THERE is something
both innocent and
exciting about a
picnic, even if you
are only packing a
few things at the
last minute and
heading down the
street to the park.
It may be nothing
fancier than bologna
or tuna salad on
white bread, but
you’re still likely
to have a good time,
which is probably
why many of us
remain devoted to
the same picnic
foods we’ve eaten
all our lives.
BirchLane.net
July 2008
Thursday 31
Wednesday 30
Words.
Tuesday 29
Private Label Wines.
Monday 28
Pizza and Wine. I made a great pizza tonight and spent time thinking about private label wines.
Sunday 27
Salmon. Quiet day. Tired from photographing family reunion. Drove to Northampton to give family a test print; a group portrait of all 85 people.
Saturday 26
Family Reunion. Today I photographed the second day of a family reunion.
Friday 25
Family Reunion. Today I photographed a two-day family reunion. The family rented a hot-air balloon which gave tethered rides to the guests. Here is a little girl covering her ears as she waits for the balloon to rise.
Thursday 24
Rain.
Wednesday 23
Rain.
Tuesday 22
Corpse Flower.
Monday 21
Sunday 20
Saturday 19
Hot. Very Hot.
Made a Cumin Carrot Salad, which was served with grilled salmon and skillet roasted red potatoes.
Friday 18
Side Of The Road.
Thursday 17
Red Potato Salad with Peas and Chocolate Mint.
3 or 4 red potatoes, quartered lengthwise and cut crosswise into 3/4" slices
2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup of sour cream
1/4 cup of fresh chopped chocolate mint
1 cup thawed frozen peas1. Steam the red potatoes, covered, for about 10 minutes or until they are just tender.
2. Transfer red potatoes to a bowl, and toss them with the vinegar, and salt to taste.
3. Let the potatoes cool, and chill them, covered for about 1 hour or until they are cold.
4. Remove potatoes from refrigerator, in another bowl combine mayo and sour cream with the mint.
5. Pour the prepared salad dressing from Step 4 over the potatoes, add the peas, and salt and pepper to taste. Toss the potato salad.
6. Serve the salad at room temperature.We ate this, which was delicious, with grilled summer squash and a rib-eye steak. A Malbec was served with dinner.
Wednesday 16
Simple Simply Delicious Salad.
Lettuce, Basil and tomato from our garden. Plus some Parmesan cheese and olive oil.
Tuesday 15
Spring Street.
Northampton, Massachusetts.
Monday 14
Three Birds on Birdbath.
Sunday 13
Warm Red Potato Salad with Apple Cider Vinegar, Caraway Seeds and Chocolate Mint.
Saturday 12
Grilled Sockeye Salmon with Cucumber Dill Sauce.
Grilled Sockeye Salmon with cucumber dill sauce, salad, and grilled chipotle corn .For the sauce: peeled, seeded and chopped cucumber; 1/2 cup sour cream; 1/2 tsp sugar; some Dijon mustard; 1/8 tsp salt; 1/8 tsp white pepper; zest of one lemon; 1 tbl dried dill.
Friday 11
Nadine.
Thursday 10
Grandmother's Garden. Discovered a lovely garden today in Westfield, Massachusetts; Grandmother's Garden.
Wednesday 09
Slow Food Nation.
Notes from this book are here:
Tuesday 08
Books from Library.
Slow Food Nation: Why Our Food Should Be Good, Clean And Fair by Carlo Petrini
No One Belong Here More Than You: Stories by Miranda July
Loitering With Intent by Muriel SparkMonday 07
Liatris.
Sunday July 6
The Picnic Table.
Saturday July 5
The Food Table.
Friday July 4
The 4th of July. Daryl and his friends came over for dinner (along with Susan's Mom, and Ann & Alberto). We served: We served: Roasted Peanuts, Corn Chips and Salsa, Grilled Tequila Lime Shrimp, Stubb's Baby Back Ribs (grilled), Skillet Roasted Red Potatoes with Chocolate Mint and Lemon, Baked Beans, Chef Bruce's Amazing Cole Slaw, Grilled Chipotle Buttered Corn on the cob, Wine, Beer, Soda.
Thursday 03
The Littlest Bird. The littlest bird sings the prettiest song.
Wednesday 02
Picnics. In today's New York Times, Mark Bittman, serves up 101 20 minute dishes for inspired picnics:
Susan's friend Cheryl came over today for lunch. We made White-Bean Hummus Dip; Chicken Salad Nicoise; Curried Rice Salad with Melon and Raisins; and Sangria.
Tuesday 01
Billy Collins. In Saturday's Wall Street Journal, Billy Collins, writes in an article entitled, Inspired by a Bunny Wabbitt, how the cartoons created at Warner Brothers inspired his poems.
Tonight I am reminded of the poem below which appears in his book Sailing Alone Around the Room, which Danielle bought for me a few years ago for Christmas:
Another Reason Why I Don't Keep A Gun In The House
The neighbors' dog will not stop barking.
He is barking the same high, rhythmic bark
that he barks every time they leave the house.
They must switch him on on their way out.
The neighbors' dog will not stop barking.
I close all the windows in the house
and put on a Beethoven symphony full blast
but I can still hear him muffled under the music,
barking, barking, barking,
and now I can see him sitting in the orchestra,
his head raised confidently as if Beethoven
had included a part for barking dog.
When the record finally ends he is still barking,
sitting there in the oboe section barking,
his eyes fixed on the conductor who is
entreating him with his baton
while the other musicians listen in respectful
silence to the famous barking dog solo,
that endless coda that first established
Beethoven as an innovative genius.
Billy Collins
For dinner I made Last Minute Salmon Cakes.