Delhi Blog Meet

What better welcome than one get than a Blog meet, when you are a blogger.River has a post up on the details of the Blog Meet.

The meet will take place on 5-11-2006 (Sunday) at 3:30 pm in India Coffee
House, CP. The Coffee House in on the second floor of Mohan Singh Place near
Rivoli Cinema. All those who wish to attend the meet can leave little
confirmation notes in the comment-space.

If you blog, or wish to blog some day and you are in and around delhi, do drop-in for a cup of Coffee and lots of fun..

Do confirm your presense by dropping a comment at River's or Shivam's. I won't be too much on the net these few days. i am just Settling in, haven't gotten a connection yet and I still haven't got my ID created in the Office systems.. Anyway see you all.. :)

Help Wanted for a Wordpress Template

Well well, I have registered bachelorcooking.net.
Unfortunately Bachelorcooking.com wasn't available :(

But I want a very nice template, that will go well with the theme :)
Is there any of readers out there who are handy with Wordpress Blogs :)

Just a few words of note:
In the new avatar The bachelorcooking.net will be feature rich.
Will have a directory, a cooks forum, events site, curry mela..
It will be awesome..

I will get me a digital SLR camera soon.. The point and shoot doesn't give too good results boohoo.

When will it be up..
Sigh.. that is the million dollar question...
The moving, new place, new job phew!!!!
But we shall overcome :)

Noodles with Olives and Corn

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Hee hee.

If by some interesting twist of fate, the Ombudsman and I have a child, we have decided it would be best to name it Rutherford, after our 19th President, Rutherford B. Hayes. (Not that we know much about him, only that in 1876, he was elected by a margin of one - yes, one - electoral vote. Talk about controversal!)

We also get a tickle from the name because The Ombudsman's last name is pronounced (though not spelled) something akin to Ball, and we think that Rutherford B. Ball is pretty much the most rockin' name imaginable.

Good thing we aren't having children, right?

But should baby Rutherford ever come in to being, I have to say, one aspect I really and truly look forward to is the exciting challenge of choosing his/her (because Rutherford could be a girl's name too, right?) comfort food. I mean really! Talk about a control-freak foodies dream...choosing another persons comfort food! I tell ya, that lil' desicion right there must make motherhood totally worthwhile. I mean really! (Again.) What if every time your adult child gets a bit down they suddenly CRAVE - um, I dunno - BBQ'd eel like Mother used to make?

Not that I wish my (as now unrealized) offspring to be total oddballs, (that is bound to come naturally...tee hee) but there is just something so cliche about craving mac n'cheese or ice cream when one gets pouty, why not make it more festive?

For instance, I could introduce this recipe...which as an adult I have added to my personal comfort food list. If you have ever spent a prolonged amount of time in the South Pacific, you've seen it too, ya? It's the Polynesian go-to vegetarian afterthought side-dish extraordinaire. Honestly, go anywhere in Tahiti, Bora Bora, Moorea or their neighboring islands and I can promise you, this will be presented. Again, and again, and again. Until you finally get over the fact it is a bit off, and realize you too love it.

It's one of those dishes that is 100% from the cupboard and perhaps not the most gourmet. It is though, ideal for island pantries, boats at sea, and naturally, that makes it a flawless dish for moments when you are in need of comfort...the contents are easy to have on hand and can be put together in a snap.

Noodles wit Olives and Corn. I tell you, the future Rutherford B. Ball will be forever appeased with this whiz-bang delight in his/her repetoire.

It may seem like a strange combo, but it really does taste quite nice. Sweet corn, salty olives, chewy pasta and fragrant olive oil. It is comfort indeed.

So try this my peaches, and taste the joy.

1/2 pound whole wheat fettuccine
2 T. olive oil
1/4 cup onion, minced
1/2 cup picholine olives
1/2 cup corn
Green onion for garnish (optional)
salt and pepper

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta per the package instructions.

Pit the olives and rough chop.

Meanwhile, saute the onion in the olive oil until just softened. Add the olives, warm through and remove from the heat.

Drain the cooked pasta and toss with the onions-olives. Add corn, toss and serve with additional salt and pepper and green onion as garnish (if desired).

© 2008 Fresh Approach Cooking
______________________________________

© 2008 Rachael at "Fresh Approach Cooking" www.freshcatering.blogspot.com This RSS Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, or at the aforementioned url, the site you are looking is guilty of infringing upon terms of copyright.

First Lady, Lucy Webb Hayes (one of the most popular First Ladies of her era) was also known as 'Lemonade Lucy', due to her strong support of Temperance.

The French Picholine is a green, torpedo-shaped and brine cured olive.

Tokyo, Japan has more Michelin stars than Paris, France.

A few good recipes that got lost along the way....

There were a few recipes we tried and really liked that I never got around to getting a photo of, but I want to share them just the same. All of these recipes made our top 20 favorite new recipes of 2007.

The first recipe, Smokey Mushroom Ragout from Cooking Light, is a vegetarian dish with a layer of polenta that is topped with a tomato, mushroom and chipotle mixture and finished with a sprinkling of queso fresco. The polenta is baked in a 9x13-inch dish in the oven which takes more time than the more traditional stovetop method, but it does free you up to tackle the mushroom layer. I really enjoyed the flavor combinations in this dish. I used a combination of cremini and shiitake mushrooms which worked just fine in place of the harder-to-find oyster mushrooms. If at all possible, do not skip the queso fresco on top; this cheese was the perfect flavor complement to the spicy mushroom mixture - not too strong, not too salty, not too mild - just right.

A while back, I tried a stuffed chicken breast recipe from Cooking Light and was very pleased to discover just how easy they are to prepare - they always look and sound fancy or complicated. Encouraged, I have been meaning to try more recipes and finally tried Chicken Breasts Stuffed with Garlic and Goat Cheese. We had plain goat cheese on hand (I buy large logs and vacuum pack them), so instead of spending money on herbed goat cheese, I simply mashed our plain goat cheese with some dried Italian Herb seasoning. The only hard part about this recipe is remembering to start far enough in advance since the garlic needs to roast for an hour. I also love the flexibility of stuffed chicken breasts - it's very easy to accommodate my son who dislikes goat cheese - he can have provolone or mozzarella instead.

