crushed cookies, salt, nutmeg, cheese until well blended. It will seem a little wet. Then add plain breadcrumbs until it feels drier and holds together. Served with butter and sage. I have also used Kabocha squash and it worked fine.

We have two black plastic compost bins that we purchased at a great price through the city, after attending a compost class. One. bin 1, is a closed compost bin where we have put a good amount of brown and green and just water it and turn and let it decompose. The other, Bin 2, is the active compost bin where we continue to add new ingredients. After we take the compost out of Bin 1 and put it into the garden, we will make it the active compost bin and consider Bin 2 closed until it is ready to go into the garden. When we started composting I was compulsive about what went into the compost. I have relaxed a bit now and anything that is not meat, fish, or dairy goes into it. I put the lint from my clothes drier, the shredded paper from our document shredder, coffee grounds and brown, coffee filters, crushed up egg shells, all vegetable scraps and fruit peels, trimmings from our plants, old stale dry cereal, stale bread. My only requirement not is that it be cut as small as possible. I do not put in large branches nor hard twigs. I also do not put in weeks or diseased plants. If I put in fruit scraps, I bury them in the compost to reduce fruit flies that will settle if the scraps are left on the top. and then...water and turn, water and turn. I wish I had leaves like Darienne. I have heard that leaf mold is wonderful. Just fill a plastic trash bag with the leaves, water it well and then let it sit on the ground. Turn the bag over periodically and the leaves inside will turn into leaf mold...a wonderful amendment for soil. I plant to put some bags in my car and if I drive by a neighborhood with lots of leaves in the gutter, you will see me stuffing them in my bag! :-) Now there are also advocates of "golden water" added to your decomposing compost but I have not yet reached that level of commitment.

We live in Southern California, near the beach, and have very sandy soil. We finished our summer garden and are doing three things this year to help the soil. First of all in one area we are planting some crimson clover as a cover crop. In another area we are planting fava beans. They do well here...we LOVE to cook them...and they are good for adding nitrogen to the soil. And in a third small area we are going to try some sheet mulching as described in Gaia's Garden Permaculture book. Most of the online explanations of sheet mulching make it seem like a huge project, but we are doing a small area, using lots of old newspapers as well as organic materials and we will see how it goes. You know what we are told..."You feed the soil and the soil will feed you!"

I read it when it first came out and at first I thought it would be too predictable but it really drew me in. As I read I began to find myself reading slower and savoring the words. This author writes so beautifully. Yes, she awakens your senses but she also invites you to pay attention...to life around you, to what you touch, to scents, to sights. The basic story is about a restaurant owner, Lillian, who offers cooking lessons on the Monday evenings when her restaurant is closed. Chapters focus on the 8 diverse students, who they were entering the class and how the class changes their lives. The story lines of the students are familiar and develop predictably but what is so engaging is her prose as she conveys their stories. I love to cook and I anticipated recipes for the dishes the class prepares. But there are no recipes. The students learn to "pay attention" to the ingredients as they create their dishes. It made me want to run into the kitchen and start cooking!!

Well, I went to Bristol Farms to get some to try before the ad ran out tonight. They were all out of Keta but were honoring the ad by substituting wild caught Alaskan Coho salmon for the same price. So I bought the Coho and will have to wait to try Keta. I prepared it simply by roasting in the oven with a coating of Creme fraiche and a sprinkling of lemon zest and some chopped fresh thyme and rosemary. Yummy!

The local Bristol Farms is featuring Yukon Keta Salmon on special for $6.99 a pound. I am not familiar with this type of salmon. Can anyone tell me how it compares to the such varieties as sockeye or coho? When I googled it, it says it also called dog salmon or chum salmon.

I have ordered from Seeds from Italy a number of times. It is owned by Bill McKay who is very responsive to any questions or emails...answers within minutes! They are actually based in Mass. and import their seed packets. Many are from Franchi which we have seen sold in Italy.

I purchase seeds from Bountiful Gardens. Bountiful Gardens Bountiful Gardens is John Jeavons' organization that sells untreated open-pollinated seed of heirloom quality for vegetables, herbs, flowers, grains, green manures, compost and carbon crops. You may be interested to know that Bountiful Gardens is a non-profit organization and a project of Ecology Action which does garden research and publishes many books, information sheets, and research papers, some in other languages. Ecology Action operates a research mini-farm in Willits, CA and promotes the GROW BIOINTENSIVE method of food production which teaches people in 130 countries around the world to grow food and build soil with less work, water, and energy by natural methods. I like thinking that the proceeds go toward helping others become more sustainable. Patricia Edie

I read this book a few months ago. The beauty of this book snuck up on me. At first I found it slow and predictable, but as I read I began to find myself reading slower and savoring the words. I was delighted in a way that there were no recipes, but reading about the various dishes prepared and how the students of her cooking classes learn to "pay attention" to the ingredients as they create their dishes made me want to run into the kitchen and start pulling out ingredients. I think the book invites transformation, from the most essential ingredients in your food to the most essential ingredients in your life.

