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A Zucchini By Any Other Name Would Taste As Good

Allow me to introduce the "8-Ball" Zucchini. When I saw these at our favorite farmstand, I just had to pick them up. I'd just been reading that morning about a lemon cucumber on food-photographer, Adriana Mullen's blog and found it strangely interesting that these oh-so-familiar vegetables appear to have variations. The lemon cucumber apparently got it's name because its size and shape resembled that of a lemon, although its flavor is all cucumber, according to Adriana. Mike, the farmstand owner, told us that the 8-ball zucchini got its name because it resembles an 8-ball in pool when you look at it from the bottom. Despite all appearances, this zucchini tastes identical to its slender cousins.

Mike recommended steaming these round little fellas slightly, scooping out the center and stuffing them, or coring them and stuffing them for baking. Stuffing? Cold (after steaming and bringing the zucchini shells to room temperature): Shrimp salad, tomato quinoi salad, or Israeli Couscous. Hot: mushroom bread stuffing, herb-rice stuffing, or anything with cheese. At the end of the day, we sliced them, brushed them with olive oil and grilled them. They behaved and tasted just like the regular zucchini - delicious.

 

John's Jellyfish

Time passes way too quickly and we who are in the second half of a century of living know that it only accelerates - one of those sad realities with which we must live.

"Live for today." "Don't put off until tomorrow ..." "Embrace the moment and those around you." We all nod when we hear these expressions and then most of us resume our busy work-a-day lives, dashing to and fro, texting, surfing, and heaven only knows what - with all of the impatience we can sustain, not really savoring anything to its fullest, even each other.

In this life I've been incredibly fortunate to meet many people from a lot of different backgrounds, traditions, and religions, and I've enjoyed learning from them and appreciating the contrasts and similarities in our respective journeys. I've also worked with hundreds of people in and around banking, most on stress-filled days when our best attributes were probably not the most apparent. Since "retiring", I've had the good fortune to get to know some of these people much better than I did when we were working together. I believe there was always respect but once the veil of self-inflicted roll-playing and privacy was dropped, a true appreciation for the other evolved. Such has been the case with John.

Once we were settled in our retirements, John and I weren't close geographically but we "followed" each other - through email and this blog - and learned we had a number of things in common. We both love to rise early and gravitate to the ocean for sunrise; we both enjoy photography and showing what we see in this world; and, we both truly appreciate little things.

Well, sadly, John is no longer with us, which is a loss for this world in my opinion, but I found these photographs in my files today - images he shared with me, images that brought smiles to my face and he knew that they would. I think they are incredibly beautiful in their simplicity, but mostly because John saw them and "captured the moment".

Please do the same.

 

Watermelon and Cucumber Mint Tsatsiki Salad

Peter and I have been doing a lot of cooking lately, mostly from the recipes in Gourmet EASY DINNERS, a magazine I picked up in the supermarket several weeks back. The recipes have been easy and satisfying in this summer heat, especially the chilled savory soups and sweet salads.

We invited a friend over for lunch last weekend to share in our second batch of Thai Watermelon Soup with Crab. When I bought the ingredients to make it the first time, I bought what I thought was the last watermelon in the store - a half watermelon. Well to satisfy the recipe's requirements for 5 cups of chopped watermelon, you really only need less than a quarter of a watermelon, so now I was determined to use the rest up - why not make the soup again and share those aromatic flavors. We did, and as I was preparing for our noontime lunch perusing the refrigerator, I saw so many things to share, that I announced to Peter that our lunch had just become a Tasting Menu. Five small courses of yummy concoctions from our fridge.

1. Thai Watermelon Soup with Crab
2. A Demitasse of Chilled Zucchini Soup
3. Smoked Salmon Toasts with Peter's Dill Yogurt Sauce
4. Roasted Potato Salad
5. Watermelon and Cucumber Mint Tsatsiki Salad

Our friend seemed to enjoy the festiveness of the Tasting Menu and all the flavors and textures involved, but she claimed the Watermelon and Cucumber Mint Tsatsiki Salad the afternoon's star.

