Blueberry Peach Crostata, Rustic Yumminess

So, it's Father's Day.  I have to be honest and fess-up. I have an issue with Father's Day.  It's sort of bittersweet in the truest sense of the word.   I feel a bit guilty on this day.  I've always wanted to recognize Paul, and give him his "due respect" for being the father of our two children, but it has always been overshadowed with the sadness of losing my own father on this very day.  This is the 25th anniversary of my dad's passing.  Somehow this year I feel different.  Maybe it's because my mom is with him after all these years.  He is not alone anymore.  I am grateful for the time I had with my dad, and I am happy that he at least had a few short years to experience  "grandpahood".  He was such a proud grandpa!

So this year is Paul's year.  Not once did I say,"You're not my father" like I usually say.  Instead I said, "it's your day!"  Paul chose the day's activities...or lack of activities.  He chose his father's day feast menu and of course chose dessert.  I did not allow him free reign mind you, I supplied him with a list of options.  Later in the week I'll tell you about the spicy shrimp on the barbie.  Now is the time to talk dessert.  I gave Paul the option of a fruit tart or a rustic crostata.   Not ever having a crostata before, his interest was piqued.
A crostata is like a freeform pie.  You have a lot of freedom to choose fillings and spices, easy to customize to any taste.  I chose to make blueberry-peach crostata, spiced with cinnamon, ginger and a hint of nutmeg.  A blueberry inspiration after a trip to the farmer's market this morning.

A food processor makes the whole process a breeze.  You can mix the dough for the crust ahead of time, the crumb topping too.  Just roll it out and add the fruit filling shortly before dinner and your crostata will be perfect for dessert.  The crust is a basic butter pastry.  I like Ina Garten's pastry from her apple crostata.  You can use any butter pastry you like if you have a favorite.  Adjust the fruit and spice to your liking.

Strawberry Jam... Forever

Strawberry season is in full swing on Long Island.  Last week when the gang was here, we went picking.  I'm not sure if the harsh winter took its toll on the strawberry plants, or the heavy rain and extreme heat this spring was just too much, but the berries just didn't pack the same punch as they had  in  previous years.  Nevertheless, we picked.  We picked about 10 quarts in all and needless to say, we ate a lot of strawberries.  I wanted to make a small batch of jam, but we were just too busy, and it got so darn hot, and quite frankly, the berries weren't that great.  I felt sort of bad...I've always made jam after a day of picking.

My picking team:  Mike, Melissa, Matt, Lauren and Paul in the back row

Lauren, the Strawberry Princess

So now it's a week later.  The Sunday morning Rockville Centre Farmer's Market opened last week and it was on my list of "things to do" this weekend.  Heaven knows I don't need any spring vegetables since I have a bounty of my own growing in my backyard.  I wanted to see Casey the fish man.  Yes, we have fish at our farmer's market...a benefit of living on an island.  I got in my car at 8:00AM and turned the radio on....Strawberry Fields Forever.....   Suddenly, I had jam on my mind (and the Beatles).  It's cool I thought, only 58 degrees.  Perfect weather for standing over a pot of boiling jam.   I thought of this photo that I love.  Melissa took it few weeks ago while riding her bike through Central Park in Strawberry Fields...

The song, the photograph, Sunday morning with the Beatles, cool weather....its a sign.   I must make some jam.  Although I didn't pick them, I found some beautiful, delicious berries.

Last year I made Strawberry Balsamic Jam, but Paul found it objectionable.  When he saw me taking out my canning gear...he pleaded  that I not add any "stuff" to the jam.  He's a purest at heart.  So, I made some plain, old fashioned jam.  Since the berries were ever so slightly under ripe and I was adding lemon,  I  did not use pectin.  I used a bit more sugar than usual because the berries were a bit tart. You can adjust sugar to taste.   It turned out great and just I hope I don't regret only making a small batch.  Please see my previous post to learn more about the ins and outs of canning.  Now a days I like to make jam in 1/2  pint jars.  When my kids were little and I made a lot of PB and J's, I used pint or even quart jars.  You can double the recipe, but you will need a HUGE pot.  You have to allow it to boil hard and believe me, you do not want this to boil over!  Once you've made this simple jam, I swear you will never buy strawberry jam in a grocery store again.

