The Demise of Summer

Oh quelle dommage!  It's so very tragic to have the realization that it is mid-August and summer is almost over.  I've had a secret desire for years to live off the land, and was able to spend the past month and a half doing just that.  Lauren and I took over a tiny plot of land behind my apartment and planted tomatoes, lettuce, basil, chives, cilantro, oregano, peppers, carrots, beets and cucumbers.    Other than the cucumbers and squash, everything has come up in great abundance.  And I'm sorry to say that my lettuce and tomatoes are now almost done for the season.   Now that I'm so spoiled I don't really want to have to go back to buying fresh veggies from the store.  It's been a yummy season of caprese salads, fresh salsa, amazing pasta sauce and vegetable soups.  Oh, and my next door neighbor has a fig tree that overlaps our fence, that has been exploding with fruit.  This morning I toasted figs stuffed with goat cheese, wrapped in prosciutto.  I promise you, I never eat such decadent things during the off season.  Perhaps tomorrow I will make a fig and gorgonzola pizza...with red onions and a drizzle of honey.  (It's hard to tell that I've already had dinner and am actually not hungry.)

Summer, why oh why must you end?

PS.  The downfall to having a garden is that I've never been so close to so many critters.  It's not uncommon to pick a bunch of lettuce or basil and then find caterpillar or worm cocoons on the underside.  Its a bit of an unpleasant surprise, like finding gum on the bottom of your shoe.  But I guess it's all part of the adventure.

Random gadgets found at Marukai 98

Although there are many, many places where I love to shop when I visit Japan.  My most favorite, is the 100 yen store.  It's a bit like the .99 cent store on crack.  Thousands of things, you never knew you needed, all for the bargain price of US$1.05.  And lucky for me, I don't have to go all the way to Japan to shop at my favorite store.  Torrance and Gardena are both home to Marukai 98,  America's imported version of the 100 yen store.  Granted, everything starts at $1.89, and some things are even more expensive, but the junk you never thought you needed is the same, which is why I like to visit the store on rainy days to test out random gadgets for entertainment purposes.

Take today's amazing product:  The Star/Heart hard-boiled egg shaper.  Here we go....

Simple enough instructions.  Take an egg, boil it, then peel it.

Stick it in the mold, buckle the side latches, let it sit for 5 minutes.

Voila! You have a 3D Heart or Star shaped egg.

Cut in half and serve in salad or make cute deviled eggs.

Prickly Pear Fruit

I've been curious about the prickly pear cactus fruit for years.  Ever since I was a little girl and discovered a homemade jar of Prickly Pear jam in my mother's pantry.  The jar was never opened and used, I have no idea how it tasted.  Was it sweet, sour, or incredibly bitter?  Who knows?  I just remember it being a vile shade of green, like mushed peas.

So, how surprised was I, to find that the inside of a prickly pear is actually magenta, like dragon fruit.  The fruit itself reminds me of a guava, sweet but full of seeds.  Well, I hope they were seeds and not spider eggs (as the urban legend of the cactus filled with spider eggs, was all I could think about while cutting into the fruit!)

And I think I will consider using the prickly pear in future cooking endeavors, perhaps a pie or martini?  Well at the very least I know what I will be eating the next time I get lost in the desert.

Fruit Sushi

Ahh...Thanksgiving.  The day when we gorge ourselves with turkey, stuffing, cranberries, mashed potatoes and gravy.  Bleh!!!  It is my least favorite holiday.  I haven't been a fan of the traditional foods since I was 5 years old, and overate too much stuffing, making myself sick, ruining forevermore the need and desire to eat any and all of the traditional Thanksgiving dishes.  So my family tradition has long involved a multitude of foods: turkey, ham, and sushi, along with salads and the traditional foods.  Since moving to Los Angeles, I spend most of my Thanksgivings with my family in Colorado.  There we celebrate by eating at the family restaurant  where my cousin Sven makes the most delicious meals...and I am not bound by any traditions to eat turkey, stuffing, or potatoes.  Instead, I change my order every year, depending on the mood.  Of course there are no leftovers at the end of the night (everything is so yummy, why would there be?) but that just makes the meal even more special...you have one chance to really savor all the flavors!

This year, I spent Thanksgiving in Apple Valley, California, with my Auntie Emi's family.  I have a lot of cousins and younger 2nd cousins, which make it lively and boisterous when we all get together.  And since, i knew there would be a traditional meal to look forward to, I had to make sure there was something that I could eat.  So this year, my contribution was Fruit Sushi...a messy, yet yummy, lightly sweet dessert.

What you need:
-Coconut Sticky Rice (buy the pre-made stuff from a thai restaurant or thai bakery)
-Mango
-Apples
-Asian Pear
-Papaya
-Persimmons
-Berries for garnish

Cut the fruit into sticks.  Set aside.
Take a piece of parchment paper and place it over a bamboo sushi mat, spread rice evenly over the paper (because it is so sticky, it helps if you plop some rice down, then cover it with another piece of parchment paper, then use a rolling pin to roll it out evenly.  Take off the top sheet of parchment paper before continuing.)  Place and assortment of fruit sticks in a horizontal line across the rice (click here to see an example using avocado).  Roll your sushi, being careful not to get the parchment paper stuck inside the roll.  Stick in the refrigerator for an hour, cut, and serve.  Use berries to garnish and make the plate look pretty!

Persimmons

    When I lived in Japan, I was slightly obsessed with the trees that flowered with small, fruits covered in paper bags.  I would ask again and again, "what kind of fruits are on those trees?" And, "why are they hidden?"  The repeated answer was, "kaki."  A difficult word to translate, because I was unfamiliar with the fruit.
     Soon enough, I learned to love kaki...or persimmons.  The lightly, sweet fruits were like nothing I had ever tasted before.  Now, I look forward to the fall when persimmons become ripe and widely available.
     Last weekend, with a surplus of persimmons on hand, I decided to create a salsa using ingredients found in my refrigerator.

Basically, I chopped and minced the following, then mixed together in a bowl:
-2 Fuyu Persimmons
-Grated Ginger (about an inch worth)
-Fresh Mint
-1 Serrano Chile
-Red Onion
-Juice of one Lime

The salsa served with Sharp Cheddar Quesadillas were the perfect combination of sweet and savory.  So yummy, I highly recommend you try it!