So .... drum roll please .... allow me to present the star of the luncheon Tasting Menu at Chez Tooker:

Watermelon and Cucumber Mint Tsatsiki Salad
Serves 6

 1 small garlic clove
2 medium cucumbers (1 pound total), divided 
1 1/2 cups plain Greek-style yogurt
2/3 cup chopped mint, divided
1 (3 pound) piece watermelon, cut into 1-inch chunks (6 cups)
2 Tablespoons fresh lime juice
Flaky sea salt such as Maldon
===================================

• Mince and mash garlic to a paste with a pince of salt and transfer to a bowl. 
• Peel 1 cucumber, then halve lengthwise and seed. Coarsely grate into bowl with garlic paste. Stir in yogurt, 1/3 cup mint, and 3/4 teaspoon salt to make tsatsiki.
• Peel remaining cucumber and halve lengthwise. Cut into 1/3-inch rounds
• Toss sliced cucumber and watermelon, remaining 1/3 cup mint, and lime juice.
• Serve watermelon and cucumber with a side of tsatsiki, Sprinkle with sea salt to taste.

Note: Tsatsiki can be made 3 hours ahead and chilled.

Tomato Basil Soup with Bruschetta

Cold tomato basil soup with bruschetta has been the perfect lunch during the recent heat spell. I shared this recipe with you last year, but felt it warranted repeating given that everyone is looking for something satisfying, easy, and cool on these dog days of summer. We make up a blender full and keep it in the fridge covered with plastic wrap and when we want some we just run the blender briefly in order to reblend. Thanks again to Patricia Wells who provided this recipe in her Vegetable Harvest cookbook.

Tomato Basil Soup
(6 servings) 

1½ pounds tomatoes, cored and quartered
½ cup tomato paste
1 tablespoon celery salt
¾ teaspoon ground mild chili powder
2 tablespoons sherry-wine vinegar
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
20 fresh basil leaves
1⅔ cups water

=====================================

Combine all the ingredients with 1⅔ cups water in a blender or food processor. Purée to a smooth liquid. Taste for seasoning. The soup can be served immediately, but the flavors will meld over 3-24 hours, refrigerated. Re-blend when ready to serve.

As for the bruschetta, dice tomatoes, mince garlic, finely julienne basil, and mix with extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper, to taste. Pile on toasts and enjoy.

Wedding Bells No Blues

Eighteen years ago today, Peter got me to the alter, after asking me to marry him every year for the previous three. Well it wasn't really an alter, it was a trellis erected in his mother's back yard under the pine and maple trees. The minister from the Presbyterian church presided over the ceremony, one that was attended by only 20 people, ten friends of ours who lived nearby and ten of his mother's friends - small, just as we had wanted. The day was a scorcher and only got hotter as the afternoon progressed - the wind usually dies in the late afternoon on the east end and on this day it didn't disappoint.

Both Peter and I had been married previously, once for Peter and twice for me, so I was a very reticent bride. We had been happily together for the previous five years and I saw no real reason to "rock-the-boat". If it wasn't broke ....

Well I agreed and we set a date for a summer weekend in 1994. Once again not wanting to jinx a thing, we invited only local friends knowing the logistics of getting to the Hamptons in the summer, on short notice, would be daunting. As it happened, a cousin was getting married in Massachusetts the same day, so my family was already committed elsewhere. Small, understated, more like a small celebration of five years together - this is what we wanted.

In fact, I wanted this so understated I was planning on just wearing something from my everyday closet, but a friend who lived nearby insisted that I couldn't go "everyday". One Saturday morning she picked me up at my front door and took me shopping, telling Peter we wouldn't come home "undefeated". We found an elegant, understated, frock with a beautiful scarf that could be worn again any day. It was not expensive and fit the bill.

Peter wore something summery, handsome, and that matched the color of his eyes - a striking cobalt blue blazer, pale yellow slacks and a matching tie - of course. He looked gorgeous to my eyes and just looking into them steadied me as the ceremony approached.

My soon-to-become mother-in-law kindly got my linen dress pressed and we all somehow persevered the heat in her un-airconditioned 1730s house. Guests arrived, as did my friend who helped me buy the dress I now wore, and we all gathered around the trellis. The minister then asked us who would be standing up with us ... I hadn't even thought about this; I hadn't even thought about thinking about this ... I asked the friend who'd helped me buy my dress and she agreed. To this day we laugh, as she wore black to this wedding because the outfit was light and cool compared to the rest of her wardrobe. If she'd known she was going to be my witness she would never have worn such a somber color. Peter planned better than me and had already asked one of his oldest friends, Jack, to be his best man, and he'd agreed ... a second time!

