Therapy

Sometimes I just need a day in the kitchen. A whole day devoted to nothing but food. Simple every day tasks done one after another. Seeing my accomplishments on the counter in front of me. It is very good for the soul. And the belly.

 

I had been given a whole lot of tomatoes from our Hutterite friends. They were all picked green. Not a splash of red to be found. Paul asked why they did this and they replied: "Just have your wife put them on the window sill until they are red. Then taste them. Then ask me the same question." And so I did.

Some of them started to shrivel the slightest bit  before they turned red. They were still very firm. After they ripened It was time to eat them. I gently seeded one and cut it up into eighths, drizzled it with extra virgin olive oil, coarse salt and ground pepper. Oh my it was delicious.

We ate tomatoes every day for a week. When I realized I couldn't use them all up before they were over ripe I roasted the rest with olive oil, salt, pepper, chopped onion and minced garlic. Put the works in a slow oven for an hour and a half and stored them in jars in the freezer. Some time in the depths of winter I will bring them out to toss with pasta and top with some parmigiano reggiano. And this taste will come flooding back. I do love a good tomato.

I also got my hands on some beets. I still have borscht on hand so I roasted them whole. After an hour or so the skins slip right off. They, too are in jars but in the fridge. They are ready to use in salads or for pickling or to be roasted with olive oil, salt and pepper and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar. I love beets too. And cabbage. Fried cabbage. Oh my. So simple and so very tasty.

 

 

I had several bananas in the freezer and so I made a few loaves of banana bread. We you would have thought I made a black forest cake! Paul and Athena gobbled it up. Funny, I didn't even know they liked it. I am not a consistent dessert maker but this I'll make again and again. So simple and so delicious.

Banana Bread

1 cup flour
1/4 tsp baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon
1/8 tsp cloves
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup plain yogurt or sour cream
1/4 cup sour cream
2 Tbsp butter
vanilla
1 large egg
2 bananas

Mix gently. Do not over mix. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes.
Makes one loaf.