Fresh Tart

So, I mentioned below that on the 4th, Stu The Wine Genius made the most delicious shrimp appetizer - a saltimbocca of sorts, shrimps and fresh sage wrapped in pancetta and grilled. We devoured them. Enter a craving... When my car died on Monday, it cut out a grocery run that would have included a stop by Whole Foods for some wild-caught Key West shrimp. No! Luckily, John was able to stop on his way home, although I forgot to specify what size shrimp to pick up... Turns out he grabbed the smaller version, too small to individually wrap and grill, so I innovated last night and sauteed the pancetta and sage until crisp, sauteed the shrimp with lots of garlic and fresh lemon juice, and served the shrimp topped with the crispy pancetta and sage. Damn tasty if I do say so myself. (Recipe posted in comments, below.)

As I also mentioned below, My Minxes and their girls came over on Tuesday to swim with Nathan and me. Man did we luck out with a stunning day, perhaps the best so far this summer. We had a super-simple lunch - grilledhot dogs, chips, and strawberries - but I also made a batch of gazpacho for us ladies. I adore cold, crunchy, spicy, salty gazpacho, it really hit the spot on a hot, sunny day. I dare say that Kim & Suz agreed. Thanks for a perfect day, girlfriends! (Recipe posted in comments, below.)

Tonight, my friend Michelle (she of Cancun in March and UW-Madison in 1987) will be here in the Minneapple on business from the Big Apple. Yay! I'm thinking grilled salmon over couscous with dill vinaigretteand pine nuts, inspired by the to-die-for version (pictured here) at The Post Ranch in Big Sur which I ordered for lunch two days in a row. (As I write this, I send up a little prayer for the town of Big Sur to escape the fires raging at its door, sigh.)

Moderate it: gazpacho is a delicious way to eat your veggies, and it's quick to make too (no cooking, just some chopping). Make it crunchy, or puree and sip from cups - either way (or a combo of both, that's how I make it), it's a delicious way to use up the abundance of tomatoes and cukes that are about to hit us at a garden, farmstand, or CSA veggie share near you. Can't wait!

Humid. Humid air makes humid armpits and humid hair (evil, frizz) and for me, a dangerously humid mood. I know, I know, I blather about the weather (and its effect on my mood, hair) almost more than I blather about food. What can I say? Perhaps it's the farmer in my blood, even if three generations removed...but my mood mos def bends with the breeze. (The pic is from John's parents' home in EH, which since it's beachy can generate humidity...almost like Minnesota. And so I ask - without ocean, why on God's humid earth does is get so friggin' humid here? Man, talk about pain with no gain, damn.)

Humid moods are not helped by car trouble. I was just plain lucky to make it home today as my car completely freaked out on my way back from a (humid, sweaty) walk - tomorrow morning it's being towed to the shop, sniff.

Oh look, it's now raining, just as I'm about to step onto the deck to grill a couple of trout fillets. The ones John had to pick up on his way home because...I don't have a car. Despite it's obvious wetness, I won't really complain about rain since we quite need it.

Back to the trout...I'll serve it alongside (drum roll), more new potato-green bean salad. Can you tell that I made quite a bit of it? Hey, waste not want not, even if the fam (and frankly, I) is (am/are) a bit tired of new potatoes + green beans. Tonight I'll dice the pieces a bit smaller and saute them in a small amount of olive oil until just-browned. Already seasoned with onion and fresh basil, they should make a tasty accompaniment to simply grilled fish. Nice? Yes. No complaints about trout, potatoes, and green beans for dinner, but of course.

OK, time to take my humid self to bed. Tomorrow, The Maven and Metal Mommy, aka My Minxes, with their mini-me daughters in tow, are coming to swim. It was either tomorrow or a day in August - the only two days this entire summer that worked for us all to get together! Luckily we were also able to sneak away for din last night, to Luci Ancora in St. Paul, just the three (er, maxi-me's) of us. With lovely food (polenta, pastas), and lots of time to chat, pool time tomorrow is just icing on a fabulous cake.

Even if I don't have a car (grumble). Sleep tight!

Moderate it: you know, I've tried every anti-humidity, straightening hair product on the market... None of them work completely, although a few help - Phytodefrisant, Kiehl's Heat-Protective, Silk-Straightening Cream, Graham Webb Stick Straight Gel. Apply one, two, or even all three (yep, I've done it) before grilling trout in the rain. Good luck.

Glorious day, eh? Wow, spectacular. What a difference a break in the humidity makes - the air positively sparkles in this late-summer sun. Saucy Suz and her kids, Vivian and Sullivan, came over for a lovely swim today, and we just soaked it all in, knowing - and feeling, for the first time - that September is right around the corner. Sniff.

