Pre Parade, African American Day Parade, Harlem, NYC

Connie and I went out this afternoon to The African American Day Parade, Harlem. We also went to offer support to De Blasio. A great time! Look who we ran into...

Preying Mantis eating Bee

Sleepy Bee's and a Dragonfly

Our various Bee's are vacillating between general beesiness to dropping off to sleep on the Rudbeckia this week.

Gazpacho

Now is the time for Gazpacho. All the ingredients are at their peak and available at your local Green Market. The tomatoes, and I like, what I think of as a field tomato, are juicy and so flavourful from the long hot days of August, rather than the intense burn of July. The second crop of kirby cucumbers are coming in. All the peppers, green, red, hot are just hitting their stride for crisp, crunchy, taste and heat. Red onions have moved from the semi sweet delight of red scallion in the Spring, to the peppery sweet delight of Fall. Local garlic is ready too. I have tried making it with local cider vinegar but confess I prefer red wine vinegar. 4 Tomatoes 4 Kirby Cucumbers 1 Red Pepper I green Pepper 1 hot Pepper 1 red Onion 2 cloves of garlic 1/2 cup red wine vinegar 3/4 cup olive oil salt and pepper to taste Tomato juice. Chop each ingredient in a food processor. Add to large bowl. Mix together with seasonings, vinegar and oil. Now add tomato juice. I like my gazpacho to be thicker, some like it runnier. So make it to your taste. Chill. Eat with French toasts and a good pice of cheese...

Bee's and flowers. this week

This Bee, rolled himself around in the Nasturtium flower. Ecstasy! No matter what flowers the garden is full of, the ultimate favorite is the nightshade flowers. Which mean lots of berries for the Cat birds and Cardinals.

Rice Pilaf - Simple Suppers

Rice Pilaf - Simple Suppers Back in the Spring I started to make a dish that I loosely call Rice Pilaf. I suspect that it not a true Pilaf, but anyway... I added 3 tablespoons of olive oil to a cast iron or other heavy duty skillet/frying pan, heated the oil until just about to smoke and added a tablespoon of mustard seeds, when the seeds started to pop, I added either Scallions/Spring Onions, sauteing them until soft and added a handful of pine nuts, which I lightly browned, and then 2 chopped garlic gloves and a chopped hot pepper - both optional. At the moment, I am then adding a small to medium sized zucchini chopped into 1/4 inch pieces, 3 - 4 shishito pepper sliced and about half a red pepper also cut into 1/4 inch pieces, sauteing the mix together until starting to soften. In the Spring I was adding chopped baby carrots, new peas and or fava/broad beans. Stir in 4 or five cups of cooked rice. I like an Indian Basmati best. Serve with grilled fish or chicken; Kebabs and of course a lovely salad...

Honeysuckle and garden bounty

We planted 3 different varieties of Honeysuckle, this one has flowered most. An old variety of Zinnia, which I was originally disappointed with but love it's tiny red flowers.