Brown Rice and Assorted Goodness (Green Tea Soup)

I am always disappointed when December 26th rolls around. All the wonderful parts of our faith that are so meaningful this time of year, advent, parties, music, beauty, special foods, lights, and time with family, seem to cease so abruptly. To some folks the 26th of December is all about more shopping at the malls looking for deals that eluded them prior to Christmas. Don't take me to the mall! I am not fond of shopping and I am less fond of crowds.

In past times, Christmas day merely commenced more days of meaning. Remember the song "Good King Wenseczslaus looked out on the Feast of Stephen?" Well, the Feast of Stephen is December 26th. The "twelve days of Christmas" refer to the days of the interval beginning with December 25th and ending with January 6th, the feast day of "Epiphany." In France and Mexico January 6th is also known as "Three Kings Day," when presents are exchanged in honor of gifts brought to the Christ Child or "Krist Kindl" (sound familiar?).

I am having no problem extending and enjoying the season. I and Sam drove through the very cold southwest to Denver. The mercury hovered around 10 degrees for most of our drive till we reached Albuqurque where it was a balmy 28 degrees. For two southern California boys our blood felt a little thin. Denver has a foot of snow, it is cold, and it is still Christmas. We now celebrate Christmas all over again, as well as the conjoined birthdays of Iris and Lydia.

I brought another group of gifts to the Farrens family which we will all share. Gifts of meat. Standing beef rib roast, crown roast (or "prime rib") of pork, and pork tenderloin. We might as well keep the feasting going as well. I'll write about preparing those later. Last night was Pork tenderloin, green beans, and brown rice.

My grand-daughters Lydia and Iris are brown rice eating machines. Iris (1 year old) ate a full two cup portion. They also like it for breakfast. Brown rice is much more healthy for you as all the fiber is still present, and has been processed much less. The down side to brown rice? It takes pretty much forever to cook. No "minute rice" is available in brown. To speed things up slightly, use short grain, but plan on one hour of cooking time. What do you do with the leftovers? Try this yummy soup.

Green Tea Soup (jasmine tea may be substituted and is quite delicious as well)

2 cups short grain brown rice

1 tsp salt

1 package toasted seasoned Nori

1 lb lean white fish, black cod, halibut, rockfish, or other (cubed into 1" pieces)

2 green onions

2 tbsp sesame oil

2 tbsp tamari soy sauce

2 tbsp fish sauce

2 tbsp oyster sauce

1/2 tsp red chile flakes

2 tsp rice vinegar

8 teaspoons bulk green tea (or 8 teabags)

2 cups chicken stock

1 tsp black sesame seeds

1) Prepare brown rice or retrieve your leftover brown rice.

2)Slice nori into 1/4 inch strips. Set aside. Slice green onions including white parts into diaganol 1/2 slices. Set aside.

3) Prepare green tea with 8 cups water.

4) Add tea, rice, chicken stock, fish, and all other ingredients to a large stock pot.

5) Quickly bring all ingredients to a boil, then turn heat immediately to low. Allow to rest on low for twenty minutes. Serve and enjoy.

* you can also add a very lightly poached egg to each bowl of soup just prior to serving for beauty and delicious extra notes of flavor

Side Dishes/ Rissotto'd Orzo

I am not sure who originated this rule, but it seems to live in the heart of every red-blooded American. Dinner is a rather trinitarian affair, even if you do not believe in Trinitarian theology, or have any sort of theology. What do I mean? Think of the meals you ate growing up. Think about the meals you prepare. Meat, fish, or chicken, with vegetable, and a startch. The starch can be potato, rice, or pasta. Gets pretty boring, doesn't it?

It was in the spirit of doing something different that I created this recipe. I know, I know, orzo is a pasta, and therefore still a starch. I guess I am not ready to totally break with convention just yet. I really like rissotto, but it takes forever to make. You can make this in around fifteen-twenty minutes.

Orzo Risotto

4 Tbsp butter
2 chopped shallots
2 garlic cloves
2 cups orzo pasta
4 cups chicken stock
1 cup water
2 T white wine
1 tsp salt
1 tsp lemon zest
Finely chopped fresh thyme
Finely chopped flat parsley
Parmesan cheese for garnish

Saute shallots and garlic in butter. Add wine, stirring ingredients. Add pasta. Brown pasta in the butter until toasty and lightly browned. Add water while stirring over med-med/high heat. Continue to stir and add water till it is absorbed, continue stirring, adding chicken stock. As stock is absorbed, continue stirring and adding stock. At about the fifteen minute mark, taste the pasta. Pasta should retain some firmness. Add lemon zest, herbs, and cheese.

Serve. Serves 8.

Side Dishes/ Pecan Praline Green Beans

I am a child of the sixties. I was born in '58. I don't think "cuisine" had been invented yet. It was the days of "meat and potatoes" and the nascent frozen food industry. T.V. dinners were just coming into their own, T.V. trays were necessary so the family could sit in front of the boob tube and consume their victuals. Not much nutrition there. Not much family time around the table either.

Every mom knew in her heart that meat and potatoes were not a balanced meal. Enter the vegetable. Not fresh from the garden, not even fresh from the factory farm. I can't remember ever buying fresh vegetables. We had canned vegetables. They were utterly wretched. Speaking of wretched, that is what the sight, smell, and taste of them caused in me; wretching. They were soooooooo bad. The worst of the worst: canned peas and canned green beans. Is it any wonder I ate no vegetables until I reached my teens?

Well, I became a parent, and I too realized that children should eat their vegetables. Green beans included. What to do? Raise your own green beans. They are easy to grow, and nothing tastes better than fresh from the vine green beans, eaten the same day they were picked. A french chef friend of mine was so impressed that I was growing green, yellow, and purple "green beans" that I thought he would cry. He said "I haven't seen these since I left France." Kids will eat veggies much more readily if they "know"their food. Seeding, watering, feeding, and picking one's own veggies will make them taste immeasureably better.

If you can't convince people to eat their green beans for their own sake, buy Garlic Green Beans from SPICY CITY chinese restaurant in Kearny Mesa. Their garlic green beans are the best I have ever had from a restaurant. Or, make these for them. I developed this recipe for our kids who would have nothing whatever to do with green beans under any circumstances. Our son Sam and son-in-law Jerry were avowed green bean haters, and shockingly, always have seconds of these. Pair these green beans as a side dish with the salmon with honey mustard sauce. Enjoy.

Pecan Praline Green Beans

2/3 pound green beans
4 slices bacon
1 shallot
2 cloves garlic
¾ cup chopped pecans or pine nuts
2 T balsamic vinegar
2 T brown sugar
2 T butter

Green beans can be steamed ahead till just tender when pierced with the end of a knife.
Cook bacon. Set aside. Drain grease, leaving perhaps 1 tsp drippings. Saute shallot and garlic in pan, add nuts, stirring to toast. Add balsamic to deglaze pan. Add brown sugar along with 2 T water. Add Butter. Toss steamed green beans to cover with sauce.