Over the holidays, we tried two new salads. For Thanksgiving, I was in charge of bringing the salad. I wanted to try something new and stumbled on one over at Epicurious - Mixed Green Salad with Oranges, Dried Cranberries and Pecans - that sounded perfect for a Thanksgiving meal. Not only did oranges, cranberries and pecans pair well with the rest of the meal, it was a nice, light complement to all of the other carb-heavy foods. The salad really couldn't be simpler - just a few ingredients and very little prep work, but lots of fresh flavors. This one will definitely stay on our repeater list. Note: I did not boil the dried cranberries - I agreed with the other reviewers who said they thought the dried cranberries would add more texture as is, rather than softened.

Right after Thanksgiving, we prepared dinner for family visiting from out of town and tried another Epicurious salad - Almond-Crusted Goat Cheese Salad with Raspberry Dressing. Another Epicurious salad, another winner. The goat cheese was luscious - warm and creamy with a pleasing crunch from the almonds. The raspberry dressing was a huge hit, especially with my youngest - he was dragging out the bag of mixed greens for several days afterward, just so he could have more dressing. The goat cheese rounds are a bit time-consuming and messy to assemble, but they can be done ahead of time and kept in the fridge until you are ready to bake them. Note: I added much less olive oil then the recipe indicates - I just added oil until I thought the dressing was thin enough.

I hate posts with no pictures, but these recipes were just too good not to share.

Skillet Pasta

This recipe is another skillet dish from The Best 30-Minute Recipe from Cook's Illustrated. I really love that they concentrate no only on dishes that are easy to prepare, but also on meals that are easy to clean up. Who cares if it only takes you 30 minutes to prepare if it takes you another 30 minutes to clean up? Main dishes that are prepared entirely in one dish certainly help to keep the overall time spent in the kitchen way down.

This dish is creamy and cheesy and delicious, but obviously rather high in fat and calories compared to what we normally cook here. Still, you can enjoy a dish like this as part of a healthful lifestyle if you keep the portion sizes down and pair it with a low-fat side dish like a nice tossed salad. This recipe claims 4 servings, but it made closer to 6 smallish servings for us - and a small serving is all you need as it is quite rich.

Skillet Pasta Quattro Formaggi

The major change I made to this recipe was to cut back the water by 3/4 cup. It was actually an accident - I discovered the mistake in time to correct it, but I decided that it looked like there was plenty of liquid already. Sure enough, there ended up being plenty of sauce - any more liquid and I think it would have been too runny. The blend of cheeses is quite nice - the Gorgonzola adds a nice sharpness and tang without overpowering the other cheeses.

This isn't something I would make all the time, but a rich, cheesy dish like this sure hits the spot once in a while.

Curry Chicken Sali Recipe

Yeah I am posting the Recipe of the Chicken Sali After a Long time.
Sorry people, I was quite stuck up at work and such like, with shifting and all that.

And yes what you are seeing is crisp fried potatoes.
In the authentic Sali, the pototoes are even smaller. Match Stick thin.
I was too lazy to slice potatoes that thin.

I cooked the chicken, in the usual way we cook Chicken Curry, and then spread the potatoes afterwards. It was very tasty indeed.

One Kilo Chicken, marinade in 1 tsp Jeera powder, 1 tsp Dhania Powder, 1 Tsp Red Chilli and salt to taste. Marinade for 2 hours.

Two large Potatoes, cut into match stick thin slivers.
Fry till golden in a non-stick pan and keep aside.

Heat oil in a Pan or Wok and Fry One large Onion, and fry till golden brown.
Add 3 green chillis sliced in halves.
Add One and half table spoon of freshly ground ginger-garlic paste, and saute for 1 minute.
Add 2-3 Tomatoes, chopped well.
Add the chicken, mix well keep stirring for a few minutes.
Then cover the lid of the pan, and keep that way for 15 minutes in low heat.

Open the lid, you will see that lots of liquid have come out.
Increase heat and cook till gravy thickens.
Now add 1.5 cup of hot water and let shimmer.
Add 1 tsp chicken Masala and 1 tsp black pepper.
Take down after 2-3 minutes.

Spread the potatoes on top... ( Can I call it as garnishing?)
Enjoy!!

Carmelized Walnuts

Glazed walnuts are used as garnish or additon to many chinese dishes. But it may also serve as a great snack or elevenses. One way or another - here is recipe to prepare it:

Ingredients:
1 cup walnut halves
4 tbsp vegetable oil
4 tbsp sugar

Preparation:
Toast walnut halves over medium heat in vegetable oil and sugar until caramelized.

The edges might get a little brown- but that's normal.

Variations:
Instead of sugar you may also use honey. Just mind to not sear it.
You can use brown sugar if you like.
Oil can be replaced with butter.
A little pinch of cinnamon is tasty addition to your elevenses.

Curry Mela at Bachelor Cooking -32nd Week

Good day Dear Bachelor Cooking readers. I hope you all are doing great. As I am. :-)
After a long wait, we have today the 32nd curry mela again!! yes, can you believe it? It is the 32nd curry mela already... been a long long journey, and I thank you all for liking it.. and it kept pushing me to host curry mela after curry mela...
And now with the curry mela blog, where I will transfer the post each week after the curry mela, you can enjoy all the curry melas that was held for the past few months well,, has it been 6 months... Phew!! Time does fly huh!!!

Anyway, I hope you will enjoy this time around too, like you always have...
Cheers and enjoy the Curry mela at bachelor Cooking!!

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Enjoy this Chicken Satay With Peanut sauce ...... Surprisingly I don't remember having tried any chicken dish with peanut sauce. Should be fun.. Oh yeah.. Peanutty flavor and the slightly burnt chicken..... And she blogs so well, with amazing pictures of her work in progress.... Be sure to check out instructions of making Chole Bhature.

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Don't I always say that when it rains recipes, it rains in similar bunches... After that succulent Satay, try this Spicy Chicken Kebabs... Always love a good kebab!! And God Awesome Pictures don't you think?


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From the same blogger, check out this black rice payasam. Now, she mentions asian store to get this rice. And considering that we eat a lot of stuff similar to asians (non-desi Asians), I don't know if this is the same black rice called chahao in manipur. The black rice we get in Manipur, which is very rare even there, has a very fragrant flavor and many people who have been to manipur, always ask me for the same. We also prepare this kheer with that black rice and is quite a delicacy...
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How would you all like something sweet and tangy... Yeah, that is right sweet and tangy.. Add to it a little spice.. and you get this amazing sweet and tangy mango Curry, from a new blogger in the food Blogosphere... let me Introduce Meena from cooking pleasures. many of you might have come across her blog, and for those who haven't check her out!