Welcome to My Garden...Lettuce Eat Some Salad

Welcome to my garden.  Let me introduce you.

 I should really start at the beginning.  Back in April I told Paul that the only thing I wanted for our 30th Wedding Anniversary was for him to build me a square foot garden.  I had been reading about square foot gardens all winter long and was thoroughly intrigued.  I've grown herbs the past few years and last year I grew some monster tomato plants, but I hadn't had a real honest to goodness vegetable garden for a long, long time.  Having quite a bit of shade in the yard, I wanted to start small with just one or two 4x4 frames.  Paul ended up building 3 frames and I have some large containers as well filled with the sacred "Mel's Mix".  So on April 10th, Paul created my square foot garden.

He also made a compost bin for me....what a guy!  He really knows the way to my heart!
I spent the next two weeks planning my garden on graph paper.  I planned cool weather crops, succession crops, I planned and I re-planned.  I bought enough seeds to plant a few acres.  In the end, I planted some seeds but I also had to resort to planting some purchased seedlings.  I planted lettuce, arugula, peas, spinach, radish, carrot and beet seeds directly in the soil on April 23.  On May 1st, I planted some cool weather seedlings...broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts.

I had some other more tender seedlings that I planted in pots and protected them in the garage a night.
The trusty old radio flyer came in handy to wheel the tender plants in and out of the garage.

On May 8th I planted my celery, peppers, eggplant, parsley, and oregano, sage and mint.  I planted my Sweet Millions Tomatoes in whiskey barrels.   I was able to winter over my rosemary and thyme.  Tarragon has been self-sowing the past 4 years and I think my chives have been growing for 20 years...which was when I had my last vegetable garden.  I also threw some cilantro and dill seeds into some pots to have a nice variety of herbs.

This is a picture taken on May 8th of one of my tomato plants....Wait until you see it on June 7th!!!

On May 15th the harvesting began.  I was so proud of my first radish.... I have not had store-bought lettuce since and we eat a salad almost every day.

And in just one week, the first flowers appeared on my tomato plants.  I'm thinking this Mel's Mix has magical powers!

Getting Back on Track...

Before I start rambling about my tofu, I have to tell you that I started this post a month ago.  I've started several posts, none of which I have been able to finish.  I knew I would get around to finishing them sooner or later, I just wasn't sure when.  I've been distracted.  My mother, whom I have written about many times in past posts, passed away on May 10th.  She lived a beautiful and full life for 92 years.  I watched over her for past 11 years and was with her at the end of her long struggle.  As sad as it was, it really was a blessing, a blessed passing, a friend of mine called it.  The past few years had been difficult, maybe more for me than for her, watching her fade away both mentally and physically.  Since her passing though, I've felt a little lost.  Such a strong presence in my life is gone and life as I've known it, will never be the same.  But my mom would not want me wallow in sadness.  She would be the first one to tell me to remember the good times.  There were many.  Life goes on and my mom will live in my heart forever.

Dorothy Lieske 1919-2011
Taken Christmas 2004, her last Christmas at home

Whew.....now how do I segue to tofu????