Farewell Diliya/ Grilled Salmon with Honey Mustard Glaze

Last night we had such a lovely dinner with two of our dearest friends and fellow workers in the work of Christ Jesus, Scott and Mary Davidson. Also present for a fond farewell supper was our new friend Diliya from Uzbekhistan. I am amazed at the way God puts new friends together, but more than friends, family and fellow heirs of the blessings of being children of our Lord together in all the riches of Jesus Christ.

What do you serve for a farewell meal? The options were beef prime rib, crown rack of pork rib (not something likely to be served in Uzbekh, a muslim country), or salmon (Uzbekh, is also utterly and completely landlocked, so seafood is rare). You can't get salmon in Uzbekh, and Diliya really likes seafood. So salmon it is.

Seafood is also the menu choice for Italian Christmas eve meals. Although I have not one drop of Italian blood, in my heart, I am at least half Italian. I have prepared this salmon for Christmas eve a few times and it is always a hit.

Grilled Salmon with Honey Mustard Sauce

Four to five ounce portions of salmon.

(Farmed is now 7.99 per pound at Costco! At that price go to Trader Joe’s for flash frozen shrink wrapped wild caught salmon. Each species of western salmon has a different color, taste, and texture. DO NOT BUY: anything labeled Keta, Johnson Straight, or silverbrite salmon. These are marketing euphemisms for a species called chum or dog salmon by the locals in Alaska, because it was worthy of using for chum for better species or to feed to the sled dogs.

4 4-5 oz portions salmon filets, lightly seasoned with salt and pepper and just a hint of garlic powder

Wood chunks and smoking box for the gas grill

2 tbsp Dijon or your preferred type mustard (for San Diego locals use Raspberry/wasabi mustard from the Julian Cider Mill in Julian, CA. It brings some amazing complex flavors to the dish)

2 tbsp Honey ( brown sugar may be substituted for honey, but use light brown)

2 tbsp dry white wine, chardonnay, pinot grigio or sauvignon blanc are nice choices

2/3 can chicken stock (of course use a good fish stock if you have it)

2 tbsp butter

Sauce can be prepared ahead for better synchronization of cooking times. Combine mustard, wine, honey, and stock in a sauce pan. Over medium high heat reduce by half. You will be concentrating flavors. Start the sauce well ahead as it will take a bit of time to reduce the liquid. Sauce will thicken without flour or corn starch.

Set aside. Grill fish until JUST DONE. Very center should be just pink as you pull fish off the grill. It will “coast” to complete doneness as you plate. Warm sauce through. Add cold butter to sauce just before serving and melt in.

Dill can be added to the sauce or put a sprinkle of it on the fish of those that like it.

Christmas Memories

Time speeds by much faster these days. Each year seems to fly more swiftly than the one before. Do you remember how painfully slow time passed in childhood. Counting down the days to Christmas seemed an eternity. I think I am still digesting turkey from Thanksgiving, and the calendar tells me it is nearly Christmas. No lights are up yet, no tree has been trimmed. We have marked the season in one of our favorite ways. I had a rare free day on Friday, a beautiful rainy day. We lit a fire in the hearth, made tea, put on Christmas music of our childhood years and baked biscotti.

When I was a child at home we had neighbors from Italy. They dug a wine cellar into the hill in their backyard. They planted fruit trees throughout the property. They had vegetables growing in the front yard while everyone else on the block had lawns. The Vitales could also really, really cook. I don't mean make a dinner now and then, everything was a production. Meals were masterpieces. They even put another cooking range in the garage off the kitchen to handle the overflow. I can still smell the fragrance of fennel, basil, rosemary, and ripe figs. Pizzas baking, sauces bubbling on the stove, Joanne Vitale cranking pasta on tables in the garage. There was always something delicious in progress at the Vitales, but Christmas time was unrivalled in the variety and quantity of treasures that were baked, simmered, roasted, rolled, and stuffed.

For some reason, the Vitales never bought a mixer. There was no need. They borrowed my mother's. We could anticipate them knocking on the door a few days preceding holidays asking to borrow our white Sunbeam mixer. I was always so delighted to rummage through our cabinets looking for the mixer and the beaters. I was excited because I knew when the mixer returned it would be accompanied by a heaving plate of goodies like nothing we had ever seen or tasted. Christmas star cookies, cannoli, pannetone, biscotti, and bowls of zabalgnon and panna cotta would be brought over by Emmanuel or Giovanni. No fairer deal has been made in history than a few hours use of our small appliance for plates full of exquisite holiday treats. I can still smell the smells and taste those tastes.

Friday's rainy day took me back to those sweet days of my childhood. The smell of cookies in the oven, brisk winter weather, and the delight of giving away love through baking for others. Who needs a tree and lights to get in the Christmas spirit.

You will love these biscotti. They contain NO FAT. No butter or shortening will be used in the making of this treat. They contain only two eggs! The flavor notes come from the variables you add to the mix. Make up your own combinations. Each ingredient brings something different to the party. Mix and match. I like to use liqeurs for adding a punch of flavor. The alcohol also adds lightness to the cookies. Try limoncello walnut! Do some experimenting. You will find the moisture content to be the trickiest part. If you get stuck or have troubles, call me or write. I am happy to give phone consultations. If you want, let's bake some together. Teaching is loads of fun.

Biscotti di prato (almond orange biscotti):

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup corn starch

1 cup sugar

1 t baking powder

1/2 t baking soda

1/2 t salt

1/4 t cardomum

1/4 t dry powdered ginger

2 eggs

zest from one whole orange

1 t vanilla

1 T orange juice

1 t triple sec or grand marnier

1-1 1/2 cups chopped almonds

1 cup finely chopped dried cranberries (optional)

1) Preheat oven to 375 or 350 convection.

2) Sift together dry ingredients. Mix thoroughly after sifting. With mixer on low add one beaten egg. Add zest, vanilla, orange juice, and triple sec. Add the next beaten egg. Mix thoroughly. Fold in nuts and cranberries.

3) Shape dough on a floured board into two squat logs no taller than 1". Place the two logs on two ends of a cookie sheet on parchment paper. Bake at 375 for twenty minutes until firm and golden. Remove from oven and cool about five mintues. Reduce heat to 300. Cut logs into 1/2 slices with a sharp chef's knife. Go straight down as you cut, do not "saw."You want clean sharp edges to the slices.

4) Bake twenty more mintues on cookie sheet until lighty toasted. Let cool on wire rack. Makes 2 1/2 dozen biscotti.