Tonight, John and I had big plans to go out for Date Night, but after I picked up my LaFinca veggie share, and saw all the lovely possibilities (carrots, new potatoes, baby cabbage, arugula, tomatoes, green beans), I called John and said, Dude, let's eat here! Nothing can beat a fresh vege-ful dinner on our own deck on a night as spectacular as this! So John's happily picking up a couple of killer NY Strips at Byerly's on his way home, and I'm roasting those new potatoes with fresh rosemary, garlic, coarse salt, and oil (400 degrees, for about 45 minutes, turn several times) until they're crispy little bombs, perfect for a dippy-poo in cool, creamy sour cream. Yeah, baby! Chopped arugula salad with lots of shaved Parm and cracked pepper, alongside tomato slices, should finish us off nicely. I'd better get to it, tee hee!

Well, I got to it, and it rawked! Especially with the Cain Five 2003 we sipped with all the tasties, ooooh, Napa Nice. And XM Satellite Radio tuned to the 70s, ha, I love it. We could hardly make a dent in the Cain Five, however, with its high alcohol content, ack. Too early to be drinking it, but we went ahead anyhow (decanted it a couple of times) with at least a bit of it, and it was delicious.

Tomorrow, I gotta come up with some way to use the 10 + cukes I now have in my fridge. Sauteed? Raita? Greek salad? All of the above? Ha. Stay tuned...

Baseball Moms and their boys were here last Sunday (sheesh, it's already Thursday, I'm behind!) for a sunny, splashy day of play and snacks and chat. So FUN! We had my favorite type of food day - potluck, baby, with yummy dips and spreads (Sonja's Gorgeous Cheeseball!) and chips and bars and pie. And hot dogs (Nathan's Famous) on the grill, of course, can't swim without the 'dogs. And coldbeer, can't have Baseball Moms without cold beer. All good, my friends, all good.

The rest of the week? With a bounty of zucchini from my veggie share, and access to absolutely divine tomatoes, we've enjoyed a couple rounds of a super easy zucchini-tomato gratin, based on the filling of the Summer Tomato-Zucchini Tart recipe I posted last summer. Lighter (no crust, just zucchini, tomatoes, garlic, onion, mozzarella, olive oil, herbs, and salt, baked until melting and crispy on top), yet every bit as delicious, especially cooled to just-warm and served alongside a crusty baguette. Or pasta. Or rice. Something to soak up all the gorgeous, garlicky juices. To. Die For. (Recipe posted in comments, below.)

Two down, one to go! Woo hooooo, we are party central again this weekend! Friday night we were invited to dinner by a family at Nathan's new school. So fun - cool people, lovely home, great kids, and delicious wine and food. Salmon, fresh herbs and vegetables, a drizzle of lemon juice and olive oil, all wrapped up in foil and passed over the grill. We opened up the individual packets to find perfectly moist and fragrant fish, with lovely juices that flowed handily over to the pile of rice waiting patiently on the other side of the plate. Yum. I baked and brought a Cherry Tart with Almond Crust, with fresh cherries as well as fresh peaches and blueberries. Good stuff.

Then yesterday, another pool-and-wine party with Debbie and Stu The Wine Genius (Rudy and Ana are in the Hamptons, poor souls, ha). Sooooo fun, a gorgeous, hot day, perfect for floating and sipping. And eating! Stu and Debbie brought two Turley wines, in honor of our Napa trip (and stay at Larry Turley's home), both delicious. In the pool we drank the white, a 2003 The White Coat, a rich blend, quite golden and delicious. With dinner we drank a 2004 Lodi Zinfandel, from the Dogtown Vineyard (not the one we overlooked), fantastic. Tasted just like Napa, sigh.

After a quick shower, it was time to get some food on! I started by grilling bread for a quick appetizer, served alongside hard salami, roasted peppers, and olive tapenade from the deli. For a first course I made a red cabbage salad - red cabbage sauteed until wilted and then tossed with crispy bacon and a warm shallot dressing and topped with a warm, breaded goat-cheese medallion. Crunchy, creamy, salty, gorgeous - all the good stuff (recipe in comments, below). And for dinner I grilled a couple racks of lamb chops, cut into two-chop pieces before smearing them with a mixture of minced garlic, mint, oregano, rosemary, and tarragon (the herbs on my deck) bound with a bit of olive oil. Alongside I grilled Potatoes on the Grill, or more accurately, La Finca Veggies and Potatoes on the Grill, because I threw in carrots, fennel, green pepper, and onion, all from my veggie share this week. For dessert I had baked a Lemon Picnic Cake (lemon cake soaked in lemon icing, yum; recipe in comments, below), withwhipped cream and raspberry sauce. Uff, we were stuffed as we chatted in the dark, watching the pool lights shimmer eerily off the trees, while Nathan took a pre-bedtime dip.

So! Now it's Sun-day, and time for a Baseball Moms and Players Swimming Party! Another hot sunny day, perfect for grillin' some 'dogs, eating lots of salty chips and appetizers, drinking ice cold beer, munching on cookies and bars, and chatting the afternoon/evening away while the boys raise hell in the pool. Yeah, baby!

Moderation? Mwahahaha...

