Chive-y Cheddar Bread

I know what you're thinking ..."What the heck is she doing baking bread during the hottest week of the summer?"  It was six o'clock in the cool of the morning when I got the idea ... no, urge.

Katherine Hepburn's Brownies and a Nice Little Story

Awhile back, I was poking around on the Internet looking for different brownie recipes when I came across one for 'Katherine Hepburn's Brownies'. Hmmm. What would they be like, I asked myself. Following the link, I found it tracked back to a New York Times food column with a basic cocoa and butter based recipe for an 8 x 8 inch pan-sized batch of chocolate bliss. A super moist and densely sweet dark brownie that's made with very little flour.

Just my kind of chocolate treat. Served with a dollop of ice cream, I could be in cocoa heaven ... so I'm making another batch of these brownies for a homecoming picnic that we're having at the house this weekend.

An Aside ...

SB and I have retreated to the northern end of Vermont for a week of bicycling, sunning, and exploring ...

Like Champlain and his trusty native guide, my nose points toward the Lake and the sandy beach ... a perfect place to sit with my book and my hand sewing. Although, the view is a bit distracting and lends itself to daydreaming ...

Canning Season !!!

Yesterday was a cool, breezy, 'preview of autumn' day! The tomatoes were mounded on the kitchen island and the makings for salsa were waiting in the fridge ... all I needed to do was get into 'slice and dice' mode.

Summer Berry Crumble ... and A Story

Picking berries has always been one of the best of summertime pleasures. I remember long summer days when my ten year old friends and I would run the woods that bordered our neighborhood housing development. We'd ram back and forth along the pounded down paths playing hide and seek, having honeysuckle berry and acorn fights, and spending long hours building woodland forts, climbing trees, and looking for the next place to attempt the best ever Swiss Family Robinson tree fort. When banana bikes became the rage, we'd ride the paths and build 'jumps'. I was the builder and sometimes borrower of a friend's bike, as my family could never afford the latest craze. I never had my own bike until I was twelve, and then it was a traditional Schwinn. But who cared when I had a raft of friends with the latest, a thirty acre woodland to play in, and plentiful summertime berries ?!?

Summer on the Terrace ... Virtual Supper Club's August BBQ

Come sit on the terrace, won't you? I've got a couple Paradise Cocktails poured and the grill pan is getting hot. SB and I are getting ready for a fast and furious weekend of activity, but this evening is meant to be an easy affair. I've got some Hendrick's gin, some peach brandy, some stellar Mineola oranges and plenty of ice. Let's have a cool cocktail and enjoy the greenery while the scallops soak up the peppery spices. I've got a beautiful start to the latest Virtual Supper Club's BBQ themed dinner, so get ready because this month's menu is a perfect late summer treat!

Ottolenghi's Za'tar Roasted Chicken

There's something about the smell of a roasting chicken that I equate with the ultimate of cozy down home comfort. Take this latest Ottolenghi discovery, though, and it makes one feel like you're languishing somewhere on the beach near a Middle Eastern villa. I imagine the smells from this roasting bird wafting across the sands and enticing me back for a dinner on the terrace. The spices and colors are transformed to a crisp, za'atar dusted crust on the chicken. The onions and lemons are transformed to a soft tangy slurry that drapes well over your fork when you stab a slice of chicken and drag it through some of the accompanying green tahini sauce. Sigh ... Ottolenghi's recipes rarely disappoint and this one was utter bliss last evening, as SB and I dined on the cool back porch of our little grey cottage. No Mediterranean villa for us, alas, but the flavours? Oh yes,they were transporting !