Sunday, March 29, 2009

ina's tomato and goat cheese tart

it finally stopped raining after a four day deluge. today the sun came out in all her glory but the wind makes it impossible to do anything outdoors so i've spent my day baking. this is a tomato and goat cheese tart i cooked for my lunch.....a recipe i got from the barefoot contessa show. don't you just love her? she could cook for me anytime! of course..........my tart didn't end up looking like hers but it sure went down easy!
here's the recipe if you want to make it for yourself:

Tomato and Goat Cheese Tarts
2008, Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics, All Rights Reserved
Prep Time:
30 min
Inactive Prep Time:
hr min
Cook Time:
25 min
Level:
Easy
Serves:
4 individual tarts

Ingredients
1 package (17.3 ounces/2 sheets) puff pastry, defrosted
Good olive oil
4 cups thinly sliced yellow onions (2 large onions)
3 large garlic cloves, cut into thin slivers
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons dry white wine
2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme leaves
4 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan, plus 2 ounces shaved with a vegetable peeler
4 ounces garlic-and-herb goat cheese (recommended: Montrachet)
1 large tomato, cut into 4 (1/4-inch-thick) slices
3 tablespoons julienned basil leaves
Directions
Unfold a sheet of puff pastry on a lightly floured surface and roll it lightly to an 11 by 11-inch square. Using a 6-inch wide saucer or other round object as a guide, cut 2 circles from the sheet of puff pastry, discarding the scraps. Repeat with the second pastry sheet to make 4 circles in all. Place the pastry circles on 2 sheet pans lined with parchment paper and refrigerate until ready to use.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over medium to low heat and add the onions and garlic. Saute for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring frequently, until the onions are limp and there is almost no moisture remaining in the skillet. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, the wine, and thyme and continue to cook for another 10 minutes, until the onions are lightly browned. Remove from the heat.
Using a sharp paring knife, score a 1/4-inch-wide border around each pastry circle. Prick the pastry inside the score lines with the tines of a fork and sprinkle a tablespoon of grated Parmesan on each round, staying inside the scored border.
Place 1/4 of the onion mixture on each circle, again staying within the scored edge. Crumble 1 ounce of goat cheese on top of the onions. Place a slice of tomato in the center of each tart. Brush the tomato lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with basil, salt, and pepper. Finally, scatter 4 or 5 shards of Parmesan on each tart.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the pastry is golden brown. The bottom sheet pan may need an extra few minutes in the oven. Serve hot or warm.

After lunch i baked bread............i'd made some pimento cheese yesterday and thought i'd make some bread for sandwiches this week.

there's nothing like the smell of baked bread......or that first warm slice when it comes out of the oven. if the weather doesn't clear up soon so i can get outside and work in the yard i'm gonna have to order new clothes from omar the tent maker................oh well........it was worth it.

Friday, March 27, 2009

searching for spring

mother nature is such a tease! we were given a little taste of spring and..........boom..........here we are.............right back in the ole winter coat! i bought all my herbs and a few tomato plants last weekend and the poor wee things have been banished to the covered parkway......i hear their little teeth chattering as i sit warmly here at my computer.......such a terrible mom to my new little chillrens. they're calling for rain, thunderstorms, and possible tornados tomorrow and maybe a break by sunday afternoon. meantime...........i keep walking from window to window........nose and palms pressed against the glass........searching for spring........

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

my drug of choice

my mom was a voracious reader in her later years........i couldn't keep her in books......but i never remember her reading during my younger years.....and she certainly was never a mother that read to her children. i grew up in the country....serious country. we had a school that taught all twelve grades in the same building (one that we walked to.....probably close to two miles one way!), a gas station/grocery store combination, and a fish camp. that was the extent of our community.......no fast food.....no library. that being the case...i wasn't turned on to books until i spent the weekend with a friend when i was maybe eight or nine years old. her mother took us to the library to check out books and it was love at first sight! i was hooked.......beverly cleary.........walter farley.......i became our school library's biggest fan. from that day i have always read.........anything..........cereal boxes! shampoo labels! i don't care.....i've got to read. if i had the money i've spent on books and magazines...............well....i'd be a rich woman! i can spend hours in a bookstore......lost in the heady smell of new books.......or a library........i never come out empty handed. i'm ashamed to even admit how many magazines i subscribe to. reading is my drug of choice..... add a cup of joe and a little something sweet to nibble ............heaven! reading gives me the same kind of high i experience when working in my art studio...or the garden.........if interrupted it takes a few seconds to clear my head enough to be in the moment. i've tried listening to books on tape but somehow for me it's just not the same. my eyesight has degraded significantly this past year.........i can't imagine a world without books.....i sure hope it never comes to that point. in the mean time i'll feed my habit as often as i can. i can't even remember the lady's name that got me those first books.......but i thank her with my whole heart!

