Gratitude Monday -- South American Way Edition

Today I am grateful for a book I picked up at a garage sale in Inuvik almost 20 years ago.
The Art of South American Cookery by Myra Waldo, (copyright 1961 by Myra Waldo Schwartz, published by Doubleday & Company, Inc.)
Why?
Because right now we have plenty of tomatoes and corn and squash along with potatoes and onions and all manner of other fresh vegetables. I needed things to do with them and a South American cookbook is about the best resource ever.
I used this book years ago and then set it aside, not picking it up again until this past weekend.
The reason is the other day we found a good deal on corn, 10 cobs for $3.50. The other veggies I mentioned above are straight from the in-laws' gardens and happily filling our kitchen.
Corn tamales to which I added squash, tomato-onion salad that I decided needed an avocado,  the corn topping from a corn-potato casserole that became a side dish for roasted vegetables and chicken have all made it to the table, and they've all been tasty.
I am grateful for that, too.

Gratitude Monday --General Good Edition

On Saturday we slept in until a bit after 8 a.m.  It's good to do that now and again and I am grateful we had the chance to do it.

We have an abundance of homegrown tomatoes courtesy my in-laws. They are tasty, and that is good. They can go into so many things and lately, they have: corn and tomato salads often with zucchini, too; a potato and tomato casserole; something similar but with zucchini  rather than spud; an egg, cheese, and bread casserole from a batch of bread that did not work out; lazy cabbage rolls that took care of a bit of leftover meatloaf; tomato soup; and the most magnificent Greek salads of the year.

The cooler, overcast weather is not good for farmers, but for writers like me it's not so bad. It has helped me think about my current WIP. It's off in a new direction from the original, and that's good, too.

Life is good. Sometimes the good is obvious. Other times one need only look at a different angle to find it.

Gratitude Monday --Tomatoes

Tomato-Onion Salad my way.

It's almost summer and that means tomatoes. Sure, it means a great many other things, but today it means locally grown, damned good tomatoes.
They're toothsome and firm without being veritable baseballs and they're packed with flavour. Hot house grown, they're allowed to ripen on the vine. I know this for a fact because years ago I did a story on the growers, Hilltop Berry Farm.

I am grateful for fresh produce and especially for tomatoes   as they go in salads and sandwiches and anything else one cares to try, and they are great on their own with a bit of salt.

This time of year I am especially grateful as I can make fresh pico de gallo or dishes like the one above. It's a South American Tomato Onion Salad to which I've added corn.
Chop equal amounts onion and tomatoes, add olive oil and red wine vinegar, salt, fresh chopped jalapeno or crushed chilies, and allow to chill for an hour. I throw in a cup or so of corn, and add black pepper and basil as well.

 It's tasty, refreshing, and healthy. For that, as well as tomatoes, I am grateful.

Frost, the Other F Word

Is the one in the middle waving?

We had a frost warning last night so I harvested our tomatoes.
There weren't many this year. I collected 35 of varying sizes and left about a half-dozen small ones on the vine as sacrifice to the frost gods.
They're resting comfortably under the bed in the spare room, covered by newspaper.  At some point in the future they'll be ready to eat. And we'll enjoy every bite.
Happy September, everyone.

Twofer Tuesday and Tomatoes

Another week has slipped by. I meant to get more done than I did, but I still got things done. I even wrote some and read a bit, but mostly I played with tomatoes.

My FIL grows some of the finest and he has plenty to share. This meant dusting off some favorite tomato salad recipes and firing them up once more. Tomato season is one the happiest times of the year.

In honor of that my two sentences are from Please To The Table: The Russian Cookbook by Anya von Bremzen and John Welchman, Workman Publishing, 1990.


“In a small bowl combine the vinegar and the garlic and let stand for 30 minutes.
Place the tomatoes and onion in a salad bowl and sprinkle with the vinegar and garlic mixture.”

My contribution to the cause this week is from A Fly on the Wall. In this scene Dr. Phlebos has just told Brelyan and his friend Nick how she had to kill a Kodiak bear when she was out on an expedition alone:

“Hated to do it, but it was him or me. Anyway, that’s my reminder to be more careful when I’m on professional expeditions.”
“And not personal ones?”
“Oh, dear no. If I’m on personal travel I’m someone else’s problem.”


For more, or to find out how to participate, please see the Women of Mystery.