Category: Food

Tomato bounty, 2018

Every year I plant tomatoes and just when they’re starting to ripen we start to have frost. You’d think I’d learn. I harvest what I can, bring it in, and ripen it in the window. Not that I needed reminding, but DH noted we had a lot of tomatoes we needed to use. I mumbled something about making tomato sauce.

DH said, “Tomato pie!”
Tomato pie?? Though neither of us had heard of it, I found a bunch of recipes online. Since I had a ready made pie crust I decided to give it a try. The result is above. Tomatoes, fresh basil, green onions…topped with a mixture of cheese and mayonnaise. I’m up for the occasional kitchen adventure.

This is the recipe I used. Would I do it again? Probably not this way. I like mayonnaise, in its place. Like on a sandwich or mixed with tuna. Across the top of a pie? Even with cheese, not so much.

Cake talk

I was at our local Costco recently. I obviously wasn’t very focused because I found myself looking at a rack of sheet cakes waiting to be picked up. Happy Anniversary. Happy Birthday. Really. Sometimes I think I’ll read anything.

My radar must have been working because I came across a cake with this written on it: “Thanks for not firing us…yet.” There’s a story there.

Saved by Rob

DH started working on his $400 “it’s in good shape” project boat this summer. This is the boat he bought so he could go crab fishing, the one easily worth much more, good and solid.

He tolerates my gotta-have-its. When it comes to his boats, I try not to tell him “I told you so.”

After a full summer’s hard work and gallons of epoxy he got the boat finished last weekend, about a week after the end of crabbing season. A neighbor took pity on him in August and invited him along on his boat. We had a couple of outstanding crab dinners from the trip. Thank you, Rob.

Summer menu

I showed you salad envy the other day. I can make up for it any day when I put together a meal like this with salad caprese in the starring role. Fresh sliced mozzarella cheese, ripe summer tomatoes, fresh basil, and a drizzle of olive oil. It’s summer on a fork and one of my favorites. For good measure we also had corn on the cob from Sunny Farms. It’s really so sweet who needs dessert?

Summer cheer

Most summer flowers seem pretty cheerful. But I think if they were ranked sunflowers would probably top the list.

And the only thing more cheerful than a sunflower is an entire field of them. I’ve been patiently watching these come into bloom for about a month.

They’re at a small farm on Sequim-Dungeness Road that sells eggs and a variety of vegetables. They were out of eggs but I picked up some exquisitely fresh beets. And I’ll bet it won’t be long before they’re selling bunches of sunflowers.

Summer lunch

Summer offers a very sweet benefit: lunch outside. Under the grape arbor at Alder Wood Bistro is a perfect place to enjoy a warm day, good meal, and great friends.

The one problem is when someone else orders what I should have and didn’t. Salad envy.

The only consolation in a case like this is to order the Bistro’s signature “Chocolate Bliss” for desert. It will obliterate any second guessing about a perfect meal.