When Work is Done

When Work is Done

“Each of us, when our day’s work is done, must seek our ideal,
whether it be love or pinochle or lobster à la Newburg,
or the sweet silence of the musty bookshelves.”
O. Henry

It’s been a Lots Of Work To Do sort of week. Bottle-feeding our orphaned baby goats, planting winter crops, writing, cooking, photographing, more writing, and collecting the last of the Autumn harvest.

It’s good work, satisfying work, but boy am I glad to reach the end of each day and climb into bed and get cozy under the blankets with a good story.

wooden bowl of tomatoes

One of the good things about cooking and photographing for a writing assignment is that Bear and I have heaps to eat at the end of it. Tonight we got to tuck into all sorts of nibble-y bites, including far too many pretzels dunked in a roasted garlic yogurt dip. It sure hit the spot after getting back inside from doing chores in the cold Autumn wind.

party food

Bear and I continue to plug along writing our medieval cookbook. Today we baked spelt bread rolls over the campfire and they turned out beautifully. We were so excited. 🙂 Tomorrow I get back to writing and cooking for the Spices section. I love seeing whole spices, like this mace, that I’ve only seen in powdered form before. The history of food is so fascinating to me, and I can’t wait to see this book come together.

basket of mace

Now it’s time for me to retreat to the “sweet silence of the musty bookshelves.”

What is the best book you’ve read recently?

Time for Resting and Slow Roasting Tomatoes

Time for Resting and Slow Roasting Tomatoes

“rest, nature, books, music, love for one’s neighbor
— such is my idea of happiness.”
Leo Tolstoy

Our weekend was a whirl of work and commitments, a 24-hour flu and visits with dear friends, but today was a delicious blend of rest and creativity.

We gave ourselves the entire morning – a long time when you wake at 4:30 a.m. – to do whatever we wished. No jobs, no chores, no demands, just simple pleasures and quiet moments.

Bear made us cuppas and then we disappeared to our corners. I hunkered down in my office, curled up on the couch with a blanket, gorgeous magazines, a new book from my friend Sue, and a scented candle flickering cheerily on my desk.

I can’t remember the last time I spent an entire morning reading. It was like reuniting with a beloved friend. I lingered over gorgeous images, closed my eyes and mulled over thought-provoking words, smiled to myself at the sheer luxury of these hours of alone time to restore my mind, spirit, body, and creativity.

When the afternoon finally rolled around, I was peaceful and excited, ready to tackle my chores.

I headed out to my gardens, luxuriating in hot sunshine on my skin after days of dark skies. I gathered tomatoes and asparagus, checked on my late crop of green bell peppers and chillies, chatted with the dogs then headed back to the house.

yellow tomato harvest

The afternoon was spent working my way through boxes of tomatoes and capsicum, bags of chillies, bowls of pears and grapes. My dehydrators are humming again, filled with fruit and veg that will be dried by morning. A big pot of roasted tomato garlic sauce is cooling on the counter, almost ready to be packaged and put in the freezer. Chillies were turned into a luscious and spicy Tomato Chilli Jam. Now I can rest easy knowing all the fresh produce has been taken care of.

slow roasted tomatoes and garlic

With all those gorgeous roast veggies, dinner was a no-brainer: pasta tossed with roughly chopped tomatoes, silky nuggets of roasted garlic, and freshly grated Parmesan-Romano. Simple but scrumptious.

slow roasted tomato and garlic pasta

Now it’s time to bid goodnight to the world, and crawl in bed for a bit more reading before sleep.

What is the best book you’ve read this year? xo

Slow-roasted Garlic Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:

ripe tomatoes
olive oil
sea salt
freshly ground pepper
fresh herbs (thyme, rosemary, basil, oregano, etc)
heads of garlic

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 F (250 C)
2. Line baking sheets with baking paper.
3. Quarter tomatoes and spread in one layer, skin side down, on baking sheet. Scatter with fresh herbs. Drizzle with olive oil and add sea salt and ground pepper.
4. Roast for 90 minutes in center of oven. If tomatoes are in large chunks, you may need to roast an additional 30 minutes.
5. 20 minutes before tomatoes are done, place tray of garlic heads in the oven.
6. Remove from oven and let tomatoes cool 5-10 minutes.
7. While tomatoes are cooling, use rolling pin to crush roasted garlic and press out the soft, cooked cloves. Pick out any extra bits of paper.
8. In large blender or food processor, puree tomatoes and garlic in batches. Pouring into a large pot when each batch is done.
9. Whisk sauce together and let sit 30 minutes for flavors to meld and sauce to cool.
10. Pour into freezer containers and freeze until ready to use.

Falling Leaves, Hot Tea, and Fried Eggs On A Nest of Kale

Falling Leaves, Hot Tea, and Fried Eggs On A Nest of Kale

Good morning, dear ones! I’m writing to you tucked up under a quilt with a heating pad to keep me warm. Autumn has truly arrived in Washington and it’s sunshiny, beautiful and cold!!