All went well; the ceremony went without a hitch, except the one that was meant to happen, and happily an old friend of Peter's brought a camera, because we hadn't planned that either. We are forever grateful to Laura for capturing a moment we are now so glad to remember through her pictures. It became a wonderful afternoon garden party. Andy, a very old friend of Peter's and a musician arrived with his keyboard and played several songs to which Peter and I danced! A former housemate of mine sent over a homemade chocolate cake with chocolate frosting with a very large sunflower on the top that sadly was forgotten and began to melt in the sun, but as the sun was heading toward the horizon, the cake was saved, the sunflower wasn't, and we all went off to a lovely dinner in the village of Wainscott.

Now 18 years later, I can hardly believe how foolish my worry had been, but then again two previous marriages made me pretty nervous about messing something up that seemed nearly perfect. I was nervous for the first 4-5 months of our marriage and then I simply forgot to be nervous, and here we are ... happily 18 years later.

On a recent trip to Venice to celebrate Peter's 65th, Peter and I met some wonderful people and one, in particular, asked about our "obvious" (his word not mine) success. We told him honesty, laughter, friendship, common interests and values, and .... "drum roll please", please and thank you .... never take the other one or the relationship you have for granted.

So eighteen years ago today, we made a commitment to each other, one that we both respect and cherish. I don't wake a day, when I'm not thrilled to see those beautiful blue eyes looking back at me asking what we'll do today.

My oh my, am I glad he dragged me to that trellis!

Thai Watermelon Soup with Crab

Gourmet magazine was a part of my life for over 40 years. My grandmother, Claudia, gave me a subscription way back when and I kept it up over the decades. The demise of this iconic magazine has left a large hole in my reading enjoyment so I was thrilled when I saw a copy of a magazine called Gourmet Easy Dinners at the grocery store recently, and I snapped it up (if you can too I recommend you do). Reading the recipes and looking at the gorgeous photographs not only made my mouth water but it also made me pine for the days of yore. Well lucky me, it appears this magazine is a compilation of some of Gourmet's best, and the first recipe I tried is this one for Thai Watermelon Soup with Crab, originally from Gourmet 2004.

Mis en place -Thai Watermelon Soup with Crab © 2012 Claudia Ward

If all of the ingredients are appealing to you, you MUST try this recipe. Since our summer days have been really hot, we had this cold and absolutely loved it. Place a mound of crab meat, or perhaps well cut-up lobster, in the center of a soup bowl and pour this ambrosia around it. The soup is sweet - watermelon sweet - accented with the aromatics of lemongrass, ginger, and garlic that turn the broth a beautiful red-orange. It is truly unique and eminently enjoyable on a hot summer's day. Please try it, I expect you'll be as pleasantly surprised as we were.

This soup was so incredibly simple, Peter and I agreed that we had to share it with you sooner rather than later, enjoy!

Thai Watermelon Soup with Crab
(Serves 4)

For Soup
5 cups chopped seedless watermelon
1 fresh lemongrass stalk
3 tablespoons finely chopped shallot
1 1/2 tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger
1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
1 1/2 tablespoons mild olive oil
1 small green Thai or serrano chili, chopped with seeds, or to taste (we took the seeds out)
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice 

For Crab
10 ounces jumbo lump crabmeat (2 cups), picked over
1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro
1 1/2 tablespoons mild olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt

______________________________________

Make Soup:

• Purée watermelon in a blender and transfer to a bowl. (Don't wash blender).
• Discard 2 outer leaves of lemongrass and trim root end. Thinly slice lower 6 inches of the stalk only, then mince slices.
• Cook minced lemongrass, shallot, ginger, and garlic in oil in a 2-quart heavy saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring, until pale golden, about 5 minutes. Add one-third of watermelon purée; simmer over medium heat, stirring, 5 minutes.
• Purée watermelon mixture in blender with chili, lime juice, and 3/4 teaspoon salt. (BE CAREFUL it's hot. Hold the top down with a dish towel, the top will want to pop-off with steam pressure.)
• Add remaining watermelon and blend briefly. Season with more chili, lime juice, and salt to taste, blending as needed. Strain through a sieve into a bowl. If serving cold, chill set in an ice bath; if hot, reheat.

