Fast Slow Food

On your mark: Pizza dough.

Get set:
a.3 cups of flour
b.1 teaspoon salt
c.one package of yeast
d. 1 teaspoon honey
e. 1 Tablespoon olive oil
f.1 cup warm water (from the tap is fine)

Go: Combine dry ingredients in a bowl (I use a food processor). Combine wet ingredients. Press on button to mix dry ingredients and slowly add wet to dry as processor is running. Leave it on for a few minutes. Dump the dough on a cutting board, knead in enough flour to keep it from being sticky. Cut in half. One half the dough will make a pizza large enough for two people.

Freeze the other half for another day. I do three batches because why get the bowl dirty for only one batch? I wrap the dough in plastic wrap in a neat package. When I take it out to thaw I unwrap, put the dough in a greased bowl and put the wrap on top. The rest is in a million recipe books.

Sweet 100s

This is today's harvest of cherry tomatoes. I will cook them Ina Garten style in olive oil with fresh thyme, salt and pepper. Less is more.

Flowers in the garden...

Flowers in the garden bring bees and butterflies. This morning there were swarms of butterflies and bees busy working the flowers. They work the vegetables as they are working the flowers which are planted all around. The outcome is lucious squashes and juicy tomotoes.

Kids and Kittens

Patricia loves kittens. Here she is with a new litter. She is holding Milky Way and Truffle-going with the candy theme works for her. It was great fun listening to her name and re-name kittens. Snickers, Zero, Oreo, Chips; her list went on and on. You should hear her sweet, delighted laughter when she is playing with them. OMG it was so much fun to be with a happy 4th grader! She played with them until the fireflies came out and mosquitoes chased us indoors.

Homemade Yogurt

Pictured below is my homemade yogurt with a drizzle of honey. The recipe is too simple: Heat 2 cups milk, any kind, in a pot to 180-190 degrees (it will have small bubbles and be steamy). Let cool until warm to very warm and pour into a warm jar. Stir in 1 Tablespoon yogurt with active culture (any kind you like). Put the lid on, wrap in a towel to retain heat and put in a warm place for 4 hours. DO NOT MOVE FOR 4HOURS! The recipe can be doubled/tripled/quadrupled...just be sure that the ratio of milk to yogurt is the same. Many thanks to Jonathan and the New York Times for this cool summer delight. With fresh summer fruit it is gourmet.

Outdoor Rooms

Our neighbor's daughter started the "porch party" years ago. They are great fun. Neighbors and friends gather to eat, drink and chill enjoying each other while avoiding the chore of cleaning the whole house. Summer would be unbearable without porches and shade trees. Here's a sample of porches in our neighborhood. They've announced births, engagements, hosted weddings, graduations, retirments, family reunions, a multitude of Halloween celebrations, hurricane parties and recoveries. If you have an unloved porch, doll that bad girl up and parteeeee!

Beans

This handful of beans will be enough to accompany a supper of zucchini pie. Oh, what a beautiful morning. The air is clear and clean from last night's rain, bread is baking in the oven, laundry is done, and I have nothing to do but read a book. So glad school is out and I get to live by my own rules. Woo, hoo!