A Growing Year

Please, oh please, somebody ooh and ahh over this new shrub bed in our backyard. I worked my Dad like a rented mule for 3 days. This will look so fantastic... in about a year.

This was my latest project; partly for me to look out on some colorful plants that would attract butterflies and hummers, and partly for Shaw so he won't have to mow the super-slopey back part of the yard.

We have already had a hummer visitor.
From L to R, back row: Golden Euonymus, Pittosporum, Esperanza Tecoma (Orange Jubilee)
front row: Red Hot Poker lilies, Lantana, Sweet Broom, Bottle Brush, Indian Blanket Flower.

Some Like it Hot

This pasta salad recipe is from Cooks Illustrated. More specifically, it is one of their Best Make Ahead recipes. Paw Paw and Yaya came out to help us landscape the front yard, and this was our quick dinner after a long day's work. It is supposed to be "made ahead" (gratuitous quotations justification: specific method prescribed as part of the title, and practically disregarded in the actual preparation on the field), but we were late, and I was hungry so we ate it warm. This can be made at least a day ahead and left in the fridge. When you want to eat it, add the rest of the dressing, and toss the tomatoes in. I've also added other things, like blanched green beans, just to keep it real.

Oh, and I'm not saying how I know, but rose wines are spectacular with this.

Pasta Salad For a Crowd, In Advance
Cooks titles it: Summer Garden Pasta Salad w/Olives and Feta, but I think that leaves nothing for the imagination

Recipe calls for farfalle (bowtie) pasta, but any smallish shaped pasta will work. It just might change the yield. Still cook until completely tender.

Serves 12-14

Dressing
6 T olive oil
3 T red wine vinegar
3 T lemon juice
1 medium shallot
1 T Dijon mustard
1 T fresh oregano leaves, minced (1/2 t dried)
1 t salt
1/4 t garlic powder
1/4 t ground black pepper

Salad
salt
1 lb farfalle
2 medium carrots, peeled and grated on large holes of grater
1 yellow bell pepper, 1/4 in. strips
8 oz crumbled feta (2 c.)
1 c pitted kalamata olives, chopped coarse
1/2 c minced fresh parsley leaves
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved

Whisk all dressing ingredients together in medium bowl. Set aside.

Boil the pasta with 2 T salt and cook until completely tender. Reserve 1 c of the cooking water, then drain in a colander. Transfer the pasta to a large bowl.

Stir the reserved pasta water into the dressing. Pour half of this new mixture over the pasta and stir to coat. Stir in the carrots, pepper, feta, olives and parsley. Scatter the tomatoes on top.

To Store: Cover the salad tightly with plastic wrap and poke several holes in to vent. Refrigerate the salad and dressing separately for up to 2 days.

To Serve: Microwave the pasta on high power to remove the chill, 1-2 minutes. Shake the reserved dressing to recombine, then pour half over the salad, toss to combine. Add remaining dressing as needed to keep salad moist.

Cobb Salad

After gorging ourselves in several Disney World restaurants, we have returned to recreate some of our favorites from our trip. On the top of the list was the Cobb Salad from MGM's Brown Derby. We ordered this salad as our first course, as it comes with 2 servings. I wish it was the only thing we ate, not just to leave that taste in our mouths all afternon, but because it was SUPER filling. Much more than expected. They prepare it in stripes of ingredients and toss it at your table with the dressing. We hope to do a more pretentious version for a Callaway meal in the near future, sort of striated and stacked in a mould.

And, as always, when you can't think of a wine for something, you are thinking of a rose (or Champagne/sparkling wine). I'm not saying how I know, but I know this is great with a rose.

A couple of notes: it calls for not-your-average greens. I couldn't find chicory, and just used more of the others. Truly anything works. Also, I just sort of vibed it for the dressing. The recipe makes about 1 keg full. I'll just list the ingredients and sort of my measurements.

Cobb Salad(for 4-6)

1/2 head iceberg
1/2 bunch watercress
1 small bunch chicory
1/2 head romaine
2 tomatoes, seeded and finely chopped
1/2 breast turkey, (shaved from deli counter)
6 strips bacon, cooked and chopped fine, REALLY fine
1 avocado, diced small
3 eggs, hard boiled, and, you guessed it, chopped fine
2 T chives, chopped fine, or omitted if you are Shaw
1/2 bleu cheese, crumbled
1 c. dressing (below)

I'm guessing you are getting the idea that everything is finely chopped. It is really beautiful when finely chopped. But it is work! Save your breakfast bacon, hard boil some eggs early in the day, and wash all the lettuce when you get it home. The lettuce chopping takes longest, as it is best when finely chopped.

