Reflections

Reflections of irises and water hyacinths dance on the surface of the water in our fish pond. That's two of our "Freds" swimming around. Several Japanese fishing floats bob and migrate around the pond, giving "the Jers" (short for "the Jeremiahs," our bullfrogs) a nice place to perch.

Click on the links below to read more about our fish and fish pond!

The Five Freds ar Back!

One Fish… Two fish...

fish pond 

wakey wakey

Birthday breakfast

For my birthday breakfast we indulged with Julia Child's cheese soufflé, mushrooms sautéed with fresh thyme and Marsala wine, smokey cob smoked bacon, and a buttery croissant. It was too early for prosecco—that came later though.

Wyeth traditions

Portrait of Shorty by Jamie Wyeth 1963

I swooned in awe today while viewing the Jamie Wyeth exhibit at the Boston MFA. JW is a skilled contemporary realist to be sure, but is not afraid to expand beyond the mastery of rendering that runs in his family blood to a bit of abstract expressionism. He once hung out with Andy Warhol at the factory in NYC, so  it's no wonder he busted out of his conservative painting technique.

My favorite painting might be the one shown above— the Portrait of Shorty. It's gritty and real and I'm in love with that fabric on he chair. And that JW painted it when he was in his late teens is crazy to me—such innate talent.

Other paintings that I liked included a series that JW painted in 2007 of the Seven Deadly Sins—paintings that address human frailty and the sins of pride, envy, anger, greed, sloth, gluttony and lust, as noted by Dominican Saint Thomas Aquinas. But in Wyeth's clever twist, these sins are acted out by seagulls—birds that the artist has observed for decades along the coast of Maine and from his studios on Monhegan and Matinicus islands. “Gulls are nasty birds, filled with their own jealousies and rivalries,” Wyeth once said. See detail from one painting below.

I also really liked the portrait show below, of model Orca, (yes, his real name). 

Grilled tomatoes + garlic

Skewer up some baby tomatoes along with roasted garlic cloves (you can get them at the Italian deli bar at Whole Foods) and grill lightly to give it a quick char. Then drizzle with olive oil and sea salt. Done. You can eat as is or on  top a piece of grilled ciabatta with basil olive oil. If you're feeling crazy add some halved Kalamata olives.

Baby Swiss chard

I grew this rainbow of greens! I have some large Swiss chard growing in the garden, but also keep a small saucer pot of chard plants to clip as baby greens for my salads. I let these leaves get a little bigger than I intended, but they were still tender and sweet. They aren't full grown but way bigger than micro greens or the baby greens you find in mesclun salad mixes.

The Blueberry Hill Thrill

This week's Saturday Sipper is made with Junior Johnson's Blueberry Moonshine! Moonshine in general is a not for sipping, and this hooch is no exception. But on a hot summer day it goes down quite nicely when mixed with some seltzer, as this drink is.

THE BLUEBERRY HILL THRILL

2 oz Blueberry Moonshine!

raspberry lime seltzer

blueberries and lime wheels for garnishing

This drink is super easy to make. Fill two mason jars with ice, add a shot of moonshine to each, and fill with the seltzer. Add skewers of blueberries and lime wheels, then find your favorite shady spot and sip away.

Makes two very thrilling Blueberry Hills!

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Blissfully creamy

Every time I have a bite of burrata cheese I tend to wax lyrical about how sublime it is. Well, it's that good. And unless you've eaten this cheese, I am sure you think my enthusiasm for it is quite esoteric. This fresh mozzarella cheese stuffed with cream and pieces of mozzarella makes my legs weak—especially when it's laid upon slices of vine ripened tomatoes from my own garden, and topped with bits of green and purple basil, a few flakes of fleur de sel salt, and anointed with olive oil from Italy. Oh, and be sure to have some crusty bread to sop it all up with. Go find thee some burrata!

You may also enjoy:

Burrata and grilled peaches

Burrata in Tuscany

Burrata and tri-colored tomatoes

Baby beets

These baby beets came from Canaan Farms in Wenham. Aren't they beautiful? They were picked just hours before I bought them. Even though the beets were only the size of golf balls, the greens were massive. I'll steam or roast some of the beets, and maybe shave some of them—raw—into a salad.

The Bellini

Buoni cari mattina! (Good morning darlings!) Today's Saturday Sipper is a cocktail that was invented in the original Harry's Bar in Venice, Italy by Guiseppe Cipriani. It's made with luscious, ripe summer peaches and Italian Prosecco. Peaches and Prosecco? How bad can that be?

Apparently the blushing pink hue of this peach drink reminded Cipriani of the color of the togas that 15th-century Venetian artist Giovanni Bellini often painted. (Such as the one shown below), so that's how it got its name. The tasty concoction will set you back around 20 Euros at Harry's Bar, but you can make one on the cheap here in the USA, where white peaches are in season, although you won't have the romantic Venetian backdrop. I've put a little twist on the classic Bellini by adding a judicious dash of lemon thyme infused simply syrup. 

THE BELLINI

2 oz white peach puree*

6 oz Prosecco

1 tablespoon lemon thyme infused simple syrup

fresh peaches for garnishing

Basically this drink one party peach puree to 3 parts Prosecco per drink. Add peach puree, lemon thyme infused simple syrup into two, well-chilled glasses. Top with Prosecco, add peach slices and lemon thyme sprigs for garnish, and dream about Bellini, Tintoretto, Cannaletto, Titian, and all those other Venetian painters. 