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This Chick Peas and banana flower(Kodappan Kadala Koottan in Malayalam) sounds very healthy.. All the natural protiens of chick peas and the carbs in Bananas..




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Am I the only one or are you also drooling over the picture of this Chicken Chettinad? And I swear, my mouth is watering like crazy. The colour is just so right for a Chicken Curry. I was thinking of cutting down on my Non-veg intake but this is just killing... I don't know if I can get this consistency, but yummmm I sure am gonna try this out...

This indeed is my week for the week!! And, You indeed are a spice lover!!


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When you do say Tikka masala, it should really Tikka, or tikha.. Check out the reddest and hottest Paneer Tikka Masala ever.. Will set your Eyes and tongue on fire, and yet you will crave for more!!!







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For all the Health Conscious, Dieting, fat-free food lovers, here is a great salad for you, lentils and Spinach Salad.. By the way, all the oil in my recipes not withstanding, I am also quite a health food lover.. Who else would eat steamed Okras eh!




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Another Lovely Sino-indian food, Gobi 65, is Gobi manchurian's Cousin.. How come I haven't seen Gobi Chili??
But this Gobi 65 looks really awesome... I am sure it must taste like chicken... ;)



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I was thinking that i should just post the picture and leave it at that.. Awesome dish.. Perfect colour... and the potatoes..don't I love potatoes?? I know that very few readers of the blog eat Beef, but for those who do, this is a not to miss Beef Curry Recipe... Spicy Beef and Potato Curry.. And I just remembered that I have saved a Beef Kasa Recipe in my draft...The ones we used to get at the Nizam's in Kolkata!!

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Lime Ginger rasam, a kind of rasam, which is a watery curry that is very common in South India, like the daal in the north India. In manipur, we have the Kangsoi, a similarly watery stew, but instead of tempering with kadi patta and mustard seed, we flavor it with smoked fish and dried fish, and is a staple. Rasam is the closest that a south indian cuisine to get to the kangsoi. I never realised this until a friend recently told me that he just had the south Indian Kangsoi. I was stunned for a while until he told me he had rasam, and I burst out laughing..South Indian Kangsoi Indeed!!!

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Some people takes pictures so well, and some people cook so well. few people cook well and takes pictures so well. just looking at the pictures of this Paneer Tawa Masala, one could presume that she is one hell of a Gunslinging Cowboy with the camera, and the cooking pans just dances to her tunes... And so aptly names the post as musical cooking, but of course!!!

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What about some non-desi cooking for a change.. How about meat
loaf? How about this awesome Chicken loaf.......via




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I have had many kinds of halwa, and thnaks to blogging, I came across this new halwa that I never ever imagined existed... yes, Bread Halwa.. You might have heard about it, But I had't.. seriously... funny me...



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Try some good chinese food today.. From another newbie food blogger, some godawesome looking veg fried rice and veg hot and sour. Do check out this beautiful new blog...




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And when I thought I saw a new kind of Kheer or payasam today when I commented on the bread kheer, surprise surprise, and remember the raining recipes... I came across another NEW kheer variety... Beaten Rice or aval Kheer/Payasam .. Yes Poha ki Kheer... But of course, poha is rice so it would make tasty kheer, but how would I have imagined... Thanks for sharing

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And why not some Aglio Olio.. hey but that is but the local name for Chilli garlic pasta.. Yummy looking Pasta... Hot and spicy!!





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Now what comes to your mind when you see this jam in the hole Muffins?

Hah! Surprises inside!!!



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And this is the beginning of the end. I hope you enjoyed it thoroughly... BTW, What do you all think about my moving to my own domain? BachelorCooking.net huh!! What say you all?

This time, a vegetarian burger.

As much as I love a good burger - gourmet or plain - I also love veggie burgers.

My favorite veggie burger ever was one I ate at a little hole-in-the-wall vegetarian restaurant in Bethlehem, PA called So Eat Already. It was an eclectic (mostly) vegetarian restaurant where everything was mismatched and mish-mosh - the chairs, tables, plates, napkins - all looked like they had been picked up at any number of garage sales or thrift stores. No ambiance whatsoever. Not much in the way of service either. But the food was fabulous! They had a grain burger that was absolutely delicious and a vegetarian Reuben (made with a chickpea mixture topped with slaw and cheese) that I loved almost as much. The Green Cafe now occupies that space - I don't know if it's the same owners, but they still have that Reuben on the menu but the grain burger appears to have fallen off the menu. It's probably been a good five years or more since I've eaten there. We just visited recently, but I didn't think to check it out. Darn.

Bulgur Veggie Burger with Lime Mayonnaise

When the June issue of Gourmet arrived, I was reminded of those grain burgers and I knew right away that I was going to make the Bulgur Veggie Burgers with Lime Mayonnaise. Not quite like the grain burgers from the restaurant, but they sounded yummy nonetheless.

The burgers are comprised primarily of bulgur, pinto beans and walnuts and come together quickly. They are very moist, so they benefit from a good chill/freeze before you put them on the grill. We were not terribly sparing on the olive oil - rubbing both the burgers and the grill sheet generously in order to avoid sticking. They stay pretty soft even after getting a nice crust from the grill, so turning them was a little tricky but I managed to get them all flipped without any tragedies.

The lime mayonnaise is definitely a nice addition to this tasty burger. Although I photographed it open-faced, we actually chose to eat them on leftover wheat hamburger buns. I think they might be even better tucked in a whole wheat pita.

Whatever kind of bread you choose, these make a flavorful and satisfying vegetarian meal.

How & Why To Make Compound Butter

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It seems as if, in every high-end cookbook there is that inevitable recipe - nestled between those grand glamor shots - for something so super basic, it requires a pause.

For instance, I was flipping through Super-Star Chef, Thomas Keller's hefty tome, Bouchon and finding my silly-self wondering…is this the book - of all the books available, that I pull off the shelf for a basic vinaigrette recipe? Is this the man I first think of when wondering how to make toast? No, no, not so much. And yet, those recipes lie bound within.

But if that little interjection of epicurean knowledge were not in there, would I notice and indict the volume for falling short on such important building blocks? Yes, yes, and yes.

Double-edged chefs knife indeed.

