Pierogi

Today's bi-weekly haul: 3 beets 2 turnips 1 bunch collards 3 summer squash (2 long skinny green ones I'm unfamiliar with, and one small yellow crookneck) bunch of lemon verbena bunch of mint 7 nectarines 2 big beefsteak tomatoes 5 medium tomatoes 41 cherry tomatoes 1 large, and 4 small eggplants (aaaacccckkkk...see HERE for my plea for help !) Other than the dreaded eggplants, a great haul !

I knew this day was coming. For 10 months, since I joined my CSA last September, and made the sincere Vow To The Food Gods that I would "Always Use Everything in My Share, Each Time, Without Letting it Slime and Throwing it Away", I KNEW, eventually I'd have to face my worst fears. And I've been absolutely dreading it. EGGPLANT. Aaacckk, as "Cathy" used to say, or "Arrrggghhh" as Charlie Brown used to say. I honestly have to admit, I've never had an eggplant dish I can tolerate, let alone say I like. I've tried ratatouille (great without eggplant). I've tried moussaka (love it with zucchini instead of eggplant). I've tried baba ganoush (I guess no alternative to that). I've tried eggplant parmigiana (spent a lot of time pushing the food around my plate). I've tried it fried, roasted, grilled, you name it. I've tried the traditional European eggplants, I've tried the small globe eggplants, I've tried Japanese and Asian eggplants. All I can say is.....blech. I don't (or at least haven't to this point) like eggplant. And in my CSA share today, I got FIVE OF 'EM ! Now, they're mostly real small (one small Japanese cultivar, one small globe, a couple of very small ones of the Euorpean variety and one big guy), but all together it's about 2 pounds of (shudder) eggplants. Make me love these things please ! Or at least tolerate 'em enough to work through this glut, and not just watch them decompose in my veggie drawer. One of my friends says to peel it, and then just use the slices of flesh, that it's the skin that's the nastiest. What say all y'all about that idea? TIA !!!

A lottery *section*. Oh my word. I've never seen anything like that. Never. Not even close... Wow. Just.....wow. That takes the cake.

Certainly when it's steamy I don't want to eat hot things, or heavy things, even if I'm not cooking them, and I'm eating in an air-conditioned environment. I want salads, and light pasta entrees, and maybe grilled proteins of some sort, with a lot of veggies on the side, and little starch other than breads. For desserts, I want fresh fruit with maybe some lightly whipped cream, or sour cream/creme fraiche mixed with brown sugar. I do NOT want braises, potatoes, stews, roasts, cakes, baked pastas or the ilk. Those are for cooler weather. So, I still want to eat, but not heavy things. If I have to cook, it'll likely be the easiest, lightest, coolest, most un-cooked things I can find.

*ALWAYS* the mark of a successful evening !!!

*I* vote for something you've never cooked before !

SOOOOOOOOOOOOO true ! And what so many people don't realize. When I was working at any one of my many soul-sucking, pour-all-my-being-into-the-work-for-little-reward jobs (which I *thought* was building my career...but that's a digression) and being too drained and burnt to cook at night, I never realized how much money I was spending "popping into TJ's for one of their prepared meals for lunch or dinner (or both)" or "swinging by Pavilions on the way home for something for dinner" or "running over to Del Taco/Carl's Jr./Taco Bell for lunch". Or how many empty CALORIES I was ingesting. Until I stopped and forced myself to cook something each night (no matter how simple) and take leftovers for lunch. Suddenly I had walkin' around money I didn't before, and I dropped 10 pounds without even trying. It was amazing.

JERRY !!! I loved your intro, and this is going to be one very cool blog, I can tell already. I also *heart* your philosophy above ! So cool. Just what a blog should be. Loved the critters (you know they're close to *my* heart) and the story about how you & your wife met and made a life. I've always liked your perspective on topics, so I'm buckling in for a good week. OH ! And belated Happy Birthday from one July baby to another. Mine's Monday ! (Oh again...I love ellipses too. I think I need a 12-step program....) Blog on, then, and show us the Great Heartland.

