galette, summer.

Summer wouldn't be summer with out all the activity;  thankfully workmen are finished tramping through our house, the experiment (for our family) of summer day camps is over, and we can get to mid-summer lazy-busy.  (After we cleaned up from all the workmen, we put the porch work on hiatus whilst we work on our next adventure.  I'm happy to take this break from it, and we will hopefully come back to it excited to keep working.)

The fresh pea soup (made from every pea harvested in the garden) was wonderful, Greta enjoyed the process from plant to supper all in one afternoon.  We used this recipe, but used onion instead of shallots.  We should have strained it, like the recipe said, but didn't and didn't too much mind the pea "shells."  We barely had the three cups of peas, so I guess I didn't want to lose any to straining!

I've had galettes on the mind recently, with their promise of summer easy.  After picking from this recipe and that, we've had raspberry galette twice now, with my cups of slightly over-ripe berries every couple days from the bushes.  It seems, even with picking often, the berries are always overripe!  Perfect for galette.  So easy!  Try for yourself.

~~~
Raspberry Galette
~ 4 very generous servings

Make dough first, must rest an hour:
Put ice in a cup of water, put in fridge.
Cut 6 Tbs cold butter into small cubes, set in fridge.

1 C (5 oz) all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1/8 tsp salt

Mix these briefly in food processor.  Add cold butter, pulse just until grainy (don't overmix).

With processor running, drizzle in ice water 1 Tbs at a time, until dough forms a ball, and no more.  (Will use maybe 2-4 Tbs.)  Place ball in a plastic bag, gently form a 1" thick disk, set in refrigerator at least one hour.

Meanwhile (about 1/2 hour later):

Preheat oven to 400 F.

2 C fresh raspberries
2 T sugar (can use more, quite tart)
2 tsp cornstarch

Sprinkle sugar and cornstarch over berries, mix gently.

On parchment paper, lay dough, then cover loosely with plastic wrap.  Roll out until approx 1/8" thick in a rough round or oval shape.  Pile berries in center and gently spread, leaving 1" edge of crust.  Fold this edge over the berries, around the sides.  Brush crust with milk, sprinkle turbinado sugar over everything.  Transfer parchment with galette onto cookie sheet, bake 35-40 minutes.

Excellent with ice cream (especially chocolate)!

~~~
(Now it's packing time again...  hooray!!)

welcome, indeed.

Summer has really come when Saturdays are two-shower days:  first to wash the morning's run off, then before dinner to scrub the knees of dirt and the hair from sweating in a hat all day.  Jeff's working up in the porch when he's not at the home improvement store, but after some on-and-off rain in the week, then helping the girls makes skirts for dolls Saturday morning (while I'm on the phone, why always when I'm on the phone?!), the rest of the day was outside with garden:  planting out more veggies, cleaning up, and running through the sprinkler with the girls.  At the end of the afternoon I sat outside happily with a Reed's Extra Ginger, and called the day good.

The start of the summer *has* been good.  Following a trip out of state for more than a week with a week of leading crafts in VBS was a challenge, but oh those kids do love their VBS.  (Please note Greta's class actually had close to 30 students, she and cousin and friend were at the overflow table.)  Jeff and I finished that week with going out for our anniversary at the local tea-shop-gone-restaurant-in-historic-home.  Closer to 20 than 10! 

This past week was our first "real" week off, we celebrated by continuing to get the girls up on time (to get them to bed on time), cleaning the front porch entirely, sending K to basketball camp, Gret sewing her own new skirt, finishing a scarf (older than many of my nieces and nephews) to send away, then throwing in the towel (literally?) by heading to the beach Friday afternoon.  (Thursday night I said to myself, "Myself," I said, "It's finally summer.  What do we need to do to get through the upcoming 6 months of winter??  Sun and water and sand, as much as possible.")  (Aside:  why do 12-year-olds balk at absolutely every thing?  Then proceed to enjoy themselves.)

So the weeks ahead look like lots of work upstairs, tired kids, thick gardening, more camps, sneaking off as much as possible for a swim, and going through a half-gallon of whipping cream with all the berries our yard will give us.  Bring on humidity and bugs and that tingle on the shoulders that says I should find some sunscreen or a t-shirt over my tank...and let's plan that vacation!  (welcome, summer!)

one garden evening late in May

hens and chicks from the neighbor

the oaks are leafing out very slowly

but not the maples

weedy patch of earth taken over by the fairies

strawberries by the raised beds

this oak has leafed

four year old seed from the fridge does sometimes work (lettuce and peas)

self-seeded columbine

prairie smoke

pussy toes

the tree people said the hackberry is "the new elm" ... we like it, but it grows helter-skelter

unearthed a green beetle whilst I looked for big bluestem I thought I'd planted

ginko leaves burst

the girls have to catch the beetle, in their p.j.'s.  (he got away.)

Feeling more like myself, though Jeff and I are still foggy and tired.  (What a strange spring sickness.)  Girls are still bright and healthy, thank goodness.  We're prepping for the start of a busy summer, already booked here and there through mid-July.  Hurrah?  Yes... hurrah;  it will be good.

This past week has been a parade of window and drywall guys coming through for quotes then measurements.  The upstairs porch will be progressing!  (But poor Jeff has a lot of work to do before windows and drywall.)  This is such a funny old house, but we fit well here among the creaking floors and wavy windows. 

(Off soon to new adventures!)

a small fence, and a lot of tomatoes.

(before:)

We have been thoroughly enjoying our new backyard area.  Above, "before,"  you see where Jeff removed the last of the original sidewalk that used to go all the way from the back to the front of the house on the south side, about 3-4 feet away from the foundation.  When we moved in, the small garden area was filled with hostas (in the bright sun) and a couple sad roses and peonies.  The peonies are finally back in a good location on the south side of the new fence after being elsewhere in the meanwhile, and I've had such fun filling in the new east-facing garden space.  This area never seemed to grow well, from the tulips I planted the year we moved in, to the various "part-shade" plants that followed.  Now the plants seem to be matched to the area, thanks to the local garden center.

Sitting outside on a Sunday afternoon, listening to the fountain and windchimes, (and *not* viewing whatever crazy is going on over there at the apartment parking lot), has been so lovely.  Who knew a 6 x 13' section of fence would make me so happy?  Next on the outdoor to-do list is new back steps which will also leading to a patio there on the north side.  This may or may not happen next spring, as we're also currently, slowly, remodelling the upstairs back porch.  I do really love this old house.

We, the dog, and the garden all made it through the past week of heat and humidity.  We're breaking from new garden work for the season, just maintenance for now, and we'll simply see how things do over the winter.  There's enough to do with keeping the new bushes and perennials alive, weeding the raised-bed tomatoes, and keeping the pumpkin from talking over the world.  Sooner than later tomatoes and apples will need processing, but I don't want to think that far ahead.  Fun of the travelling kind is coming up soon, and there's plans and reservations and packing (and a head cold for me to fight).  The weeks move so fast in summer.