More Summer Notes . . .

I spoke too soon.
It's not just Halloween showing up in stores. I was having fun at a local Hallmark store, grooving in the musical-card aisle, when I looked over and saw – oh, the horror of it! -- this year's new Christmas ornaments!
Clearly it's not too soon for Halloween, even if the watermelon isn't ripe on the vine quite yet.

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Yesterday I visited The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Illinois. It is a stunning place, full of powerful images, ideas, and information. If you haven't been to visit yet, I encourage you to go.
Besides the permanent exhibits that tell the story of the President's life as well as his role in the Civil War, this summer through the election in November 2008 you will find an exhibit on “Packaging Presidents.” This exhibit fascinates with its campaign memorabilia, facts and figures, even an area televising old campaign commercials. If you're nostalgic about “The Bear in the Woods” commercial, or if you want to see Michael Dukakis riding that tank again, this exhibit is for you.

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Another exhibit I've seen recently is in Bloomington, Illinois at The McLean County Museum of History, located downtown in the lovely old Courthouse. In addition to a variety of permanent exhibits detailing the history and stories of McLean County, currently there is an exhibit that blends information about the early nurseries of F. K. Phoenix with the incredibly beautiful prints of artist William Henry Prestele, who illustrated the catalogs Phoenix sent out to the prairie with his nursery salesmen. Before Phoenix and Prestele came up with their artful, lovely catalogs, plants and trees were sold on the basis of written descriptions or line drawings. This exhibit runs through November 2, 2008, and will take your breath away – Prestele's prints look good enough to pluck and eat.

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I made the Marinated Beet Salad from Alice Waters' book The Art of Simple Food.this morning. Can we just say – delicious! Not to mention simple, just as the title promised.
It's been a lot of fun this summer to try new vegetables and recipes; my curiosity has been tickled. Trying new things, new tastes – it makes cooking more interesting, and meals more fun.
What's your favorite vegetable recipe for summer? A curious mind (mine!) wants to know! If you'd care to share, just leave your recipe in comments.

On Eating Well . . .

We had kohlrabi last week; it came in the CSA share we've been getting from Henry's farm this summer. I was surprised at my husband's excitement when he saw the kohlrabi.
“This was one of mom's favorite vegetables,” he told me. “She used to grow this in the garden every summer.”
Once again I learned something new about my husband.
Now, kohlrabi isn't one of the vegetables I grew up with (corn, peas, green beans.) I didn't have a clue about what to do with it – good thing he knew!
Summer brings vegetables – whether they are from the garden, the produce department at the local grocer's or from the farmer's market, one has to do something with them, preferably something delicious.
To that end, I've been dipping into Alice Water's book The Art of Simple Food. The recipes are simple and delicious. Published by Clarkson Potter in 2007, this is more than a cookbook; it's a way of thinking about being in the kitchen as well as a collection of recipes. It is, as the cover tells us, “notes, lessons, and recipes from a delicious revolution.”
You can read about Alice Waters at the Chez Panisse website, and find out about how her landmark restaurant, with a network of over 60 local suppliers, makes the most and the best of in-season, locally grown produce while attracting a loyal, enthusiastic clientele.
Alice Waters has also been the driving force behind the “Edible Schoolyard” project – a garden and a kitchen project for schools that incorporates lessons into the work involved in feeding ourselves. This project has been criticized by some for seeking government funding. I'll leave the politics of the project to you to decide; the practical application of learning through life skills is one that's been proven to help children learn.
But back to the book – this book is fun, interesting, and practical. I'll be trying the marinated beet salad later today with fresh beets from our farm share last week, and I'll be sharing the 4-3-2-1-cake recipe with a granddaughter later this summer. Who knows what other recipes I'll be trying – the potato salad looks good, easy and quick to make.
I've sometimes heard of cooks who've cooked their way through a favorite cookbook. I don't know if I'll try every recipe in this book, but I know I'll be trying a lot of them.
What cookbooks do you enjoy most? What's your favorite summer recipe? Share your recommendations in the comments section!

Making Bread, and Other Magical Things . . .

I've made a few recipes from Alice Waters, and always feel quite sophisticated when I do, although I suspect that sophistication is not precisely what Ms. Waters is after.

They are always delicious, so when her newest book The Art of Simple Food came out I was anxious to see it. Part cookbook, part theology of food, it's a book for dipping into for either recipes or contemplation.

Her statement about mixing flour, yeast, salt, and water together, then having it turn into a loaf of bread invites contemplation, I think. It is magical to see how it works in the kitchen, to smell the fragrance of the bread as it rises, as it bakes. It is magical to think of those simple ingredients coming together to make something so delicious, so nourishing.

Then I contemplate how similar bread-baking is to some of the other things we do. We mix people – some earthy, some bubbly, some well-seasoned, some quite fluid – together for various reasons and what do we get? Often, something delightful, something nourishing for our souls.

It can seem magical to mix together these various people, and have them turn into a cohesive group, able to accomplish varieties of things – worship, government, good works, relaxation – whatever they set their common mind to do, really.

A good mix is all about proportion, order of mixing, good ingredients. There are infinite variations of the recipe, some depending on location, some depending on weather, some depending on whim. They all hold in common the mixing, the blending, the result that pleases and delights – something magical, indeed.