Makes two peachy Bellinis!

*To make the silky sweet peach juice, slice 2 peaches (preferably white, but whatever you can find) into segments, remove the pit, and place into a blender skin and all. Whizz it up to a pulp, and strain through a strainer. There's your juice. Refrigerate the puree until it is very cold. As an alternative to fresh peaches, which I admit feels a little wrong, you can always just use this Bellini juice and mix it with Prosecco.

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The Rue Montorgueil in Paris

Claude Monet's The Rue Montorgueil in Paris 

Being somewhat of a Francophile, I couldn't possibly let Bastille Day pass without some sort of nod to their chosen day of liberté, égalité, fraternité (freedom, equality, brotherhood). Oui, Bastille Day. And what better way to do this than with a French flag painting. Ok, not just any old French flag painting—this masterpiece is by French impressionist Claude Monet.

The Rue Montorgueil was painted on June 30th, 1878 for a festival declared that year by the government celebrating "peace and work," and was intended to be a symbol of France’s recovery after the defeat of 1870. Viva la France! 

See more famous flag paintings 

by clicking here. (mostly American!)

The Celery French 75

Mon cheri, this week's Saturday Sipper is a nod to Bastille Day, which will be celebrated Monday the 14th in France. This cocktail has an unusual name—oui, nest pas? The Martha Stewart Website says this: 

The ultrasmooth French 75 cocktail  is named

 for an equally ultrasmooth 75-millimeter artillery cannon

 used in World War I. In this version, 

the alluring blend of gin and sparkling wine gets 

an aromatic herbal lift from celery-infused syrup.

Okay, I couldn't have said that any better. Traditionally this drink does not include this celery simple syrup, but I like flirting with anything unusual, so I had to try Martha's version. Essentially this tastes like a lemonade for grown ups!

THE CELERY FRENCH 75

2 tbsp. celery simple syrup*

2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice

1 oz gin

6 oz Prosecco

baby celery leaves and lemon peel for garnishing

In each of your two chilled champagne glasses, add 1 tablespoon of the celery simple syrup, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, and 1/2 ounce gin in a champagne glass. Top off with champagne or sparkling wine or prosecco, or whatever you have that's bubbly! Swirl to mix. And the denouement?… why, a sprig of celery leaves and a lemon rind, pourquoi des cours!

Makes two mouth puckering Celery French 75s!

*To make the celery simple syrup—Add equal parts, (1/2 cup each) of sugar and water to a saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat for about 5 minutes, or until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat; add celery leaves, and let it infuse until it cools, about a half hour. Pour syrup through a fine sieve into a bowl, and discard leaves. What's left behind is a beautiful, pale chartruse colored sweet syrup. Chill in the fridge until you are ready to use. Make plenty, this will be a summer fave!

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Watermelon + feta salad

Watermelon and feta salads are the perfect combo of sweet and salty. This rustic salad also has some refreshing mint strips on top. You can drizzle this duo with olive oil for a more savory mouth feel, or with balsamic vinegar to give it some extra kick, but I like it plain sometimes, just like this. Check out these watermelon and feta salads from previous posts I've done:

Starburst appetizer

(click to see post)

Salad on a stick appetizer 

(click to see post)

Playful checkered salad 

(click to see post)

Color inspiration—juicy watermelon!

Nothing says summer like juicy, refreshing watermelon! 

Love those scrumptious shades of pink and green.

To see more colors, click on the red "color inspiration" label below.

The rhubarb mojito

It's rhubarb season, so this week's Saturday Sipper celebrates this crazy beautiful plant with a rhubarb infused libation. This Rhubarb Mojito is pretty much like a regular mojito, but the simple syrup was infused with chopped bits of rhubarb. The sugar balances the tart rhubarb and it's sweet and summery.

THE RHUBARB MOJITO
2 oz Bacardi white rum
2 oz freshly rhubarb simple syrup*
1/2 lime

dash of cinnamon and a grating of fresh nutmeg
club soda to top off

frosty ice

Between two glasses, add rum, rhubarb simple syrup, lime juice, cinnamon, nutmeg, and mint leaves. Muddle a bit with a wooden muddler to release the mint essence. Add ice and top off with club soda. Garnish with rhubarb stalk, sip, then say, ahhh, I love summer!  

*For the rhubarb single syrup—In a small pot, combine the 3/4 cup chopped rhubarb, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 cup water, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to moderately low and simmer until slightly thickened and bright pink in color, about 20 minutes. Let the syrup cool then pour through a fine-mesh sieve set over a bowl. Press down gently and discard the solids. The rhubarb simple syrup can be made in advance and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week, if you can resist that long!

Makes two minty-licious rhubarb mojitos!

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Georgia on my Mind

Georgia on My Mind  8 x 10  

This painting was a commission piece for a couple who is getting married in Georgia. I kept thinking of those long allées of live oak trees—dripping with Spanish moss—and thought it would represent Georgia nicely. What a nice unique gift to give to someone!

Postscript: 

The newly married couple loved their new painting! Nice to see a painting of mine with its new owners. That's Victoria's Secret model Lindsay Ellingson in the middle, with her new husband, Sean Clayton, on the right, and my cousin Susan Hatch is in the one in the gorgeous flowered dress. Wishing Lindsay and Sean years of connubial bliss!!