I was just sitting here in my St. Vincent scarf (a new design comes out each year to wear during the festival) when the doorbell rang.
Oh, boy, our Garden Guru has done it again.
On the doorstep were THESE, in the lovely orange bucket that Jean Riere manages to fill and give away to us weekly!
The most beautiful, shiny red peppers and the little piemientos de Padron (the city from which they originally came–now you see them grown everywhere, including our back yard neighbor’s garden!) filled the bucket.
Mama will sauté the little green peppers in olive oil (as mentioned a gazillion times before) until nicely browned, then sprinkle them with coarse salt. Num, num. But kitties of course cannot have them…hard on the tummy I think and it’s too bad, as they are full of vitamins and yummy goodness.
I think the red ones are headed for the grill and when they are nicely charred, mama throws a damp cloth over them to ‘sweat’ and then they peel easily. It’s the skin of the pepper that is difficult to digest, hence the de-nuding.
The mama cuts them into strips and sautés those in olive oil with thin slices of garlic and serves them with tuna as a kind of salad. Here there is the traditional salade de Collioure–hard-boiled egg quarters, roasted peppers, anchovies, thin slices of sweet onion, and if you feel like it, cooked corn cut off the cob, all arranged nicely over a bed of mesclun (small lettuces) that have been tossed with olive oil and mama’s vinegar.
Speaking of which, it’s decanting time again, whatever that is. Mama’s witches potions are poured off into bottles for presents or storage and leftover wine is given to the “mother” to turn itself into vinegar over a few weeks. Strange things go on around here, believe you me…
This stuff looks like liver to me!
And why would anyone put his own mother in a jar?
Putting a mother in a jar?! I”ve never heard of such a thing! Maybe it is like a genie in a bottle & offers wishes that way? Those veggies sure look colorful. You look so haute couture in that scarf, mon petit ami!
Well, mama put that thing on me because of the holiday but I’m not big on costumes or rather being costumed! My friend, Ellie, the poodle, is really big on those things and I am going to put her in a blog soon with all her finery. She is such a ham and so good at it.
You are so lucky to have a gardener living next to you, Loulou. All the fresh vegetables! Well, that’s what the mom says…we could care less about veggies. Just give us some fresh nip!
OH, boy, am I going to take a pic of my nip bed. It’s a new one and mama has a couple of little pots ready to transplant. Here’s the question: can there be TOO much nip in a kitty’s world? Papa says I look a bit “stoned” after my nip roll. Whatever that means….
OH – mama has not had coffee yet – forgive her typos and forgetfulness – to let you know how beautiful the scarf goes with your tuxedo-look!! A beautiful and chic splash of color. GO GIRL!!!!!
Well, I don’t really dress for breakfast, but…thank you for your fashion advice. Boy, do I need it.
WELL – those peppers look delicious – and mama had NO idea why people took the skins off peppers, going to the trouble of charring them, then removing – well, now she knows!!! She’s probably to actually do it – but she might!! I will remind her next time!!
Well, I’m going off to play with my toys, octo-poulpe and petit copain…..they are waiting…….
HEY, octo-poulpe, what a GREAT name for that thing you bash around. I love watching you play, Mya, so maybe you’ll do a couple of actions when you get here! And don’t forget the cherry tomatoes waiting for you. Mama needs the garden cleaned up.
Cherry tomatoes – Oh, I am SOOOO ready!!! Octo-Poulpe came after mama named him Monsieur Poulpe. Then Papà kept referring to him as Octo-P – well you know the james bond character – and mama, being the horrified prude that she is (yuk, yuk) changed him to Octo-Poulpe. And EN PLUS – you do NOT need fashion advice. Maybe we could even start a line of cat and dogwear? Un oh – mama is having one of her anxiety attacks………
HAHA with good reason when YOU are thinking up ideas!!! So we’ll plot soon, right? Er…I mean discuss things soon, right?
Your Mom is such a chef. I am envious of anyone who gets to have dinner at your house.
Well, if you are ever in the neighborhood, you are invited. Mama has cooked since five years old and it’s really like breathing to her, a passion, and she makes it easy, even for those who have never cooked.
Wow ! Those little peppers sauteed in olive oil and sprinkled with coarse salt sound wonderful. Of course, you could saute an old shoe in olive oil and sprinkle it with coarse salt and lotsa people (including me) would probably sample it ! This time of year over here the zucchini are running amok, but if you add enough sugar and turn them into zucchini bread they are delightful !
Oh, a wonderful idea. And here’s a sauce for pasta: Saute a sweet onion and a zucchina, chopped fine, in 1/4 cup olive oil with a couple of garlic cloves, chopped fine. Add a little white wine and a cup of chicken broth and simmer until tender. At the end, add a small carton of full fat yogurt (plain!) and a couple of spoons of parmesan. Toss with hot pasta and add fresh pepper.
Humans… Don’t even try to understand their logic.
So what did they bring to you?
These guys always bring me a treat of some kind, but guess what, my favorite treat is Whiskers Tartar Control! Am I dull or what?