What better gift at this time of year then a box full of fresh veggies from the garden. For the special birthday girl, I boxed up some beans, peppers, eggplant,onions, and a cuke. After closing the box I realized that I had forgotten the birthday tomatoes from our garden. Well at least this will give me a chance to try the new recipe for Green Tomato cake. Tanti auguri!
What do you do when someone gives you a zucchini? This zucchini that a co-worker gave to me was so big that we were able to make two dinners and one dessert. The recipe that I have for chocolate zucchini cake is a winner - it won second place ($50.00) in the Art Knapp Zucchini contest in PG. 
I don't know why I had a hankering to have carbonara but after seeing the recipe in Jamie Oliver's Italy cookbook I could not resist. Instead of sausage and pancetta I just used pancetta but added onions just because I love onions. Jamie's recipe calls for the zest of a lemon; next time I will not add that. Lots of cheese and pepper plus a big green salad - perfect!
Yesterday I came across a new tea towel; pure linen, designed and hand printed in Australia (made in Hong Kong) advertising Southwark Bitter Beer, Adelaide, South Australia. When I first saw this towel I immediately thought of making it into a bag but have since changed my mind. It is a great addition to my collection just the way it is. Oh, right, and we had some figs. These little babies were so good tasting!
Yesterday was the worst day - smoke from forest fires burning hundreds of miles away enveloped the city. It didn't matter if you were inside or outside - smoke was everywhere. From our place up above it looked like a soft gray blanket had been thrown over the town. The sun, as reflected in the library windows, was a huge red ball. I kept wishing for rain all day.
I have been collecting pancake recipes for the past 30 years so please don't be surprised if I mention them at least once or twice on my blog. This past Sunday I bravely tested another recipe; this one from one of my very favourite blogs - A day in the country. The recipe is from Nigella ( I am not a fan of Nigella but Heather said they were great pancakes so I trusted her) well it's actually a recipe for a mix. Again not a fan of making mixes. But I went ahead and made them; this is a very simple recipe, good tasting,and a bit thin because I doubled the recipe. Is this a keeper? I will let you know next Sunday.
What better gift at this time of year then a box full of fresh veggies from the garden. For the special birthday girl, I boxed up some beans, peppers, eggplant,onions, and a cuke. After closing the box I realized that I had forgotten the birthday tomatoes from our garden. Well at least this will give me a chance to try the new recipe for Green Tomato cake. Tanti auguri!
What do you do when someone gives you a zucchini? This zucchini that a co-worker gave to me was so big that we were able to make two dinners and one dessert. The recipe that I have for chocolate zucchini cake is a winner - it won second place ($50.00) in the Art Knapp Zucchini contest in PG. 
I don't know why I had a hankering to have carbonara but after seeing the recipe in Jamie Oliver's Italy cookbook I could not resist. Instead of sausage and pancetta I just used pancetta but added onions just because I love onions. Jamie's recipe calls for the zest of a lemon; next time I will not add that. Lots of cheese and pepper plus a big green salad - perfect!
Yesterday I came across a new tea towel; pure linen, designed and hand printed in Australia (made in Hong Kong) advertising Southwark Bitter Beer, Adelaide, South Australia. When I first saw this towel I immediately thought of making it into a bag but have since changed my mind. It is a great addition to my collection just the way it is. Oh, right, and we had some figs. These little babies were so good tasting!
I can close my eyes while walking through our garden and be transported to another garden across the ocean, a garden full of tomatoes and everything else imaginable. And even grapes hanging shyly behind saucer size leaves. Then I open my eyes and gaze upon the tiny garden that is home and wish that I had planted more but there is always next year. Grapes on the vine - not this year.
This was the view down at the river as we enjoyed our cowboy breakfast. It is definitely cooler and even rain has been mentioned. 
Yes, I will be adding Nigella's pancake mix recipe to my pancake book. I made a single batch this morning and they are great tasting.
I have been collecting pancake recipes for the past 30 years so please don't be surprised if I mention them at least once or twice on my blog. This past Sunday I bravely tested another recipe; this one from one of my very favourite blogs - A day in the country. The recipe is from Nigella ( I am not a fan of Nigella but Heather said they were great pancakes so I trusted her) well it's actually a recipe for a mix. Again not a fan of making mixes. But I went ahead and made them; this is a very simple recipe, good tasting,and a bit thin because I doubled the recipe. Is this a keeper? I will let you know next Sunday.
