the return of what's cooking wednesday...

...this week we're going southern for a cause. michelle is hosting a contest O Foods for Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month Contest (september) & around here, one of the most common "O" foods is okra.now for this yankee-born girl okra was a bit of an acquired texture (the taste is just fine!) because, you see, okra is a bit slimy mingled with crunchy~~ a very odd combination to be sure. this time of year okra is abundant in the farmers' markets of the southern US & is making a weekly appearance on our table, providing a good source of dietary fiber, protein, vitamins B9 & C, & calcium. for this week's what's cooking wednesday recipe, D. provides his "secret" okra recipe (perfected while i was deep in my summer classes & off kitchen duty!)

fried okra

*slice okra to make approx. 2 cups

*beat 1 egg in a medium bowl & soak sliced okra in egg

*combine 1/2 c. AP flour, 1/2 c. cornmeal, fresh ground pepper & course sea salt (to taste)

*toss egged okra in flour mixture then fry coated okra over medium heat in olive oil until browned

*drain on a paper towel & serve

*yields approx. 4 servingsi served this side with applewood smoked turkey breast & roasted sweet potatoes (another farmer's market find this week). be sure to visit shan for more what's cooking wednesday recipes (another man in the kitchen, i see) & michelle for more information about ovarian cancer awareness. buon appetito a tutti!!

weather or not...the end of our first week

or as some of us like to say, "5 days down, 175 to go!"now, that's optimism! our first week was a fine one, both in terms of weather (one perfect, rainy day that made you *want* to work on school sandwiched between 4 to-die-for perfect summer days that do not fit the eastern NC august pattern) & school.we generally start out on the light side of work as our routines shift...this week was a 3 subject only week. (next will be the full deal.) i like it that way & boyworld concurs. Little Man began his high school career with algebra, latin & literature (we're reading the aeneid), ending his first week with an outstanding paper on virgil's themes present in the aeneid. who knew?? a meteorologist who has a way with letters! way to go!!Big Bro managed to sneak in a jack johnson (i'd love some banana pancakes!!) concert with his sister Baby Girl and still rule with his pre-calculus, physics & literature (we're reading beowulf).for me, it was lots of coffee, a time to get reacquainted with the infamous red pen of corrections, & more of my own school work with lots of reading, several papers due & many, many more to go!what's cooking wednesday (omg, shan! i sure could use a sip of that!!)???...you'll have to ask D. about that one, as *he* picked up the slack with some awesome okra & pork tenderloin. (i love you, man!) love thursday...well, let's just say i loved when it was thursday & we were in the home stretch with lots of successful work behind us!poetry...at least i managed to squeak out some creative stuff & to stay true to my snapping of 366 photos in '08 this week. on tap for the weekend...i have a big surprise for D.!!! y'all will just have to wait til next week to read about that one! until then, have a delightful late summer weekend!

plum delicious!

i confess that i have not been cooking much on wednesdays or any other day of the week for that matter. we have had lots of food on the run &, thanks to vacations, somebody else cooking (& serving & cleaning up!). now i do miss la mia cucina much & so when the good Dr. N. sent some of his home-grown plums my way this week (i love you, Dr. N.!), i knew it was a sign to turn on the oven again. after a few days of dwelling on what to do with the amount of delectable fruit (really too much to snack on outright), i decided a plum pie was in order...actually, 2! one to keep & one to share with our kind neighbors who 'babysit' my deck gardens while we travel.

plum pie was not something of my childhood, nor have i ever seen it locally in our stores or restaurants, but i did stumble upon a recipe for it in an italian cookbook i found in a thrift store several years ago...La Dolce Vita by Michele Scicolone. i love this book & find her recipes very true to italian form. but the plum pie, or torta di susine...well, i don't know, but the idea was intriguing enough for me to try it. her dough is a basic pasta frolla...quite a bit different from my typical Amish recipe for pie crust. but i found it to be a perfect compliment to the tangy sweet plum filling. i did vary her recipe a bit because i wanted a crumble top~ don't ask me why. she simply uses the pasta frolla in a lattice pattern over the fruit filling. boyworld found this pie quite satisfying & so do i.Torta di Susine

for the crust...