For the visual impact, place chopped greens on a large platter, and lay out all other ingredients in stripes across it. Bring along a bowl to the table and carve... er... toss all ingredients with dressing. Shaw doesn't like bleu cheese, and he said feta was just fine on his. And it was.

DRESSING (approx.)

2 T water
sugar, pinch
salt, pinch
Worcestershire, squirt
garlic, half clove pulverized
oil, as much as you like, maybe 1/2 c.
red wine vinegar, maybe 2 T
dijon mustard, 1/2 t.

It actually calls for 3 parts salad oil and then 1 part olive oil. I just used olive oil and added it at the end to come up with the consistency I liked.

Can I Stick My Cold Feet in Soup?

I don't know why I need warm liquids to stay warm when it is wintertime. I just do. And sometimes tea isn't enough. We are always looking for yummy soups, regardless of the weather. Martha provided one for us. (Martha Stewart, that is, from her January 2010 issue.) Unusual combination, but yummy results. I'll post a picture after I've finished my bowl.

Hearty Winter-Vegetable Soup
serves 10-12

2 T olive oil
4 leeks,, halved lengthwise and cut in 1 inch pieces (Shaw hates leeks, I used onion and shallot)
3 celery stalks. cut on the bias in 1/2 inch pieces
3 medium carrots, quartered lengthwise, then cut in cubes
2 garlic cloves, smashed and minced
2 pinches red pepper flakes
5 1/4 cups chicken stock
1 1/2 cups water
1 (1-1 1/2 lb) small butternut squash, diced in half inch pieces
2 Yukon Gold potatoes, diced in half inch pieces
1 head escarole, cut into 1 inch ribbons
1 can chickpeas, drained and re-rinsed
2 T fresh lemon juice
2 T thinly sliced mint
2 T thinly sliced dill

Heat oil in a large pot on medium-high heat. Cook leeks, celery, carrots, garlic, red pepper flakes, and 1 t. salt, stirring occasionally, until leeks are transparent, about 5 minutes. Add stock and water, and bring to a boil.

Add squash and potato, and return to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, until veggies are tender, about 15 minutes. Stir in escarole and chickpeas, return to a boil. Stir in lemon and herbs, season with salt and pepper, and stick your feet in it.

France, pt. neuf

The Carcasonne medieval cathedral was, of course, closed when we toured the medieval town. We went back to snap some pics that Friday.

France, pt. huit

After Collioure, we just went driving around hunting for castles. Many of these are spectacular ruins, but not enough restored to really look at. They like to charge admission for access, and then you have to walk about a mile straight up a cliff to get to it. Some of the castles had falconers doing their thing at certain times; Carcasonne even had jousting exhibitions, for a fee. Either way, the castles were cool to look at, and interesting to drive to.

Some of these pictured are the castles of Queribus and Peyrepetuse. We also found a delicious winery on this drive (Corbieres) and bought a few bottles for dinner.

France, pt. sept

I confess, this is my "money" shot. Probably the best one I took on the trip.

Collioure is on the Mediterranean coast in an area called the Vermillion Coast. Mom asked to see the Mediterranean sometime during the trip and Collioure is one of the most picturesque in the area. A few drawbacks: a bit of a drive, the heat almost slayed us, and Sean got splooshed by a pigeon at lunchtime. Aside from all that, it was an adorable town. We toured the local toured the local fortress/castle, as well, and I'm including some pictures of that.

France: Fireworks Edition

I saved the fireworks for a separate blog, since we have so many cool shots, courtesy of Dad.

All I'm here to say is, I have seen my preferred fireworks display and can die happy. Move over, Disney! Seriously, I cannot compute how much all those fireworks cost! We walked around the corner of our neighborhood and got a fantastic view along the canal. With the background of the medieval city, our view was spectacular.

I know you always lose something when you video record it, but in person, these fireworks were so amazing I actually teared up frequently during the 20 minute display. Enjoy.

France, pt. six

Due to high traffic predictions, and the coolness of the town where we were staying, we chose to stay put and tour Carcasonne for Tuesday, Bastille Day. Carcasonne boasts the largest fireworks display in all of France. But it also has one of the most restored castles in the area.

