Aubergine

I love Fall...the cool nights, the colorful leaves, the wild abundance of Mums and the amazing things available at the Farmer's Market! Yesterday I got apples and this eggplant (aubergine sounds so much grander) among other things.

I plan to use it in this wonderful spread that we first sampled at The Homestead Restaurant in Homer, Alaska. I was able to get the recipe (some good things DO come from Alaska!), which I will share with you:

Melanzano

1 large eggplant

2-3 cloves garlic

8 oz cream cheese

1 c grated Parmesan

1/2 c olive oil

Cut eggplant in half, rub with olive oil and place face down on a cookie sheet. Peel garlic cloves, rub with olive oil and place on cookie sheet. Roast at 375* for 40 min or until soft. Cool, then scrape eggplant from skin. Puree all ingredients together in food processor, drizzling in olive oil until well blended.

This is great on crackers, pitas, veggies, you name it!

T

The Perpetual Hostess

Our final overnight guest of the summer has gone, and after washing sheets and towels, I slumped onto the couch to watch "Finding Nemo" with the girls. We have had overnight guests here 19 of the past 30 days, plus a weekend away from home. I am just plain pooped from all the cleaning, planning, grocery shopping, cooking, entertaining, just overall being NICE.

In all fairness, my mother-in-law was here since the 2nd, and she really was quite easy...took long naps along with L and went to bed early. We did have to remind her over and over again that certain physical complaints came along with being 86 years old, and weren't due to any serious illnesses. But overall, this was the easiest of the bunch.

Now I'm ready to enjoy my home with just the noise of the girls play, interjected with a few fights (wow, can girls ever scream!). I want to enjoy sloppy meals made on the spur of the moment instead of well planned and prepared ones. I'd like to walk around half the day in my pj's if I so desire.

Of course, now I need to return, without excuses, to working on my list of home repairs...next up: excavating for some brick work. We also have J's swim lessons next week with the inevitable "making a day of it" at the pool a time or two.

DH and L are home with fast food for dinner, so I need to act as if I've been productive for the past 20 minutes. My best wishes and love to N.

T

APRICOTS

Thankfully, no "Little House on the Prairie" disasters occurred with my beautiful apricots as I waited for them to ripen. We did watch deer, groundhogs, and rabbits enjoy some of the windfall. With the help of my Mother-in-law, I got some canned and made some into jam. We also have been enjoying a huge apricot cobbler for dessert for the past few days, and have had many to eat fresh. Hooray for home grown produce!

T

Fruit of the Season

The apricots, which we've never had the opportunity to harvest

here, are looking luscious on the tree...not quite ripe, but SOON!

We picked these sweet babies on the way up the hill from the mailbox this afternoon.

T

Shoo Fly Pie

My brother's train is at least an hour late coming in to Connellsville (a small town in PA to which I've never intentionally been). Luckily he called just minutes before I pulled out of the garage to go pick them up. So, J & I have had some time, while the house is quiet and everyone else sleeps, to play "Go Fish" and "Crazy Eights" and eat a leisurely breakfast.

I managed, in the midst of chaos on Friday, to bake a couple of Shoo Fly Pies. This may not be everyone's dream confection, but they are quite tasty and simple to bake. For some reason they have morphed from dessert to breakfast food in our family. A slice is quite satisfying with a cup of coffee. Since they are very definitely a Mennonite food, I offered a slice to J.

J: "No way!"

T: "It's really quite yummy. Come on, when else would I offer you pie for breakfast?"

J: "Uh uh, I want a pancake."

T: "You have Mennonite blood in you, you should try some Shoo Fly Pie!"

J: "Is that the REAL name? They should give it another name, that's not a very tasty name."

T: " Do you want a bite of mine?"

J: "No thanks."

So, I've got an unwilling child of Mennonite heritage on my hands. One day I'm going to make her try a bite! Until then, I'll just enjoy the swarms of Mennonite people hanging out at our home on the hill.

T

What a Great Bunch of Folks!

Once again we greatly enjoyed the company of the Elaines et al!

Good food, good company...what more could one ask for?

Even the little ones found plenty to do!

We all passed around Baby B.

Just wish I got some pictures of the men playing!

Until next time,

T

Nancy's Holy Bread

Thought I'd post a picture of N's beautiful holy bread. I leave it to N herself to describe the significance of the stamp on top and the part the bread plays in her Orthodox service. I thought it was gorgeous (smelled good, too)!