I mean, let's face facts, the man can and does make superior foods, but my ultra-glossy, five pound cookbook isn't coming into the kitchen with me for something so plebeian...then again, perhaps I am alone in this...

So then there is this lil site. No high-falutin' space, but still, a site that let's you think about how to make chicken-date sausages, and veers wildly back to a primer on how to make bread crumbs.

Both here, both ready to direct and guide you through your own culinary adventure.

And in that spirit - and to create that fancy-cookbook feel, I offer you a non-recipe recipe for that magic bullet, compound butter.

Yes kids, compound butter.

Herbs and aromatics satisfyingly smushed up into creamery butter and rolled into a convenient shape. Primed and ready for all sorts of culinary uses. (Especially on a nicely cooked steak)

All sorts of culinary uses, I say. Roast chicken, crostini, a nice steak, cream cheese spread, lamb chops and more. Savory dishes in need of a bit of flavor injection can all benefit from a pat of this glory. And it sure beats out using a shake of some spice mix that has been lurking in your cupboard for an age plus a day.

Useful too, since perhaps you, like me, tend to have some fresh herbs around that you just can't bear to see go bad. If so, this is the perfect thing to preserve their usefulness.

So try some today my darlings, and taste the joy.

Please do feel free to change this up any which way you see fit, this just happens to be what I made, it is certainly not set in stone. Just butter.

½ pound butter, room temperature
3 tablespoons, minced fresh herbs (I used dill, marjoram, parsley and thyme)
1 teaspoon minced shallot
1 teaspoon citrus zest (I used lemon and lime)
Some fresh pepper
Pinch of paprika

And now for the fun part…using you hands, mush that all together. Roll into a log, wrap in plastic and, voila, compound butter.

Keeps in the freezer for 6 months, in the fridge for 2 months.

Slice off a few pats as needed or desired.

© 2008 Fresh Approach Cooking
______________________________________

© 2008 Rachael at "Fresh Approach Cooking" www.freshcatering.blogspot.com This RSS Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, or at the aforementioned url, the site you are looking at might be guilty of infringing upon terms of copyright.

Do you shop at Rose and Radish?

Nick Davis’ Hobsons Mild was voted Britain's best beer last year and is currently being served up as a guest beer in the Houses of Parliament! The small brewery near Kidderminster now produces four draft and four bottled beers using hops mainly grown on farms within a 10 mile radius. If you can't find them at your local, you should be able to buy bottles through the brewery's website in the coming months. -Birmingham Mail.net

Trying to keep on top of the Garden.

But first..........last week I received word that instead of starting my kitchen the 28th, they now want to start the 23rd! That's this Wednesday! Definitely good news, but here I thought I had this whole week to get ready and maybe even start painting. Oh well, the sooner the better I guess! Cabinets arrive on Friday, so they'll start tearing out cabinets and laying the floor on Wednesday and hopefully start putting cabinets in on Monday. But that sounds overly ambitious to me, so we'll see. Lots of work to do tomorrow!

Still harvesting cucumbers and zucchinis on a daily basis here. I actually let almost 3 days go past without checking the garden. I knew that probably wasn't a good idea because I noticed that zucchini grow very, very fast but we were busy and it was hot.......excuses, excuses. Sure enough, here's what I found this afternoon..........

That zucchini had been closer to the size of the smallest one there just the other day. It is now over 14 inches long. Oi. Now to use it all up. We did the saute the other day, we made two loaves of zucchini bread, we made zucchini pancakes last week and last night I made a yummy pasta dish.

Zucchini and Corn Pancakes

The zucchini pancakes were based on a recipe from Mark Bittman, posted on the CLBB. I also threw in some leftover cooked corn. My son thought it sounded gross, but I told him that I was pretty confident he'd like it, just like the zucchini bread. My mixture ended up being quite watery, so I had to keep adding flour and probably ended up with a full 1/2 cup more flour than the recipe called for. I imagine this made them a bit more doughy than intended, but they were still quite good. These were perhaps a tad bland, so I served them with salsa. I would have preferred maybe a curried sour cream - the salsa was a bit overwhelming - but we somehow have 3 open jars of salsa that need to be used up, so salsa it was.

Zucchini and Sausage Pasta Bake

The pasta recipe was based on this recipe that someone shared on the CLBB, but I didn't follow it very closely. Instead, I used it as a basis for using up things we had around the house. As I was cleaning out the freezer for the remodel, I found 3 separate links of 3 different kinds of chicken sausage - one with spinach and feta, one Italian and a bit of smoked sausage. These are all pre-cooked - not the raw links that the recipes falls for - but I thought it was worth a shot. We had two open boxes of pasta, so instead of penne, we used ziti and farfalle. No Fontina on hand, so I used fresh mozzarella and a bit of Parmigiano-Reggiano. Happily I had some fresh cream from the farmer's market on hand, so I didn't mess with that part of the recipe.

Surprisingly, this dish was delicious! I wasn't sure if it would work or not, but everyone gobbled it up and DH and I happily ate the leftovers today for lunch. The only thing that didn't work so well was the fresh mozzarella. The taste was great, but it tended to clump, also causing the sausage to clump as well. Certainly not a light dish, but I was craving a cheesy pasta dish after all of the lighter summer fare of late.

The green beans are finally producing so that I can actually gather enough for a meal at one time. They are lovely too......nice and thin, just the way I like them. I planted haricot verts beans from Seeds of Change and am very happy with them. They tend to get long, but not thick or tough and even the bigger ones have been lovely. I've always wanted to grow green beans because the beans at the store are usually too big and/or too tough - I don't like it when they get so big that there are seeds forming inside the pod. Even the green beans at the farmer's market gave generally been too big for my tastes. But not these - they are perfect. I blanched them for 3-5 minutes and then tossed them with some garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper (heated up just to take the edge off the garlic). Yummy!

It's fun to eat stuff out the garden, but I'm either going to have to give a few zucchini away or start shredding and freezing it because we're going to get overloaded pretty shortly here. But I have seen a few recipe for chocolate zucchini bread that I think I must try first...........

Fennel - A First

The recipes and the vegetables are piling up! Baseball and various other things have been keeping me busy, so I'm still falling behind in my posting. I still have a blueberry recipe or two to post, not to mention recipes from earlier this spring! Between the garden and me being a little over zealous in my purchases at the farmer's market last weekend, I'm furiously trying to use everything up so that it won't go bad. And, again, baseball doesn't make that very easy seeing as how we're gone from 3:30-8:30 on game nights.