All the cool castles charge admission, but we didn't come all that way just to look at the outside. True, we drove to many castles on this trip, and some of them were accessed by a long, uphill climb. We usually drove to those, and then chose whether or not to pay to enter. Even ruins can look cool, but the restored castles were more up Mom's alley. Good thing we chose Carcasonne.

The city of Carcasonne is directly next to the Medieval Cité. I'm a bit rusty on my history, but I think the castle in the Medieval part was built around 1100-1200 in stages, and surrounded by two complete ramparts. The outer ring was built at a different time than the inner walls, and the narrow twisted streets became filled with city amenities like tanners and bakers and such. Currently, it houses shops and museums and restaurants, plus a hotel or two, such as the one pictured here. We wondered how you can drive up to it and park, since the town is entirely pedestrian. At times, the surrounding town (the Carcasonne area) was razed to the ground (almost completely) to rebuild a tighter controlled area.

The other picture is from a confectioner's store, where they had expensive and beautiful piles of cookies. So nice! We were all waiting on Sean to make a purchase across the way, and someone was giving away samples in this shop of these cookies; we were like moths to the flame! I would have bought some but they were super expensive. The free ones tastes great! However, Sean did not get to see or partake, as he did not see me wave to him from the store.

This last random picture was taken by my Dad. We spotted this kid in line for admission to the castle and thought it looked just like Chris circa 1982.

France, pt. cinq

At the very least, one bonus of taking a vacation with your dad is getting to take photographs of Dad taking photographs. Sometimes, we take photographs of each other taking photographs. Usually it worked out really well, as there was too much around us to photograph.

France, pt. quatre: Cordes-sur-Ciel

Just a few minutes past Albi is a small town called Cordes-sur-Ciel, a darling town on the top of a hill. It looks impressive from a distance, and, as we found out, even better when you pass it up and look back upon it. This town came complete with 8ft wide, two lane roads at about 15% grade incline.

Like most of these towns, visitors are encouraged to park just outside the main part and walk into town. These streets are steep enough to make this walk a bit huffy, and, like I mentioned for Albi, it was roaring hot. But the walk was worth it, as you get an eagle eye's view of the surrounding countryside at the top of the town, peering over vineyards and mountains.

This town has a Medieval festival each year on the day after we arrive. I think we were there the day before Bastille Day, so it made sense. They all dress up in medieval costume, even renting costumes to visitors and tourists, and all speak in langue d'oc and just generally cavort. They were setting up for it when we passed through. Shaw and I went to a wine store and had a bit of a taste of some typical area wines. They tend to be soft, but pleasant, and we liked enough to buy one and drank it that night for dinner (plus some food).

France, pt. trois: Albi

Albi is one of the three "red cities" in southern France. Only slightly less famous than Toulouse, it gets its name from the red bricks used in most of the old houses. Albi was about 2 hours away from Carcasonne, following a terribly scenic road through forests and mountains, plus all the quaint small towns beckoning to us like Greek sirens. Most of the small towns were along the Aude River, which snaked itself right through Carcasonne.

Albi taught us a hard lesson: small southern French towns often shut down, hard, after lunch, and don't revive until dinner. I can see why, as it was blazing hot that day. We had a lunch destination in mind that closed earlier than advertised, a backup that also closed just before we arrived, and a secondary backup that was probably out of business. We did stumble on a place in the main square that served delightful salads and ice creams that kept us going until dinner.

After the Salad Revival, we went back to the Cathedral of St. Cecilia to tour. Heavily Gothic, this one had brightly colored gesso paintings all over the ceiling, and a huge depiction all over the front behind the altar of the Judgment. The bottom layer was all the people roasting and skewered, the next level was a procession of penitents, and the upper layer was a congregation of saints with hymn books. I'm guessing it was a serious deterrent to sin in a 14th century congregation. There was no picture of Jesus or mercy anywhere. Then we read the tablet in the back. In the very center, just behind the altar, there were two pulleys which seemed to suspend some sort of tapestry that was missing. The tablet showed the front of the church as it should be, with a huge tapestry of Jesus in the direct center, stretching from the floor to the soaring ceiling. I wish it had been in place. As Cecilia is the patron saint of music, this cathedral had a really impressive choir section that took up the entire back half of the space, but conveniently partitioned off so as to charge for viewing. I bet it was spectacular.

France, pt. deux

No lie. Check out the license plate. And we didn't even specially request it, although I would have if I could.

This trip to France was primarily a driving trip. And I hate driving trips. Each day, we set out for towns about two hours away from Carcasonne, our home base, and while I had planned the destinations, I was dreading all the driving.

