Photo of the Week – July 27, 2011 – Topless Blueberry Pie
This pie would have been even better if I had managed to serve it without flipping over the first slice I cut. Tragic.
Peppers and Eggs
We stopped at a farmer’s market on the way home from the beach on Sunday. The produce was so colorful and aromatic and well-priced that Joe and I went a little crazy buying it all up. I think the best part of our purchases were the bell peppers. They were so very pepper-y and seductive that Joe turned to me and suggested we make peppers and eggs for dinner. What? No Sunday pasta? I was a little surprised that my traditional husband would break the “rules” of Italian households, but this may very well have been the next best thing to eating pasta on Sunday.
Peppers and eggs scream Italian soul food to me. Served on fresh Italian bread (luckily the farm stand sold great bread), it’s the embodiment of comfort food to me. As I was growing up, eggs and all sorts of additions were regular lunch items in our house. Tomatoes and eggs, pepperoni and eggs, mozzarella and eggs and, most often, peppers and eggs. It was also the perfect conclusion to a day at the beach because peppers and eggs were a regular item in our beach picnic basket.
As expected, when I served this dinner, the girls both groaned. Similarly, they both finished their sandwiches. As Annie said, “the bread is good, so it makes the rest okay.” And just like that, I don’t ever need to worry about making peppers and eggs again.
P.S. The red chard didn’t go over as well.
Clam Chowder
See the bunnies swimming in the chowder? That’s how you can tell it’s a seafood soup, because of the orange floating crackers. I know, you expected to see goldfish swimming in the soup, but aren’t these even cuter? When Joe first looked in his bowl, he thought they were swimming men – cute of him to think that, not so cute in the soup.
But let’s get to the meat, er clams, of this dinner. This was Louisa’s soup for last week, made a day later than her usual Friday because Joe and I had grownup plans that night – woohoo! Not that I wouldn’t have loved the clam chowder on Friday, dear Louisa, but it gave me something to look forward to on Saturday. And it was so worth the wait. Preparations began in the morning when I headed out to buy the clams (you can’t buy fresh clams days before making the soup, they’d turn a bit unpleasant in the refrigerator). Nope, fresh clams needed to be bought fresh. As I headed out, Joe asked me why I didn’t just get the canned variety? Because we’re worth the fresh clams, by golly, that’s why. And if Louisa’s going to learn anything about making clam chowder, she needs fresh clams.
Luckily I found them, fresh and sweet, at my closest supermarket – I wasn’t going to drive the round trip to Whole Foods in 150 degree temperatures if I didn’t have to. I purchased the two dozen she needed for a mere $5.99 a pound, putting to rest any concerns over the outrageous expense of fresh clams that Joe may have been harboring. No, clams are inherently cheap, just better fresh than in the can.
The remainder of Saturday disappeared as Joe and I drove around for hours in a futile hunt for things that we later picked up on Amazon. Nothing like a little spousal bonding in 150 degree temperatures. While we were out, Louisa began calling me wondering when we’d get back so she could start her soup. I kept telling her soon, because I thought it would be, but instead we kept driving around town in our futile quest for things that could be found on Amazon. I received the final call when we really were about 10 minutes from home, but in her impatience to get started, Louisa informed me that she had already peeled and chopped the potatoes for the soup. So much for that cooking lesson.
On arriving home, I found the clams already washed and in the pot, as well. There really wasn’t a lot left to prepare. There was a little chopping for the onion and celery, and the clams that needed cooking and removal from the shell. There was the simmering of the vegetables in the heavy cream and clam broth, and the addition of a few spices too. But aside from a little help moving the hot liquids in and out of the Aga ovens (a skill that I’m still wary about allowing the girls to do on their own), Louisa pretty much pulled the whole thing together for a second terrific soup dinner last week. And since we keep the house set at 50 degrees to counteract the 15o degrees outside, hot soup was a rather pleasant dinner after a long, futile day of local shopping.