I'd be interested in this as well. I tried (for the first time) a couple of weeks back, using the step by step tutorial in a recent edition of "Fine Cooking" written by Joanne Chang (of "Flour Bakery" in Boston, plus she's worked at Payard Patisserie ...). To say they were a monumental failure is like saying that maybe the Titanic had a bad design. Of course, I tried to do them on a July day when it was over 80° in my kitchen before 9:00 a.m., and I was also making bread and a full dinner for guests. But still, they weren't even close. But I am *determined* to master them !

Kim, I am in serious envy of that glassware. Just stunning ! The silverplate pieces are very cool, too, but nowhere close to that glassware.

Oh YAY ! Your wonderful food AND your adorable children. There was one shot of the 2 of them in your last blog that is still seared into my memory as one of the best pictures I've ever seen, anywhere, let alone on a foodie forum. This is gunna be great !

I've had 2 melons so far, both West Coast. One a cantaloupe and one a "Canary" and they were both superb. Two of the best melons I've had in manys a year. Flavorful, juicy and fragrent. Everything you want in a melon. SoCal strawberries have been meh. I got one good batch, the rest have been very cottony and disappointing. I haven't bought as many as usual, because when I give them the *SNIFFFFF* test, they don't smell like strawberries, so I skip on by. But then, I also haven't sought them out anywhere but the MegaMarts. I did get some great local blackberries about a month ago. They were amazing. Firm, juicy and very flavorful. I didn't discard one berry out of the tray. I haven't yet seen blueberries at a price I want to pay. I got 2 white nectarines and 2 peaches a couple of weeks ago, they were local, and they were great. Especially considering they're early ones. I'm on the hunt for more of both. Cherries have been hit & miss. The first batch of Bings I got, about 4 weeks ago, I cordialed in vodka and corn syrup. They won't be ready until November or so. I did eat a few of the leftovers, and they were....ok. I got a small batch of Raniers a couple of weeks ago, and they were good, better than OK, but not stellar, but the price was right. I just bought some more Bings (from Washington state), they look nice, we'll see how they taste. Early figs are VERY tasty...and I was quite surprised to see them in early July. Usually they don't start cropping up until August. But these have been nice and sweet, albeit a bit firm, and I've certainly been enjoying them. Also local, label says "California". I can't add to the watermelon quality comments, because in general, I don't "do" watermelons...even the "personal" size ones are too much watermelon for me, and I just don't love watermelon all that much. I'd rather have the other melons, honeydew, casaba, canary, cantaloupe, Galia, those guys.

Heidi, we are on the same vibe for sure ! That was precisely what I did with the "baby" beets. I peeled them, and grated them. Added in just a hint of a very small, thinly sliced red onion, and dressed with orange juice, lemon juice and some olive oil. And some mint. I didn't eat too much of it tonight, (I did have some of those beautiful tomatoes, and one from my own plant, with some basil & reduced balsamic syrup I made earlier in the week), but I know it will keep fine. Good call on the collards. If this %*_#@ humidity breaks like it's supposed to, might be time to pull some gumbo from the freezer. The thyme, I agree, is a stumper. I think of that in braises and stews, and I sure won't be doing much of that anytime soon. But the rest of the share couldn't have pleased me more.

Just picked up my share. Love, love love Summer produce. 1 HUGE bunch collard greens 1 small (Kirby) cuke 1 regular cuke small head cabbage 2 baby onions, with greens a large of thyme a large bunch of mint 1 zucchini 1 small yellow squash 1 patty pan squash 7 beets (1 "normal sized, 6 babies) 4 medium tomatoes 16 cherry tomatoes Plus I added on half-dozen free range eggs and a 6 ounce jar of local sage blossom honey. Coastal SoCal is just now getting warm enough for the stone fruits to start going crazy. I parked next to a fig tree that's just loaded...another month or so, and those figs will be stunning.