I can say now, with all confidence, I do not dread ALL driving trips. This was some of the most beautiful driving country in all creation. It also helps to have an excellent driver along. Shaw, not only fluent at road signs, is a masterful manual transmission interpreter. I will brag on his european driving skills till death do us part and beyond. We went on some pretty snakey, twisty, narrow roads that were interpretively two-way. And many of them were up mountain cliffs! But they were well worth it, as I will post pictorally below.

Some of my favorite moments of the trip were just driving on roads through towns of 10-15 buildings so picturesque you had to examine them all, and then 100 yds later the town was over and another small town began. They were all so inviting and charming, and you just had to pass through them as it was the only road from here to there.

France, and Stuff, pt. un

We just got back from our trip to southern France last weekend. I have to say, the trip can be summed up in the following words:

yummy
gorgeous
quaint
hot

We stumbled upon some wineries in Corbieres and purchased some wine we can't get at home. (However, thank you TEXAS @#%^$##$@ for not letting us ship anything tasty to our door step!^$%^%%&#$^*^%(#%^$) I'm thinking of adding another S to the end of our state. However, when we stopped in wineries in France, you tasted everything you wanted to, free. I'm just used to California wineries, where they want a buck anywhere they can get it.

We tasted and purchased Blanquette from Limoux. This sparkling wine originates there and claims to rival Champagne. It does; and cheaper. We tasted and purchased some others in the area, as well, and found them so enjoyable. I did pass up a Rose in Corbieres that will haunt me for at least a few months; if you ever see a Rose from Trillol, you are hallucinating, as they do not sell it in the States. But if you do, buy it for me!

We ate in a variety of towns, too. Dad, turns out, can be very adventurous in his selections. That was great for me, since I didn't want to actually order a whole main course of weird stuff but could sucker him for a bite.

As for me, my eating goal was to consume as much fresh, hot white bread as possible no matter the consequences. And coffee. I drink coffee on vacation. The bakery was about 7 minutes round trip from the house, with morning and afternoon hours of hot, lucious, caloric, crusty bread and pastries. Heaven!

Baby Pasta

Shaw and I took dinner to Shaw's cousin's family last week before leaving town. A and K just had a new baby boy! and we were seriously delayed in bringing them food to sustain them for this adventure, as this is their third youngun'. They already had two gorgeous and vivacious girls, and new little C just became their first boy. They live across town, and while it is not too far for travelling people, sometimes it is too far for, say, delicate leafy greens. I thought pasta would transport well, so I decided to give Martha Stewart another chance (after her disastrous pound cake recipe) and used a recipe from her site for this pasta.

I didn't think fresh ricotta would mix in well, and didn't want to fuss with it while serving in a remote location, so I grated some ricotta salata instead. It is cheaper and firm enough to keep its grated shape while adding creamy yum factor. I also sauteed some chicken, sliced it up, and tossed it with the pasta.

Gemelli with Tomatoes, Olives and Ricotta

8 oz gemelli or fusilli or penne
1/2 c extra virgin olive oil (use discretion)
10 sun dried tomatoes, in oil or rehydrated
1 T red wine vinegar
2 t capers
2 garlic cloves
pepper, freshly ground of course
1/2 c grape tomatoes, quartered
1/3 c kalamata olives, sliced
1/3 c basil, torn
fresh ricotta, for serving

Bring a pot of salted water to boil. Add pasta and cook until al dente. Martha's site would ask you to drizzle with enough oil to coat and spread on a baking sheet and refrigerate 10 minutes. I think this is stupid. You don't need extra oil and it will cool on its own while you get everything else ready. Pasta need not always be hot.

Pulse the sun dried tomatoes, vinegar, capers and garlic in a food processor. With machine running, add enough oil until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Toss this vinaigrette with the pasta and add the grape tomatoes, olives and basil. Top each serving with a scoop of fresh ricotta, or grate some ricotta salata. Sprinkle with pepper. Yum!

Marybell Saves the Day

Martha Stewart's Living magazine has some interesting recipes in it, and the July 2009 edition has a beautiful spread on pound cake variations. As alluring as these photos are, don't be beguiled by her basic pound cake recipe. I made the basic recipe with the vanilla bean and ginger syrup variation; it was WAY, WAY too salty. The basic recipe calls for one whole tablespoon of coarse salt. I will forgive Martha's food editor if she writes me directly and says it was a misprint, but that cake was inedible. The variations, however, are lovely. I think they must have used two vanilla beans (pricey!) in the pictured cake, though, and I'm not that rich.