Gougeres- Cheese Puffs from Bourguignonne

I have not been to Burgundy (or Bourguignonne). In my dreams I visit in the Fall, perhaps take a trip down the river on a barge. Food and wine is a big part of life in this region. Perhaps this is why Bourguignonne has given us some of the world's best chefs: Escoffier, Bocuse, Pepin, Franey, Boulud, and many others. One of the signature dishes of this region are gougeres. Gougeres are simply a cheese puff made with pate choux, the same dough used to make eclairs and creme puffs. If you master this dough, you can do all of these delicious pastries.

The first time I had gougeres I was doing a landscape consultation at a home in Rancho Santa Fe owned by a couple that owned a well known chain of french bistros about twenty-five years ago. It was a foggy, damp, cold November late morning. I was invited in for a cup of tea and gougeres. The kitchen was about 30'x 25' with french country antiques, limestone walls and floors, a walk in fireplace with a spit and places near the fire for pot au feue. I may as well have been in Lyon. The tea warmed the body, and when I bit into a gouger I was shocked. It was as light as air. The puff was nearly hollow, but there were gossamer threads of light, eggy pastry and hints of earthy cage aged gruyere cheese. It was utterly delicious. I hope you enjoy these. I have altered 3 different recipes to arrive at this one. This recipe includes milk in the pate choux and I think it makes all the difference. Most recipes only use water. This recipe is very easy, but will impress anyone. I like to dip them in really good home-made tomato soup or with a quality salad. Go very, very Lyonnaise and serve them with bowl of french onion soup. These puffs should warm up any brisk Fall or Winter morning.

1 cup water

1 cup milk

6 tablespoons butter, cut into tablespoons

3/4 t salt

1 1/2 cups + 1 Tbsp all purpose flour

1/2 t paprika

4 large eggs

2 cups shredded gruyere cheese (Dubliner cheddar, ementhaller swiss, and many other cheeses are equally delicious)

1/4 t black pepper

1) Preheat oven to 375. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silpat. In a saucepan, combine milk and water. Heat to a near boil while stirring. Add butter 1 T at a time while stirring, till all butter is melted into the liquid. Add the flour all at once. Add the salt, pepper, and paprika. Reduce heat to low, beat vigorously with a sturdy wooden spoon over low heat, cooking the dough until flour is thoroughly incorporated. Continue to beat about three minutes until dough pulls away from the side and bottom of the pan. Trust me, you will know when this happens.

2) Remove pan from heat and let stand at room temperature about five minutes, stirring occasionally to even out heat in the dough. Add the eggs, ONE AT A TIME, beating briskly and incorporating each egg throughout all the dough, before adding another egg. This is very important. Dough will become very silky.

3) Add the cheese to the dough by gently folding in a bit at a time. Drop 3 Tbsp mounds of dough onto the baking sheets, a couple of inches apart.

4) Bake the puffs for 15 minutes at 375. Then, turn pans GENTLY. Reduce temperature to 300 for thirty more minutes. CAREFUL with the door. These are like little souffles. You do not want them to deflate due to rough handling. Turn off the oven. Prop open the door with a wooden spoon and leave for another half hour. The gougeres will be crispy on the outside and light and puffy on the inside.

Enjoy!

Avocado, Ruby Grapefruit, and Shrimp Salad with Sesame-Ginger Vinaigrette

This combination developed when we had guests en route for dinner. Somehow we had forgotten to purchase lettuce. We had avocadoes on the counter, some Ruby Red grapefruit on the trees, and shrimp in the freezer. The combination worked, and these ingredients are seasonally perfect for Fall in southern California. The flavor combinations work together beautifully, and the colors are beautiful together.

I flour the shrimp lightly with flour containing salt, pepper, and a little paprika. Saute lightly in a little oil. Cook until just done, overcooked shrimp are rubbery.

Slice off outside red Grapefruit rind. Slice out each wedge of grapefruit.

Prepare avocado just prior to serving. I like to slice avocado with skin on, then remove skin from each wedge. It keeps the pieces from falling apart.

Assemble pieces artfully and drizzle with a sesame-ginger vinaigrette.

Dressing:
2 T white wine vinegar
2 T soy sauce
2 T honey or sugar
4 T olive oil
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp ginger
½ tsp curry powder

Applewood Grilled Salmon with Honey Mustard Sauce with Hints of Wasabi and Raspberry

Four to five ounce portions of salmon for four

(Farmed Atlantic salmon is now 7.99 per pound at Costco! At that price, better to go to Trader Joe’s for flash frozen shrink wrapped wild caught western salmon. Each species of western salmon has a different color, taste, and texture. Sockeye is definitely my favorite. DO NOT BUY: anything labeled Keta, Johnson Straight, or silverbrite salmon. These are marketing euphemisms for a species called chum or dog salmon by the locals in Alaska, because it was worthy of using for chum for better species or to feed to the sled dogs.

Wood chunks and smoking box for the gas grill

2 tbsp Dijon or your preferred type mustard (We particularly like the Raspberry-Wasabi Mustrd from the Cider Mill in downtown Julian for this recipe.)

2 tbsp Honey ( brown sugar may be substituted for honey, but use light brown)

2/3 can chicken stock (of course use a good fish stock if you have it)

2 tbsp butter

Sauce can be prepared ahead for better synchronization of cooking times. Combine mustard, honey and stock in a sauce pan. Over medium high heat reduce by half. You will be concentrating flavors. Sauce will thicken without flour or corn starch.

Set aside. Grill fish until JUST DONE. Very center should be just pink as you pull fish off the grill. It will “coast” to complete doneness as you plate. Warm sauce through. Add butter just before serving sauce.
Dill can be added to the sauce or put a sprinkle of it on the fish of those that like it.

Just for the Halibut

I am a huge fan of Alaskan Halibut for a variety of reasons. Reason one: they can become really large, sometimes really, really, large. Reason two relates to reason one: their huge size makes them a remarkably challenging big game catch. I have caught many halibut over a hundred pounds, as well as a 150, and a 200. It can be intimidating when you catch a fish almost as big as you are. The big ones can be extremely dangerous brought aboard a boat. They can break legs, bite off fingers, throw around hooks the size of tuna cans, five pound lead weights flying around, just generally create a lot of havoc. The big ones are shot in the head with a shotgun before being brought on the boat. The third reason I am a fan of Alaskan halibut is that they taste delicious. The flesh is very firm, very mild flavor, and is quite healthy for you.

The halibut we have on the Pacific coast of California is a different fish from its Alaskan cousin. It is quite a bit smaller, although it looks the same. A thirty or forty pounder in San Diego is a real trophy catch and quite a rarity. I have been on Halibut charters in Alaska where we were throwing back thirty pounders to hold open our limit of two for the big boys. One trip our average fish was eighty-five pounds, with a number of hundreds. The San Diego version of this flat fish is better pan sauteed with a nice beurre blanc. The meatier fleshed Alaskan fish are best as beer battered fish and chips or on the grill with a little wood smoke adding some complexity to the flavors.