*combine 3 c. flour, 3/4 c. sugar, 2 t. baking powder, zest from 1 lemon, 1/2 t. salt & blend well with a pastry blender (or fork).

*cut 12 T. softened butter into the flour mix until it resembles coarse crumbs.

*mix together 1 egg, 1 egg yolk & 1 1/2 t. vanilla...then add to flour mix just until a dough forms.

*divide the dough into 2 disks, wrap in plastic & chill for at least 1 hour.

preheat oven to 350.

for the filling...

*clean & slice 2-3 pounds ripe plums. toss plums together with 1/2 c. sugar (may need to adjust based on the sweetness of the plums), 1/2 t. cinnamon, & 1 T. fresh lemon juice.

roll out the 2 pie crust disks & fit each into a pie pan...divide the plum filling & pour into the prepared crusts...dot each pie with 1/2 t. butter.

for the crumble topping...

*combine 1/2 c. flour, 1/2 c. oats, 1 c. brown sugar, 1/2 t. cinnamon...cut in 1/4 c. cold butter with a pastry cutter until it forms coarse crumbs...divide & sprinkle over each pie.

bake for 1 hour or until the pastry is golden brown & the plum juices are bubbling. enjoy!!

short on wednesday...

ok, ok!! absolutely no height comments allowed from those of you who know me & my height-challenged stature! by short i am referring to the what's cooking wednesday recipe... around here the strawberry season is in full swing& a special request from boyworld was strawberry shortcake. no problem! this recipe is based on one that i inherited from my aunt F. she & my aunt B. taught me all kinds of baking secrets in my teens & twenties. in my thirties my good friend B. helped me go a bit deeper with baking skills. & now...there is the internet with a whole world of information to help one hone culinary skills. today's recipe is a composite of all three...my aunt gave me the base recipe, B. suggested changing from milk to cream for the liquid, & somewhere along my internet recipe reading, i picked up the idea to use citrus zest in the batter.

& here is the end result...it received the boyworld seal of approval, as evidenced by the disappearance of the entire batch within 2 hours!

Strawberry Shortcake

preheat oven to 375 & prepare a baking sheet

mix together 1 3/4 c. flour, 5 T. sugar, 1 T. baking powder, & 2 pinches salt

cut in 1/4 cold butter until mix is crumbly with pea-size lumps

add 1 c. milk or cream (cream really does make a difference) & the zest from 1 lemon OR 1 orange...mix into a ball then knead 5-6 times on floured surface

roll dough & use a 2-3" round cutter...gather dough scraps & reroll until completely used

place on prepared baking sheet, brush tops with cream & sprinkle with raw sugar

bake 15-17 minutes, until lightly browned

serve with fresh berries & cream...may add sugar, mint &/or citrus zest to berries...LA DOLCE VITA!!!

what's cooking wednesday...

oh, hons...you seriously did not think i was cooking today, did you?!? no, thank you very much! i much prefer to let sweet italian chefs prepare my scrumptious meals& other gorgeous italian men plate the food& serve it to me! in that spirit, i am officially callin' this a what's eating wednesday (apologies to shan!...love ya, hon!)!! recipes will resume after we return stateside. in the meantime if you should be hankering for a recipe today...please visit shan for the master list. if you would prefer a teaser of venetian culinary delights, keep scrolling down! buon appetito a tutti!!

overheard...wise words edition & a perfect spring vegetable...

person addressing my child: "do you want to hear the truth..."

my child's wise response: "well, i don't want to hear a lie."

sounds good to me!