I ended up making Aunt Marybell's recipe for our cousins' dinner delivery, since Martha's was, as I mentioned, PUCKERED Beyond Repair. Marybell saves the day! It is the standard of pound cake from my childhood, and it will remain the Queen of Poundcake for all my adulthood. It can be slightly underbaked if you like somewhat gooey centers, and fully baked for still moist solid cake. Clearly, Aunt Marybell (my dad's mother's aunt) knew what she was doing, and also had a tube pan, which I do not. This recipe can be baked in two loaf pans if you are tubeless, as I am.

Also, I was trying to use up my Greek cheese/sour cream from last week, so I substituted it for the sour cream. Apparently, this recipe is indestructible! Dad says he has even cut back the eggs to 4 instead of 6. One last thing: please try toasting it by the slice, you won't regret it.

If you are going to follow this recipe exactly, and have only one mixing bowl, beat your egg whites first before making the cake recipe.

Aunt Marybell's Pound Cake Recipe
All others cower in fear!

1 c butter (softened to room temperature if you can)
3 c sugar
6 eggs (or 4 if that is all you have)
1/2 pint sour cream
1/2 t baking soda
3 c flour
1 t vanilla
1 t almond flavoring

Cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, about 6 minutes. Add yolks one at at time, then flavorings. Sift flour and soda and add sour cream alternately with the flour mixture. Fold in beaten egg whites and pour into a tube pan or two loaf pans. Bake approximately 1 hour, 300-325 degrees.

Vanilla Bean/Ginger Syrup Variation

Swap the vanilla and almond for 1-2 vanilla beans, scraped clean. Once cake has cooled, slice 1/4 c ginger (peeled or not) into 6 T milk. Heat until simmering, then cool. Remove ginger and mix in 2 c confectioner sugar. Drizzle on cooled cakes, top with candied ginger.

Neighborhood Dinner Club

We have had two meetings of our neighborhood Dinner Club with two other couples in our 'hood. Plus kids. One couple has two girls, and one couple has one on the way. I'd consider that three kids total, plus six adults. It makes for a rare evening of a variety of conversation topics, as well as backgrounds and locations. Our most recent meeting was at our house.

As it is 100 degrees regularly now, I made some room-temperature friendly things. One of which was this chickpea salad which I served over greens which was probably redundant. Delicious either way, and we need to eat more beans. My next challenge is to soak my own dried beans, but I'm saving that for another week.

Mediterranean Chickpea Salad
(serves 6?)

8 oz, dried chickpeas, soaked, liquid reserved, OR 2 cans drained
1 1/4 t coards salt
1 garlic clove, minced
16 crushed peppercorns (WHAT? I'm just reading this. Just grind as you please.)
3 T sherry vinegar (I used white balsamic)
2 T olive oil
3/4 t dried oregano
2 c yellow or red cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 English cucumber, peeled and diced 1/2 inch pieces
1/2 green bell pepper, 1/2 inch dice
2 carrots, thin sliced
3 scallions, sliced (I think you know I left these out)
3 T parsley, chopped
2 T basil, shredded

If not using canned, place dried chickpeas, soaking liquid and 3/4 t salt in a large pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce and simmer gently. Cook, stirring occasionally, until chickpeas are tender, about 40 minutes. Drain, and transfer to a bowl.

Meanwhile, pulverize the garlic cloves with 1/2 t salt to make a paste. Transfer to a bowl and whick in pepper, vinegar, oil and oregano. Pour dressing over chickpeas and let stand, stirring once or twice, for 30 minutes. Add all the chopped vegetables and herbs.

I actually made this one day ahead, and nobody got hurt.

Shaw's Birthday Dinner

Grapefruit Gimlets

Hummus with Baby Carrots

Champagne

Tomato and Shell Peas with Balsamic Vinaigrette

Mini Farfalle, Artichokes and Lemon

Arugula, Grapefruit and Avocado Salad

Dessert: NONE!

We just got back from that cruise and used up our dessert allotment for about 32.8 years each. Shaw asked for no dessert at all. So either he is testing me, and really wanted a dessert and I should have instinctively known that and made his favorite cake, or he truly wants no dessert. I'll find out by tonight. I think I have some leftover icecream in the freezer if I need a cover.

It is 100 degrees here today, and most of this dinner uses no heat. Yeah! And also no animal products, so vegetarian is our theme this week. Wait, I might use some cheese on the pasta, but cheese is essential for physical and mental well-being.

