What Did You Eat?

WCB: The Way We Were....

My tomatoes for this year are growing well, but it's all rather bittersweet.  Each day, when I go out to the garden, I remember how Upsie would sit on the raised box next to the tomatoes, guarding them from tomato worms.  How I miss my beautiful girl! 

Weekend Cat Blogging is being hosted this week by Megan and the Bad Kitty Cats.  Mind Of Mog is hosting The Bad Kitty Cats Festival Of Chaos, our buddies Kashim and Othello are hosting The Carnival of Cats, and last but not least,  The Friday Ark is at The Modulator

PPN: Confetti Couscous, With Dried Cherries And Pistachios

Thanks to everyone for motivating me to stop complaining about the cherry harvest.  Your enthusiasm made me realize that this was a gift to be enjoyed.  I saw how inferior the cherries in the grocery store looked, compared to mine.  So, after giving away nearly 30 pounds to neighbors, I got busy drying, freezing, and cooking the rest. 

Years ago, back when I made my own yogurt and granola, my mother gave me a dehydrator to dry food.  A lot of dried bananas, pineapple, and apples were produced with that machine, but eventually I packed it away, where it sat on a shelf in the garage for years, lonely and unappreciated.  My husband once told me to throw it away, but I couldn't do that.  So, I was very happy to haul it down from the shelf and dry some of the cherries.  Naturally, I thought of my mother.  I wish she was still alive to see the cherries and eat this dish.  It tasted much better than I expected. The sweet cherries, crunchy pistachios, soft couscous, seasoned with mint and basil, created a most enjoyable meal.

Daring Bakers: Opera Cake

This Month's Hosts:   Ivonne, Lis, Fran, and Shea 

Another Daring Baker Challenge, and it introduced me to a famous cake I never knew existed!  The Opera Cake was first introduced to the world in 1903 and has been quite popular since then.  But, I've never heard of it until now.  Maybe our noble founders of Daring Bakers, Ivonne of CreamPuffs In Venice, and Lis of La Mia Cucina, assisted by Fran at Apples Peaches Pumpkin Pie and Shea at Whiskful, knew there were people like me, and wanted to enlighten us.  Well, I'm very happy that they chose this recipe. I admit that my first glance at the recipe made me groan. It was so long and I immediately thought...too complicated. Then I remembered that a long recipe can actually be easy to make, because everything is spelled out clearly. And so it was.  I made this cake over a period of several days and easily assembled it on Mother's Day, for a party I attended.

This lovely recipe is dedicated to Barbara of Winos And Foodies, the driving force behind LiveStrong Day.  If you haven't already done so, stop by her blog and see beautiful, funny, and inspiring photos and stories.

Cherries, Cherries, Cherries: Cherry Syrup

Project Cherry, Day 2.   I made cherry syrup, which used almost five pounds of fruit.  It also meant I used the dreaded cherry pitter again.  But, it was worth the effort when the syrup was made and bottled. I love the sight of cherry, pomegranate, or raspberry syrup drizzled over ice cream, pancakes, or Greek yogurt.  Food should please the eye, as well as the taste buds, and a ribbon of bright red syrup usually makes a dish taste better.  But, not if it's one of those fruit syrups from the grocery store that contain little fruit, but lots of sugar and artificial flavorings.  This syrup may seem too high in sugar, but it's much less than many commercial brands.  Since this is a syrup, it contains as much sugar as fruit, which produces a good texture.  Some of the sugar could be reduced, if you don't mind a thin syrup that runs all over the plate.  I don't mind the sugar, as I generally only use a tablespoon of it at a serving.

Cherries, Cherries, Cherries

How did you spend your Memorial Day Holiday?  I've spent mine trying to deal with the best sweet cherry harvest ever.  For reasons I can't fathom, my dwarf cherry tree produces almost nothing one year, then huge amounts of fruit the following year.   But, I've never seen anything like this year's bounty.  At first it was thrilling to stand under the branches, yanking the cherries off, popping them in my mouth, and spitting the seeds out on the ground.  It's the best way to eat them, in my opinion.  But, eventually it was time to start some serious harvesting, or all that fruit would shrivel up on the branches.  So, I've spent the last three days picking cherries, with help from Bob. 

WCB: Major Cuteness Alert

I learned a new word: disgruntled.  That's what I'm feeling lately.  I used to be the cutest thing in the house, but now my status is threatened by a squirrel. Mom got her from a nice young couple a few days ago, and all she does is coo at it and let it sleep in her shirt pocket.  Ugh.

What's the big deal?  Yeah, it's tiny, and doesn't have its eyes open yet.  But, it can't do anything but drink milk. 

