Best Salad for Potlucks

Summer potluck season is winding down, but you never know when you want an easy, tasty salad that can handle no refrigeration.  I got this recipe from my Aunt Elena, after walking around a reunion carrying the empty bowl, looking for the person who made the delicious salad.  She did.  And now I do too.

Curried Couscous Salad

Stir together in heat-proof bowl:
1 3/4 cups couscous
2 1/4 cups boiling water
1 Tbsp. curry powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
juice and zest of half an orange
3/4 cup sweetened, dried cranberries.

Stir occasionally until water is absorbed (10ish minutes).

Add:
3 Tbsp. olive oil
4 scallions, chopped
handful chopped parsley
juice and zest of half a lemon
3/4 cup toasted, chopped walnuts
fresh ground pepper, to taste

Serve at room temperature.

I almost finished the leftover salad until I remembered to take a photo - and then I was running around the house doing something related to laundry or canning.

The Rise and Fall of the Potholder Loom

Genevieve has completed 2 potholders of the random bright variety.  She has a serious stash of the fabric loops, thanks to A's creative reuse shop.  Most of the time, Genevieve plays with the loops as bracelets, toe sandals, toy food, and any manner of odd placements.

One evening, after too much socializing, I came home jangled and snatched that loom and made a potholder, playing with the colors with a bit of intention.  It was marvelously soothing.  I still get a little soothe when I handle the potholder in the kitchen.

And when Genevieve realized I had co-opted her loom, she started another potholder. . . only to lose interest at the first frustration.  I helped her untangle and restart, but she still put it aside.

I hope that she learns the rewards of following a creative burn through to the finish. . .but I think she's too young for me to push it.

However, those little Colonial girls were stitching samplers by Ben's age. . . .

What I Got From a Bushel of Tomatoes

This is a bushel of tomatoes, folks. In my urban shopping cart.  Two boxes, $7 each this year (it varies from $4-8, depending on the growing year).  

I fetched the tomatoes from market early one morning, came home and fed my family breakfast, then went back to do the regular market shopping with Ben in tow, his eye on treats from the standholders.  I did not can tomatoes that day, in case you wondered.

First, pizza sauce from the Simply in Season recipe.  I do not bother to peel the tomatoes - just whiz them in the food processor.

Now, after a few hours of simmering, the sauce is richer and darker.  A friend stopped by in the evening to work on our ailing laptop, and sniffed the air so appreciatively. 

Then, I set aside the good part of Thursday to deal with the rest of the tomatoes.  First I made salsa, again using a Simply in Season recipe.  I think that for the fourth year in a row, I still did not add enough hot peppers.  Hot peppers are just so darn unpredictable!

Then the remaining tomatoes were peeled and canned as whole tomatoes - just cored, peeled, and smushed down in jars.  Ben, age 3, washed and fetched all the tomatoes for me.  Genevieve, almost 6 years old, peeled many of the tomatoes!  I dunked them in the boiling water, then in the cool dishpan water.  She fished them out and peeled them with her fingers.   Wonderful children.

From a bushel of tomatoes, I got:

12 pints pizza sauce
11 pints salsa
16 quarts whole tomatoes

And now, the final things on my 2011 canning list are apple chutney (also from Simply in Season) and applesauce.  Welcome, autumn!

Lemon Zucchini Cornmeal Cookies

The recent favorite at our house - a Martha Stewart recipe that was just odd enough I had to try it. No leavening, no eggs. Cornmeal in cookies? Bake at 325 for 25 minutes?  My interest was piqued.

They are lovely, buttery cookies with that refreshing lemon and a nice crunch from the cornmeal.

See how excited Genevieve is?  She was demonstrating her love for "the best cookies ever!"  I have some secreted in the freezer - think I'll put them in her first-day-of-school lunch as a love note.  And that whole business of packing lunches for my school girl deserves a post in itself.  Hoo boy.

Ok, back to the kitchen full of tomatoes and jars.

Our Very Own Ice Cream

My friend Crystal told me about her Donvier ice cream maker - not electric, but not dependent on ice and salt and constant cranking either.  I've drooled over ice cream recipes on the internet long enough.  When I trolled ebay and found one for $17, I snapped it up.

I used the uncooked basic vanilla recipe in the little booklet.

We ate it with fresh peaches.  I am so pleased that the ice cream was made with local cream, eggs, and milk, and that it only makes a quart at a time.

So, what flavor should we try next?

Making a Modest Hemline

Suddenly I realized that I was avoiding a favorite dress because it felt too short.

I took a cue from Eva and added a colored band to the hem.  However, I made the band extra-long, pinned it around evenly, and then just ruffled it as I went along.

My husband opined that I should use a bit of that solid poppy red elsewhere in the dress, so I used the last scrap as a belt.  I was going to sew it to a buckle, but I like the spontaneous nature of the little square knot.

I did not paint my toes to match my dress, but I was amused by the view from my Sunday afternoon nap.

Squirreling It Away

I know my list of what I want to preserve this summer (crossed out the ones I did):

1.  approx. 20 quarts tomatoes
2. 1/2 bushel apples into sauce
3. 6 dozen corn
4.  pesto
5. 1 batch Simply in Season salsa
6. half-batch pimentos
7.  sour cherries
8.  blueberries
9.  approx. 18 boxes strawberry freezer jam
10.  approx. 8 quarts dill pickles
11. 1 batch apple chutney (Simply in Season)
12.  1 batch pizza sauce (Simply in Season)
13.  mint jelly

Compared to last summer, this is light.  But added to my job this summer, it's a lot.

Got my 6 dozen corn last week.

 The children husked it with me, and Ben stayed around and asked to help more.  Yes, please!

On to tomatoes and peaches this week.  I only got a peck of peaches, so I think I might just freeze them instead of hauling out the canner.