Grape Leaf & Anchovy Pizza

Although most will not be pleased by such a combination, my ever-searching tastebuds were overjoyed!

Grilled pizza has become our default sunny-day recipe.

Cheese Makes the Sandwich

A very quick dinner:

ciabatta bread

spinach

sliced tomato

parrano cheese

The latter of which we found as a special at Hannaford, and is described as:

"The unforgettable cheese with a disctinctly Italian temperament; the alluring nutty flavor of a fine-aged Parmesan with the versatility of a young Dutch gouda."

And it is so good.

Cherry Tomato Tart

For the crust, let a bit of yeast bloom in warm water. Then mix in:

~3/4 c. flour

pinch salt

And I added some oregano and dried tomato flakes. You can add whatever spice you desire!

And above, I added:

cherry tomatoes

parmesan cheese (grated)

spinach

and folded the dough around it.

And bake for maybe....12 minutes? Quick, and certainly delicious.

Sourdough & Asparagus

Simes got up when I left for work to prepare a batch of delectable sourdough. This he split into two parts; one for a loaf of bread, and one for a mound of pizza dough. Do you know what this means?

Dinner and lunch!

A (presumably) delicious sandwich for work tomorrow:

Spinach

Asparagus

Assorted mushrooms

Provolone cheese

And a pizza for dinner with the same ingredients; substitute Parmesan for the provolone. There's something inexplicably delectable about a hint of Parmesan cheese; so strong but often a bystander to the main event.

Both sound simple, but the bread is so sour they will undoubtedly be scrumptious.

Arancini!

Ever since we went to Giorgio's Martini Bar last, Bean has been infatuated with the memory of their arancini appetizer. I had never tried anything like this; they are cheesy rice balls coated in bread crumbs and fried, a dish originating in Sicily (and thus being very appropriate for a Greek restaurant such as Bean is wont to adore).

Tonight, we decided to try making them ourselves.

First, saute:

1 tbsp olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, chopped

When it's browned, add:

1 cup rice

1 1/2 cups water

We used sushi rice in the hopes that it would all stick together in the end. Better safe than sorry, for there is, you see, a hard-to-overcome fear of deep-frying that runs throughout the household. I am inclined to agree. But! We decided to try it this once.

After some scrounging, we added fresh parsley and saffron; a festive affair! And the smells were delicious.

When all of the water is absorbed, mix in:

1 cup shredded Parmesan

1 beaten egg

Form into balls, and into each stuff a bit of delicious Italian cheese that you had previously bought and subsequently forgot about. Then roll each ball in (respectively):

A pile of flour

A pile of egg and milk

A pile of bread crumbs

Here they are about to jump in a pot of boiling oil:

Arancini

Arancini balls with Fontina cheese (Trader Joe's), swisschard with Parmesan cheese, and a glass of blueberry wine from my dearest Nana makes for a tasty bit.

Tomato Pie

So!

Nick fixed Simon's car just as we were mixing up some pizza dough, and decided that a share of the yeasty bounty would be a fitting enough payment for his service. Since Bean and I usually make a whole pizza for ourselves, I embarked on a separate project: same ingredients in a different shape.

I took a quarter of our thick-crust pizza dough and let it to rest, stripped of the companionship of its flour-and-oil brethren.

Then I rolled it out and flopped it into a ramekin with some:

chopped tomatoes (from lovely Dani)

spinach

grated mozzarella and Parmesan

and brushed the top with olive oil and sprinkled on some more cheese for a delightfully delicious looking pizza kin. I left it in the oven for as long as the brothers' pizza did...probably ten minutes.

And even better was the fact that I was whisked away to fill up the moped's gas tank, and came back years later to find I had forgotten half of it, just as I was feeling as if I were missing something. My body (frighteningly often) neglects to tell me how it is feeling, and I was glad that tonight was a time when hunger would not go unnoticed by this stupidly stubborn brain o' mine.

Martha's Vineyard!

I was akimbo in the vacation preparations; left alone with all of us girls (minus Mete) and feeling uneasy. I satisfied this imbalance by baking some square French-bread loaves dusted with Parmesan cheese. They came out super in comparison with my expectations. We ate them on the ferry with Monterey Jack cheese, almonds, and diet coke (our childhood staple). A wondrous start to the Island!