Tonight Alaskan halibut was on the menu. We had a lot going on so things needed to come together fast. What to do? A very quick treatment that has its inspiration in a little Sicilian dish called pepperonata. We had this halibut dish with boiled baby red potatoes, and grilled asparagus.

Halibut with pepperonata

4 halibut fillets, about 4 ounces each

1 finely chopped shallot

4 cloves garlic, pressed

1 yellow bell pepper

1 red bell pepper

4 oz jarred sun dried tomatoes in oil (Trader Joe's brand is excellent)

4 slices cooked bacon

2 tbsp butter

3 tbsp white wine

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp pine nuts

Cook bacon, set aside, chop when cool. Drain off bacon grease. Add olive oil to pan, saute shallot, garlic, then add chopped bell peppers.

De-glaze pan with the white wine. Add pine nuts. Cook until peppers are tender, but still have body. Add chopped bacon and sun dried tomatoes.

Grill halibut on the barbeque until just done, DO NOT OVERCOOK.

Add butter to pepper mixture, stir in, spoon over the halibut.

Enjoy

Cooking Class on November 14

We will be having a Community Church cooking class on Saturday November 14, 2009. It will be held at Bill Bernard's newly remodeled and very instruction friendly kitchen in Allied Gardens. The menu will be as follows:

Avocado, shrimp, and grapefruit salad with gingered vinaigrette

Apple wood smoked grilled salmon with honey mustard glaze with a hint of Raspberry and wasabi

Rissotto'd orzo with parmigiana

Pecan praline green beans

Crunch top apple pie with cardamom whipped cream

To better interact with cooking students and facilitate hands on instruction, the class size will be limited to 10 students.

Cost is the unbelievably low price of $15.00, meal following to be shared by attendees.

Call Pastor John at 619-583-8200 for further info and to reserve a place.

Fruitfulness and the Cutting Down of Trees

Fall is my favorite time of year. While most of the country receive frost on the pumpkin, the leaves turn scarlet, russet, orange, and yellow, and the animals put on their thick winter coats, our signals of fall are the very epitome of subtlety. Our days are the most clear of the year, temperatures in the high 70's, but with crisp nights (at least crisp for us). The evening sounds change, frogs chirp in the canyon, dozens of different insect sounds begin that are unheard the rest of the year. October and November always give our best sunsets of the year. There is nothing like floating in a kayak on the ocean as the sky begins to be painted in tempera tones before your eyes. We shared the first apple pie of the season with friends. Fall apple pies are better in every way than those made during other seasons. It is also our best time of year for gardening. It is time to clean up the thick and abundant growth of summer and prepare the soil and plant winter crops. Fall is also our very best planting time.

Part of the rhythm of fall planting is making tough long term decisions. Occasionally a tree must be removed because it isn't performing the way it should. I have removed plenty of trees for not performing in the past. The prevailing mood of our times is that performance ought not be taken into account anyway. In soccer tournaments everyone gets a trophy because we would feel badly if anyone had their feelings hurt by not winning. Little League games no longer keep score of runs. We pass everyone on to the the next grade, because we are concerned being held back might damage their self-esteem. It seems the realm of agriculture is the last bastion of the cold, hard, no-nonsense assessment of fruitfulness. To a farmer, a tree gives a return on the investment of space, water, fertilizer, and the time and care of the grower or it is cut down. My post-modern/non-judgmental/failure to criticize mind can barely take in the concept. A living thing should have its life terminated purely for failure to perform? Almost unfathomable.

Preparing apple pies reminded me I have a agonizing decision to make. I am confronted with a four-fold decision of extreme difficulty. Four apple trees of mature age and substantial size need to come down. Adding to the difficulty of the decision is another factor most farmer/businessmen do not face. These four trees have tremendous sentimental value for me. They have names: Anna, Ein Shemer, Gravenstein, and Beverly. Anna was the first tree I planted when we moved into our home. Ein Shemer was a gift from dear Israeli friends from the kibbutz on which it was created in the Gallilee. Beverly was removed from a friend's garden that would have been otherwise cut down. Gravenstein is the most fragrant apple I have ever smelled. It also juices into better cider than any other apple. These trees are dear to me. Removing a tree is not like painting a wall a different color. It is not receiving a bad haircut that will grow out and can be re-fashioned next month. There is a horrendous permanence to a tree's removal. I grieve when I see the stumps of giant sequoias in the Sierra's that are now flat discs of wood twenty feet across that merely give a hint of their former glory as the world's oldest and grandest living things.

The trees will come down. The die is cast. The saw sharpened. My precious tree from the kibbutz is gone, a stump. The rest are next. Why must they be removed?

They have been infected by a tiny pest. How can something so small become such a menace? It looks so inconspicuous. A tiny bit of white fuzz, a little blister or gall, a speck of mildew. They have been overcome by woolly apple aphid. This pest, once active, spreads to every tree in the orchard. The pest does some damage where you can see it, but it is far from distressing to view. In fact it looks like almost no problem at all. Where the real damage happens is the roots. There is no cure, no remedy, no alleviation of this desperate sickness.

The pest travels underground, unable to be reached or affected by any sprays. It travels along the roots of a tree like a truck on a highway till it comes into contact with other apple tree roots. It infects them and moves to the next victim. The bulk of the damage remains unseen above ground. The roots can no longer pull water to the mass of tree above ground. The tree will not be killed by the pest, just become a vector to infect other trees. Oh yes, and one other thing, the tree no longer bears fruit. In spring the flowers still appear, the bees still pollinate them, they give tremendous signs of promise as small apples form. Then later, in the heat of summer every last fruit aborts. There is nothing more pathetic than seeing so much promise turn to empty, lost dreams of what might have been. Such have been my apples of the last twenty years. Perhaps I should have acted sooner. Each year I would say, next year will be different, maybe this will pass. This is most unfortunate and most unpleasant work.

"See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many" Hebrews 12:15. Are we like trees? Can the root of bitterness we possess spread unseen infecting others? Can that infection be a source of trouble, defilement, or discouragement among others in the family of God? Absolutely. I have seen it firsthand. It is every bit as ugly seeing the orchard of the Lord made unfruitful as my own tiny apple orchard. I think that is the very heart of the warning given us by the author of Hebrews.

"I am the vine and you are the branches. If a man or woman remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like an unfruitful branch that is thrown away and withers; such unfruitful branches are gathered up, thrown into the fire and burned......" John 15.

I realize there is biblical warrant for what I am about to finish.......but I am still so saddened.

The Lost Art

I love hospitality. There is really nothing quite like it. I have observed this art performed by a number of folks through the years, people from wildly divergent backgrounds and classes, cultures, and economic status. I treasure the bits and pieces I have learned from each friend and try to put into practice what each person has taught me.