And here is a little taste of our Easter morning. I wish I had been on top of things enough to actually bake hot cross buns, which is my childhood tradition, but instead we had pound cake (which strikes me as incredibly pagan, as does staying up to all hours the night before stuffing Easter eggs with chocolate Crunch bites while watching Chocolat--but oh, well). And yes, we are still a family of four live and one-in-hiding.

K

Taco Night

I was lucky enough to marry into a family with some solid traditions different from my own. My husband's parents were missionaries to Hispanic populations in many states, but originally in South Texas/Mexico. They adopted several Mexican foods, and "Mennonite-ized" them, including tacos and our yearly Christmas tamales. We received a "tortilla-dora" (tortilla press) as an engagement gift from my parents-in-law, and as much as I enjoyed eating them with the in-laws, I thought it would clearly gather dust in my cabinet.

Now, 17 years later, we are using our second tortilla-dora as we used the first one to death, and taco night is a weekly tradition. I learned to make fresh corn tortillas at the side of my mother-in-law and sister-in-law.

I start with Masa Harina, very finely ground corn flour, and boiling water, to make the Masa (tortilla dough). This is rolled into balls, then pressed between the two iron plates of the tortilla-dora.

The pressed tortilla is placed on a very hot, flat iron pan, and cooked on 3 sides.

The finished tortillas rest in a towel lined basket or bowl to steam.

My husband ate tortillas twice a week during his Jr High and High School years, as his mother found it a good way to get vegetables into him. It was a momentous milestone the day each of the girls ate their first taco! We eat the tortillas with a sweet/sour ground meat (this is the Mennonite influence), cheese, lettuce, onions and tomatoes. During the winter months we rely on canned tomatoes so as to avoid the anemic, firm grocery store variety. The finished product is topped off with salsa (homemade as supplies last) and devoured with relish.

J has recently started helping to press the tortillas, so I find myself passing this tradition on to the next generation so that Taco Night can remain an important fixture in the Martin family for years and years (and years) to come.

T

Easter Sunshine, Family & Movie Review

Another snowy Easter past! Although this one was much less surprising than last. It was lovely to enjoy the sun as the girls scrambled for colorful plastic eggs filled with nickels and Reece's Peanut butter cups (many of which will disappear during my late evening chocolate attacks).

It was also lovely to enjoy the visit of my parents for 3 1/2 days, which was greatly anticipated by the girls (and myself). I not only enjoy seeing my parents, but reap great rewards from my Mother's help with meals, laundry and child care. We ate well, as always (manicotti, smoked turkey, peach/raspberry cobbler, bean soup, etc, etc), but also enjoyed outings to the Waynesburg Livestock Auction, violin lessons and the Carnegie Science Museum.

We watched a couple of movies, one of which was worth commenting on. "Enchanted" was indeed an enchanting film of a typical, happy animated princess, Giselle, who does not have a care in the world. After meeting her handsome prince, she is ambushed on the way to her wedding by her future Step-Mother-in-law, who is not willing to give up her reign to make way for her step-son and his new bride. Giselle is pushed into a wishing well, and comes out in New York city, fully un-animated, and learns a bit about true love and reality. It is charming, witty, silly enough for the kids and has enough meat for the adults. A gem of a Disney film.

T

Obstinate, Headstrong Girl!

It was such a beautiful day today, such wonderful sunshine, it seems ALMOST a shame to spend it indoors. How could I refuse though, when my husband suggested a Pride & Prejudice marathon? An entire day curled up next to my hubby on the couch watching Colin Firth/Mr. Darcy? No contest!

A day of P&P, and manicotti until bursting last night, all these excesses seem a very good way to usher in March, to my thinking! Spring is legally only 18 days off, this week is Spring Break, life is good!

