The Sky.

On a March Wednesday, after the first day the red Merlot and Shiraz grapes were picked, I was lucky enough to witness a spectacular sight. I had gone home after work full of grape juice stickiness and earwig and mouse itchiness to have a hot wash-away shower. I went back to the winery to use the Internet, but with a frustratingly low connection, I left with a worth-while experience. 

Check out this sunset.

Is this for real? yes.

Just minutes passed as I walked by before the deliciously vibrant flavors of the sky were licked up and swallowed by the sunset. I could not be luckier.

Then I got home and took off my sweater, and still found an earwig attached to the shoulder of my shirt. Hmmm. Still worth-while. 

I don’t know if I have said this before, and if I have it is to bewildered, unconvinced eyes, but I think that in another life I have and/or would like to study the sky and clouds. There is something about it that constantly finds my feet slowly coming to a halt, my eyes peering up wide-eyed, and my mind in a silent awe. I don’t think I could ever be an astrologist though, as the unfathomable expanse of the universe and beyond somewhat terrifies me. I can’t visual it so I can’t comprehend it. I don’t get it and I don't understand why we don't know more about it.

I don’t know how many pictures have been unrelentingly taken of the sunsets putting the Piscataqua River to sleep while waking up the nightlife of downtown Portsmouth. The early jet-lagged morning sunrises over the Dunfanaghy Golf Course bringing eastern promises of rain or sun to the Northwest coast of Ireland. The bike rides around Colorno that were stopped to absorb the sight of the clouds sweeping the culatello-weathered smell of Prosciutto di Parma and Parmigiano Reggiano across Emilia Romagna. The runs to the Indian Ocean timed perfectly as the heat of the sun disappeared into the water with the sun. The northern, very westerly clouds leaving Monkey Mia smeared like FunFetti vanilla frosting against the baby-blue sky that sweetly reminded me of skinny days of scooping spoonfuls directly out of the tub as an afternoon snack. 

If it's not the people or the food, it is the sky that will remain in my memories. 

Recently, as in since I've been at Frankland Estate for the last month (a month!), I have caught myself noticing they sky more than a couple times a day. At four in the morning when the moon is still lighting the night’s sky with the still-present stars, it confuses the sleepy hour of having to start work. Then later the sun starts to rise over the vineyard warming the grapes awake from the cool night. No picture I have taken has yet to capture the colors that make the early morning work hours worthwhile. Then, during the day as I walk to and from the winery along the dirt road and in between the vines, I twirl in place searching for a cloud amongst the blanketing blue sky above and around me. Not a cloud in sight. I envision a satellite or spaceship over me, looking down and having clear access to be able to see the remote, isolated Frankland River region with pristine precision. Me, barely a speck. Or when I'm standing in The Spot of mobile reception talking to John and Sheelagh, I look up at the sky in the dawn light or dusk sky and wonder what the sky looks like where they are, 12 hours behind. And if the timing is just right when I leave the winery after my dose of Internet communication with civilization or after a beer with the guys, I get my own sunset each night to marvel at as I walk home. This private show usually lasts the duration of my walk home, gradually disappearing behind the vines and stealing one last glimpse of the fading color specturm through the trees for myself before I step inside. Other times I share this with Felix as we sit on the couch that we moved out onto the veranda, watching the sheep chew their way across the field in front of us, the wind blowing a cool night breeze, the sound mice scampering across the wooden boards, and the spiders lurking somewhere. We have the best front row seat to watch the array of colors slowly blend into a single black backdrop of Jackson Pollocked-stars, so crystal clear they pierce not only the sky like sprawled sparkling diamonds on a black velvet tray in a jeweler’s shop, but sharpen your utter disbelief that you are witnessing such a sight. I'm not exaggerating, people. 

Ok ONE MORE I swear!

I heard in the Outback you can see the sun setting in one direction, and then you turn around to the east at that same moment and can see the moon, the night sky, and the stars already out for their nocturnal postings. I can't wait for that.

If it weren’t for the prickly dry grass and the looming presence of night critters, I would totally go out and lie in the field and stare up into the sky until the sun rose again. But, unfortunately, that sheer fear of creepy crawlies will keep me safely on the veranda, home to it’s own zoo of Western Australian creatures. 

What I Miss #9

PBR's at the Press Room.

Just Kidding

Ok, well maybe a little miss.

miss it's company.

This is What SNOW in OCTOBER Looks Like.

 Downtown Portsmouth

Apparently our building is connected to Memorial Bridge's power source which is why we never (knockonwood) lose power, but so many people did, and are still without power. 

Large chunks of snow in my hair!

 Portsmouth from the Down Town Portsmouth Building

St John's Church

 Following footsteps.

That's right, snow in October is SCARY!

ARRRR Pirates Cove.

 a fall walk.

 happy anniversary!

is this Killyhooey?

 I wanna learn to surf. 

 I didn't spend nearly as much time at the beach as I thought I would since I've been back.

