My Town At Dusk

Maine Street.  The old paper mill is at the back by the river.  Twilight.  My little Town has  a small (20K) population and an enormous property tax burden.  We also have a popular Music Theater in the summer (that crowds the locals out of the restaurants in Town).  This month we have a Buddy Holly tribute.  I have read the reviews and I guess the "older" crowds rock the house with each performance.  Maine has the oldest population in the 50 states.  Baby Boomers.

My day off.  I have a nice piece of pork in the oven turning into "southern pulled pork" with a cider vinegar base(Martha Stewart).  I also have rhubarb bars baking along side.  I added more oats and, well, more of everything to Smitten Kitchen's recipe (which left much to be desired).   I have now tried two recipes from her site and will not be trying any more.  They are okay.  Not great.  The fried zucchini thing went down the disposal after I picked out all the zucchini and washed off the pasta.  Ugh!  Pretty pictures and dismal food.

I turned a few things lingering in the fridge into baked cheese manicotti last night after work.  It was so cold and wet at work--and customers wanted me to "take" them out to look at things.  In the pouring rain.  Not a drizzle.  A downpour.

So, a nice warm meal was what I wanted.  I mixed whole milk ricotta with egg and parmesan cheese then rolled it up in sheets of fresh pasta, covered everything with a large can of Trader Joe's marinara (very good stuff) and then the remainder of the whole milk mozzarella I got for G's pizza.  Could have used more mozzarella in the filling but there were no complaints when the dish came out of the oven.  We both had seconds and I'm sure we will fight over the leftovers.  Then we settled into the couch to watch Damages.  We were at the end of season two.  And now we are at the beginning of season three.

I have seedlings (that I started under lights a week or two ago) of cucumbers (pickling and burpless), yellow summer squash and zucchini to plant today.  I also have three eggplant and one yellow plum tomato.  One more tomato.  I chose the yellow plum to add another color to my tomato dishes.  Red, orange and now yellow.

G ALWAYS says we have too many tomatoes.  Now, I never have any extra tomatoes to give away.  We (I) eat them all.  So how could there be "too many"?  I used the not so nice looking ones to make jars of delicious tomato jam last summer.  G loved it.  And any overage gets roasted in the oven and packed in freezer bags for winter pasta dishes.  Well, now I am thinking two yellow plum tomatoes. I hear they are absolutely huge plants.  Covered in tons of little plum shaped yellow tomatoes.

G is out giving the hydrangeas a heavy "blast" of Bloom Booster. Phosphate. They should suck it right in after all the rain yesterday.  And the garden is getting more Miracle Grow.  I have to replant beets.  The first crop failed to thrive due to a lack of fertilizer at the right moment.  The seeds in the compost pile continue to germinate.  I have bok choy, arugula and now a mass of Sweet Annie.  Borage seedlings are popping up all over as well.  My blackberry bushes are covered in pretty white flowers.  Looks like a snow storm.  I guess they appreciated the 80 pounds of cow manure we fed them.  Sounds like a blackberry pie is in our future.  Yum.

I am wondering how my three pots of potatoes are doing.  Have to check on them.  They like massive amounts of fertilizer as well.  But never cow manure.  The spearmint is doing well in the herb bed and in the path next to the herb bed.  It escaped.  The thyme is everywhere.  I have a good crop of dill and caraway (for seed) and my tiny, tiny basil plants are starting to make some new leaves.  The Fava bean plants haven't made any beautiful white flowers yet (which is the reason I planted them).  They look like hibiscus when blooming.

It was supposed to be sunny today.  But it's overcast.  I had best use this perfect time to get my seedlings planted.  With fertilizer.  So, farewell.