One of the first lessons was taught to us by Bill and Maureen R. Sue and I were newly married, Bill was a small business owner and grad student in two disciplines at two universities. They were as poor as church mice, but they were practitioners of two frequently practiced events that enriched their lives. One was tea. One was conversation. My friend Bill had studied and lived at a Christian commune in Switzerland called L'Abri. L'Abri was home to the great Christian thinker Dr. Francis Schaeffer. For the residents of L'Abri the art of tea and discussion was part of the fabric of life. Bill and Maureen integrated the lessons of tea and talk into their hectic California lifestyles, which is in itself quite a bit of work. Their invitations to tea transformed us. They didn't have the resources to entertain in a grand style, but they made totally amazing tea. Murchies in British Columbia is purveyor of fine tea to the queen of England. They also supplied tea to Bill and Maureen of Polk Street, San Diego. It was, and is exquisite tea. It was the tea they always served. Their philosophy was, "we can't afford much, but let's celebrate in a totally over the top way this small part of our life." So, Murchies it was. Not Lipton, not Costco, not even "Constant Comment," but Murchies- purveyor to the queen. We got to know them over the pleasure and warmth of conversation and a pot of really marvellous tea.

The second lesson was taught to me by Bill and Sarah B. Bill was brilliant, trained as an architect, but dabbled in businesses ranging from Almond orchards in the Central Valley, to oil wells in Texas, and oh yes, a little world renown porcelain business in the family for generations. I will never forget the first time I met them. I was referred to them to do some landscape work by one of their friends. We had spoken on the phone a number of times, but had not yet met, until that fateful Saturday.

I pulled up to a hillside estate in Point Loma I can only describe as breathtaking. If you are familiar with the post cards of San Diego that frame the Bay with the Yacht Club in the foreground, and downtown and the mountains in the background- that is their view. From the moment we met they exuded the most gracious, hospitable, and friendly spirit I have yet to encounter. They informed me they were departing for a weekend getaway. Within twenty minutes of meeting me they said " here is the key to the house, we picked up food for you from "Old Trieste," there are snacks in the fridge, we have picked up other things for you as well, the bathroom is down the hall, oh and by the way, you look like you need a cup of coffee." I had done nothing to deserve such gracious and trusting liberality of spirit. I immediately became their dear friend and was showered with their abundant kindness.

What happened next transformed coffee for me. Bill took coffee beans from the refrigerator, put then in a small grinder and held down a button. The only coffee I ever knew was disgusting granules from a jar one would mix with hot water-instant. Yecccchhhhh. The step up was ground from a can. I thought I really became quite a "gourmet" the first time I bought Yuban. Well, within seconds this aromatic, rich, toasty, scent began to flow from the kitchen through the whole house. It was just coffee. What coffee! But I felt like Ponce de Leon that had found the "fountain of youth." I never smelled anything like it before. This was two decades ago. There was no Starbucks, no whole bean coffee at the grocery store. Then we sipped our coffee. My oh my. I had never had coffee like that before. It so affected me, the first thing I spoke about when I arrived home was not the house or the grounds, nor the new friends, nor the other aspects of Bill and Sarah's incredible graciousness, but that coffee. Those kinds of moments freeze time for me. Over coffee with Bill, I told him I was uncomfortable with being given the key to their house and the run of their home. Bill said,"Friends I trust, like and trust you, and a house and its contents- it is just stuff, but friendships, now that is real treasure." Bill is one the reasons I am writing this blog. Twenty-five years ago Bill told me, "you really should write down the things you know, maybe even do a subscription newsletter on gardening." He was ahead of his time. Through the years, we had many lingering cups of french roast at "A la Francaise" before it was cool in America to do that.

I learned hospitality doesn't need to be opulent to be grand. Taking time to chat pays intangible dividends. Enjoy some small bit of something grandiose on occasion. Make someone an esteemed and honored guest in your home, even the plumber or landscaper. Hospitality is commanded by God, who sets the standard of warmth, undeserved love, graciousness, and hospitality. Folks that love God and people should have well worn homes lovingly put into service for others. As my friend Bill said "It's just stuff." Make some coffee or tea and share it with someone. Converse a little. You will be reviving one of the lost arts.

Deep Fried Goodness

What is it about hot oil that makes things taste so good? At least I think they taste good. At the Del Mar Fair each year there is always some new item that has been deep fried. I hear the latest thing to hit the grease was the ignoble twinkie. You can have my twinkie, deep fried or otherwise. I will save the calories for something that actually tastes good.

As a child, fish and chips was one of my favorite comfort foods. Some renditions were so-so. Some were worthy of permanent recollection in childhood's best tastes. There was H.Salt Esquire (o.k), Mr. Fish and Chips (better), and Arthur Treacher's (the best). Who knew that an old English character actor would run such a great "chippie." The reason that fish tastes so good deep fried is that the batter completely seals the piece of fish. Every bit of flavor is encapsulated within the jacket of batter. The fish also retains every bit of moisture.

The English and Irish really do a nice job of fish and chips. Most often, the fish of choice in the chippies (chippers in Ireland) is spiny dogfish, a type of bottom dwelling shark. It is very good. In Ensenada fish taco stands they use "anjelito" or little angel for their fish of choice. This is the angel shark, another type of bottom dwelling shark. They are neither little nor angelic looking. In the UK and Ireland you will also find cod and skate wing. Skate is a type of ray, and is pretty tasty. The down side is the bones which are long and thin and run the length of the wing.

I have wonderful memories of a cold wet January in Ireland with my daughters Allison and Erika. We found two orders of fish and chips made a satisfying and inexpensive meal. There are two famous purveyors of fried fish in Dublin, Beshoff's and Leo Burdock's. Burdock's was founded in 1913 and has been in the same place ever since. Beshoff's near the O'Connell street spire was founded in 1916. Skip Beshoff's altogether. Go to Leo Burdocks. Delicious, full fillets of cod with crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside chips. By the way, do not ask for catsup. And certainly do not ask for tartar sauce. They will give you a hostile glare and point to some nasty packets in a bin. You don't need catsup or tartar sauce. The crispy, steamy, fresh fish and ethereal potatoes are best with a sprinkle of salt and a splash of malt vinegar. The down side to Burdock's is they have no tables, not even a place to stand and eat. Take your paper wrapped comfort food and find a curb or a park bench and chow down. We ate ours on a curb in front of one of the swankiest hotels in Dublin. I think we looked like little tourist urchins eating our peasant food. How rewarding to be a peasant.

I love to make fish and chips at home. At the Sun Street chippie we also cook onions in the batter (from what my guests tell me, the best onion rings ever), also try trimmed whole green onions, and green beans. Yes, you heard correctly. Green beans. Even people that swear they don't like green beans like these. Slices of zucchini, slices of acorn squash, and mushrooms all equally enjoy a battered hot oil spa treatment. Here are a few suggestions that can get you frying in no time.