Hudson filtered. Icy cooooool.  

 the sky looks infuriated.

whipped cream or cake flavored vodka is way more disgusting than this picture. 

The End of the Season...Waste not Want not.

Fall has officially ascended upon the Seacoast. (I started writing this post a couple weeks ago when I felt as though I was getting sick as the seasons were changing and craved a warm soup to clear my congested asthmatic lungs and since then a Nor'easter has also cascaded the area with a thick layer of snow, covering trees that have not lost all of their leaves causing the heavy weight to drop branches upon power lines....before Halloween...it was October, Mother Nature, seriously?) But, within these last couple of weeks with the ending Farmers Markets and CSA season, I have taken home a good amount of food that I have desperately, and creatively, trying to make use of - since the point of taking it home was not to let it go to waste! 


So hence begins this blog post.


The other day I went to work early to organize and manage the CSA pick up. The employees at the mart were there setting up for the start of a busy day. They go through a lot of produce, some of it bought, some of it grown on the farm. People only want good looking food though. So, any spot, crack, blemish, bruise, or imperfection is generally, if not as a rule, removed. The compost goes to another local farm to feed their pigs. I don't know why the farm - sustainably - doesn't reuse it themselves. I also don't understand why they don't use these "bad" bits to make their own pies, jams, jellies, sauces, soups. But what about all the hungry people in the area that could be fed off this locally grown food? While in Italy, I joked about dumpster diving in my fridge to use up the food we had before we went on stages or weekend trips. But, my colleagues and I go through the compost bin daily and find "perfectly good" fruits and vegetables. It's infuriating. But, yesterday, I took home 6 large eggplants with some bruises, a couple bell peppers, a head of cauliflower, and a dozen or so tomatoes that were "unsellable" and going to be thrown out. Next to this box of stuff was another box with perfectly good bunches of celery that I didn't touch, because there was no way those could be thrown out, they were definitely still good. Later in the day, I saw them being thrown out. Unbelievable. As the day progressed, my ability to breathe lessened. I don't know if there was something in the air, but I couldn't grasp enough air into my lungs which decreased my energy levels. It was a beautiful fall day, but I could tell with the changing weather that I was getting sick. What to do other than sit on the couch and watch DVDs than to make soup. So I grabbed those perfectly good bunches of celery, some a-bit-soft-but-perfect-for-soup carrots and decided to make a vegetable broth. I added the bell pepper, mushroom, ripe-ready tomatoes, fresh ginger, onion and spices and was all set to cure my congested lungs with a spoonful of leftover-apparently-unwanted healthiness.


Vegetable Soup
2 onions, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 red pepper, diced
2 tomatoes, halved
4 cloves garlic, smashed
2 handfuls button mushrooms, sliced
1 tsp black pepper corns
5 cups water
a pinch of dill and other herbs, optional

Heat some olive oil in a large pan over a medium heat. Add onion, celery, pepper and carrot, tossing to coat and cook, covered and stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are soft and almost golden. Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a simmer. Cook gently for about an hour or until the stock tastes rich and full. Strain stock to make a vegetable stock or blend all the ingredients to make a thicker soup, full of all the tasteful, nutritious ingredients.

Roasted Eggplant Lentil Soup
1 large eggplant, about 1 1/4 lb
extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 cup Lentils
3 cups vegetable stock
Preheat the broiler. Place the eggplants in a foil-lined pan tray and prick them a couple times so they don't explode. Broil under they are deflated, about 1 hour. Let cool, then scrape out the flesh.
Meanwhile, place the lentils in a small sauce pan and cover with 2 inches of water. Bring to a boil and then simmer for at least 30 minutes, until tender. Then drain.
In a larger pot, heat up some olive oil and add the onions. Cook until they have soften and turn a golden yellow. Add the lentils and the eggplant and the vegetable stock. Bring to a boil then simmer. Remove from heat and Stir then blend with an immersion blender. Serve with a squirt of lemon juice or sherry vinegar. 

Marinated Eggplant
2 lbs eggplant, sliced into 1/2 inch slices
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
a handful of fresh mint, torn
2 tbsp freshly ground black pepper
Preheat the broiler. Brush the eggplant with olive oil and place on a baking tray. Broil (or grill) for about 5minutes turning once until golden on both sides. In a bowl, whisk together the vinegar, garlic, mint, and remaining 1/2 cuop olive oil. Pour over the eggplant and season with pepper. Allow to sit for 30 minutes before indulging. 

Apparently, people don't like kale and Swiss chard, or they just don't know what to do with it. Another day, I took home an enormous amount of leftover-been-sitting-there-for-3-days-about-to-be-thrown-out braising greens that has enormous potential. 