Even with Fath there, we managed to have a relaxing afternoon on the beach. Waves crashed and wind beckoned, but as soon as we spread our towels Nana insisted that it was lunch time; tuna and tomato brought from home, in a pocket thang.

There is a village of Gingerbread houses in Oak Bluffs that thousands of tourists flock to each year, and just outside the main circle is this little church that has weekly crabcake dinners. Nana was rearing to go, although we found out on the walk there that she "never likes crabcakes" and was just going to try a bite of ours. HA!

Mete and I split a dinner; they came quite wonderfully with sweet potato fries, cole slaw and lemonade. They also had the option of hotdogs for the faint-of-heart (of which Nan & Pup fortook).

Moth, Beak, Mete and I went on a one-mile hike, which was prefaced with much whining and second-guessing, but it turned out to be quite fun. Gusty winds accompanied us along the way, and we were as happy as ever to come upon the worn siding of the tiny Bite in Menemsha. Every year we get fish sandwiches here; I got mine with tomato, and lots of sand from some kiddies on the beach.

After a tiring day at the beach, we stopped at Morning Glory Farm for lunch. I had some ginger-flavored lamb's milk yogurt, with an apple and this delicious Asiago loaf.

Close to one-pound lobster rolls at the little church in Vineyard Haven. I swear they love these more than God...

Raspberries and beanpods from beloved Mete's apartment in New Bedford. Our pre-ferry lunches were packed in a rush, and these were a very thoughtful ending.

Back-to-School Burgers

tiring joyous weekend

love everywhere

but still

happy back.

This was a burger made from Greenland Farm's ground beef; Moth was reluctant about giving me a package but!

Mixed into the burger were:

soy sauce

oregano

salt / pepper

and adorning it:

Simon's homemade bread

Gouda cheese

spinach

Quite nice.

More Couscous

A simple dish! Made of microwaved leftovers, & c.

couscous

steamed broccoli

onions

shredded Parmesan cheese

parsley

basil

salt

pepper

olive oil

(Not Quite A) Vegetable Enchilada

I visited Bee this weekend at her school, and we spent glorious hours playing celtic music with two beautiful friends. When we stopped, hunger struck, and we hurried to the dining hall. Here I snuck fresh vegetables into my bag to bring back to school with me. It's called a budget, people, and living this way is tough -- taking chances on sour milk and risking the wrath of the hawk-eyed lunch ladies. But the payoff is divine! This dinner used the vegetables deliciously.

1. Fry wheat wraps in olive oil on high heat.

2. Make a pile in the center of:

spinach

cucumbers

broccoli

green olives

green pepper

onions

feta cheese

3. Roll up and put in baking pan; cover with shredded Parmesan cheese.

4. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or so, until cheese is melted.

They were a strangely filling meal, which I did not expect. And vegetarian! Although we are assuredly not.

Oh Man(icotti)

Bean and I made manicotti last night. Because, of course, who doesn't like cheese? And more cheese! We bought block Parmesan and Romano cheese, and they were the most scrumptious taste-tests I have ever done.

This was an interesting experiment, as it was our first attempt at such a dinner endeavor.

The instructions, vaguely, were this:

1. Cook manicotti tubes like normal.

2. Simultaneously steam spinach.

3. In bowl, mix:

1 container of Ricotta cheese

Parmesan and Romano cheese, grated

Parsley

Basil

Pinch of salt

2 eggs

4. Chop up spinach and mix into cheese batch.

5. Fill a plastic bag with the mixture, seal it, and cut off one corner.

6. Squeeze into one side of a cooked pasta tube until half full; squeeze in from other side.

This is one hell of a messy procedure, but once I got the technique down, it was easy. Plenty of opportunities to lick your fingers clean of ricotta during preparation. I ingested nearly a meal's worth, in fact, before the damn dish was even baked!

The filled noodles were laid out on a tinfoil-covered pan, for easy cleaning purposes. Then they were covered with a thin (we're not huge tomato sauce fans) of Newman's Own marinara sauce, and sprinkled with way too much (never!) Parmesan and Romano.

Bake for approximately one-half hour! And they were delicious.