I'll post recipes of those that work well. Hummus is already on the blog somewhere, and we eat it all summer. Tomatoes are at their PRIME right now, in taste as well as price (ouch!), and must be consumed as often as possible. I'll be eating them for lunch as well, stuffed in pita with some Greek cheese called Kefir, which is more like sour cream, and probably some of the leftover beans from tonight. We'll see.

I'm so jet-lagged I just realized I haven't even showered today. I really should splurge, as it is Shaw's birthday and all...

Comic 'Cakes

I'm here to say: there isn't anything wrong with cupcakes. A handful of cakey love fits the bill when you can't trust your willpower to stop with just one slice of regular cake.

For what has now become an annual event, I made cupcakes for my graduating seniors and other students in their respective classes. I was disappointed with the cake texture from last year's cakes, so I went searching.

I have heard of Amy Sedaris's cupcake recipe before and thought I'd give it a try since it kept coming up on all my searches. I tell you what, these were YUMMY! Very thick batter, though.

Since I do not make cupcakes very often, I do not have cupcake paraphernalia, such as cupcake carriers. I use my good old plastic cakebox, and the frosting makes them messy. To alleviate this problem, I had seen a blurb in a Martha Stewart magazine about using parchment paper instead of cupcake liners. I tried it out and it worked great. (Strange side note: I actually WATCHED the Martha Stewart Show this week and she had a cupcake guest show her the technique, and Martha actually looked surprised. Doesn't she read her magazine?)

If you wish to recreate, you take a 5 inch square piece of parchment and shape it to fit the muffin tin cup. I had a glass the perfect size of the tin cup, so I actually squished the paper around the glass first, then popped it in the tin. You will not be able to get the folds completely flattened, but that is ok. You should probably use an ice cream scoop to get the batter in, as the paper extends up quite a ways (you can make bigger 'cakes this way, too, if you wish), and the batter dripped on my parchment. Yep, that batter burned, while the cakes cooked beautifully, but that batter also knocks right off with no evidence since nothing sticks to parchment.

The parchment papers made the cakes have irregular sides (sort of interesting, though) but they ate just fine. I used my Best Chocolate Frosting Evah and piped it right to the edge of the cupcakes, so you have to get into some of the parchment folds to do that.

I'd do it all again.


The recipe is taken from Amy Sedaris's site verbatim. I got about 16 cakes out of this recipe, but I filled them pretty full.

Amy Sedaris' Cupcakes

1 ½ sticks of unsalted butter
1 ¾ cups of sugar

Beat well, then add:

2 large eggs
2 Teaspoons of pure vanilla
½ teaspoon of salt
2 ½ teaspoons of baking powder
2 ½ cups of flour
1 ¼ cups of milk

Beat well, fill cups, and bake at 375 degrees for 18-20 minutes. You should get 24. I get 18, 'cause I'm doing something wrong.

Humwich

Yep, I'm still combining words to form new words about food. Like Grecos.



It is the start of Tomato Season here in Texas, which is one of the few redeeming qualities about summer in Texas. For those of you brave enough to eat tomatoes (and I mean that in a mocking tone), and smart enough to eat hummus, these sandwiches are the perfect lunch.

I made a big batch of hummus on Sunday and was wondering how to eat it all myself. Shaw brought home some of that yummy rosemary bread from Central Market, and I've been dipping it in the hummus all week. I went searching for tomatoes yesterday and found some good ones from Marfa, Texas. We needed a speedily prepared dinner one night and came up with this. Toasted rosemary bread spread with hummus topped with tomato slices and chopped basil. I think if I had it, I'd throw on some arugula. I know it doesn't sound like much, but it was SO GOOD. And if you hate to cook in the summer, it is perfect.

KK's Hummus

2 cans chickpeas, ceci beans or garbanzo beans (all the same)
2-3 T tahini (your store has it, you just have to look for it)
juice of 2 lemons, big ones
2-3 large cloves of garlic, pulverized or chopped fine
olive oil
water
salt

In a processor, whir those beans as far as they will go. Mine often just crumble since it is too dry to pulverize. Add the lemon juice and a bit of water, like 2 tablespoons. Chop the garlic as fine as you can and add it in. I probably use about 1 teaspoon of salt. Once it is starting to get smooth, add the oil in a stream until you get it as smooth as you want. I put all this in a bowl and top with ground pepper.

Spread this on some good toasted bread, and add tomato slices and herbs.