Last weekend I found fennel at one of the farmer's market stands. I do not like black licorice or the other things of a similar flavor profile like anise or fennel, but I've been warming up to fennel seeds in some of my cooking so I decided it might be time to try fresh fennel. I had no idea how to prepare this vegetable and I had no idea what to put with it so I started an internet search (What the heck did I ever do without the internet for recipes??) hoping to find a recipe for fennel and cucumber since we seem to be getting at least one or two cucumbers out of the garden each day.

Fennel and Cucumber Salad

First I found this recipe that sounded simple and refreshing. But then I realized that I really had no idea how to even cut up a piece of fennel or even what parts to use. Fortunately I found an informative article that told me pretty much all I needed to know. I ended up using mostly just the bulb itself with a bit of the stalks too, tossing the fronds. The fronds didn't appeal to me as a garnish and I didn't think I'd like the flavor of fennel for a soup stock, so in the compost they went. In texture, the bulb of the fennel is a bit like licorice flavored cabbage while the stalks are a bit more like licorice flavored celery.

This simple salad combines cucumber, fennel and radishes along with mint, chives, lemon and EVOO. The flavors play well off each other. The mint and fennel give the dish a sort of sweet angle while the radishes give it a bit of bite and some welcome color. The cucumbers play an understated supporting role. It was very nice and refreshing and while we all liked it and enjoyed the change of pace, I don't know that I'd seek out fennel again. I'm learning to tolerate and appreciate some different flavor profiles these days, but I don't know that fennel will ever be a favorite.

More baseball tonight..........I'm about ready for baseball to be over - we need a little break (and it will be a very little break) before soccer and football start! We're also counting down to the kitchen remodel which will begin in just over a week. ACK!

Chinese Roast Turkey

It's that time of the year again for all Americans - the Thanksgiving day! So for all my american friends, here it is: Chinese Roast Turkey

Ingredients:
1 10 - 12 pound turkey
6 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
2 teaspoons five-spice powder
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1 10-12 pound whole turkey
12 scallions, cut up
several sprigs cilantro

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Combine first 5 ingredients and rub over turkey to coat. Pour remaining sauce into cavity. Add scallions and cilantro. Place turkey in a roasting pan. Roast 20 minutes per pound, until a meat thermometer registers 180 degrees.
Let stand 15 minutes before carving.

Drink of the Week: Cherry Kirsch Refresher

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When faced with choices, one tends to go with the more appealing, more festive or more intriguing one, right?

Thus, when presented with this past weekends entertainment selection, I choose Sumo Wrestling.

Because, I have never witnessed sumo wrestling and well, it's sumo wrestling for heavens sake.

Have you ever been to an authentic, competitive sumo match? Me either...

Sounds like good clean fun I say.

So how The Ombudsman and I ended up at a (darling but) melancholy play recounting the love story of Louis Prima and Keely Smith - set to music - I really can't say.

Not that it wasn't fab, but it was - for sure - unexpectedly out of our sphere of typical hipster past times. Heck, a musical about a 50's lounge act's heartbreaking romance doesn't even register a blip on our collective radar...

And yet, it (Louis and Keely Live at the Sahara) was really, really good and I really, really recommend it. Lotsa good tunage. Much hep-cat jive talkin' grooviness.

Afterwards, (much like the last six times we decided to attend the theater) we went for a drink.

Actually, that's not exactly true. We snuck a nip in the parking lot before hand. And downed a few cold ones at the show. And then we went for a drinky to celebrate our new found love of musical theater...

Oh wait...

So if you want to follow in our daring footsteps and sample something new (and alcoholic) and a bit off the beaten path, this cocktail is the way to go.

Refreshing and seasonal. What more can you ask for...

Now try this my peaches, and taste the joy.


1.5 ounces Clear Creek Distillery Cherry Kirsch
Pitted cherries for garnish
Slice of lime
Soda water


Pour the kirsch into a tall glass. Add a few cherries and bruise. Top with soda water and garnish with lime slice.

Serves one.



© 2008 Fresh Approach Cooking

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© 2008 Rachael at "Fresh Approach Cooking" www.freshcatering.blogspot.com This RSS Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, or at the aforementioned url, the site you are looking at is guilty of infringing upon terms of copyright.

The cherry is the state fruit of Utah

Sales of super-premium rum - brands priced more than $30 a bottle - grew 43 percent in 2007, generating $29 million in revenue. There were approximately 500 types of rum available in the United States in 2007, and overall rum sales grew almost 9 percent from the previous year. - WSJ

I took a cooking class this weekend at Spork! Check it out if you are in the area...

Father's Day: Scallops and King Crab Legs

So, back to our Father's Day menu. It appears I started with dessert first, but the savory dishes were just as delicious.

DH requested king crab legs. While buying the crab legs, I also bought a few scallops totally on impulse. I'm not terribly enamored of scallops - something about the texture - but DH loves them and I thought that Father's Day would be the perfect day to treat him. Since I've never actually cooked scallops myself, I had no plan whatsoever, but I knew we'd come up with something.

Grilled Scallops with Basil Stuffing

I went to my reliable resource, the CLBB, and came upon this recipe which is apparently from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything. We had the lemons and garlic on hand and we had just enough basil in the garden to stuff the eight scallops I bought, so this jumped out at me. I was also intrigued by the idea of grilling the scallops. As I said, I'm not crazy about scallops but everything is better on the grill, right?

These were fantastic - DH raved and I might have changed my mind about scallops. While it takes a bit of time to slit each scallop and stuff them with the basil-garlic mixture, it's by no means a difficult recipe and with our small portion, it went pretty quickly. Just make sure to use plenty of extra-virgin olive oil on your scallops and on the grill or grill pan to keep them from sticking and things will work out fine. We chickened out of doing them directly on the grill rack, so we used our nonstick grill pan which is why we ended up with grill polka dots instead of the classic grill stripes. A little goofy looking, but it worked and certainly didn't hurt the flavor one bit.

We also did the crab legs on the grill which seemed to work pretty well. No recipe there, just following the package directions to basically grill them about 3 minutes on each side.

No recipe here either, but we did manage to fit in one veggie/fruit dish by serving a spinach, strawberry and toasted pecan salad with a strawberry vinaigrette. This Father's Day largely on the fresh strawberries we picked.....maybe it will become a tradition.

