An Aside ...

If you're from New England and you keep a vegetable garden, you KNOW the joy that comes from bringing in the first of the garden peas and new potatoes ! New peas are like nature's candy - tiny and crisp and sweet as can be! And new potatoes are like velvet when cut up and readied for a slow simmer.  Add just a pat of butter and a sprinkle of salt and pepper and it's as close to heaven that we'll ever get here on Earth!

Plop them down next to a piece of poached salmon with dill (that also came out of the garden!) and one has a classic 4th of July summer feast! This and a glass of wine makes for a true celebration of summertime!

Here's hoping you're enjoying the fruits of the season too! Hurray for summertime gardens !!!

Lime Meltaways

Back in the springtime, our neighbors travelled to Savannah, GA for a vacation junket. SB and I were left to watch the fish and the turtle and keep the house for them while they were playing with family and friends. When they returned, they brought us a small tin of lime flavored shortbread cookies that were just wonderful! I have just found a recipe for the same type cookie! SCORE!!!

These cookies are as close to those little citrus packed shortbreads that I can come! So delish and just a small bite of a cookie. Each cookie is the size of a 50 cent piece. It is loaded with fresh lime zest, lime juice, butter and a conservative amount of sugar. The REAL sugar comes when they are tossed in a bag of confectioner's sugar while they're still warm. This coating makes for a sweet hit on the tongue before one chomps into the super tangy lime burst of the shortbread. Heaven with a cup of hot tea or even a cold glass of iced tea.

Gemelli and Chèvre With Cherry Tomatoes and Kale

What a snazzy name for a recipe ... but really, it's just macaroni & cheese with numerous twists !

Apple Brie Bites

I recently went to the wedding of two friends from our little church in Peterborough. It was a simple sunflower-themed affair that was attended by many in the church family as well as the entire blended family of Jim and Sue, the bride and groom.

Sue had the wedding reception catered by a woman who runs a small local restaurant. This lady has such a nice touch with small bites! She had two very long tables laid heavy with all manner of hors d'oeuvres, cheese platters, and sweet treats. With a sparkling punch, the small plates provided just the right 'wedding party' feel to the afternoon. These small apple and brie bites were one of the offerings.

Kale Pesto

Okay. You can turn your nose up, if you want to, but we had great pasta (and far too much of it!) last evening! This was the first time that I've made kale pesto ... and I used a recipe from Diana Henry's a change of appetite cook book. It's a 'healthy recipe', so it didn't have nuts of any sort in it. I think that when I make it again, I'll try it with walnuts and a bit more olive oil than the amount that she stipulates. This batch was really yummy ... and bright green. I used the full measure of kale and I subbed spinach leaves in instead of parsley. That worked just fine ... it needed generous salt and black pepper too.

So ... kale pesto over pasta ... next time I'm making it with Udon noodles and slivers of hot chili pepper.

Madeleines and Apricot/Mango Iced Cream

Desserts in the grey cottage have been few and far between of late. Madeleines, though, have such a cachet for me that I couldn't resist making them as a special treat for SB and I. To boot, I found a lovely iced cream recipe in Diana Henry's latest cookbook, A Change of Appetite that I had to try!

Can I Hear It For the Casserole ?

Under all those juicy tomato slices there sits a bubbling mass of orzo and vegetables - eggplant, carrots, celery, onions, garlic. I do believe that I got my five vegetables in one sitting this evening. Not to mention fresh oregano and lemon zest that filled the kitchen with the most wonderful smell, as this casserole did its magic in the oven!

Spring Garden Green Tart

Here's another tart from Eric Lanlard's Tart It Up ! collection of eye popping pies and tarts. It's almost asparagus season here in New England and the beginnings of the spears are starting to come to market. They're still from further south of here, but I always have to jump the gun at this time of year.
In another few weeks, this tart will be able to be made with fresh and local produce right from the Farmer's Market or back yard beds.