Cassie Turned 20!

I no longer have a teen-ager! Cassie is now 20 years old. In one sense, it’s hard for me to believe, but really, it’s hard to remember a time when she wasn’t in my life. Being a young mom also means that in many ways, I grew up with my daughter.

For the first time ever, I didn’t host a birthday party in our home. Cassie invited me to a cook-out she was having at school. Unfortunately we had a surprise rainy day and she wasn’t able to have an outdoor party. So for the first time in I don’t know how many years, I went to a dorm party (on Hoyt 4th no less).

The gathering was actually quite lovely. The room is so much more spacious than last year and we had room to spread out. We arrived around 5:00. My mom, Katie, Chris and I were welcomed sweetly by Cassie and her friends. We had pizza from Romanelli’s and cake from Cold Stone Creamery. Around 9:00 we headed home after a very pleasant evening.

Since originally it was going to be a cook-out, I had prepared some salads:

Mexican Pasta Salad:
Cooked and chilled Penne Pasta tossed with:
Grated cheddar
Cherry Tomatoes
Diced Jalapeño
Black Beans
Olive Oil, Lime Juice, Chili Spice Mix
Served with salsa (I chose Newman’s Own tequila lime salsa)



Spinach Strawberry Salad (slightly out of season, but this was at Cassie’s request)
Baby Spinach
Quartered Strawberries

Sliced Almonds

Sliced Red Onion

Dill, Mango Chili Vinegar (from Trader Joe’s), Canola Oil, Maple Syrup

Is food still considered local if you have to drive 200 miles to bring it home?

We had a great weekend in Ithaca and did a significant amount of food shopping at the Farmer’s Market and the GreenStar co-op. Much of tonight’s dinner was made with ingredients local to Ithaca. Did you know the Ithaca Farmers Market is a "Zero Waste Zone?" Everything is compostable. Some of the other ingredients tonight were from the Hoboken Farmer’s Market (basil, eggplant, sweet potato).

Southwestern Corn and Potato Chowder (adapted from the Moosewood LF cookbook)
Sauté Onion and Garlic
Add crushed cumin
Diced Jalepeno (I remove the seeds)
Diced Purple Pepper
After about 10 minutes, stir in chopped sweet potato
Add Vegetable Broth (I threw the veggie trimmings including potato peel into the pressure cooker to make broth)
Cook for 10 minutes until veggies are tender
Add fresh Corn (if it’s really tender, cook for only a minute or two more)
Puree half the soup
Add Cilantro and serve

Tomato Galette – I found the most beautiful and delicious organic sunset colored heirloom tomato at the farmer’s market. It was perfect for this dish. Is it weird to be passionate about tomatoes? This is the first summer I really appreciated them.
Thaw a sheet of puff pastry (available at Shoprite)
Spread ricotta cheese in circular area of the pastry (I used the homemade ricotta that I had made before)
Lay out Basil leaves to cover the cheese
Arrange tomato slices to cover the basil
Fold excess pastry over to cover edges of tomato slices
Sprinkle with salt and freshly ground pepper
Bake for about 35 minutes

Green Salad
Beautiful tender lettuce
Lovely heirloom cherry tomatoes - different shapes, sizes and colors
Shaved raw sheep’s milk cheese
Adapted Moosewood house dressing: local small farm organic milk curdled with lemon juice, canola oil, basil, salt, pepper, local maple syrup, garlic

Eggplant (Chris made this)
Pan fry the eggplant in olive oil
Put it in the baking pan with garlic, canned tomatoes, salt, pepper, dried oregano.
Top it with homemade ricotta and sliced mozzarella (from the bodega)
Bake for 45 minutes

I had a bottle of Ithaca brewed beer with my meal.

Some of the other local foods I bought in Ithaca were: maple sugar, molasses, yogurt, tofu, swiss chard, plums and apples.