Thursday, March 19, 2009

happy birthday baby brother

my youngest brother was born on the first day of spring in the year that i was nine years old. i remember being so infatuated with him.....those tiny fingers and toes.....what a joy that i was actually allowed to give him his bottle and help care for him. well.........the shiny wore off pretty quick.....not that i didn't love him......i'd just always had the freedom to roam the woods and creeks around our home and now i was getting more and more "chores" that had to do with this little person. one of my "jobs" when he was a toddler was to lay down with him until he fell asleep for his nap...........i hated being still that long! i used to blow on his eye lids so he'd keep his eyes closed. when i finally thought he was asleep i'd ever so slowly ease off the bed.....inch by inch....and UP would pop that little head! then we'd start all over again. and then..........when he was old enough to be out and about........he had to go everywhere i went.......everywhere! we lived on a huge hill...........my best friend had a little sister the same age as my brother......see where this is going? yep........we entertained ourselves by putting the two little ones in the wagon and rolling them down the hill. seriously.........it's a wonder we didn't kill them! when i hit those teen years my mom appointed him to be my chaperon...........picture yourself out and about with your friends or a date..... with your little brother.....donned in a bath towel cape (batman) and cowboy boots...........i was always buying his silence! i wasn't always happy to have him around.......but i always loved him........and thinking back now.......i wouldn't change a thing except being a kinder big sister. happy birthday "tookie".

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

happy st. patrick's day

wishing you a happy st. patrick's day! this picture via nostalgic collage on flickr.

Saturday, March 14, 2009

sweet potatoes on steroids

my youngest and her family just returned from a trip to the seaside and brought mummie dearest some sweet potatoes...............sweet potatoes on steroids! omg! these things are huge! that's a large onion in the bowl! this is one of the small ones...............

now......the question is............how in the world do i cook a sweet potato this big? i'm thinking i'll cut them into something that resembles a normal size potato then bake them as usual. hmmmmmm.........sweet potato pie...........and a cup of joe........life is good!

Thursday, March 12, 2009

keeper of the memories

i'm a collector of old pictures..........other folks memories. i scour flea markets.........yard sales........you name it.........looking for them. i happened to mention this to a coworker and she told me i should look at her family pictures......as luck would have it........she is her family's keeper of the memories. now i don't know about you....but....on my personal family pictures.....and those i collect.....names and dates are few and far between...... not so with the pictures she brought me. whomever passed her the family torch did an absolutely amazing job of not only names and dates.........but whole stories in the albums......and she let me scan them for my files! christmas in march! as a way to say thanks i used a couple of her pictures to make her this mixed media collage. i hope she enjoys it as much as i've enjoyed the glimpses into her family history.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

who's dreams........

every time i ride by this derelict house i can't help but wonder.........who's dreams..........who's joys..........who's love..........who's tears........ it makes me sad to see abandoned structures.......so full of the energies of past lives...........forlornly awaiting the return of their owners............silently.......watching..........waiting...........

Sunday, March 8, 2009

southern spring show

i always look forward to the southern spring show..........the official harbinger of the coming spring. i took a half day off work and joined some friends for the trip to charlotte, on friday, to get my "flower fix". i grabbed my camera when they pulled up and .........oh no!.......blinking battery light! and .....of course.......my spare battery wasn't charged either........soooooo........no pictures! i mentally kicked myself the whole way up there but after touring the the show.....it really wasn't that big of a deal. it was nice to see the exhibits but they were all just everyday landscaping .....nothing magical........nothing whimsical..........no fairy gardens or any of the "arty" kinds of things i'm drawn to...... so we just took a walkabout and tried to ignore the "fair" food that kept calling our names.

the only thing i wanted to purchase was some of the plastic grow bags like they use in nurseries (which i didn't find). i've decided to grow my tomatoes and squash in hanging bags suspended from an old school yard sized swingset that i've got. have you seen the price of those "topsy turvey" thingys? that ain't happening! i went to the dollar store and bought a cart full of two gallon sized trash cans made from a plastic ribbon woven on a metal frame and will line it with the grow bags (or make my own from heavy duty trash bags) then suspend them from chains on the swing set. i'm thinking of planting my carrots in those half whisky barrels. the thought of getting beat to death by the tiller gets less appealing each year. i've got three raised beds but i planted one with asparagus a couple of weeks ago so now i'm down to two. i'd planned on adding a new one this year but i'll just make do with what i've got..... there's plenty of room for the herbs. maybe i'll get the new bed in before fall so i can plant the garlic.

i've been spending my nights trying to teach myself how to do digital collage with photoshop. i must just be an idiot cause i sure am having a hard time.......but i'll get there......slowly but surely.....i'll get there.

Monday, March 2, 2009

the quietness of snow

what i love most about snow is..........the quietness......and so.....i quietly share a glimpse of my silent world this morning...........