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what's cooking wednesday?? ha! i bet you thought i forgot about this in all the travel excitement...well~~ you're wrong! D.'s parents will be here any minute (they are staying in boyworld, lucky them!) & tonight it's pork tenderloin, mashed potatoes &...

roasted asparagus

clean asparagus...wash thoroughly & snap the tough ends by bending each stalk & allowing it to break naturally

place asparagus in a roasting pan with olive oil

finely chop 2 large cloves of garlic & place over asparagus

sprinkle with ginger (fresh, if you have it), fresh ground pepper & sea salt

dash soy sauce & a bit more olive oil over all & toss well

bake for 10-12 minutes at 375...remove & stir...bake another 10-12 minutes or until tender...enjoy!

chocolate...must have some!!!

from Easter Sunday through most of last week there was an abundant, fortunate flow of chocolate through casa piacere, but by the weekend some people (ok, it was mostly me!) were digging through Easter basket grass in search of those overlooked pieces. you know those pieces...the ones no one actually chooses on her own, but the same ones a desparate, starved chocoholic will settle for in a pinch!

saturday afternoon i had finally had enough...later that evening was the neighborhood girls' night & i knew with absolute certainty that i would make something chocolate! & because girls' night can be a bit on the late side (i really am a morning person), i decided to work in some form of coffee too. & because booze is fun for girls' night...kahlua seemed logical! the end result...

mocha madness brownies (originally found on epicurious, my adapted version)

preheat oven to 350 & butter/flour a 9 X 13 pan.

melt 1 c. unsalted butter & 6 oz. unsweetened chocolate (i used baker's) over very low heat or in microwave. allow to cool after completely melted.

beat together on high speed 4 large eggs, 2 1/2 c. sugar, 2 t. vanilla, 2 T. ground espresso (i used lavazza...NOT instant!), & 2-3 T. kahlua until thick & pale (a good 5 minutes).

beat chocolate mixture into egg mixture.

sift 1 1/2 c. flour, 1 t. baking powder, & 1/2 t. salt together & gradually add to chocolate mixture until just blended.

spread mixture into prepared pan & bake 30 minutes. these brownies are moist & chewy...store in an airtight container. serve them to your girlfriends often!

doorway to adventures...

rochambeau alerted readers last week to an artistic look at doors, hosted by Elizabeth at The House in Marrakesh and Frank Gardner of My Paintbox in Mexico & so i dug into my charleston (SC) photos to find these beauties...a former restaurant that has been closed for years on east bay st sports these lovelies...close up...a gorgeous guardian of the door: who wouldn't love this stately beast as a door knocker...& his neighbor is equally stunning...technically not a door, but certainly a beautiful entry into a secret garden...layers of doorway beauty...a peek of perfection...a stunning side door from one of the churces in the holy city...for dessert~~ who could resist a gelato door handle!...
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today is also...enter through the door della mia cucina for this week's recipe...

roasted sweet potatoes

peel & dice 2 large sweet potatoes

place in a baking dish with a layer of olive oil on the bottom

dice 1/2 a red onion & mix into diced potatoes

sprinkle pototoes with sea salt, fresh ground pepper, rosemary, & parmesan cheese

drizzle with more olive oil

toss to coat wellbake at 375 for 20-30 minutes or until potatoes are tender buon appetito~!

better late than never...

i know it's barely wednesday any longer, but at least i made it this week. plus, today's dish tastes fine on thursday too! ;-) why so late you might wonder...now that everyone's in fine form again, we've been playing catch up with neglected work (we are officially caught up!) & some new projects are underway. this week we have finally begun a long-awaited bathroom remodel. the first step is demolition of the old stuff.

you want to talk about high time in boyworld, baby...that's it! it safe to say that tonight everyone learned a little something new...for example, how to deconstruct the plumbing without causing a flood...what exactly lies behind the mysterious bathtub wall...& how to properly wield a crow bar to achieve maximum removal of old object without harming things that will remain. all in all...a very productive evening!

needless to say, all this manual labor brings on a hearty appetite & so tonight for what's cooking wednesday it was a...