Weekend Cat Blogging is being hosted this week by Kate and the beautiful Puddy at A Byootaful Life, (They're having double birthdays there).  Bad boys Othello and Kashim, at The Cat Boys Relm, are hosting The Bad Kitty Cats Festival Of Chaos, and The Friday Ark is, as always, at The Modulator. 

Finally, very sad news. The beautiful Bonnie Underfoot, Attack Tabby has passed away, leaving her loving family.  Poor Victor has lost his good buddy. We will all miss you Bonnie.

PPN: Alphabet Soup

I ate a lot of Campbell's soup when I was a kid.  My favorites were chicken noodle, tomato, and alphabet soup, which I ate on a weekly basis.  My mother once bought Heinz because it was on sale, and I immediately knew it wasn't Campbell's, as soon as I tasted it.  Gradually, I started eating more adventurous fare (at least I thought so at the time), like Knorr and Progresso.  But, I still have a soft spot in my heart for alphabet soup.  When I was at the grocery store, I saw a package of alphabet pasta and decided to make my own version, modeled after Campbell's.  It wasn't hard.  Tomato based broth, chopped vegetables, and pasta.  And I made sure the broth didn't have mystery floaty things in it, like onions or tomato pulp.  I don't object to that now, but hated it when I was a kid.  I enjoyed the soup I made, and thought it wasn't nearly as sweet as Campbell's, which makes me wonder if they're putting sugar into theirs.

This is my submission to Presto Pasta Night, which was started by the wonderful Ruth at Once Upon A Feast. Each Friday Ruth has a recap of wonderful pasta recipes from bloggers from all over the world.  So, do stop by and check it out.

Nigella's Liptauer Cheese

As I was eating slices of the Poilane-Style Miche, it occurred to me that liptauer cheese might taste pretty good slathered on it.  Liptauer is a rich, creamy concoction, spiked with chopped cornichons, caraway seeds, and paprika.  It really comes to life eaten along with a good bottle of cold beer.   I've wanted to try Nigella Lawson's version for some time, so I whipped up a batch from Nigella Cooks.  It was very tasty, although I might add just a smidge more sweet pickles to the mix the next time I make it.

Bread Baking Babes: Poilane-Style Miche

Several months ago I finally bought the Bread Baker's Apprentice by Peter Reinhart.  To my delight, every recipe begs to be made, but none more than the enormous loaf that graces the cover of the book, a Poilane-Style Miche.  When my turn came to host a bread for the Bread Baking Babes, I immediately chose it. Then, as I read the recipe, I wondered what I had gotten myself into?  The recipe is huge and detailed. As well, it requires making your own wild starter.  No convenient packages of yeast from the grocery store need apply. This is the way people made bread through out history, by capturing wild yeast, indigenous to their own area, into their own unique self-made starter.  Nursed along, fed, and cherished, many of those starters became family heirlooms and were passed down through generations of bakers who created bread for their families. So, here's your chance to gift your son or daughter with the family sourdough starter at their high school graduation, rather than some mundane choice like a new car.

I was faced with creating my own wild yeast starter.  I would need to make something called a seed culture to go into something else called a barm.  And there was that recipe to wade through!  I was a bit overwhelmed.  I'd never made my own wild yeast starter.  To my relief, it was all quite simple and easy to make. It's broken down into steps, that are done over time.  You make the seed culture, which takes minimal effort over 4 days. Then the seed culture goes into the barm, which again requires little effort. (OK, there's also a thing called a firm starter, but I don't want to scare people off.) Finally, you use the barm to make the bread, which is a standard, flour, water, knead, proof, and bake kind of affair.  The result is a magnificent loaf of whole wheat bread, with a thick, chewy crust and mild sourdough tang.  The bread was not only delicious, it was very filling. While I can inhale a whole loaf of ciabatta, this bread is so substantial, it satisfied me readily.  And it was easy to make, (but I think I said that already). 

WCB: Hot!

Things haven't been happy around here.  Mom has a big frown on her face because we're having a "heat wave".  It was 101 degrees today, and she keeps saying it isn't even (expletive deleted) summer yet . Well, I really don't know what she's talking about, except she's grumpy and worried about her baby snap beans.  Again, don't know what the heck that is, since they're outside and I never get to go there!

She brought Skidget the squirrel inside because it was hot and needed to be cool. And she put that thing in MY cat carrier!  Now it has squirrel cooties.

Weekend Cat Blogging is being hosted this weekend by Chey's Place.  The Bad Kitty Cat's Festival Of Chaos is at Bad Kitty Cats Journal, The Cat Carnival is at Artsy-Catsy, and last but not least, The Friday Ark is at Modulator.   Have a great weekend everybody!