Shrimp Tacos, Grilled Asparagus and Black Beans with Bacon

 Quarantine supper tonite...  Live from NYC...

Sunday...  our day to visit Mom...  the weather cooperated nicely...  high 70’s...  partly cloudy...  a bit humid...  but nice enough for Mom to have her best friend over in the early afternoon for a visit...   they sat out on the balcony and chatted in the warm sun and delightful breeze.  By the time we arrived in the mid afternoon she was in good spirits.  We were thrilled to find out she has been having friends up to her apartment...  sitting out on the balcony with her sliding glass doors open several times this past week and has plans to visit with a few more this coming week.  

Although the ladies can’t yet play bridge, they can come together one on one and catch up.  It’s been a long lonely spring and summer and with NYC covid stats remaining under 1% for the past couple of months Mom is slowly rebuilding her social network.  We are so pleased to see her reaching out and having fun again.

By the time we headed home it was nearing supper time...  we called our son and Andrea to see if they wanted to join us for dinner out.  Instead they invited us to join them for shrimp tacos at their place.   Delicious flavors of lime...  sour cream...  garlic...  and scallions made a fabulous salsa verde mixed into a red cabbage slaw and spooned over the top of our tacos of grilled shrimp...  slaw... queso fresco... and lime...  the flavor combination was intoxicating...  or was it the delightful wine...  who knows???  Grilled asparagus and savory black beans simmered with bacon (OMG - double yum) as sides made the meal a huuuuge hit!  Who knew that dinner would be so fabulous...  two talented chefs!!  One proud Mama!!

Our friends on the west coast are in dire straights tonite...  we hope that Monday’s forecasted rain is enough to stop the spread of the wildfires and give firefighters the help they so desperately need...   sending light and love to all in harms way 💞😷

How was your day?   What’s on your plate?  Thoughts?

Empañadas, Pork Chops, Applesauce and Shishito Peppers

 Quarantine activities tonite...   Live from NYC...

Family...  food...  and a well controlled fire...  on our deck tonight feeling the first stirrings of Autumn...  temperatures dropped into the lower 60’s as the sun set...  the chill palpable giving us a reason to don long pants, socks, shoes and sweatshirts for the first time in over four months.  

Danicha  and Eduardo brought delicious empañadas which we gobbled up hot and savory with just the right poke of heat.  Grilled pork chops with ginger and za-tar was the perfect foil for the homemade applesauce and apple crisp made last night from my 20 pound apple score at the market.  Roasted cauliflower and grilled shishito peppers along with a lovely Pinot Noir rounded out the meal.  

The sun fell and the temperature plummeted...  we lit a fire in the hubs new fire pit and enjoyed the crackling flames as we chatted and laughed regaling one another with hilarious stories of verbal blunders while trying to spit out words.  

Today after digging toad stools from the lawn the hubs needs to put his shovel away in the garage...  as I came into the kitchen off the deck I said... “ I’ll open the garage so you can put your squirrel away”...  laughing I said...  “What just came out of my mouth?”  The hubs shrugged, chuckled and said... “Okay, I’ll go put my squirrel away now”...   brain spasms for sure.

How was your day?   What on your plate?   Thoughts?

One Hundred Eighty Nine Days

 One hundred eighty nine days since the quarantine began...

One hundred eighty nine days since I hugged my Mom...

One hundred eighty nine days watching... waiting...  

hoping the virus would ease...  

One hundred eighty nine days not seeing most of our friends... 

One hundred eighty nine days of astonishment at the incredible loss of humanity...  917,000 dead worldwide... over 190,000 here in America...

One hundred eighty nine days that didn’t have to happen... 

VOTE!

Apple Crisp

 It’s finished!   The Apple Crisp ( Ina Garten’s recipe is almost the exact same ingredients as NYTimes Mark Bittman’s Apple Crisp) delicious... smells like heaven 🍏 🍎 

My own tweaks... for the crisp...

Topping: 

1 cup rolled old fashioned oats

1 cup flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

Pinch salt

3/4 stick butter 1/2” cubed cold

2-3 tbsp ice water 

Place oats, flour, sugar and salt in food processor...  pulse a few times till well mixed.   Drop in cold cubed butter and pulse about 10 times till butter is pea size.  With processor running drizzle in ice water till topping clumps. 

Do the apples first while the oven preheats...

For the apples... into a large mixing bowl... 

Peeled and cubed 9 various apples (at least 4 Granny Smith)

Cinnamon, allspice and ginger sprinkled over the apples liberally

Toss with hands... pile into baking dish...

Cover the fruit as much as possible with the crisp topping to protect the fruit...  bake at 350°F until apples are bubbling and topping is browned and crisp...  took about 45 minutes for this huuuge one...  normally takes less time... maybe 30 minutes or so... cover with loose foil if getting too dry or browning too fast... I did for the last 15 minutes...  still very crispy

Grilled Kielbasa with Pickled Onions, Roasted Fennel & Tomatoes, Fresh Greenhouse Tomatoes & Basil and warm Cornbread

 Quarantine supper tonite...   Live from NYC...