Absolutely! I plant mine in early September...I try to time it so they miss the Santa Ana winds that can make the climate too hot for them. They are tall and have flowers by January and are ready for harvest by March. They are great for replenishing the soil with nitrogen. Remember that once they are starting to throw flower to pinch off the tips to stimulate the bean growth and deter the nasty bug that loves the tender fava tips. Here they are in January: Here are the flowers: Here is one harvest: Here was a huge bean! I have prepared fava beans in many ways but one of my favorite is a pureed soup with yogurt and sage.

My favorite salad these days has been a golden beet salad with shaved red onion and fennel bulb in a light vinegarette dressing. Golden beets are still at our Farmer's market and they are wonderful. I just steam them in their skins, then peel them and slice about 1/4 inch thick. Very nice at room temp for a picnic.

For the first time this year we also planted a "topsy-turvy" hanging tomato. It is self watering with a wick running from the water container at the top, into the bag holding the potting soil. It seems to be working well. After three days, all the leaves of the plants had turned upward and were reaching for the sky and today we noticed the first small tomato. We puchased a bush style determinant tomato for this. We have also been told that bush type determinants or cherry tomatoes do best in containers because of the issue of supporting heavy vining varieties. As to the hole in the bottom of the container. We have an old piece of screening that we cut up to fit over the hole. It keeps the soil in while allowing easy drainage. Living in Southern California we have a wonderful growing season. We have already been harvesting bush and runner beans and zucchini. For the first time this year i am actually tracking my yield. We share our excess with a local community garden that gives their produce to a Food Pantry.

I am happy to report that I contacted the restaurant and they were most gracious with their process for their wonderful pie. Here is what they said: "for the crust we use equal amount of organic dried coconut, organic macadamia nuts (finely chopped or run them through the processor) and organic dates (put them in the processor with nuts and coconut). You can experiment with different nuts if macadamias get too expensive. Then press the crust. Filling - when you blend the strawberries, don't blend them too long, sweeten them with organic maple syrup (or agave nectar, but maple syrup works better for us) and add little bit of agar agar to set the pie. Agar agar is made of sea weed and comes in small granules that you dissolve in the pan with a bit of water and then pour it to the strawberries, mix well but gently, and let it set in the crust." So those of you who suggested agar agar were on the mark! I am definitely going to work with this because the pie was most unique. For anyone in the south bay area of Los Angeles, the restaurant is The Green Temple, 1700 S Catalina Ave # 103, Redondo Beach, CA 90277. do consider visiting them. Patricia

Well, I will ask the restaurant next time I go there if they will share their recipe. I did make the pie and it was "close." I tried crushing the strawberries and then preparing with cornstarch, sugar etc. but it just didn't firm up the way I wanted so I ended up reheating the filling and adding some gelatin and it was quite nice. Vegetarian wasn't the issue for me. I just wanted a particular texture. As for the crust, I really liked it as a complement to the strawberry filling. I used a 7 oz bag of sweetened flake coconut and finely chopped almonds. I lightly toasted both items. Then I mixed them with about 1/4 cup of flour then drizzled in melted butter (about 1/4 cup) (like you would for a graham cracker crust). Tossed it all together and moistened it a little with about 3 T. of coconut milk I had left over from a curry soup. Then I pressed it all into a 9 inch springpan and baked it in the oven for about 15 minutes. It was very good...natural tasting, not too sweet since I added no sugar to the already sweetened coconut. It had a chewy texture which complemented the soft pie filling. Next time I do it, I might pulse the toasted coconut and nuts in the food processor to break it down a bit and see how that works. I personally do not like graham cracker crusts and am always looking for alternative crusts.

Rancho Gordo Beans cause a stir here. Article in the NYTimes NY Times

Yesterday I had a delicious piece of strawberry pie at a vegetarian restaurant. the crust was made with coconut and finely chopped nuts. The fresh strawberries were crushed and in a solid type filling. It did not taste like gelatin. I made the crust and it seems fine. I am trying to figure out how to attempt the filling. Has anyone prepared such a pie. When you put your fork into it to take a bite, the filling was solid and held together, but all you really could taste was the delicious strawberry flavor...so fresh and natural. I am considering just trying to gently cook the strawberries with some sugar and cornstarch. But I am wondering if I should incorporate some unflavored gelatin in it. any ideas?

Thanks, LindsayAnn, for the topic. I am a TJ regular. I enjoy the selections they offer and I become frustrated when a favorite item is discontinued. I purchase many staples from TJs, like the Milton's Bread (great price savings) and the TJ partially baked Filone bread (delicious sliced and fried in olive oil). Also,their jar of capers...I prefer the larger buds they offer. I like the King Arthur Unbleached flour. I see that their whole wheat flour no longer is King Arthur, but is now a TJ brand. I usually buy my dairy products from them. Good prices on butter. I also buy their eggs...used to buy the jumbo, but recently I have been buying the organic eggs. A discontinued item that I was so sorry to see leave was their dry mix spelt soup. I used it for a base for many dishes using farro. Fortunately I stocked up on it quite a bit, but even that stash is coming to an end. For a quick and tasty vegetable, I like their frozen broccoli and water chestnuts with the packet of ginger sauce. I enjoy the Mochi ice cream...yummy...for a quick and easy sweet at the end of a meal. They used to carry a Ginger Ice Cream that I loved, but it has disappeared. :-(