I/we never used to. Then, about 5 or so years ago, on the various TeeeVeee cooking shows (including Marfa), I started seeing all the hosts advocate doing so to "protect your plumbing". In this day and age, when so much of our discharge plumbing is PVC, instead of the olden days cast-iron, it makes a certain level of sense to me. Although in theory, I agree with dcarch about the utility of a good boiling water purge every so often, I'd also really rather avoid weakening any soft spots or joints that might be getting a little tired. So now, I routinely do. I either use a footed colander, or balance the strainer between the hump in the middle and the edge, and run a stream of cold tap water while I'm pouring out the hot stuff. I have to say, I have noticed less of a blast back of steam since I've been doing this.

Several of the cookbooks I inherited from Mom (her 1950's edition of Fannie Farmer and the revered Polish book) are held together with duct tape.

Based in large part upon this comment, I bought the book, and eagerly looked in the index to find the gumbo. But there must be a half-dozen recipes for "gumbo." Which one did you make? 'Twas "Drew's Chicken and Smoked Sausage Gumbo" and it was goooooood. About time for me to pull a container from the freezer and revisit the deliciousness.

But they aren't scaled down. I would love a pastry recipe for one serving, but what she gives is a big recipe (2 cups of flour and 14 tablespoons of butter) and then tells you to freeze the extra. She doesn't even give a yield -- even something like "divide the dough into x portions" would have been helpful. To be honest, I hadn't attempted the pie crust recipe, I noticed it on my way to the cheese souffle and flagged it mentally for another time, so I didn't read it carefully. However, we're going to have to agree to disagree about the bread, as well as about the rest of the book. 2 small baguettes, or a baguette and a pizza crust is a perfect size yield for me.

A veritable Mexican feast. In addition to what's on the plate, we had cilantro slaw as a salad. Carnitas, simmered in orange juice and water, then a splash of brandy added and crisped in fat. Served in homemade corn tortillas with homemade tomato, onion and serrano and avocado/tomatillo salsas. Homemade frijoles and red rice. It was really, really good !

Sadly, the sucky aphidy/gnatty things got the early bloomer/setter of the two plants that I started. It was a "Better Boy", a cultivar I've had loads of success with previously. Not to happen this year..... The plant is essentially dead, and after getting 3 tomatoes to ripen on the vines, I cut off all the rest (it had set about 2 dozen fruit before it got bled dry), and will be having lots of fried green tomatoes in the foreseeable future. The three I got, one was meh, hadn't gotten to that drop-dead ripe stage yet, and the other two had been "nibbled" by something with a sharp, pointy mouth. Haven't determined if it was avian or rodent, but it's NOT insect, and the damage is limited. One I had in an open face tomato/mayo sandwich on a baguette I made, and it was damn fine, after the critter damage had been excised. The other will probably meet the same fate tomorrow. The other plant, a "Beefmaster" beefsteak is still blooming and setting fruit, and some are moving toward ripening. It too seems to have been invaded by the sucky aphidy/gnatty things, but I think I caught it in enough time to save it. There's another 3 or so dozen fruit set on it, and hopefully I can nurse it along enough to get them to ripen. My roses sucked this year too, and I think the cool spring weather had a lot to do with it. That and the sucky aphidy/gnatty things.... Thankfully the CSA promises a ton of 'maters soon.

I got this for Christmas about 2 years ago (already had Joyce Goldstein's "Solo Suppers"). I like both of them, very much, and use them both for inspiration. But have to say, and maybe I'm a fuddy-duddy (or just like the "classic approach".... ), I actually *cook* much more from Jones' book. As a matter of fact, I made her cheese souffle for one for dinner on Sunday. Her preserved lemon recipe was the first one I ever tried, and her pear crisp (often subbed with apples, plums, whatever fruit I have) is a regular dessert. I also love her "Asian Accented Chicken Salad". Really tasty, and gave good leftovers for lunch when I was working, if I made slightly larger proportions. I have used some of her "large protein redux" suggestions several times, though by no means all of them, and, although they aren't ground-breaking, the ones I tried are solid. I also like that Jones' book has bread and pie crust dough recipes that are scaled down. Goldstein's book seems a bit more...I dunno...."restauranty" to me. Not that *that's* a bad thing. But its a bit more futzy, with a few more ingredients I might have to search out. Not spur-of-the-moment, out of the pantry cooking so much. There was a thread back when the book came out that talked about it, and JAZ had the same concerns then. I was a bit worried, since I'd just gotten it, and thought I'd be bummed by it. But I haven't been. I think its like 99.999999% of the other cookbooks. You have to be savvy, and pick and choose what sounds good to you, and what you think will work. For me, its a solid book. EDIT---fix some tpyos and some blah-blah-blahness