cheesy pasta bake

cook 8 oz. pasta (i like whole wheat shells for this) & drain

melt 1/4 c. butter on low then stir in 4 T. flour til mixed well...add 2 c. milk & continue to stir until bechamel sauce is thickened...turn off heat & add nutmeg, salt & pepper to taste

add cooked pasta, 1/2 c. gruyere grated & 1/4 c. parmesan grated to bechamel sauce...mix well then place in a casserole dish

add a layer of gruyere & parmesan to top of dish...sprinkle with oregano

bake at 350 for 18-22 minutes

soup's on...

we seem to be swimming in soup around here these last few weeks! in recent months i have

been stumbling upon so many interesting recipes & that has been making D. very happy. tonight's choice was a clear winner...it has found its place in my "it's a keeper" recipe file!for what's cooking wednesday, it's...

cauliflower cheddar soup (slightly adapted from the Williams-Sonoma catalogue, with my deep gratitude!)

saute 1/2 yellow onion in a generous amount extra virgin olive oil until onion is tender

add one head of cauliflower (cut into florets), saute until light golden brownadd 5 c. chicken broth, 2 c. half & half, 2 t. sea salt, fresh ground pepper...bring all to a boil

reduce heat & simmer til cauliflower is easily pierced with fork

puree in food processor to desired texture then return to heat...add 1 c. shredded white cheddar

adjust seasonings to taste & heat through...serves 6-8up next in the kitchen...my world nutella day recipe that will do double duty for serving on super bowl sunday

tastes like chicken...

between travel, chasing snow & a good ol' winter cold on the weekend...& a mid-week double delight of today's italian class & tonight's puccini opera "tosca"...cooking is a bit light & rather predictable (according to boyworld, anyway!) this week.

in casa piacere predictable=chicken!

this what's cooking wednesday recipe is a recent experiment gone well...the dish Baby Girl dubbed "awesome chicken" over her holiday. it stands well on its own (& was a fine meat with last night's mashed potatoes & edamame) & it eases rather well into a chicken soup if you have leftovers (i make extra just for that purpose).

sorry...no photos...some very sweet men cleaned up the kitchen too quickly for me to get a shot. can't complain about that!!

awesome chicken

add extra virgin olive oil to a pan to cover the bottom...place 2 pounds split chicken breasts (boneless) in pan

whisk together 1/4 c. dijon mustard, 1/4 c. balsamic vinegar, juice squeezed from 1 lemon, 1/4 c. more olive oil, & 3 finely diced garlic cloves...drizzle over chicken

sprinkle chicken with fresh ground pepper & sea salt to your liking

bake at 400 for 30-40 minutes~~ it's that easy!

a state of being

in my stumbles around the blogosphere today i read..."you are what you do everyday."

what will i do today??

what am i?? what do i hope that i am? what am i called to be? am i living in that general direction?or am i wasting my perception on the reality of someone else? doing what another 'thinks' i should be doing? what mass media insists i 'should' be doing? ignoring the passion within my own soul?

once upon a time, the answer was a very sad "yes"...& then ever so slowly, i began to wake from this stupor. in quiet moments, i heard the soul-whisper of the Holy Spirit asking me deeper questions...i pondered those questions. i held them up to my life being lived.

things shifted.

i felt love & excitement well up inside my heart...little bits at first~~ then more & more...

i began to wake...to live~~~ with joy!!

the quote above, from my bloghopping, challenged me to ponder...i went back to what i wrote last summer in my profile: am i following God's will for my life? spending lots of time with my family? writing, traveling, cooking? immersing in italian?

my heart felt lighter after reading this. before i had written my profile, i thought about it for a few days. would my profile be goals i would hopefully attain? or would it really be me? from re-reading this i see more gifts to count...7. spending lots of time with D. & the children...each & every ordinary day...by phone or in person8. time to write & a beautiful, inspirational place to do it with a wonderful piece of machinery on which to do it...

