Recipe successes: food from the yard

This past weekend included some social functions that involved tasty snacks. After my husband tried to go a week without eating sugar, the temptations of the weekend were too difficult to resist.  But sweets weren't the only delicious items: I'm happy to report some successes with food from our backyard.  So some food notes: 

First event: Ok, I have to admit I didn't make this appetizer, but I'm getting my kids to make it in the future.  (Short on time, I just brought Trader Joe's herbed goat cheese and pita crackers to the meet and greet we went to on Friday.) But this would be so easy to do: take grape tomatoes, (which are coming to an end in our garden right now, but I am going to have the kids start some new plants,) and cut them in half and layer them with a basil leaf (my basil needs some fertilizer but is still healthy) and a slice of mozzarella string cheese (or good mozzarella if you are nice.) The lady who brought them left them plain, but I like the balsamic drizzle.  And slicing isn't really even necessary.  

On Saturday we went with the cousins to the Goleta Lemon Festival. This was a slightly disappointing event. My sister-in-law and I were hoping for an abundance of lemon themed food: some lemon curd, lemon marmalade, lemon steak, lemon delight, lemon lemon...  Well, the festival was a bit smaller than we expected.  There were more people on the soccer fields at the other end of the park than there were at the lemon fest. But we did sample lemon beer, lemon cotton candy, lemon ices, and lemon pie.  The lemon bars didn't look nearly as good as the ones I make with my grandmother's recipe, so we passed on those.  The lemon cotton candy tasted like lemonade mix whipped into a fluff.  The girls loved it.  They also loved the idea of trying out the array of bouncy houses, but we bargained them down.  Who wants to pay $5 for 5 minutes of bouncing when you can jump for free at every other birthday party?  Instead we gave them each $3 for a flower headband from one of the little booths (NOT lemon themed: most were local insurance companies, cable providers, and health supporting industries offering free pens and magnets, with a couple vendors of tchotchkes from China.) The highlight of the afternoon was watching a group of girls from the local dance school perform flamenco dances. Wish I had a photo to share. The girls looked beautiful in their brilliant dresses, red lipstick, and bright flowers pinned in their dark hair. Our girls were fascinated by the concept of fake eyelashes -were they wearing them or were they not? 

Hungry for more lemon foods, I asked a bored kid back at home to try making lemon meringue pie for our dinner than night with the cousins.  Success!  My 14 year old son (with help on the crust and meringue from Dad) made the lemon meringue pie recipe from Grandma's Joy of Cooking.  I could have eaten the entire thing myself.  The crust was a little underdone, but the filling was lemony perfection. Way better than what we bought for $3 a slice at the fair.  Our lemon tree produces a very sweet little lemon that made a light colored filling.  It isn't as sour as some varieties, so I think it is a Meyer lemon, but I'm not sure. It produces all year round. I've been watering it lately because I don't want it to perish in the drought. 

I didn't take a picture of the boys' pie, but here is an idea:

And the recipe from Joy of Cooking for the filling: 

The Lemon Filling

Ingredients for the filling

• 1 9-inch pie crust
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• 6 tablespoons cornstarch
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup cold water
• ½ cup fresh squeezed lemon juice (3 large. lemons)
• 4 each large egg yolks, well beaten
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 1 ½ cups boiling water
• 1 teaspoons lemon zest, grated

Procedure steps for filling 

1. Using a fork poke holes in the sides and bottom of the crust every few inches or so to allow air to escape while baking, thus preventing the crust from bubbling. Bake the crust in a 425° F oven for 20 minutes or until evenly browned. Remove and cool the crust. Turn oven temperature down to 350° F. (Now go to step 1 in the meringue section below.)

2. Combine the sugar and cornstarch in a 2-3 quart saucepan.

3. Gradually blend in until smooth the cold water and fresh lemon juice.

4. Add the egg yolks and blend thoroughly then add the butter and fold in stirring constantly.

5. While stirring gently slowly add the boiling water. Bring to a boil and allow thickening slightly, reducing the heat to very low and simmering slowly for 1 minute.

6. Fold in the lemon zest then pour into the baked pie shell.

7. Spread the meringue (see recipe below) onto the outside edges and anchoring it to the crust and filling, then working toward the center with the remaining meringue. Use a rubber spatula to create peaks throughout the top of the meringue. Bake for 20 minutes in the 350° F oven or until meringue peaks are golden brown.

8. Cool completely on a rack and then serve or refrigerate for up to 3 days.

Since I'm holding a sleeping baby, I'm not getting up from the computer to fetch my cookbook and copy the recipe exactly but this blog claims this is the Joy of Cooking recipe: from http://morethanburnttoast.blogspot.com/2011/08/classic-lemon-meringue-pie-from-irma-s.html

The other event we cooked for was Sunday dinner for 3 families from my husband's work.  He decided to publicize this party as a bacon-themed dinner, so someone brought bacon wrapped jalapenos and cauliflower and bacon salad, we had bacon mashed potatoes and bacon wrapped pork tenderloin, someone else brought bacon and cheese and tator tot casserole, and the other family brought a salad with kale, peppers, peanuts and bacon bits.  We also had bacon bits to mash into guacamole.  The guacamole was devoured. We've been getting avocados from our tree for several months now and while production has slowed down, we're still able to gather a few ripe ones regularly.  Again, I'm not sure of the variety.  These avocados are HUGE and mild. I think they might be the "Mayo" variety or "Choquette."   I've been experimenting with guacamole and this batch turned out pretty well: used a generous amount of lemon juice, Camp Dog Cajun seasoning, garlic powder and cumin.  I probably won't be able to replicate the results because each batch has a different ripeness and quantity of seasoning, but the Cajun seasoning added a really good zing. 

http://ucavo.ucr.edu/Images/Varieties/Mayo.jpg

So we've been eating deliciously if not healthfully. I've got a couple friends who are doing detox diets and are very enthusiastic about how great they feel and how they don't feel deprived on these restrictive diets.  They seem convinced, but I believe part of their excitement is related to the fact that they are paying a premium for supplements while doing the detox.  You know how you always LOVE something you pay a lot for? A car, a stereo, a blender -- I call this the Vitamix effect, although I'm sure psychologists have a better name.  

In a similar vein, last week the moms' group at church hosted a chiropractor who advocates for natural living - very Californian. Her enthusiasm almost has me convinced to try drinking apple cider vinegar mixed with honey and water and to take colloidal silver to prevent infections.  But life without lemon desserts and rich appetizers seems too bland.  It's almost time to start feeding the baby real food, and I know I'll try to withhold sugar from her as long as possible, but even though sugar seems to be at the root of so many health problems, it provides so much sweetness to life that I believe to deprive her of the joy of dessert would be akin to sending her out in the cold without a coat.  Lemon pie, chocolate, coffee, wine, guacamole -- small vices that yield great delights. We all need something to help us through dark days.