Today was errand day...  running here, there and everywhere... trying to get it all done before the weekend...  bank, post office and finally the market...

It’s almost autumn here in the Big Ripe Apple and that means APPLES...  

Fall in NYC is awash with all varieties of crisp apples from the tart Granny Smith to the sweet Honey Crisp and everything in between.  Score at the market today...  5 pound bags of damaged and bruised apples for $1.99...  how could anyone resist?  So, of course, I bought 20 pounds of apples...  eeeek...  as I sit here typing there is a big 8 quart pot of applesauce puck puck pucking away on the stove as well as a huuuuge apple crisp baking in the oven  (Thanks Ina Garten ❤️)  It’s divine...  the smell of fall wafting across my nose as the applesauce caramelizes and the crisp bubbles.  

The weather was bright cheerful and chilly today under blue skies after a deluge last night that brought more than 3 inches of rain to the metropolitan area...  I wish I could send it west over to Colorado, California and Oregon where the world is burning 🥵 and people are terrified...  

Simple supper tonite of grilled kielbasa, pickled onions, homemade pickles, roasted fennel and tomatoes, fresh greenhouse tomatoes with basil, cheddar jack, and warm cornbread...  

What is it about cooking at 2 am?  It’s quiet... no one is up...  just me and my kitchen quietly creative in the stillness...  

How was your day?   What’s on your plate?   Thoughts?

Tex Mex Chicken and Zucchini

 Quarantine supper tonite... Live from NYC...

Today’s harvest...  eggplant...  heirloom tomatoes...  a gift of a humongous zucchini from our neighbor with scratches and tiny bite marks from the squirrel who tried to eat this massive prize...  still edible after cutting away the nibbled parts and giving it a thorough washing...  It became the centerpiece of supper...  Tex Mex Chicken and Zucchini...  delicious and only used half of the giant!   I see zucchini fritters in our future...

Can’t stop thinking about all the folks in danger from the fires in the west...  Colorado...   California...  Oregon...  so many more...  frightening...  seeing the results of climate change and fearing for those who may lose their lives...  their homes...  everything...

Part of our family in California... many friends there and in Oregon...  more in Colorado...  kids...  grands...  friends...  watching the news is overwhelming...  seeing the burned out towns... the devastation...  amidst all of this Covid lurks behind the scenes...  sneaking its grasp down people’s throats as they choke in orange skies...

Meanwhile here in the Big Wet Apple the skies opened this evening after supper and the rains poured down in earnest drenching the streets until rivulets filled the gutters and splashed into the storm sewers...  the pitter patter on the windows turning into a steady drumbeat as the deluge continued.  

How was your day?   What’s on your plate?   Thoughts?

Farro, Red Beans, Great Northern Beans, Thyme and Homemade Chicken stock

 Quarantine supper tonite...  Live from NYC...

Feeling the humidity today...  the air moist and warm...  a southerly breeze barely moving the mosquitos as they nip my calves... 💥smack💥 a little blood oozes out of the tiny hole that pregnant female just bit in my leg as she drinks her last drop (did you know that only pregnant female mosquitos bite?  They need our blood to reproduce...  ick)

The muggy weather is increasing the mosquito population by 200% in the garden and greenhouse...  but I persevere through the nips... smacking them as I go...  they seem to love my lower legs...  but I love my tomatoes and cucumbers more...  watering, feeding and caring for the plants...  no longer just babies...  admiring their growth...  a bumblebee has discovered the greenhouse and has been busy pollinating...  I am thrilled...  the greenhouse is my happy place 😄 

Tonite’s supper was another attempt at a meatless meal.  Farro, red beans, & great northern beans simmered in homemade chicken stock, thyme and wine.  The hubs had his steak last night and reluctantly agreed that tonite was my turn to have a supper I love...  it turned out delicious...  the hubs eating two bowls of beans and farro and nodding in agreement that the flavors were very good.   Needless to say I was pleased...  

NYC will be reopening restaurants at 25% capacity at the end of the month.  Although I am glad for the local restaurants... they desperately need the business...  I am concerned for our covid stats...  other states that reopened saw surges in their cases just weeks after reopening.   I am hoping that NYC does not duplicate those results...  finger crossed 🤞 

Keeping abreast of the Cameron Peak fire in Colorado and the multitude of fires in the west is saddening.   Our friends in Colorado saw snow these past two days but are unsure if this will help contain the blaze in the longer run...  we are very concerned...  meanwhile California & Oregon are burning...  fire  is terrifying...  hoping for a change in the weather pattern and rain for all concerned 💞😷

How was your day?   What’s on your plate?   Thoughts?