1) Cook outside. Let me repeat that. Cook outside. The oil goes airborne and will cover every surface in your house. It doesn't wipe off. Do you want a fine coating of oil on your Van Gogh canvas in the living room? The smell will also linger for a week.

2) I use a propane burner outside that will give me sufficient heat. You need to cook at 375 degrees. NO COOLER. Use a candy thermometer if you lack experience.

3) Use a high quality vegetable oil (no canola), or peanut oil. Peanut oil is expensive but good at high temperatures and imparts no other flavors to the food.

4) Cook fries first. They take three to four times longer to cook than the fish. Veggies take about twice as long as fish. In your cooking progression start potatoes first, keep them in the oven on warm while veggies cook, then cook the fish.

5) Use a fresh, good quality white fish. Bass, cod, rock fish, halibut (halibut is insanely good made into chips), or ling cod (another favorite of mine, can be hard to find). Slice it into 1 1/2 inch strips for even coating and cooking.

6) Make a beer batter. Roughly 3 cups of flour. 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt, dash of pepper, and 2/3 bottle of ice cold beer. My own personal favorite is Newcastle Brown Ale. It imparts a malty, rich flavor. The batter takes a little experience to read. Play with it. It should not be to thick. You want the batter light and airy. On the other hand, too thin, and the batter will run off without coating and remaining till being placed in the hot oil. Whisk ingredients together.

7) Buy a spider. Don't get ahead of yourselves bug-haters and arachnophobics. A spider is a cooking tool sold in Asian markets with a wire basket secured to a bamboo handle. The best tool for deep frying, especially if you do not own a "dedicated" single tasker deep fryer.

Go do a little tempura. But please, keep the twinkies out of my hot oil. That is just wrong somehow.

Friends For Lunch

On my Facebook page I commented we were having friends for lunch. My friend Scott retorted back, "do you like your friends sauteed or fried?" I suppose I ought to be more careful with my speech. We had friends over to enjoy lunch, not "we had friends for lunch." Radio commentator Dennis Prager frequently calls attention to the lack of precision in much of our communication. Something to ponder........................

What does one call a meal at two in the afternoon? Late lunch? Early dinner? We know the term for the meal done a little earlier-"brunch." Breakfast lunch. I believe we had "linner." Mexican Caesar salad, chiles rellenos, fresh tortillas, mixed fruit brought by Mike and Tara that included watermelon and cantaloupe from their home garden, lemon verbena agua fresca, and last but certainly not least a proper English trifle (even made in the special pedestaled trifle bowl). I think it was Brian and Hillary's best trifle ever. That is saying quite a lot as I have had some amazing trifles from the Harrison kitchen, but this one topped them all. A serious English trifle is nothing to be trifled with. Sorry, I just couldn't resist. Care to make some of this at home?

Lemon Verbena agua fresca:

I learned this one from my dear friend Mia McCarville, owner of Cedros Gardens in Solana Beach. She always has some creative teas and infusions going on. This is properly an infusion and could not be easier to make. They serve a tea at the duly famous Chez Pannise in Berkeley made from lemon verbena that is always in high demand.

Have you ever smelled lemon verbena (botanical name "aloysia triphylla")? If you have I am sure you have never forgotten the experience. It is a very easily grown herb hardy to zone 9. Originally from South America, it has been grown in Europe since the 16th century. It isn't grown because it is a garden stunner. It won't win any competitions for its looks. It doesn't need to. The smell is all it needs to win a place in your garden. The fragrance is hard to describe. First, it comes across fresh and clean. That is about the only way I can put it. Fresh, clean. And of course there is a scent reminiscent of lemons. Lemons yes, but more than citrus. Hints of spearamint, or yerba buena. Sue thinks it is slightly evocative of sage. It is a delicious perfume.

To make 1 gallon of Lemon Verbena water:

1 gallon purified or other good quality water (if you have tasted San Diego tap water, you understand why I make this distinction)

2 cups lemon verbena leaves stemmed and chopped into roughly 1/2 pieces

Allow leaves to infuse into the water for about three hours for best taste.

It is not necessary to "sun brew" this. Strain and serve cold. You may add a bit of simple syrup if you like your tea sweet, but it is really quite unnecessary. It is delicious as is.

This drink goes so well with Mexican or spicy food. Before summer is over, have some on a hot, humid day. You will be astounded at how refreshing this beverage is. I am grabbing a glass and heading for the hammock.

The Simple Things

One of the greatest joys of gardening is the ability to produce something extremely simple but so profoundly exquisite it can not be had anywhere at any price. That is the report from the garden this week. I want to share with you 4 items that may seem lowly and common, but that soar to stratospheric heights of flavor. Heights unattainable despite years of culinary training. These sublime moments of flavor met each other in one solitary week. And God was the chef. I want to talk about corn, pluots, oranges, and figs.

It has been a good week here at Papa John's Farm. That is Christiana's name for our little place.

Sweet Corn:
Sunday evening I brought corn on the cob to church for pot luck. Small ears, only a scant five inches long. Yellow and white bi-color. Extra sugar gene for sugar enhanced sweetness. If you enjoyed one, you know what I am talking about. One hour from field to table. The sweetest, most tender corn I have ever eaten. No one put butter or salt on their corn. It was beyond perfect as it was. If you want to try this for next year plant a short day variety. For San Diego it should be 65 days or less.

Oranges:
We brought oranges to a birthday party as our food contribution. What Oranges!!!!!Midnight, sweet seedless Valencia orange. The color of this orange is a deep, reddish orange, maybe three shades darker than any other Valencia I have seen. No Seeds! Did you hear that? No Seeds. Extremely rare for a Valencia. Very floral overtones, extremely sweet, intense Spanish orange scent. So juicy you will need paper towels around to prepare the fruit for the table. This tree was nearly killed in a tree felling incident two years ago. I am so glad it survived; there is no comparable orange I have ever discovered.

Pluots:
Three years ago we planted six pluot trees in my Father's yard. He is becoming quite the fruit orchardist now. If you have never had a pluot from a home orchard make friends with someone who has some. Better yet, go buy a couple of trees. Pluots are 2/3 plum and 1/3 apricot in their breeding. Huge, incredibly colored fruit, in many shapes and sizes. The thing I love is the complexity of flavor. Tart skin with sweet flesh that is almost too sweet. Lots of floral notes. Rich musky undertones on some. You really can't describe the flavor. Just get your hands on some.

