I’m sorry that I haven’t been blogging much. Frankly, I just haven’t felt inspired to do much of anything. I can’t seem to climb out of the funk that seems to surround me like the green muck in the pond above. I go about my day doing all my usual things with some fun outings with neighbor Kim sprinkled in, but I feel like I am just surviving and not really taking full advantage of life. I am living a monotone/monochromatic existence right now. Even Johnny needed a jump to get him going this morning for yard duty. Don’t worry about me; I’m okay, just blah and kind of numb.

Just when we thought Vaughn had started on the road to recovery, we got a call from Rick’s Mom this morning telling us that he had taken a turn for the worse last night and is now back in ICU. She was a bit muddled about what exactly the problem was, but it seems that the pneumonia is back in his lungs. Not good news at all. We just talked to him last night on the phone and he couldn’t really get enough breath to talk much to us, but at least it was something. They haven’t been able to get him up and moving much which is probably not helping things. I don’t know what the future has in store for him, but right now he could use all your positive thoughts and healing energy directed his way. Just send them in the direction of St. Luke’s Hospital in Houston, Texas.

To update on some things, we did see Doris (the bear) a week ago Saturday when my Mom was still visiting. Sailor alerted us to her presence in the yard by doing his alarm barking. Sure enough, there she was in the woods inside the fence. Rick and I stood in the yard and watched her for a few minutes. At first she did her little huffing noise at us and we took a few more steps backward, but she quickly resumed her foraging without paying us the least bit of mind. I went back into the house to get my camera and Mom, certain that she would be gone when I returned, but no. She was still there. We stood and watched as she ate and rolled around on the ground with her legs in the air for about 15 minutes. Mom couldn’t believe we were standing in the yard watching a bear so calmly! When she was finished with her dinner she went over to the fence and cllmbed back over into the woods. I did take a few fuzzy pics and I’ll include them. It was just too dark to get in-focus photos. You decide: are fuzzy photos of Doris better than none at all? When she was gone Rick went down to see what she was eating and it was the roots of the swamp cabbage. Very tasty.

There hasn’t been any more news of our local runaway cow. Either she just hasn’t been spotted or they are too embarrassed to tell us that they’ve attempted a capture and failed yet again. I hope she and the bear are getting along alright. It would seem that she’s eluded her captors rather successfully. I’ll keep you posted if I hear anything new.

My cherry tomatoes are all coming ripe now. I like to pick them right off the vine and pop them right into my mouth. They are warm from the sun and still smell like the vine that way and at their luscious best. There are too many to eat all at once though so some have to wait to be eaten later on a salad.

We did manage to have a night in the city on Thursday. I plan to blog about the premiere of Slow Dancing at the Lincoln Center within the next few days. In the meantime check out their web site. The camera that was used to take all the slow motion was of course from the company Rick works for. We went to the party for everyone involved in the project, from dancers to cameramen: special invitation only!

So now you’re caught up with the latest news. Thank you for all your support through these difficult weeks — it’s meant a great deal to me to know that you care!

. . . to buy ... well ... everything!

Ever since we lived in France and literally ate our way through the wonderful open-air markets that alternated between towns every week, we’ve been addicted to farmer’s markets. Can you honestly think of anything better than eating fresh, locally grown vegetables as they are meant to be eaten—in season—or enjoying artisan cheeses and breads?

We are lucky enough to have a great farmer’s market close by in Warwick, New York. Although not as extensive as the one in Isle-sur-la-Sorgue (Provence), it has its own merits. From May through October local produce, cheeses, breads, jams, baked goods, and meat are available on a seasonal basis. Even the cheeses change according to the grass that the cows have been eating.

It’s become a tradition for us to visit the Sunday market and buy the makings of our lunch plus a few meals for the week. What follows are some photos of the various vendors. I found the way they present their wares to be a visual feast for the eyes. I hope you think so too.

We came home with both carrots and these lovely purple beets. The carrots were tender and bursting with sweetness. We roasted the beets and tossed them with olive oil, red wine vinegar, pepper, and salt. Delicious!

The Bobolink Dairy offers artisan cheeses from their own cow herd. She also has crusty bread made from whole grains baked in a wood-fired oven. Her crusty wheat bread filled with chunks of melty garlic is wonderful!

The peas were finally out this week and we couldn’t resist a bagful for Tortellini with Cream, Ham, and Peas. We only eat it once per year when the peas are fresh, so it will be a real treat. The strawberries were just picked and the smell at their stall was overwhelming.

Another favorite vendor is BuddhaPesto. THE best pesto I believe I’ve ever tasted. All the other vendors thought I was a bit crazy for taking photos of their wares, but this vendor actually thanked me and was flattered I was taking a photo!

Finally, burgeoning with bags and sacks containing carrots, beets, lettuces, spring onions, a sirloin tip roast, bread, strawberries, parsley plants, quiche, pesto, homemade blue cheese dressing, and a few more things we finally made our way home—to eat.

One of the first Christmas presents given to me by my husband was a hand-crank pasta machine. Through the years this pasta machine has given us great joy from the wonderful pasta that comes from using it. Just one thing—although it was a gift to me, I have never used it! Rick makes all the pasta in this house. It just always seemed too fussy for me. But Rick likes to cook and he does it very well. He likes to make gourmet meals [we auctioned one off for United Way one year for $265.00 for four people] and I am usually the sous-chef. In other words, I get the chef a glass of wine, grate cheese, get ingredients out, do the washing up, etc.

We don’t eat much pasta anymore, but once in awhile we get a craving. One of my favorites is ravioli stuffed with ground veal, spinach, and Parmesan cheese. It’s sheer heaven. Just the smell of the veal and spinach mixture cooking on the stove is almost as good as eating it. You can bring up the memory of exactly how it tastes just by taking in the aroma wafting up from the pan. We used to have difficulty finding ground veal in grocery stores in Colorado, but here it’s as common as hamburger.

I’ve made a few small movies of the process with my new baby camera. I am thrilled at the quality!  The first one (imbedded in this entry below) shows making the sheets of pasta. The other two links are short clips showing the stuffing of the raviolis and the final step. I urge you to follow through and watch all three.

Once boiled, the raviolis are then put in a baking dish, topped with a very simple tomato sauce and Parmesan cheese, and baked in the oven just until the sauce bubbles.
Bon Appétit!

I had some people express a further interest in our grilled artichokes. I took some photos of them throughout their journey that I’m posting along with a link to the recipe. These were especially large artichokes, complete with stem. Our produce guy pulled them out when he saw us looking in dismay at the small artichokes they had out that day. Bless that man!

The recipe is here.

Here they are fresh out of the boiling brine (and no, I didn’t stage this photo; the thyme spring and bay leaf just fell there naturally) :

On the grill:

On the plate:

We pulled out the barbeque this weekend and grilled up some Scotta Dita and artichokes. Yum! I’m having some fun with the movie feature on my new little camera! Thanks go to husband Rick, computer wizard extraordinaire, for making it all work. Let me know what you think!