Stuff I cooked
I feel like I spent all weekend cooking. It was cool enough out that it wasn’t such a miserable thing to do.
Saturday I made a peach pie, with Colorado peaches (my favorites). Denny sides with Missouri peaches, but I haven’t seen those in the stores this year, and the Colorados have just come in. The pie turned out really well. I was pessimistic about the crust (it was very humid out, which made for a sticky dough, and I was trying to listen to Alton Brown and not add too much additional flour). Denny later reminded me that I’m always pessimistic about the crust and it almost always turns out well.
Such was the case here. It turned out really well. You know how fruit pies can sometimes get a soggy, underdone bottom crust? I followed the advice of the Cooks Illustrated baking cookbook and preheated a hot oven (500F) with a cookie sheet in it on the lowest rack, the baked the pie in a glass dish on the hot cookie sheet. The temp gets reduced twice during the cooking process—once when you first put it in and another time halfway through.
This technique not only prevented the bottom of my oven from getting covered in burned-on peach spew, but it also made the bottom crust set up really nicely.
On Sunday, I went out between rain showers and picked as many tomatoes as I could lift in a bowl. I filled a huge stockpot with the tomatoes, onions, garlic, and bay leaves, and I let it simmer all freaking day. The house smelled great.
HINT: if you are making a giant batch like that, don’t bother blanching and shocking the tomatoes to remove their skins, and certainly don’t squeeze out the goo. It’s just not worth the effort, and it’s healthier to leave them in anyway (more fiber, doncha know). I smoothed mine out with a stick blender, but you could use a regular blender too, although you have less control over the texture.
If you’re really horrified by tomato seeds or the occasional tomato skin bit, you could strain it, but I didn’t bother. I just put it in containers and threw it in the chest freezer. Come winter, I’ll be able to do all kinds of cool stuff with it: add veggies, hot pepper, and maybe sausage for a nice pasta sauce…puree, strain, and add some sour cream for tomato soup…add a little tomato paste to tighten it up for pizza sauce…perhaps MORE?
I love having an arsenal of tomato sauce in my freezer.
I filled a huge stockpot with the tomatoes, onions, garlic, and bay leaves, and I let it simmer all freaking day.
Best days ever.
Damn, then I guess I’m bagging the werewolf idea! Also, I now remember that’s basically also the plot of Ginger Snaps (spioler alrt: there’s a girl named Ginger, and she Snaps).
I have a simple and quick sugar cookie batter setting in the fridge. They will be cookies that remind me of my childhood.
ALSO: maybe this is an odd question, but since you retained your Clarke, what will your kid’s last name be? Crall-Clarke? Clarke-Crall? Clarallarke?
Oh, I’ve never heard of Ginger Snaps. Hm.
Our baby’s last name will be Crall, mostly because I think it’s too much to saddle a kid with a hyphenated last name. What if he/she wants to hypenate when he/she gets married? Too complicated. I like the idea of him/her having Clarke as a second middle name, though.
Hmm. Good idea. Clarke’s a great middle name for either sex. What would the first middle name be? I suppose that’s already been decided and is under lock and key….
Indeed it is!
First, draw the cardinal directions in a magick chalk circle and cast a handful of runes there. Where the red rune lands, follow that direction until you come to a mountain. When you reach the summit of the mountain, sing an ancient song into the wind. This will summon a giant hawk with the head of a man, who will take you to a cave guarded by a bear. Recite the Oath of the Bear (in the Language of the Bears, of course) and you will be permitted to enter. When you come to the Room of a Thousand Passages, use your divining rod to find the right path. You will come to a dead end where there lies a treasure chest that can only be seen in a mirror’s reflection, and can only be opened with a key forged from a lump of silver that has been carried for a fortnight in the pocket of a maiden of pure heart. Inside the chest is a clay tablet bearing the name of Baby Crall’s first middle name…in cuneiform.
It might be easier to get it out of Aprille by tickling, or bribing with basil ice cream.
Hi Aprille, I’m relatively new to your blog/photos. Love your focus on food. And your way with words.
Once you mentioned Alton Brown, it struck me that you’d be a perfect fit on his cool show. (Maybe one day eh?) 🙂
Gosh, that’s true. I bet Alton would even welcome Aprille’s zombie hands…. Halloween show, maybe?
Ooh, if he’s open to the idea, I’m in! Is anybody friends with Alton Brown who could pull some strings for me?
Not me.
But I sent an email his way directing him here just in canse.
Hey! You never know.
” …… Just in CASE” !
At least there weren’t any spelling mistakes in the email I sent him!
D’oh!
(and as an fyi Aprille: It was just a short message to the contact email address at Alton’s site. I just mentioned how bright, fun and engaging your webpage is. Both in photos and in words. And about your enjoyable recent material on zucchinis and tomatoes. It would just seem a shame if Alton didn’t know about you. That’s all. 🙂 Ross )
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