The day started nicely - I dropped Nathan at golf, then went for a lovely walk in the North Tyrol Hills neighborhood of Golden Valley (I walk all sorts of cool Minneapolis-area neighborhoods, especially the hilly ones; much more interesting to me than walking around the lakes and more potential for torching cals). Then off to Byerly's for a few tasties in preparation for a Golf-Moms-and-Kids lunch and swim here at the hacienda, with Kris and her boys Nick and Andy, Suzanne and her boys John and Tommy, Susie and her kids Sam and Jane, and of course Nathan. Another great day for a swim - hot and sunny, but not humid at all, so we moms had a lovely chat while the kids swam and played. We had a very simple lunch - salad and hot dogs and chips and fruit, all anyone wants on a summer afternoon. After everyone said their good-byes, Nathan and I had a nice game of volleyball in the pool, and I thought I was heading into a light dinner and early bedtime. But no...

...I "let" John talk me into (twist my arm, yeah, ha) heading out for tapas and a glass of wine at Solera. So I put on some makeup, and a cute top, and heels, and a little bling, and off we went, back downtown (for him), and enjoyed a fabulously not-moderate dinner. Ham & manchego on tomato bread...shrimp croquetas...potatoes in spicy tomato sauce...braised green beans...chocolate cake... It was all absolutely delicious, particularly the potatoes and green beans, eaten together, rarrr... Quite filling, uff. We worked it off with a lovely drive home around Cedar Lake - so idyllic, with the windows rolled down, man it smells like summer tonight and I will miss that smell in just a few short months. Damn, but it goes too fast.

So now, yawn, it's definitely bedtime. Unless I motivate for a dusky walk, hmmm, that might make me feel better about all those tasties. We'll see how loudly that bed calls my name as I walk by to get my walking shoes...

A relaxing, mellow Saturday today - hot as hell, but that's OK. It was a good day to not have to do much of anything, given how tired I am from staying up so late last night. Why oh why do I do it? I know that I'm too old for such shenanigans...but there I am anyhow, closing down the house, chatting and noshing and sipping away. It's the party-girl in me, the Badger Gamma Phi, the Kollege Klub Dr. Shots...suburban mommy, yes, but the party girl lingers just below the surface. (And she sure is feeling her age, ouch.)

John and I had such a lovely morning babysitting our nephew, Cooper. He played, and chatted, and played some more before eating lunch and getting very, very tired (as in head resting on the highchair tray tired). Post-lunch, he absolutely crashed in Nathan's cool, dark room for a long afternoon's slumber. I was actually jealous. Of a sleeping one-year old. Yeah.

But instead of napping myself, I headed out to the pool. I know I'm getting more than a little repetitive here. But hey, what can I say? It was 97 degrees out there today, with 40% humidity, and not much of a breeze, so into the pool we went. First just John and me, then Nathan joined us, then our neighbors the Hatzungs joined us too, and away we all cruised (and splashed!) into cocktail hour and then dinner, with a quick (and delicious!) delivered pizza (thank you, Hatzungs!) supplemented with a salad (thank you, La Finca CSA veggie share!). Now, it's bedtime, man, dang I'm tired. This party girl is all partied out. Until tomorrow...

What can I say? Another lovely summer day. Sometimes Minnesota sneaks up on you and is a damn nice place to live. Sun, sun, and more sun! Visits (and jumps into the pool) with our neighbors the Hatzungs, and Nathan's friend Emmett (who spent the night last night after the close of our baseball season), and Stacey Pooh and Cooper too - all good. At some point I whipped over to Byerly's for, yes, more great steaks...and this time I didn't over-grill them - yay! - so they were juicy pink-n-prrrrfect. We ate 'em on the deck, with nothing more than a big salad. When you've got perfect steaks, it's worth keeping the rest simple.

And for dessert? 'Cuz you've got to have dessert to honor such a gorgeous day...strawberry shortcake, oh my. Everyone lovesstrawberry shortcake, including The Coopster! No secret recipe here - Pillsbury (frozen) Buttermilk Biscuits, hot out of the oven and filled with lots of fresh strawberries sweetened with a pinch of sugar, and lots and lots and LOTS of freshly whipped and sweetened cream. Summer Heaven...

I had such a nice Father's Day it could have been Mother's Day! Romantically floating in the pool, pretty much all damn day. So yes, John's dream day, especially when Nathan joined us too. Lots of chatting, good tunes, insane amounts of sun, and eventually a dry off and dinner on the patio at Bacio. Their version of crispy fried shrimps is quite delicious - with just the thinnest dusting of Parmesan and flour, they come to the table searingly hot and crisp, served alongside a cool, creamy homemade tartar sauce as well as a zingy-with-horseradish cocktail sauce. Mmmm...

Today? I am TOAST, no more sun for me for at least a few days, ack. Instead, I'm in full-on driving mode as of this morning - let the camps begin! Golf league and basketball so far today, with a baseball game later this evening. Dinner plans are obvious - leftover steak (yum) and a big salad with the first load of my LaFinca CSA veggies. Mixed greens including lots o'arugula, radishes, scallions, and fresh dill from a pot on my deck. Crumble of feta, few sizzling slices of steak, and it's all good.