9. travel dreams...planning that will, God-willing, bring us joy throughout this year & take us back to the place where i left some of my heart on the last trip ;)10. a kitchen that is more than enough, filled with bounty...a place that gives me joy, be it time to prepare something from scratch or simply re-heat a waiting treasure...

today it will be a re-heat of yesterday's scrumptious treasure. i found some lovely squash at the market just beckoning me to take them home. for a few days i could only allow them to languish on my counter, such was their beauty...

but soon, my conservative inner voice said: "you need to make them into a dish, lest they spoil." i miss their color on these winter days, but the soup they provided has been a fine compensation! what's cooking wednesday?...

roasted squash soup

to roast the squash...cut squash in half, drizzle the squash & a cookie sheet with olive oil, also drizzle squash with sea salt...roast cut side down for ~30-40 minutes at 375(skin will be shiny & you will be able to pierce squash with a knife when it is done)

after the squash is cooled, scoop out seeds & stringy center (save seeds to roast), then scoop the soft flesh for use in the soup

in olive oil over medium heat, saute 1/2 yellow onion & 3 garlic cloves til soft

add 2 c. roasted squash & 1/2 c. chicken stock...heat through

season with fresh ground pepper, sea salt & nutmeg...to taste

if you desire a softer soup, puree in food processor then reheat if needed

grate white cheddar or parmigiano-reggiano cheese into puree & serve

let's break bread together...

when we traded our sophisticated southern city digs for a return to the country life & D.'s grad school, we thought at first that we had moved in a backward direction. not so! both of us grew up in fairly rural areas & being back in the country became a breath of fresh air...literally! & this particular move found us surrounded by some lovely farmland & even more lovely folks working it. the farm across the road was of great interest to our then-small children (ages 2, 4, 7 & 8). watching the farmer plow with a team of mules held their attention for many hours.

this was also the time we began homeschooling the girls. i took direction from their natural zest for learning about everything around them & began to call upon folks who lived in our area. we visited a sheep farm run by a woman who also spun, dyed & wove her own wools into the most beautiful creations. we visited a goat farm to learn about the care of the animals, their milking & the making of goat cheese (yum!). we visited & rode at a newly established horse farm. & finally, we went across the country road to ask the dairy farmer if we could visit there too.

the wonderful family working the farm graciously offered my children & i a "field trip" that changed our entire stay in that area. B. & her husband were a young amish couple with children the same ages as our children. over the year & a half that we lived there, B. & i forged a friendship that i hold so dear in my heart. we shared work, errands, children's play times, meals, & some sad times. i learned more about cooking & baking & preserving in that short time than i did in all the years preceding.

as our lives change, B. & i remain in touch the old-fashioned way...letters & a very occasional visit when i return to PA. & i think of her every time i use one of her delicious recipes...

the very favorite thing i learned to make in B.'s kitchen was whole wheat bread.kneading this bread is a very tangible connection to the countless women before me who have done the very same thing. the rhythm of kneading calms my spirit. the baking of this bread is warms the heart & soul of all nearby...certainly it is the aroma of heaven, or at the very least, heaven's kitchen! the children, still to this day, cannot wait to slice & butter a piece of it. if only i could post the aroma for you to enjoy. but for what's cooking wednesday, the recipe will have to do...

whole wheat bread

in a large bowl mix together 3-1/2 c. warm water, 2 T. yeast, 1/2 c. olive oil, & 1/2 c. honey, let this mix set for 15 minutes to form a sponge

after 15 minutes, add 1 egg (beaten) & 1 T. salt to the sponge, mixing well

then add approx. 7-8 c. whole wheat flour to the mix...turn onto a floured board & knead for approx. 5 minutes

place dough in a large greased bowl & let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes

after 30 minutes punch the dough down & let rise 30 more minutes.

grease 2 large & 3 small baking pans...add dough to each pan & let rise one more time (15-30 minutes)bake at 350 for approx. 30 minutes...cool on racks...slice as soon as possible & slather with butter!