Figs:
The best for last. Our first figs of the season ripened today. When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden fig leaves became the first clothing in history. At the British Museum, artful fig leaves were always at arms length to provide "cover" for art pieces should ladies be present in Victorian times. In biblical times figs provided shade as well as fruit. Figs were used fresh, dried, and made into cakes. In fact they were a staple in the Hebrew diet. Fig trees were so prized that they became symbols of peace and prosperity. God told Moses that in Canaan each man would be under his own vine and under his own fig tree. A fig tree became a symbol of God's care and provision. A fig tree was more than a mere plant in the garden. It was a an arboreal gift from YHWH. Today we picked our first Tuscan Strawberry fig and a few large, plump, amber colored honey figs. Bonaventura and Mary Lane respectively. These trees are perhaps more cherished by me due to their scarcity. Impossible to find at any price. Three years ago there were four available all year: one for me, one for my brother Chris' birthday, and two for Tom and Kay Chino at world famous Chino Farms. That is scarcity. I am still looking for one for my mother. I am afraid if you want one, you must go the very end of the line.

For dinner: Mary Lane figs drizzled with a little barrel aged balsamic vinegar paired with a Devonshire farm cheese with dried cranberries from England that I have been aging since last December. Such simplicity, but the combination of the cheese, the balsamic, and the figs is ten times more than the mere sum of their parts. Delightful.

God of Heaven and Earth, thank you, that I may sit under my own vine and under my own fig tree. Thank you for the loved ones in my life with whom I can share such sublimely simple delights.

Some weeks in the garden are like this, but not many. Not many at all.

Cioppino: What a Noble Use for Those Tomatoes

On Thursday I wrote about the beauty of perfect tomatoes. I was shopping at my local market yesterday and looked at what passes for tomatoes for non-gardeners. I do not mean to take an elitist stance here toward people that buy their tomatoes. Rather, I am sad for them. What mealy, tough, thick skinned, unripened plastic spheres they must suffer with. To have the luxury of using fresh, ripe tomatoes from the garden for pedestrian use such as spaghetti sauce or in this recipe's case-cioppino, what a delightful decadence. I almost feel guilty. I said "almost."

I have a confession to make. For all cooking other than baking I never use any recipe. I'll explain sometime why using a recipe in baking IS supremely important, but not today. The difficulty comes when I have prepared something people enjoy and they ask for the "recipe." I'm certain that request is met by some dumb looks on my part. I just go into the kitchen and create. So..........therefore it is sometimes tough to translate a dish to the language of a recipe. Does that make sense?

Cioppino, I start with a large stock pot. I saute 1 large sweet Maui onion along with 6-7 pressed garlic cloves in 2 tbsps good quality olive oil. After the onions and garlic are translucent I add 1 cup Marsala wine, 1/2 c Grahams port, 1 c Chardonnay wine, reduce by about a third. I then filled a standard size stock pot (10"w x 7"h) to 51/2 " with assorted tomatoes. And I do mean assorted. Each brings distinct color and flavor, so I like the variety. Cook on very low heat for 4-5 hours. Put it in the fridge covered overnight.

Have you noticed that Lasagna, spaghetti sauce and many other tomato dishes taste better the next day. A recent article in Bon Apetit explained the chemistry and affirmed the urban legend. It does taste better the next day because of the marriage and interaction of all the flavors. So......put your dish in the fridge overnight.

The next day, press all the contents through a food mill. Discard the skins and seeds. Add 1 quart + 1 cup chicken stock to the stock pot and reduce by 25%. Now add some salt and pepper to taste. Add your favorite herbs. I used about 2 T fresh basil, maybe a little more. 1 T fresh English thyme, 1 T fresh lime thyme, 1 T fresh parsley, 1 T fresh summer savory. Do the herbs according to your own taste. Toward the end add, 6 oz. heavy cream.

Last step: SEAFOOD. That is the highlight of this dish. I added 1 1/2 cubed halibut, 1 pound Mexican white shrimp, 1 pound medium scallops, 1 pound cleaned calamari, 1/2 pound cleaned small octopus, 1/2 pound small bay shrimp, and 1/2 pound mussels. I wish I had added more mussels. They totally make the dish. Just before adding the seafood heat the soup base to very high simmer. Next, add the thawed seafood. DO NOT OVERCOOK. The seafood should cook in less than five minutes. Turn off the heat. Heat some really good bread and buckle your seat belts.

This is an extravagant, expensive, and time consuming dish. Invite some friends over that mean a lot to your life and share it with them. Show them you care for and love them by serving them this dish. I may do this only once a year. Celebrate and enjoy the feast!

For a wine. I will throw you a ringer. Serve ice cold sparkling red sweet wine or "soft red" Lambrusco. Trader Joe's has nice ones imported from Italy for around $5.00. It goes so well with the cioppino.

What music for the meal? A little Beppe Gambetta instrumental or some Andrea Boccelli. A trip to the Amalfi coast for less than $50.00. Mangia!!

Goodbye Tomatoes, It Was Great While It Lasted

I picked the last of the tomatoes this week, along with the peppers. One of the tragedies and sorrows of this world is that things come to an end. Tomato plants only go so long. They begin to slow fruit production, they fall prey to disease and eventually just shut down. Sobering thought to ponder: it sounds just like your life and mine. I hope you celebrate every day of your life. As long as my tomatoes bless me with fruit I celebrate them.

I don't use the word celebrate lightly. I fondly recall a meal at Abolonetti on fisherman's wharf in Monterey. It was one of the best meals of my life. I can still taste it. Great meals are like that, aren't they? Time is frozen. Ten years later, my taste buds still react to the memory of that magical meal. One of the high points of lunch was a perfect tomato. Perfection in breeding, size, flavor, and ripeness. One large tomato. Cubed, drizzled with balsamic vinegar, framed with a chiffonade of sweet basil leaves. It was heavenly. I knew something special had happened. Sand-dabs with beurre blanc, very nice rice pilaf, and one, solitary, perfect tomato. In that moment, I knew I had found the culinary "holy grail." A perfect meal. Oh, how rarely that ever happens in a lifetime. According to my wife, everyone around me knew I was in a rapturous state of gastronomic euphoria as well.

The tomatoes this year were worthy of that marvelous ethereal tomato of my past. Black Krim, a Russian heirloom. Deep, dark, chocolaty red. Meaty, almost no seeds. Large, irregularly shaped. You would never buy this tomato if you saw it in a market, not on a bet. But taste it........a little salt, maybe a little balsamic. Let it linger in your mouth. WOW!!! This tomato will make all the sensors and buds in your mouth go "red-phone." Trust me when I say your tongue won't know what hit it. It has suffusions and subtleties of musky delight that make your eyes nearly roll back in your head. Super yields on top of all that. It makes you thank God above and Ronald Reagan that the "cold war" ended. This tomato immigrated to the U.S. after glasnost. It is probably the best tasting tomato I have ever tried.

Pink Caspian. It sounds like a character form a C.S. Lewis novel. Thank the USSR again. What were they doing over there? Breeding tomatoes next to the missile siloes? Huge, a pound or better, meaty, almost seedless fruits. Soft, pinky red. And FLAVOR. Utterly delicious.