Saturday morning I awoke to my green grass carpeted with crunchy russet leaves and today a cold wind tossed them about in a mad, whirling dance across the lawn. I loved it!

It was so gorgeous out this weekend that even spending hours in my parent’s garage sorting through boxes was a pleasure. I opened the garage door and let the breezes and sunshine in and I got HEAPS done!! I sorted through absolutely everything and it feels so good. 🙂

Such weather always puts me in the mood for cozy, comforting things like steaming Darjeeling tea, homemade cookies (I’ll share those with you later this week!) and hot breakfasts. My favorite breakfast this weekend resulted from opening my fridge and seeing a carton of eggs and a bowl of leftover kale sauteed with tomatoes and garlic. I thought the two together would make a delicious and healthy breakfast and much to my delight, they paired beautifully. I’d also like to try this with spinach and maybe Swiss chard as well.

What is your favorite thing to pair with eggs?

This is my contribution to Chaya’s Meatless Mondays. Click here to see more delicious meatless dishes.

Fried Eggs on a Nest of Kale
(serves two)

Ingredients:

1 bunch kale, ribs removed, leaves chopped
1/2 can fire roasted, diced tomatoes
3 cloves garlic, sliced
olive oil
salt and pepper
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 eggs

Directions:

  1. Bring pot of salted water to boil, add kale and cook 15-20 minutes until tender. Drain.
  2. In saucepan heat olive oil and saute tomatoes and garlic 3-5 minutes.
  3. Add kale and saute another 3-5 minutes.
  4. Salt and pepper to taste.
  5. Divide kale between two plates and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
  6. In saucepan fry two eggs and place on top of kale. Serve warm.
Old Town Mostar and a Bosnian Feast

Old Town Mostar and a Bosnian Feast

The sun was blazing hot as we emerged from the gorgeous Bosnian mountains and wended our way through the battle-scarred valley to the city of Mostar.

Wanting to explore the old town and see the bridge we’d read so much about, we stopped a man by the side of the road to ask directions. Not only did he give us directions, he offered his services as our guide and historian. An offer we gladly accepted.

He led us from the sun-baked asphalt onto the stone streets of Old Town Mostar, my sandal clad feet slipping precariously on the stones worn smooth as glass.

Captivated by the beauty of our drive through the Bosnian countryside that day, we had completely forgotten to stop for meals and were positively ravenous and utterly parched! Our guide immediately took us to a restaurant featuring traditional Bosnian fare. I knew I wanted to eat there as soon as I saw we’d be eating under a flowered arbor, next to a gurgling fountain, and that we got to cross this exquisite carpet to gain entrance.

We had scarcely taken our seats when we were visited by the restaurant cat.

Too hot and thirsty to even think of food, we hastily ordered mineral water and flat water and guzzled to our heart’s content.

My brother Ryan went for a massive platter of grilled cevapi, sausages, and other meats, grilled eggplant and mushrooms, cabbage salad, tomato salad, French fries, and ajvar, that wonderful roasted vegetable condiment beloved from Germany down through the Balkans.

I tucked into a cool and refreshing tomato onion salad followed by wonderfully greasy sausages dipped in mustard, and savory roasted potatoes.

Although we had no room left for dessert, I’ve since learned that Bosnians prefer fresh fruit or simple plain cake for their after dinner treat. In their honor I dined on fresh cherries this week.

What is your favorite dessert?

Sunshine, Rellies and Bruschetta

Sunshine, Rellies and Bruschetta

Happy Monday, dear ones!  How was your weekend? You inspired me with your “simple pleasures” on Friday, and I hope you each found time to indulge in at least one thing that made you happy.

My weekend was a lovely hodgepodge of solitude and company, sunshine and gray skies, rest and hustle.

Friday night was grand fun with a jolly Classic Movie Night with a gang of dear friends. We popped corn and settled in to watch that hilarious John Wayne classic, “The Quiet Man.” I grinned all over again when I found this collection of Memorable Quotes from the movie.

Saturday dawned gloriously sunny and I slept in luxuriously. The rest of  the day was spent with beloved rellies. We had such fun exploring our favorite discount stores and emerging with all sorts of treasures. I was especially excited about all the new herbs, soil, and containers I found, and had such fun expanding my little garden with English thyme, variegated sage, spearmint and all sorts of lettuces.

I kept my food simple but delicious this weekend, drawing from my herb garden for inspiration. With fresh basil and gorgeous tomatoes at hand, I could think of nothing better than grainy bread spread with pesto and topped with diced tomatoes tossed with garlic, olive oil, and sea salt. Mmm. 🙂

I was tempted to be overwhelmed today, my mind racing with all the things on my to-do list, but decided that stressing out was not a good option. So I thought through everything and reckoned that papers could be sorted another day, vacuuming could wait, and learning how to use Adobe Elements could definitely be bumped down the list. Instead I had a beautiful day of puttering: cooking interesting things for my lunches, reading a good book in a puddle of sunshine on my bed, taking a nap on the creek bank. It was just what I needed and I feel ready to face a new week with a rested, happy me.

What is one thing you’re looking forward to this week, luvs?