Autumn Soup
3 medium carrots, or 6 small, peeled and quartered

2 large tomatoes, quartered

1 yellow onion and 1 red onion, cut into 8 wedges

1 butternut squash, peel, seeded cut into 1/2 inch thick wedges

6 garlic cloves

extra virgin olive oil

10 cups (or more) of vegetable broth

2 bunches of finely chopped kale, washed and stmmed

3 thyme springs

2 rosemary springs

1 bay leaf

salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400°F. Place carrots, squash, tomatoes, onion, and garlic in a baking dish. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and toss to coat. Roast vegetables until they are brown and tender, giving the pan a couple good shakes occasionally, about 30-40 minutes. When cool, cut the carrots into 1/2 inch pieces; set aside. Peel garlic cloves and place in food processor with tomatoes and onion; puree until almost smooth. Pour some broth onto the baking sheet to scrape up any browned bits stuck on the bottom. Scrape the vegetable puree into a large pot and add the broth in the food processor to get the rest of the puree on the walls. Add broth, kale, thyme and bay leaf to the pot. Bring to boil then reduce the heat to simmer uncovered until kale is tender, about 30 minutes. Add carrots and squash to soup. Simmer for about 10 minutes to blend flavors, adding more broth to thin soup if necessary. Season with salt and pepper. Discard thyme sprigs and bay leaf.

Kale, Potato and Roquefort Soup

extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
Salt
1 1/2 lbs starchy potatoes (such as Idaho potatoes), peeled, cut into small equal sized chunks
A bouquet garni made with a bay leaf, a couple of sprigs each parsley and thyme, and a Parmesan rind
1 pound kale, stemmed and washed thoroughly, cut into thin strips
1/2 oz Roquefort or blue cheese, more to taste
Freshly ground pepper
Heat some oil over medium heat in a large soup pot, and add the onion. Cook, stirring, until tender, about five minutes. Add the garlic and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds to a minute. Stir in the potatoes, the bouquet garni and two quarts of water. Bring to a boil, add salt, reduce the heat, cover and simmer 30 to 40 minutes until the potatoes are falling apart. Remove the bouquet garni. When the potatoes have begun to fall apart,  blend the soup with an immersion blender. Stir the kale into the soup, and simmer 10 to 15 minutes, uncovered until tender. Add the blue cheese and blend (or can leave chunky). Taste, adjust salt and add pepper. 


What to do with kale stalks when a recipe just wants the leaves? 


They are great and super healthy to munch on while cooking! I heated up some olive oil in a pan with some sliced garlic. When they became a bit softer, add the kale stalks and toss to coat. Cook for about 7 minutes until slighly tender then add some strips of red pepper,  a couple black olives, some red pepper flakes, and about a tablespoon of horseradish. Crunchy. Flavorful. Nothing wasted. 

Braised Greens with Olives and Goat Cheese

I made this one up with stuff I had...

1/2 red onion, sliced

2 bunches of braising greens (mix kale, Swiss chard, collared greens) washed, stems removed, chopped

1 red pepper, deseeded and cut into strips

a handful of green olives, halved

crumbled goat cheese

pinch of hot red pepper flakes

salt and pepper

In a large pan, heat some olive oil and add the onion and cook, stirring frequently until soft and translucent. Add the green stems and cook until softened then add the leaves. Toss to coat in the olive oil, adding some white wine or water for more moisture. Add the red pepper and cook until softened. Add the olives, toss to combine then transfer to a bowl. Sprinkle the crumbled goat cheese and red pepper flakes over and toss gently. Season with salt and pepper. 

Curried Cauliflower Manchego Soup
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 lbs cauliflower florets
1 medium onion, diced
4 cloves garlic
2 bay leaves
squirt of sriracha
1 tbsp curry powder
4 cups vegetable stock
1/2 cup Manchego (or Cheddar) cheese
salt and pepper
In a large pot, heat the olive oil and add the cauliflower. Cook, stirring frequently for about 10 minutes, until tender and light golden brown. Add the onion and garlic and stir in to coat, then add the bay leaves and sirarcha. Stir again and cook for another 5 mintues. Add teh stock and bring to a boil then simmer for about 25 mintues, until the cauliflower is soft. Add some water to replace what has evaporated, add the cheese, and season to taste. Bring to a boil so that the cheese melts and simmer. Blend with an immersion blender. 


....and this was only a couple of the recipes that I made. Mum also made a tasty kale and white bean soup. Full disclosure: I'm really bad at following recipes. My absolute favorite is to read through cook books, but when it actually comes down to using them, I use the recipes as guidelines and kinda make it up as I go....IF you use any of these, I am sure they will be fantabulously delicious, but I trust your own instincts as you go. 

A Walk to the Cheese Shop.

 Occupy Portsmouth's Prescott Park rally. 

 Dad taking a rest on the chess bench.

 Enjoying the crisp fall air. 

 the ground and the sky...

 the sky has fallen.

 roses in october.

 can only imagine little girls day dreaming here. 

 an intimate wedding in Strawberry Banke.

Peeking into someone's empty, but color-filled home.