I had to laugh at the preview of the next episode when rocco tells one of the contestants "you have the nerve to cook meatballs for me?" Rocco's "famous" meatballs were the signature dish of a restaurant that managed to stay open less than a year and had a tremendous amount of advertising behind it. I don't think that's a very glowing endorsement for rocco's "famous" meatballs. (snippie) PLUS, it was his MOTHER'S recipe and SHE was in the kitchen making them ! Total fail, Rocco. Total...

Far, far, FAR worse. "The Restaurant" at least had the (admittedly probably faux) drama of the meltdown between Rocco & Jefferey Chodorow, his alleged "backer". So you got the tsuris of that, which was really kind of fun to watch, in a true train wreck kind of way. Sort of like lookie-looing when you drive by a really bad wreck on the freeway. "Dinner Party" is just all Rocco's ego and douche-dom, all the time. It truly could make me appreciate Guy Fieri.

As a fellow Polska, isn't "Delicious (if extremely filling)" the very definition of Polish food?? Those pierogies look SWOON-worthy. They really look nice and light (ok, if you can ever use "light" to describe Polish food) and almost homemade. Certainly closer to mine than any type of "commercial" product I've seen anywhere. And the potato pancakes with applesauce would make Gramma proud, as would the golabkis. Although I serve mine with egg noodles, not potatoes. Better to sop up the buttery, sour creamy, tomatoey sauce, ya know. Not to mention the calories and cholesterol..... But there are those long, hard Polish winters to consider.... Nice trip to Chi-town. It's where I was born, and though I don't get back often (and *certainly* don't miss the weather), there's still a part of me that yearns for it.

I'm in the camp of "do it regularly when out of town, never when I'm on my home turf". When I traveled, it was my time to eat really, really well and treat myself. Plus explore the cuisine of the city I was visiting, and I had a LOT of incredible meals. Never an even semi-bad experience, and I never, ever took reading material. I was there for the ambiance, and the service and the atmosphere and all that. I remember once, in Alexandria, VA when I was on a trip to DC, I got off the Metro after site-seeing on the Mall all day in 100-plus degree, 80% humidity weather. I was wearing shorts, sandals and a sleeveless, button-front, collared denim shirt. I got caught in an HORRIFIC thunderstorm on the walk back from the Metro to my hotel, and ducked into what looked to be a fairly elegant restaurant on the main drag of old Alexandria. I was starving, and the menu looked good, but I was afraid I surely wasn't dressed appropriately for a "white linen tablecloth" place. I spoke to the hostess, and asked if I could wait out the storm at the bar. She said absolutely, but she had tables available, would I like to dine? I said I didn't think I was dressed for the place...I looked like a drowned rat and the very picture of La Tourista. She said, essentially, "nonsense" and seated me at one of the best tables in the restaurant, the service was superb, the martinis properly dry and tasty, and the soft shell crab probably the best I've ever eaten. It was a delightful meal where I got to watch the action in the restaurant, the increasingly dramatic weather outside, and enjoy some fabulous food. Yes........I tipped VERY well. Including some for the hostess. It was one of the best meals, for me, ever. And it seems, upon reflection, that I've had a similar experience in every city I've traveled to alone. You walk in with confidence, and with an air that you appreciate and respect what they have to offer, and if its a good establishment, they respond. If I won the Lotto tomorrow, I'd book the first flight to New York, and book a solo reservation at Le Bernadin and enjoy the hell out of it. Why I don't dine out alone at home is a quandry I've thought about a lot. And I really should just get over myself and do it, because, well, I just should