Farmer's Market Dinner

From June-October, my everyday meals are so much better than in the winter, thanks to the Hoboken Farmer's Market. I went yesterday, and dropped $21 in less than 5 minutes (I was parked illegally and had to rush through the first two booths and get back to my car). This is what I made for tonight's dinner:

Corn on the Cob (steamed just enough to be hot but not "cooked")

Cherry Tomatoes - halved and marinated with a dressing of farmer's market basil and (nonF.M.) garlic, evoo, and lemon juice).

Yukon Gold Potato, Leek and Fennel soup (I made the stock from the trimmings off the veggies, garlic, fennel seed, peppercorn and salt). This was super easy. . . . saute sliced leeks and fennel, add sliced potatoes and vegetable broth. Cook until tender and puree in blender (I love my immersion blender for this)

Ricotta Cheese Bread okay, this was not from the farmer's market (except for the basil) but it was homemade from scratch and so yummy. I made the ricotta myself for the first time which I am quite excited about. I made the bread in the bread machine with flour, yeast, salt, fresh basil, fresh garlic, and fresh homemade ricotta.

My plan is to make another tomato galette with the ricotta, remaining basil and nj field tomatoes in puff pastry.

I also got peppers and eggplant (perhaps ratatouille (sp) or rolatini (sp?)) and a sweet potato (Moosewood LF sweet potato and black bean burrito)

Thank you, Hoboken Farmer's Market!

Labor Day Weekend BBQ

My siblings and I were invited to my dad's place in the Poconos for a cook-out this weekend. His home has become a wonderful place of retreat and relaxation for Chris and me. We've been up there a number of times this summer. Even though the cook-out was planned for Sunday, Chris, Cassie, Margee Liz and I went out on Saturday. I quickly discovered (was reminded) that there is no rest or relaxation when you are responsible for a three-year-old. That being said, we still did have a lovely time.

On Saturday, we took Margee Liz to a little farm/petting zoo. She got to feed the pigs with a baby bottle and she loved seeing the monkeys and goats. It is always sad to me to see animals confined in what is so obviously not their natural environment. They seemed to be treated well, however, and their cages were clean. One of the monkeys actually seemed to turn the tables as he would jump up when you weren't expecting it just so he could see you jump.

We had dinner at Top of the World, a restaurant on top of a mountain in my dad's community. There were not a lot of vegetarian options and since I'm trying not to eat fish out very much, I got the pasta primavera. Then, because I couldn't resist, I ordered it with cream sauce. It was a wise choice.

My sister came up late Saturday night and on Sunday morning, we all met my dad's friend, Sharon at the Garlic Festival. It was nowhere near as creative as the festival we attended in Saugerties a few years ago, but we enjoyed the different vendors and the samples that they offered. We watched an hour long cooking demonstration, and my sister was sold on a set of high quality (ie very expensive) cookware. She has since decided she needs to do some more research on the product and is trying to cancel her order. Margee Liz loved getting her face painted and there was a fun play area for her to use up her seemingly endless energy.

We went back to my dad's and got ready for the cook-out. Margee Liz took a three hour nap. I had some wonderful (From Thursday's farmers market) yellow cherry tomatoes, an orange bell pepper, a purple bell pepper and fresh basil that I tossed in a bowl with white beans, olive oil and lemon juice. I also made a tomato galette (sp?) using puff pastry spread with fresh ricotta and basil, topped with beautiful red field tomatoes. TJ didn't want to eat the tomatoes but we convinced her they were no ordinary supermarket tomatoes. Sharon made a salad with cherry tomatoes and olives and my favorite bottled dressing, Trader Joe's cilantro garlic. My dad bought some grass fed beef from a (somewhat local) farm called Hendricks. I tasted it and it was truly delicious.

Ben and Brenda had brought some dates stuffed with blue cheese, sliced fresh figs, asiago cheese and this really awesome spinach dip. I love having family who work at Whole Foods Market. They also brought a cake for dessert. Our wine was from Oregon . . .my dad had brought it back from his visit in Eugene with his brother. So really, almost our entire meal was bought locally.

It was nice to be all together and spend some time with the new twins. I also really like Sharon and it was fun to have her involved in our crazy family. More than anything, I am happy to see my dad experiencing joy. He's had a hard few years and it's great to see him enjoying his retirement.