A Favorite Tofu Dish

Tofu wasn't one of those foods I knew growing up.  I believe my first tofu experience took place in California.  When I first moved to Santa Cruz, I stayed with a family who had a much bigger influence on me than I realized at the time.  Peggy was my friend's mom, and Roger was his step-dad.  They were a sweet couple, who enjoyed just being together. I often think back on their relationship.  They would have  picnics at the beach at sunset.  They drank champagne "just because".  They loved to plant flowers and would watch the hummingbirds feed on their deck for hours.  They would listen to classical music and eat breakfast in bed every Sunday morning.  They also spent quite a bit of time in the kitchen together.  Both Roger and Peggy were excellent cooks.  They would often cook together.  They found such joy in the kitchen, whether Peggy was making waffles on a Saturday morning or together they were making a half dozen quiches for a weekend workshop they were hosting.  Roger was more of the "mad scientist" in the kitchen, and Peggy was forever cleaning up after him.  They would experiment with new ingredients,  new  cookware and different cooking techniques.  They opened my eyes to a new culinary perspective.  I may not have jumped on the the bandwagon at the time, but I took note. I now see their culinary influence on my life almost everyday.
The first Christmas I spent in California, Christmas dinner was non-traditional to say the least.   Roger prepared an Asian feast, complete with a carved winter melon soup.  It was not like any Christmas dinner I had ever had.  Yes, I am a sucker for tradition, but I remember admiring his passion and abandon when he was cooking.  If I recall, Roger had a restaurateur friend in San Francisco who taught him about Chinese cooking.  On a busy week night, Roger would often whip up a platter of Tofu with Green Onions in Oyster Sauce.  It was quick.  It was easy.  It was nutritious.   It was a great dish that  became my "go to" dish during my vegetarian days.  I may have burned out on it back then and filed it away in the back of my mind.  I found myself thinking about it lately.  Unfortunately, I never wrote this recipe down.  I recall the basic flavors and have now added or subtracted (who knows) ingredients to create a reasonable facsimile of the original dish.  I've added snow peas which you can leave out if you so desire.  I like the contrasting crunch, without an overpowering additional flavor.  If you do not have a well seasoned wok, and I mean WELL seasoned, tofu is best cooked in a non stick wok or skillet.

Not Your Grandma's Cinnamon Buns

Let me start out by saying, Paul and I celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary this month.  For 30 years I've listened to Paul reminisce about his Grandma Mescher's cinnamon buns.  I'd venture to say that these "sacred" cinnamon buns have not touched his lips in over 45 years, yet their memory remains strong.  Years ago I asked my mother-in-law if she had the sacred recipe, but unfortunately, she did not.  Every cinnamon bun that crosses his path is held in comparison to the esteemed Grandma's Mescher's cinnamon buns.  For as long as I've known Paul, he has been on a quest to find the perfect cinnamon bun. He has never found one that measured up, but he has enjoyed the journey. I've made several attempts to satisfy Paul's memory for cinnamon buns, but they have been nothing more than a valiant effort.

The other day I was thumbing through some old issues of Fine Cooking magazine, when I stumbled upon a recipe for Fastest Cinnamon Buns.  I was intrigued.  The author claimed that these cinnamon buns can be whipped up in less than an hour.  Really?  Obviously if they were "fast" they could not be made with yeast.  I was anticipating they would be a biscuit in disguise.  Cinnamon buns usually require a huge commitment of time which is why I tend not to go there.  It really doesn't make sense to me to spend so much time making something that you really shouldn't be eating anyway.  I kind of have my own formula worked out in my head.  It's my "time commitment food value ratio, which I divided by my taste and appeal ratio".  Anyway, I'm also leery of recipes with the word fastest in the title.  Nevertheless I kept reading.  What really intrigued me was the presence of buttermilk and cottage cheese in the recipe.

Those two ingredients could potentially result in a light and moist cinnamon bun and not turn out like a biscuit.  It was worth a try.  Heck, it was just an hour's commitment.

It was true.  These buns can be whipped up in less than an hour.  It was amazing.  When Paul walked into the kitchen in the morning, his nose was desperately sniffing the air.  Poor thing, between his allergies and his broken nose, his olfactory senses are shot.  "I know you are baking something" he said, "but my nose isn't working."  As I cracked the oven door, a smile came over his face like a child on Christmas morning.

These buns did not disappoint.  They were fragrant, light, gooey, tender, moist, and most of all delicious.  When all was said and done, Paul was a happy camper.  A definite two thumbs up!  No, they were not his Grandma's cinnamon buns.  I've decided that those buns only live in his memory.  And I wonder, after all this time, does he really remember how they tasted?