Sunday, August 3, 2014

Car portrait, Chevy Blazer, Jax Beach

This is my second car portrait. These old Chevys were really honest SUVs. Simply a small pickup with the bed enclosed. They weren't sexy or loaded with options and they had a 4 or 6 cylinder engine that provided adequate power. They leaned more to the U in SUV and were very utile. Plus, they seem to last.

Andrew's scallops, Roscoe

Andrew Goldsby is a talented chef and restauranteur in Saignon, Provence, France. You will find many references to his restaurant, La Petite Cave, and his food, at my other blog, Two Weekes in Provence. He is also very generous with his recipes. Below the seared scallops is a cauliflower puree that he helped me with. I couldn't get them pureed the way his were and he told me to get a more powerful wand and spend more time pureeing. My children gave me a pro grade wand last Christmas and I had the texture. I boil or steam the cauliflower with a bunch of peeled garlic cloves. Then I add butter and/or soy margarine and some half and half, salt and pepper. This year, when we returned, Andrew's cauliflower tasted even better and he told me he added a pinch of curry. Voila, a vast improvement on perfection!

I just dusted the scallops with salt and pepper and seared them. I find, to my taste, that our Atlantic diver-caught scallops are a bit sweeter and meatier than the scallops (St. Jacques) in France.

Garden upon returning from 6 weeks away, Roscoe.

 The big spade shaped leaves are called Elephant ears. They completely took over the new garden while we were gone. See below to see what three days on my hands and knees did.


Garden, after weeding, July, 2014

 It looks even better now.

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Garden pre-trip, May 2014

We are just back from 6 weeks in Provence. This was how I left my garden in May. I had pulled weeds and mulched like crazy, but Elephant ears had started to emerge. While I was gone, they have gone wild. I will post tomorrow the before pictures before I start to pull them out and check my plants.