Red Seaweed (Sea Vegetable) Salad

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Oh dear, oh dear.

I am officially a guilt-ridden bourgie girl with a food-complex.

How could this happen? It's so tragically cliche.

In the last few weeks (between reading a few intense books The Ombudsman threw my way in his ongoing effort to nurture my inner nerd/keep me single) I managed to read The Omnivore's Dilemma and Bottomfeeder: How to Eat Ethically in a World of Vanishing Seafood.

Whoooo.

Now peaches, in case you aren’t familiar with these tomes, they are of the genre that can best be described as, “we are all going to h*ll in a hand-basket unless we start making some informed decisions - stat.”

These books are informative, brilliantly written, methodically researched, heartbreaking and scary and happily (very happily) also tinged with hope.

The hope part being that, if we really do all pull ourselves together (for heavens sake!) just a tiny bit - and pay attention to our food choices - crisis can be averted and our lives and health and the world in general may just well improve. Super-fab news indeed. (And what a relief to hear!)

Phew.

My immediate (band-wagon-esque) instinct after all this intense info was to run out to the farmers market (as I do every week. I'm not really that new to this bandwagon) and buy something, anything, that I could feel chic and eco about. Naturally I ended up with...sea vegetables from The Carlsbad Aquafarm.

I mean, talk about a non-controversial food choice! It's (mostly) local, it's (totally, fer sher)healthy and it grows back quick as a wink.

Joyousness.

Sure, sure, it could be argued that it looks like something Little Orphan Annie's plumber pulled out of her shower drain...(oy!) but thrillingly, it's crisp, ocean breeze taste trumps it's trendiness impaired looks. In fact, there is also an delicate beauty to it that cannot be denied.

Keeping it light simple, I added a few salad-y ingredients and voila, a perfect summertime meal. And guilt free to boot.

Try it my peaches and taste the joy. (And I promise this is my last preachy post. For now...)

1 cup red seaweed, torn apart
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, large mince
1 small jalapeno, large mince
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
A few drops of sesame oil
1 green apple
English cucumber
Sea salt (naturally!)

To make the dressing, combine the ginger with the jalapeno, vinegar and oils. Taste and season with salt.

Peel and dice the cucumbers and add to the dressing.

Slice the apple and fan out on two chilled plates. Top with the sea vegetable. Spoon some of the cucumber over it and serve immediately.

Makes two large salads.

© 2008 Fresh Approach Cooking
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© 2008 Rachael at "Fresh Approach Cooking" www.freshcatering.blogspot.com This RSS Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, or at the aforementioned url, the site you are looking at is guilty of infringing upon terms of copyright. And generally cheesing me off.

The latest edition of Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, now includes edamame (immature green soybeans), pescatarian (a vegetarian who eats fish) and about 100 other newly added words that have taken root in the American lexicon. GoErie.com

2007 vodka sales at the supplier level reached $4.3 billion, a 7.65% increase over 2006

Joey Chestnut is the 2008 Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest winner. It was initially a tie between Chestnut and Takeru Kobayashi at 59 hot dogs each, which lead to a sudden death show down. This year's event was cut down to 10 minutes vrom 12. Prior to Chestnut's record - Japan's Takeru Kobayashi had been the crowning champ for five years straight. - Gambling911

Weekly Recap 1/20/08

Sunday
Mushroom-Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Madeira Sauce (new)
Roasted Cauliflower (new)
whole grain rice
Marcy's Legendary Chocolate Chip Cookies (new)

Monday
Fettucine with Mascarpone and Sage-Walnut Brown Butter (new)
mixed veggie salad

Tuesday
from the freezer: Creamy Tomato Soup
(this soup reheated very nicely)
grilled cheese on whole wheat
sliced pear

Wednesday
Mexican Polenta Stuffed Peppers with Black Bean Salsa (new)

Thursday
Sandwiches from Wegmans

Friday
Taco Salad
(Romaine lettuce, shredded cheddar cheese, tomatoes, black beans, avocado
crushed tortilla chips, 95% lean hamburger with taco seasoning and Cool Chipotle-Lime Dressing)

Saturday
Quesdillas made from taco salad leftovers
sliced apple

Featured Recipe:

Creamy Tomato Soup

Pea Soup and Panini

This dinner was an idea swiped directly from The Vicarious Farmer. Each week she has been sharing her CSA bounty and including some of the recipes she prepared using the fresh produce she picked that week. Yum.

We've made pea soup once before and it was well-received, but that recipe used frozen peas so I was eager to make use of the fresh peas in season at our farmer's market. Actually, the majority of the ingredients used in this meal made use of fresh, local ingredients, something I am trying to focus on, at least while the farmer's market is open this summer.

This recipe is from A Year in a Vegetarian Kitchen by Jack Bishop, a cookbook I've been using faithfully since I got bought it last winter. The soup calls for making a quick stock using the pea pods, scallions and parsley. I have to admit that I was rather reluctant to use my fresh-from-farmer's-market scallions for a broth where they would be boiled to death, but I took a deep breath and tossed them in.

Chilled Fresh Pea Soup

Once the broth is finished, it is strained and the peas are tossed in for a quick simmer, followed by the lettuce. I don't know if I quite understand the purpose of lettuce in pea soups, but according to The New Best Recipe (the source for the first pea soup we made), "A few ounces of Boston lettuce added along with the peas gave the soup a marvelous frothy texture when pureed." So, I guess it's for texture.

This recipe called for topping the soup with creme fraiche or sour cream, but I had some leftover cream from the farmer's market, so I added a half cup of this before pureeing the soup.

This soup was quite good, but I liked the recipe linked above better. I'd like to morph the two some day and make the Cook's Illustrated recipe with fresh peas in place of the frozen and using the pea pod broth in place of the chicken broth.

For the panini, I used Wegmans' Black Bean Salsa bread, fresh cheddar from a local farm and chopped chives. Very simple but flavorful - the bread gave just a touch of heat which was a nice contrast to the cool, creamy soup.

Local ingredients used: lettuce, scallions, peas, parsley (from my garden), cream, and cheddar cheese.

No Fuss Blueberry Jam

Okay, so I guess I technically cheated - I made freezer jam. But, the point is, it worked.

Last Monday, we picked 23 pounds of blueberries and yesterday we were down to our last 6-8 cups and I have to say, they weren't in terrible shape considering it has been over a week. Some were getting a bit too soft, but quite a few were still firm and only one showed any sign of mold. Not bad.

