Connecticut Butterflies

Eastern Black Swallowtail Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

Jazz in the Marcus Garvey Park and a few Crowns

A beautiful evening in Marcus Garvey Park, listening to wonderful free Jazz courtesy of Jazzmobile by Gregory Generet with Connie and Bijal. Gregory performed an amazing version of Moondance. We will know to take a cooler with prosecco next time, and are thinking about our own Crowns for the future.

Tagliolini with garlic shrimp/Simple suppers

Jeanette, one of my first friends in New York - we met at Danceteria, which tells some of you how long ago this was, worked down at the original Tower Records on 4th Street. I would often catch the subway down and meet her for early dinner during her break. We would walk over towards Macdougall and 3rd street and go to a small Italian restaurant/cafe, that disappeared about 23 years ago. There we would have a bowl of home made linguine with a fresh tomato sauce, pesto, marinara. Simple, delicious, clean tasting food. This immediately took me back to when I was a child and we would drive down to Riccione on our holidays. A few years later friends and I discovered Pietro and Vanessa on Lafayette, very similar food, divine pasta’s, the best stuffed artichoke I ever had. I took all my English visitors there. My godson Sam, then aged 9, famously ate a huge bowl of seafood pasta, much to the delight of the owners! Last night Num was away, and my mind immediately turned to what sort of pasta I would have for dinner. A number of men I know; my dad, Num, Sam’s father David are not big pasta eaters. I would tell my mum about various pasta dishes I would make, that I knew she would enjoy. Her response was mostly the same umm delicious, but your father will never eat it. I now find myself in a similar position, a lesson learned! I was down near Zabar’s, saw some fresh pasta’s and bought a combination bag of spinach and egg Tagliolini. On the subway home I began to think of what I had to make with it, to turn it into dinner. I sauted in olive oil a couple of scallions (spring onions) with 3 sliced Shishito peppers. I peeled and chopped about 12 shrimp, I like them chopped into a manageable size for pasta, adding them to the pan with 3 chopped garlic cloves with a dozen or so cherry tomatoes, chopped thyme and marjoram and let them all saute together for a couple of minutes, then added a half cup of dry white wine and a tablespoon of sour cream. Served with a good grating of Parmesan. Perfect dinner.

Garden whites and insects

Busy Bee's I am not sure what this plant/flower is. I think it came out of a wild flower seed packet. The only thing that grew from said seeds... Is this a silver spotted Skipper? This fat fledgling is very demanding and also slightly stupid. Great Southern White?

The garden this weekend

I think this is an Eastern Tailed Blue - I look forward to being corrected

My Island...

A few photo's from my recent trip "Home" to the Isle of Wight.. Whippingham Churchyard Carisbrooke Castle from Bowcombe Stairs we climbed too and from the beach...

Zucchini (Courgette) Papardelle

Zucchini (Courgette) Paperdelle I do enjoy eating and cooking with squash, winter and summer. But sometimes it is a bit boring. It is however the perfect canvas to try different methods of cooking. Last Winter I went to Los Angeles for a few days. Always a treat to see friends and family, but also I find the West coast cooks slightly differently from the East coast. Perhaps the ever present need to be a size 0 or 2, is not quite as desperate in New York and so we succumb to winter warmers which are necessary to survive a North Eastern Winter. While Miranda and I were driving one morning she suddenly said, “I know where we can go for dinner, there is something you have to try. This restaurant down near the beach makes zucchini spaghetti as an alternative to wheat pasta” In my mind I mentally went “Blah” but was prepared to try it. Looking at the menu at Cafe Delfini there were certainly all kind of yummy things I wanted. The zucchini spaghetti came with 3 or 4 options for sauce. I believe I had a Ragu. It was delicious, for me the interesting thing was how filling it was. The zucchini had been julienned into long strips, as I ate it, I thought about how it would have been cooked. Definitely not boiled, it would disintegrate. Sauteed in olive oil did cross my mind. A week ago, arriving back in London from the Isle of Wight. Sue told me that she had seen Nigel Slater make a Courgettini dish that she wanted to try. You shaved the courgette with a potato peeler, sauteed it, served it with a home made pesto and Pecorino cheese. Aha, back to the zucchini spaghetti. We made it, and it was delicious. Once back in NYC I was eager to try a few different versions of my own. Over the weekend I shaved a Romano zucchini, sauteed it with a few local scallions (spring onions) with some pine nuts with parmigiana cheese. Last night, I sauteed a handful of cherry tomatoes in the olive oil. Removed them, and put to one side. Adding a little more Olive Oil, one hot I added the shaved Romano zucchini, sea salt and pepper, and let it cook for about five minutes, stirring occasionally. Then add a chopped garlic clove, continue to cook for a couple of more minutes, add the tomatoes back to the zucchini mix, and a handful of thinly sliced basil leaves, finished off with a good grating of Pecorino Romano cheese. Even someone that does not usually enjoy zucchini has eaten this and enjoyed it!