I was very pleased to read the NYTimes article about the White House Garden. I think it sends a good message in keeping with her current comments about eating more nutritious foods. I have had a summer vegetable garden for many years. But this is the first year that I took advantage of living in Southern California to plant year round and we are still enjoying winter peas, kale, rapini, and a variety of lettuces. Also, this year we altered the frontyard our house...it was a slope and we had it terraced and we have put in edible landscaping. Yes, Michael Pollan has been an influence. Also classes we have taken on the topics of Nutrition (thank you Marion Nestle) and Peak Oil (how dependent our industrial agricultural processes are on fossil fuels). Funny how it turns out that what is best for me (whole natural food) is also best for the environment and the world in general. Of course I probably wouldn't engage in the activity if I didn't derive so much pleasure for picking the food I am going to eat for dinner. :-)

I suspected that Fabio might be going home after seeing an article in our local newspaper, the Daily Breeze (covers the South Bay of Los Angeles), written by food editor, Natalie Haughton. Title: "Rising to the Top: Chef Viviani brings love of Italian food to Americans." It isn't posted on their website yet, so I could not include the link. I covers Fabio, his restaurant, his background and his experience on Top chef, but states that the winner will be announced next week and that Fabio is prohibited by contract from discussing the specifics of any sho not already aired. But it was a bit suspicious that they chose this Wednesday to run the article. Yes, I believe in conspiracy theories! :-) I was sorry to see him leave and thought that Stephan should have been handed his knives.

I followed this thread and we just returned from a week with San Luis Obispo as our base. Here were our experiences: Dinner at Big Sky was very good. I had the special Goat Cheese Lasagna which was not at all heavy with a delicate pasta. He had the Lamb shank. Well prepared and nice portion. Lunch at Firestone Grill, crowded with lunch crowd but the tri-tip and the sausage sandwiches were very tasty and tender. Lunch at Pete's Pierside was fun. We liked the fish toaco, fish sandwich and the cup of chowder. Good value. Dinner at Splash in SLO. I don't know if this is any different from the Pismo Beach Splash, but we weren't that impressed with the chowder...overly thick for our palate. Italian sandwiches from Muzio's Market were very good and enjoyed as a picnic at Montana de Oro bluffs. Dinner at Corner View Restaurant in SLO. We had the Restaurant month fixe-prix dinner. Selected fish entrees that were well prepared. Creme Brulee was brutal...torched top was almost black and tasted burned...so much so that the custard had warmed to soup. Dinner at Mama's Meatball in SLO, okay but nothing memorable. Dinner at McClintoch's SLO was good and fun. These are steaks for the college crowd but they were tasty, prepared nicely and good value. We would go back. Dinner at Bon Temps SLO was a disaster. Food very greasy, batter on popcorn shrimp over done, my husband was ill all night from his Jambalaya. Beware.... Also of interest to foodies: We had two delightful visits at the Cal Poly Organic Farm (open to the public). Cindy, the General Manager and Jerry, the Production manager could not have been friendlier. Nathan, the main gardener, answered our copious questions. It was great to talk with the student workers, wander through the garden and see how they run their CSA program that funds their effort. Enjoyed brief visits at Mt. Olive Farm toward Paso Robles and a Lavendar Farm as well. Beautiful country..and the wineries!!!! :-)

This time of year is so exciting because we can dream and design the spring Garden. This year I am determined to do the grunt work up front so I am not disappointed in mid-summer. That means work the soil. Usually, I am so eager to get the plants in the ground that I don't do all I should with the soil. I have tried to layer over grass but what grows in Southern California could survive a nuclear blast. So I am going to do the digging and then spend time putting in the compost and using the mulch. The adage is...feed the soil and the soil will feed the plants and the plants will feed you. It is all starting with the soil. Our soil is very sandy (we are practically on a sand dune) but last year in one bed where I really prepared the soil I planted 7 tomato plants. Those were the happiest tomatoes and I picked over 1000, yes 1,000, tomatoes. My neighbors loved me. And that was not counting the cherry tomatoes. So, good soil does make a difference. This year something else will go in that spot since I know I have to rotate crops and not plant them in the same place this year. So I may put the beans there and they can help replenish the soil with nitrogen. My typical summer garden consists of tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, scallions, peppers and one eggplant. Since I live in a temperate climate, right now I have a winter garden that is producing lots of greens: swisschard, kale, lettuce, beets, rapini. Makes wonderful soups.

If you look at the leaves, you can see that I did have cabbage worms, but I was diligent about them and would go out with a hard stream of water and hit under the leaves almost daily. One head I bought into the kitchen and was washing it under the faucet and this very plump happy worm poked his head out. Yes, I squealed. Fortunately, he didn't eat much! :-) Also, this is the first year that I had these particular vegetables so I think that the area where they grew did not have pests or tendencies from a previous year's crops. I am still learning about crop rotation so I don't know where I will plant them next year. the other thing I learned is that you have to pick them early because they can go past their prime and begin to look like they are going to seed very quickly. That happened to a couple of heads.