However, it was quite apparent that we were reaching a crucial point and really needed to use them up, so I decided to try jam since, compared to most recipes, this would use up the largest amount of blueberries. I have never done any canning before and though I plan to learn, this wasn't the time. After doing a bit of reading, I decided I wanted to try freezer jam and went to the store to get some pectin.

Once I was there, it was a bit confusing. They had regular pectin and freezer jam pectin. The freezer jam recipe looked incredibly easy - no cooking at all. Then I took a look at the ingredients and noticed that the freezer jam pectin contained several added ingredients, including a preservative: dextrose, fruit pectin, citric acid (assists gel), sodium citrate (controls acidity), potassium sorbate (preservative). I wasn't too keen on using something with a preservative since that's part of the attractiveness of making my own jam in the first place, but then I noticed that with this recipe, you only use 1 1/2 cups of sugar per 4 cups of berries. That's a lot lot less sugar than a cooked jam recipe where the ratio is generally 1:1.

Anyway, I ended up grabbing some regular pectin and one package of the freezer jam pectin. Once home, I kept hemming and hawing and finally decided to give the freezer jam pectin a try. It's very easy. You mix 1 1/2 cups of sugar with the package of pectin, add 4 cups of crushed berries, stir for 3 minutes, let it sit for 30 minutes to let it set and you're done. Ridiculously easy!

As I mashed the blueberries, I was looking at the rather gross mush on my plate and having second thoughts. For some reason, squished blueberries make me think of squished bugs - they just look gross! (My photos of the final mashed product didn't come out.....too bad, huh?) Then I started thinking about having to bite into a jam full of blueberry skins. Even if I could get past it, I knew the family would not. And these problems are unique to blueberries - any other kind of berry - no skin, no brown squishy "guts".

I finally decided that I simply had to run them through the food processor. Not only would this eliminate the problem of biting into all of those skins, but I knew from making blueberry ice cream, that it would make the whole mixture turn a much more attractive color of purple instead of the brownish colors you get from just crushing the berries. I had read that you shouldn't use a food processor because it can break down the natural pectin in the berries and prevent your jam from setting (the Ball instructions also say not to process the berries), but I decided to try it anyway. If it didn't work, I figured I could probably find some way to save it.

Blueberry Freezer Jam

I'm happy to say that it worked just fine. In no time I had a lovely blueberry jam. I suppose I don't have chunks of fruit as you should with a proper jam, but as I said earlier, that might not be such a bad thing when it comes to blueberries. Since pureeing the berries reduced the overall volume when compared to crushing them, I decided to go with 3 1/2 cups of pureed berries versus the 4 cups of crushed berries - I was afraid the jam might not set if I had too much berry puree. This seemed to work great. It's a tad on the sweet side, but very good nonetheless and certainly A LOT less sugar than most recipes.

So, my experiment was a success. I now have 6 1-cup containers of blueberry jam in the fridge and freezer, waiting to be enjoyed the rest of the year. I'm still not keen on the preservatives used in this pectin, so next time I'm thinking about trying the freezer jam recipe I found inside the package of regular pectin (which contains dextrose, fruit pectin and citric acid). The drawback there? 5 1/4 cups of sugar for 3 cups of berries. Hmmmm..........

Mushroom Pate

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I write in books. I write in books in ink. I write in books in black ink that sometimes smears across the smooth pages because despite my attentions I am still a left handed writer.

I am forever underlining passages and leaving myself small comments in the margins.

A book is a personal item, to be devoured, and the notes that lie within are my mark. They remind me of where my mind was when I was reading it, or where I wanted my mind to go. Much like this site.

Since this is my habit, it should come as no surprise that I have little scribblings scattered throughout my cookbook collection too. Usually phrases no more descript than “Made, 1/25/06. Perfect.” But just enough info for me to recall the dish, the meal, and the company it was made for. Always a wonderful thing. Like a small notation on my life.

I can open any number of recipe collections and be transported as easily as I am by my favorite authors of fiction. With the words upon the pages come memories of good friends and good food. All of them blessings.

Now, tomorrow is my birthday, and we are going to a simple and beautiful restaurant that evokes so many memories for me. Memories of lovely times spent with new friends, old friends, family and loved ones. It is a place I retreat to for a quiet evening of fine dining in a graceful setting. It is old and new all at once, and it is perfection. I dream of their food, and the calm it brings me.

And yet, I do not have a copy of the cookbook they created, and therefore there is not a word in my hand etched out within. Perhaps I will fix that. And then I can recall what I am certain will be a fabulous meal.

This is just a recipe I have never written down, so in the spirit of keeping this site as my personal storehouse, I will post it now.

Try it my peaches, and taste the joy.


1 pound button mushrooms
1/2 pound cremini mushrooms
2 tablespoons butter
1 shallot, minced
2 teaspoons herbs de Provence
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
1/4 cup heavy cream
Salt and black pepper
Bay leaf for garnish

Mince the mushrooms until very fine.

Melt the butter in a large saute pan. Cook the shallot until translucent, then add the mushrooms and herbs. Saute until cooked through.

Remove 3/4 of the mixture and add to a food processor with the cream. Process until smooth. Remove and taste. Add salt and pepper. Add back the remaining mushrooms. To fancy it up, put into a large ramekin, top with a bit more herbs de Provence and a bay leaf Chill and serve with crackers.



© 2008 Fresh Approach Cooking
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Soda makers, Dr Pepper has promised that if Guns N' Roses singer Axl Rose releases "Chinese Democracy" at any point in 2008, everyone in America will receive a free can of Dr. Pepper.

Kosher salt weighs at least 26 percent less by volume than table salt. That means if you use a 1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt in a recipe calling for 1/4 teaspoon of table salt, you’re adding too little.

Lucques was chosen by Los Angeles Magazine as the number one restaurant (out of 75) in LA in their March, 2007 issue. “As native Angelenos, Suzanne Goin and Caroline Styne understood something about the city’s dual fascination with what’s fleeting and what’s permanent. Lucques captures this paradox. It has the snap of the new and the ease of the classical. Goin’s cooking style, Mediterranean in its inspiration, quietly flirts with the traditional repertoire. The restaurant defines the city’s laid-back luxury; it is gracious and timeless and, dare we say it, grand.”