Prepare Crab:

• Toss crab with cilantro, oil, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Mound in 4 soup bowls; pour soup around the crab.

Note:
Soup can be made one day ahead and chilled. 

P.S. I had never worked with lemongrass before this and was able to find some at a local food store. It's shape resembles a scallion's. You remove the dried outer leaves, cut off the root end, then thinly slice the first 6 inches; after that mince the slices. Cutting it you'll smell a lovely light lemony aroma and you'll think of ginger root as you see it's fiber. At the end of the day, the lemongrass, onions, garlic and ginger are strained out of the soup, leaving their lovely aromatics behind. If you cannot find lemongrass, make the soup without it. It adds je ne sais quoi, which I expect is subtle and lovely, but I also expect all of the other ingredients can hold their own.

 

The Fourth of July!

Happy 4th of July everyone!

Flags Over Newport Harbor, ©2012 Claudia Ward

I woke up curious this morning, curious about the history surrounding this national holiday - the 4th of July, a.k.a. Independence Day, so I began surfing the web for answers and stumbled upon a couple of interesting tidbits that I thought I'd share with you here.

Flags Over Nantucket, ©2012 Claudia Ward

We all believe that America's Continental Congress declared independence from Britain on July 4th 1776 but, in fact, the vote for independence occurred on July 2nd 1776 and the "Declaration" was published in the newspapers on the 4th.

American Flag on an American Eagle, ©2012 Peter Tooker, HDR

The Declaration of Independence - the document - was not fully executed until August 1776. In fact, John Hancock was the only one to provide his "John Hancock" on the Declaration on the 4th of July.

Flying the Flag on Narragansett Bay, ©2012 Peter Tooker

Presidents John Hancock and John Adams, each a signer of the Declaration of Independence, both died on the 4th of July 1826, adding meaning and significance to this special date.

Our Banner Unfurled, ©2012 Claudia Ward

The American Flag has gone through a lot of changes over the centuries. "In 1958, a history teacher assigned Robert Heft and his classmates at Lancaster High School to each redesign the national banner to recognize Alaska and Hawaii, both nearing statehood." Heft was the only one who stitched a new flag, simply adding two stars. His teacher apparently gave him a B-, to which Heft took exception. He mailed his flag to President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who personally selected Heft's design to become our new banner in 1960. Heft's teacher revised his grade to an A!

 

Oh Say Can You See ...? ©2012 Peter Tooker

 So enjoy your 4th! Celebrate our independence and raise a flag or two.

 

Special thanks to The Huffington Post and TheFW for pointing me toward these tidbits.

Busy As A Bee

The bees are busy and so are we! Some of you may recall early in the year that I said I was going to take a small break from the regular postings to Open-Window because there was so much else to do. You may also recall that it never really happened then, but I expect you're noticing that it's happening now. My sincere apologies for being so unpredictable.

What are we up to? I am learning more about blogging, and how to monetize a blog, and we're learning more about the business of photography and how to create revenue streams, with the hopes that these two can meet. You all know how much I enjoy writing for Open-Window and sharing our adventures on the road and in the kitchen, documenting it all with our photographs. Well it's time to see if this can truly become a revenue-generating business, so I apologize for posting less frequently of late and ask for your patience for just a little while longer. What does this mean? It means that rather than three to four posts each week this summer, there will only be one, and I promise I'll keep to that schedule.

In the meantime, I'd like to seek some help from those of you who follow Open-Window. Tell me:

What do you get from Open-Window?
Why do you like Open-Window?
What do you like best about our blog?
What do you dislike about this blog?
What could be improved?
What would you like to see more of and of what would you like to see less?

Any and all feedback would be a big help and in appreciation for your assistance I will be happy to send you a copy of your favorite photograph from Open-Window over the last two and a half years. Just let me know which one it is and it will be yours. We look forward to hearing from you either in the Comments section or via email, it's your choice. You can easily access my email by clicking on the words "Email Me" under the picture of the Open Window painting on the left hand side of any page of the blog.

Happy summer everyone, and thanks a million for your loyalty, help, and support.