Baked Manicotti (recipe from America's Test Kitchen)

Tomato Sauce:

2 28-oz cans diced tomatoes in juice

2 T EVOO

3 medium cloves garlic, minced

1/2 t hot red pepper flakes

1/2 t salt

2 T chopped fresh basil

Cheese Filling and Pasta:

3 c ricotta cheese

2 c grated parmesan cheese

2 c grated mozzarella cheese

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

3/4 t salt

1/2 t black pepper

2 T chopped fresh parsley

2 T chopped fresh basil

16 no-cook lasagne noodles

Heat oil, garlic and pepper flakes in large sauce pan over med heat until fragrant, 1 -2 minutes. Pulse 1 can of tomatoes and juice at a time in food processor until coarsely chopped, 3 - 4 pulses. Stir tomatoes into garlic oil with salt and simmer until slightly thickened, about 15 minutes. Stir in basil.

Combine ricotta, mozzarella and 1 c of parmesan, eggs, salt, pepper and herbs.

Pour 1 inch boiling water into 13x9 inch baking dish, then add noodles one at a time. Let them soak until pliable, about 5 minutes, separating noodles with tip of sharp knife to prevent sticking. Remove noodles from water and place in a single layer on clean kitchen towels. Discard water and dry baking dish.

Spread bottom of baking dish evenly with 1 1/2 c sauce. Spread 1/4 c cheese mixture evenly onto bottom 3/4 of each noodle. Roll into tube shape and arrange in baking dish seam side down. Top evenly with remaining sauce, completely covering pasta.

Cover dish with aluminum foil and bake at 375* for 40 minutes. Remove foil, sprinkle with remaining parmesan cheese and broil for 4-6 minutes until cheese is browned in spots. Cool for 15 minutes before serving. Serves 6-8.

Happy March!

T

Sweet Tooth Continues, Used for Good Cause

MORE SUGAH!

Wednesday was baking day at the Cockroft house. I spent almost the entire day on my feet in the kitchen, baking up a triple recipe of cake and another triple recipe of cookies. The cupcakes are by far the most fun as one gets to decorate them with tasty chocolate creamcheese icing after they finish baking. I just pipe the icing out of a ziplock bag. I sent a large bulk of the bounty with Martin for his students to consume after their poetry reading, but there were plenty of leftovers--of course. I always plan ahead for leftovers. So last night found me drinking fizzy juice and eating two cupcakes (hey, it's not every month you get to weigh almost exactly the same as your husband does--may as well whoop it up while the going's good) while watching side-splitting episodes of "Waiting for God--" the funniest show I've seen in a very long time. Incredibly clever.

And here's a little treat from months past: two little lovely ladies on their way to a play:

Aren't they just gorgeous, dahlin?

Brief Indulgence: Summer and Sugar in Febuary

So just let me indulge myself in one quick daydream of summer, in this case E riding on Chester the Dog's back in the middle of lush, hot Texas. . .Elspeth actually held on for a moment before toppling off.

Here's a fun almost-local tip, though: this past Saturday we packed into our car and tooled around the back roads to Point Marion (about a 30 minute or so trip) to try to locate a little diner called "Apple Annies." Our friends in Morgantown had recommended it to us, and the girls were hungry by the time we finally got into the car. So off we went blindly; Martin with blazing ears (he defied the stereotype of men not asking directions, but in a chagrined kind of way) asked the diner's whereabouts at a car parts store.

Apple Annies, it turns out, is hidden in an unlikely little alleyway in the middle of this rather unpromising industrial town. But it is absolutely charming. It is friendly, completely nonsmoking, and rather cute inside. And super busy. I've heard the best time to go is for breakfast, but we weren't that organized so instead we ordered lunch: salmon cakes for Martin, turkey for me, a huge plate of assorted pasta for the girls. After a preface of bread basket, the food came quickly and was hot and good. Next time, however, I will skip the real food altogether and save myself for the ungodly portions of dessert that meet you immediately as you walk in the door--absolutely humongous pieces of cake slathered with icing, pies heaped with wild layers of meringue.

We chose ONE piece of chocolate cake to go, and for teatime that afternoon we split it four ways with some left over. I wish I had taken a picture. I saw one lady walking to her table while we were there balancing a mountain of vanilla cake with pink icing. . .surely, you think, it can't be all for her. . .but perhaps. . .perhaps, in a moment of complete un-lent-like self-indulgence. . . .All I know is that I did not give up sweets for Lent, and a good thing too since Beatrix seems to have an insatiable sweet-tooth.

Anyway, we should plan a field-trip soon, in which we indiscriminately stuff ourselves with sugar. All I can say is, What is consumed in Point Marion, Stays in Point Marion. The good people at Apple Annies don't tell tales.

K