Via Flora: July 2011

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Lettuce and Tomatoes and Beets, Oh My!

If we remember and have time on summer Sundays, Tom and I like to wander around the Summit Farmer's Market to see what looks good and to enjoy the surroundings. (For me, that includes the babies in strollers and dogs on leashes.) Besides meeting a few very friendly farmers along the way, we also discovered some new treats to bring home: beautiful, torpedo-shaped red onions, known as Rossa di Firenze, will be on our grill tonight; hummus, infused with the spices of Morocco, made it into our basket as soon as we taste-tested it. Within an hour after arriving home, I had spread some on a slice of Italian bread for lunch, topped with one of the sweet Jersey tomatoes we also bought. It seemed like an odd fusion-style sandwich, but was actually pretty delicious.

Since I'm slightly obsessed with adding beets to my salads lately, I couldn't leave without buying some. This time, I decided to go for the golden variety, mainly to avoid magenta stained fingers but also to decide once and for all which ones I prefer.

I've had a plan to make blueberry muffins this week but it's doubtful whether these will last long enough around here. Good thing there's a place to pick some more a quarter mile down the road.

And here's what Tom chose- some not exactly pretty but definitely extra-manly hot Italian sausages. Just in case anyone thought we were vegetarians.

Happy Sunday!

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Espresso Regresso

I usually don't drink coffee in the afternoon, except for the occasional iced decaf to-go while I'm driving around doing errands in the summer. But yesterday I couldn't resist when my mother, Rose Assunta Maria Clara Viviani Del Presto, offered me a cup of espresso during a visit to her house. This had been a ritual in my grandparents' house every day when I was growing up-the grinds that looked like black sand would be packed in on one end, water would go in the other, the simple espresso maker would be placed over a burner in their basement kitchen, (the main kitchen was only used on holidays) and eventually it would be flipped over. When the thick, dark coffee was ready, my grandfather would carefully pour it into demitasse cups. A bottle of anisette would appear next and a little bit might be added, especially if company dropped by. My favorite way to drink it was with sugar and lots of it. Everyone would stir it all up with the tiniest spoons, creating a tinkling sound so appealing that you always stirred longer than you had to.

I indulged in the espresso yesterday to re-create a snippet of those days when my Italian-American family enjoyed multi-course meals in that small basement. It was a chance to relive the afternoons I spent as a young girl at the tables of aunts, uncles, cousins, and godmothers, when I could only pick up the non-Italian part of the conversation but sat quietly and politely taking it all in. Yesterday, my mother used the same simple espresso maker from the old days, unlike the fancy, plug-in model that I have in my home and still don't know how to use. She poured, we stirred and sipped and chatted about this and that.
If the intense shot of caffeine was going to keep me up all night, so be it. And if the super heaping teaspoon of sugar was a detour from my usual sugarless cup of joe, fine by me. It was worth every bit of extra hyperactivity that day and wakefulness last night to hover in the past for a short time simply over a cup of coffee with my mom.....and the anisette-worthy company in our hearts.

Friday, July 1, 2011

What is it about seersucker that makes it forever irresistible?

source: Converse

It can make sneakers look fresh and adorable.

source: Elise Grace Wagner

I doubt I'd wear this type of footwear, but in seersucker, there's a chance. Not with those pants though.

source: Rover Dog at Etsy.com

Besides the Barbour jacket I bought for my lab, I tend not to go for clothes on dogs. But this is definitely another exception to my rule. I wonder if it comes in extra large?

source: Todaystie.tmblr.com

Probably seersucker overkill, but somehow this guy gets away with it. Only seersucker could help pull this off since it's playful and charming, just like the model undoubtedly.