Nacho-cheese-flavor Doritos, which contain five separate forms of glutamate, may be even richer in umami than the finest kombu dashi (kelp stock) in Japan. - NY Times

Roasted Potato Salad

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As a friend to us all The Hostess will have you know that she is not a fan of cucumbers appearing in her green salad.

She is - in fact - against it.

Straight up cucumber salad is fine she says.

But should those tiny gourds come mixed in with her leafy greens? Not at all fine by her.

Some sort of child hood trauma I suspect (and I suspect as much because I believe she said as much...only I forgot the details). But any which way, it deserves to be noted when a menu is being crafted upon which she will dine.

Let's face facts. We all have some sort of thing in our worlds too. That sort of thing that isn't really a big deal, but simply creates a little border in our dining experiences. (As a side note, she also has a serious aversion to/obsession with, that seminal 70's band Cheap Trick, but she won't tell me why. And since she told me she reads this site...well...perhaps she will share in the comments section? Yes? Let's hope!)

When challenged with making a side dish for a picnic luncheon starring her and The Ombudsman (We can't leave him out now can we!) my initial plan was, I admit, a lovely Greek salad with diced cucumbers. (!) But in an effort to be half the hostess she is (and the bar is quite high), that was off the menu. Thinking fast, I made this version of potato salad instead.

(I know. I should have written all of this about the cucumber salad, but that's already been posted!)

And my dears, it was just great.

Happy summer times indeed.

Now try this my peaches and taste the joy.

1 pound assorted creamer potatoes, halved
2 yellow bell pepper cut into strips
3 cloves garlic, rough chop
1 red onion, large dice
1/4 cup olive oil
2 stalks celery, small dice
For the dressin
4 tablepsoons olive oil
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/4 cup minced dill
2 T. minced chives
1 teaspoon lavender blossoms, crumbled


Preheat your oven to 425F.

Boil the potatoes in heavily salted water until just slightly undercooked.

Drain and toss with the bell pepper, garlic, red onion and olive oil. Spread in an even layer on a baking sheet. Roast until golden brown.

Whisk together the rest of the ingredients. Taste and adjust as needed.

When the potatoes are done, toss with the dressing. Let cool slightly and serve.


© 2008 Fresh Approach Cooking

______________________________________

© 2008 Rachael at "Fresh Approach Cooking" www.freshcatering.blogspot.com This RSS Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, or at the aforementioned url, the site you are looking at is guilty of infringing upon terms of copyright.

Casting announcement for A&E’s new show “Rocco to the Rescue!”

If you are planning a big announcement, have a ‘hero’ you wish to thank or are celebrating a major life event, (and more things along those lines) Chef Rocco DiSpirito will teach you what to cook, where to find the ingredients and how to prepare the ideal meal for your extra special occasion. All in your home.

A&E is looking for people in and around Los Angeles who need Rocco DiSpirito’s help. To apply, email CookWithRocco@gmail.com with your name, age, phone number, a recent photo and the reason you need to cook with Rocco. Or call: 818-752-5559.

Cucumbers are about 95% water.

Garden Update: Sigh.........

Okay, let's start with the good news, shall we? 'Cause if I start with the bad news, I might not be able to see the keyboard and/or monitor through all of the tears..........

So, looks good from a distance, right?

Let's get up close. By the way - the tops of the lasagna beds have remained virtually weed free. What I've pulled from near the plants would barely fill a 1/2 cup measuring cup. LOVING that part!

The cucumbers, zucchini and cantaloupe are just kind of one big mass of vines. I'm sure I planted them a bit too close together, but I figured it might work out okay......we'll see.

One thing I will definitely do differently with the vine-like plants is that even if I plant them close to each other again, I will NOT plant them close to other non-vine plants like my bush beans. I had to prune back some of the zucchini plant to keep it from encroaching.

Lots of tiny cucumbers like this one.......

And one larger cucumber.

And 3 zucchini. Make that two.....the one on the right (with the browned out end) appears to be a goner......

The bean plants look fine so far.

The sage looks great.

The basil is still chugging along. Not the best basil I've ever grown - the leaves still have some yellowing to them (I wonder if the soil is missing a key nutrient? Will have to read more on that.) and the flea beetles are still munching, but it's starting to get bushier and hopefully will really take off soon.

The peppers...still not sure about these. I keep seeing buds, but only a couple of flowers and no fruit set yet.

Here comes the bad part. The really depressing part. I planted 11 tomato plants and at this point, I don't know that I'll get a single tomato from any of them. How can that possibly be?? They were looking so lovely for a while there and then something happened. Whether it's fungal or bacterial, I'm not sure, but every stinkin' plant has this creeping crud.

Not only that, but every blossom so far has dropped. The black crud is covering the blossoms and then they just break right off. Here's one that's just about to drop........

Well, okay, I did manage to find maybe 4-5 teeny tiny tomatoes on one of the 3 cherry tomato plants........but even one of those fruits has some black crud on it..........

The crud is all over the place.......

$%@#%^! I keep reading about how it's SO EASY to grow tomatoes. I feel like I'm being taunted!! I've seen people get so overrun with them that they start giving them away. I've never, ever had good luck with tomatoes. I've tried probably more than 10 different kinds and I've gardened in two different states and even in pots. No luck. Although, come to think of it, I think I got a decent yield the first year I tried tomatoes - before the plants succumbed to whatever disease they had that time.

This time, however, I hope to learn about what's going on rather than just piss and moan about it. I've taken a sample of some leaves to the local extension office and am waiting for a call back to find out what's wrong. I've been looking online at lots of tomato disease pictures, but they all start to look the same after a while and I can't figure it out. So far it looks most like the Alternaria Canker which can be found on leaves, stems and fruit. But if anyone out there reading this has any diagnoses or advice, I'd be happy to listen!

I wouldn't be surprised to find out it's fungal. We've been having a lot of warm, wet, humid weather lately and I've noticed lots of fungal critters growing around other areas of the yard.

I'll be shoving my nose into a lot of books and websites this winter to read more about disease-resistant varieties (depending on what the extension office says) and anything I can learn about growing tomatoes. And at least this time I'll have room to rotate the crops so that I'm not planting in that same bed again next year. I am determined to have a bountiful harvest some day!

I'm considering starting my own from seed......but I'm afraid that that will only make me even more vested in my plants and then even more heart broken if they fail. Note the use of the word 'if" in that last sentence, not "when". I remain optimistic. Or is it just plain stubborn? Eh, either way works.