Jubilee, a new one to me. The color was sensational. A bright, clear, intense yellow, yellow- orange. Large fruits, again, almost no seeds. Very thin skinned, long-keeping. These were perhaps our favorites this year. Not large amounts of fruit, but oh those that were there. They were so bright they were like sentinels. On a plate they were electric and vibrant. So many evenings those bright yellow lights were the highlight of the evening meal.

Goodbye tomatoes. Till next year..............if God wills.

Dinner Last Night: Cappellini with fresh basil pesto with grilled chicken breast

People really need to grow basil. It is the easiest vegetable or herb to start from seed. One packet of seed can yield a garden full of herb. My son-in-law Jerry is a pesto fanatic and he does a nice job of it. They usually buy basil in plastic bags in the produce section. It is frightfully expensive. A few ounces for $3.99. For around three dollars you can get a few dozen plants from one seed packet. Another advantage to starting plants from seed is, your selection of varieties is greatly expanded. This year we planted "Parfumo di Genovese." Loosely translated "Perfume of Genoa." It grew better than many varieties we have planted in the past and had less flower production.

Yesterday the basil needed a haircut, so the barber of Seville visited, gave the plants a haircut and left beautiful basil leaves to turn into pesto. It makes a great dinner. The whole process took less than half an hour.

Basil Pesto

1 cup toasted pine nuts (you may substitute almonds at lower cost)
2 cups grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup grated pecorino romano cheese
5 cups washed and drained basil leaves
1 cup washed and drained parsley leaves
4 cloves garlic
1/4 cup good quality olive oil
juice of 1/2 lemon
salt and pepper to taste

Pulse pressed garlic in food processor, add basil and parsley leaves. Pulse till finely chopped, add pine nuts, then cheese, continuing to pulse and blend ingredients.

Add lemon juice. Run processor while slowly blending in the oil. Adjust oil by feel and look.

Cook angel hair to al dente. Massage the pesto into the pasta with gloved hands. Top with char-grilled chicken and more romano cheese.

Eat!!!! What a great supper that was. Add a nice 3-4 oz glass of Pinot noir to keep the blood vessels open. Yum.

Still Weeding................Six trashcans full and counting.

Where do all these weeds come from? Harvested some gorgeous beets from the upper garden while I was weeding. Have you ever eaten roasted beets? They are fabulous. Recipe to follow. I have a badminton game to run to.

Weeds, Water, and Work

My garden is in dreadful shape right now. After such a glorious and productive spring and early summer everything has gone kaddywhampus. How could this have happened? I went on a tiny vacation. While I was away San Diego had a heat wave along with steamy air. My babies, all those yummy veggies, luscious, fragrant tomatoes, and luxurious strawberries suffered. My arch enemies, the weeds and grasses benefited from the greenhouse conditions and grew to Jack-in-the-beanstalk proportions. I am discouraged. When I am discouraged I become complacent. Complacency leads to less labor................arghhhhhhh!!!!! What a vicious cycle.

Get out there. Adjust the watering. Add some heads or emitters. WEED THE GARDEN!!!! Do not be discouraged. Why you ask? Well, the best planting weather of the year is fast approaching. Heard the expression "timing is everything?" Very true in trapeze. Also true in gardening. Weed, prep the soil, check your watering. Wednesday is greenery pick-up day, so I want to get all the cans full and out to the curb. You should too.

Good Morning, What's for Breakfast (at least the coffee is good)

We had a brief overnight visit from some new dear friends. Nathan, his wife Amber, and April members of Matthew Fite's church spent the night at our home after a week in Mexico. I love Mexico, its people, the land and its beauty, and its OCEAN with its productive waters. As much as I love much of Mexico, there are the parts that appall me; putting used toilet paper in a trash can (ARE YOU KIDDING ME?), the dust and dirt that clings to every square inch of everything, the squalor, the corruption. When I return across that invisible and yet so very real demarcation we call the border I want to get on my knees and kiss the ground.

My wife's cousin David climbed Everest a few years back. He recalls how indescribably filthy and unsanitary Kathmandu was. Then he started trekking to the mountains was shocked beyond belief how utterly disgusting the inns were as he ascended the Himalayas. Lice, bed bugs, rotten food, privies (if one could call them that) that had not been cleaned in two centuries. When he returned to Kathmandu he thought he had gone to heaven. Never saw anything so clean and lovely in his life. Everything is relative I suppose.

What nice thing do you do for folks that have roughed it in Mexico all week. First, let them take a shower. For our friend's first breakfast back on American soil, Sue suggested I make breakfast sandwiches for them. Great idea. On a Sunday morning? In a pastor's home on Sunday morning? Forget about it. Terrible idea. We had a cold breakfast cereal buffet.

If............I had prepared breakfast sandwiches I would do so as follows:

Use croissant, nothing else will do. Croissants are $5.50 a dozen at Costco for pete's sake, and they are very, very good.

Canadian bacon or cook up some bacon.

Pan fry eggs (I like my yolks slightly runny)

Cheese. Yes, say cheeeeeeeeese with me. Maybe some kerrygold cheedar, gruyere, swiss, havarti, goats milk edom is great.

A little bit of mayo, some dijon.

25 seconds in the Micro.

Voila!!!

At the men's breakfast I prepare each week this is always a favorite.

We viewed the film Julie and Julia last evening. A very delightful film, even Sam liked it. I was ready to rush off to Paris by the end of the film. As a child I used to watch Graham Kerr, Julia Child, and later Jaques Pepin. They made food come alive. They enjoyed the preparation as much as the dining. Cooking was fun and it was art. These three chefs were the seed of all things culinary in my life. It brought back a lot of memories seeing those black and white episodes of Julia in the kitchen. Graham Kerr would always get someone out of the audience and invite them to a tiny table to eat the meal he prepared. I always wanted to be the one to share that meal!

One of the most distinguishing marks of being human is the art of food. I can't be dogmatic on this, but I am pretty certain animals do not ponder the "taste" of food. They just eat. Voraciously sometimes, but without any real assessment of quality. How about the aesthetic of food? Does the dog ask for a little candlelight and soft music as he eats? Fine china and white tablecloths? Roaming violins? How about presentation? A swirl of some sauce perhaps? Flowers in the dish? Perhaps a little sprig of parsley or escarole. Which wine pairs with Alpo? James Boswell, the English author called man the "cooking animal." All living beings eat, but only man cooks.

God places hospitality as one of the highest human values. In fact, Paul in his letter to Timothy demands of elders and pastors the practice of hospitality. When are you coming over?

Starting Out

I have been cooking since I was a child. My mother just set me loose in the kitchen and I have been there ever since. Cooking a meal and sharing it with my family is my favorite way to end the day. Good food, table talk, and time around the table is the highlight of the evening. Almost everyone we know are intimidated by food preparation. My goal is to prepare delicious, nutritious, and economical meals, enjoy each other's company as we prepare the food, and thank God for His provision. I enjoy teaching other people to do the same thing.