Picnic at Hanging Rock.

So, you know that ultra-creepy movie from the mid-1970's called Picnic at Hanging Rock?

... There's an ultra-creepy movie from the mid-1970's called Picnic at Hanging Rock. It's Australian. It's directed by Peter Weir, who later went on to direct stuff like Witness and The Truman Show. But first he did weird, creepy, disturbing stuff in Australia.

Picnic is about a group of school girls who went on an outing and wound up getting... something. They disappeared or got killed or raped or sucked into a temporal displacement or something. One of their teachers disappeared, too.

Told you.
Creepy.

So when we found out there was a place titled Hanging Rock National Natural Landmark within two-hours' driving distance of our house, naturally my first instinct was:

Let's go on a picnic!!!

We loaded up our picnic basket with stuff to make ham & swiss sandwiches on sweet brioche with whole-grain mustard and those little individual bottles of wine that you don't have to bother resealing. Two flat stones provided natural benches on the banks of the Wabash River.

I really don't have much to add beyond that, except --

 It's pretty.

 Pretty.

  PRETTY.

Mmmm..... petroleum-based dessert at the summit of Hanging Rock....

 Next stop -- Blair Woods!!
 Who's with me?!?!


...Yeah; okay. That's understandable.

 

Peaches!!!

Peaches 25 - 36

We have a peach tree in our yard. 

Usually we manage to get about a dozen peaches in a year, if we're lucky.

And then, there's this year.

We haven't done a thing different.

Seriously. Not a thing.

This winter, a big wind storm blew a third of the thing down. The poor tree's been struggling since we bought this place, and we'd pretty much given the thing up for dead.  We've even considered cutting it down.

But...

This is the third dozen peaches we've harvested in three weeks. Not counting the ones stolen by birds and squirrels over the last month, or the dozens rotting on the ground. 

We've had parfaits and crumbles and just... sliced peaches, and I'm happily running out of ideas.

 Definitely pickling some of these babies.

Happy end of summer, peoples!

Spring!!

Happy Spring, Party People!!

I can't help noticing that my next-to-last entry in this blog is from about a year ago to the day.

And that it's about 35 degrees (fahrenheit) outside.

Nonetheless!

It is SPRING once again, and I am thrilled.

Pretty soon everything'll be twitterpated and abloomin'.

In celebration, here is this year's variant of eggs, peas, and mint:

Pea and mint puree on garlic-scrubbed crustini, drizzled with olive oil 

and accompanied by a soft-boiled egg.

In a Spring!!

Get it??

Wish I could say that presentation bit was on purpose. Matt didn't think of it until we were bouncing the things off the table after dinner. 

..What?

Anyhow: Holy fantastic WOW.

Freshness of the peas and mint melded perfectly with the richness of the egg.

Better than I could've ever hoped for. 

I have extra puree left; I think I'll use it as a pesto.

Oh! And:

I took some peas, I put in some mint, I drizzled in some olive oil and sprinkled in some salt and pepper, pureed and then adjusted to taste. That's it. No measuring or anything.

Happy Turkey Day!

Or, Game Hen Day, as the case may be...

Matt and I spent the day watching THE parade -- which apparently time-traveled back to the 1980's for the occasion -- then  napping, then watching a dog show, then cooking up a storm for the two of us.

Our family feast isn't 'til a week from Saturday, so this gave me a chance to try out some things.

Pictured above: Cornish game hen treated with butter, thyme, and garlic oil, stuffed with lemon and sage; chipotle mashed potatoes; kale dressed with garlic and sesame oil; and a baguette stuffing with apples and chorizo sausage.

The stuffing might've been my favorite part. 

Which is awesome, considering I came up with the recipe an hour beforehand.

Soundtrack with dinner was the amazing  'In Sound from Way Out,' instrumental psychedelic funk from my beloved Beasties.

Currently enjoying coffee topped with homemade marshmallow, and about to have some roasted garlic ice cream for dessert. 

Clearly I have some updating to do on this thing.

But in the meantime:

Things I am thankful for:

Good Friends

Good Family

Good Food

The Ability to be Full

A Roof Over My Head

A Cat in My Lap

A Job I Don't Hate

Joss Whedon

... What?

SPRING!!!

YAY, SPRING!!!

^

My annual Spring Equinox meal of peas, mint, and eggs, this time done up fried rice style and served on butter lettuce leaves.

Matt says it's the best Spring meal yet.

:-)

FROMAGE!!!

Advertizing banner from FOODIE HEAVEN.
30" x 40"
It's gonna look fabulous in our dining room.

Bunny!!

I've wanted to try rabbit for years, but until recently I had no idea how to go about doing it without searching out a local farmer or something. And then, something glorious happened. An honest-to-god butcher opened up half a mile from my house.

Suddenly, I had access to bunnies!!!

Yet I was still intimidated, because...
That's a whole freakin' rabbit.
Very obviously a four legged creature without a head.

But a few days ago I took the plunge, bought a bunny, and was relieved to find it had already been gutted. (Yay!)

So I, uh... deconstructed it, took a short rest, and went at it. I browned it for a few minutes on each side, then finished it in a sauce of tomatoes, olives, and capers. Paired it with some boiled potatoes left over from my exploits with the bugs detailed in my last entry.

OH MY GOD, IT'S DELICIOUS.

BUNNY IS DELICIOUS!!!!

I apologize to my vegetarian friends, but I might have a new favorite food.

...Oh, who am I kidding; I could never forsake cheese.

Nonetheless!!!

Some choice quotes from The Fella:

"I see you've officially rescinded your 'No Cute Animals' rule."

"What are all these tiny bones? Is that for hopping?"

"What took someone so long to come up with the tomatoes and olives combo? I guess people have probably been doing that for thousands of years. Probably not thousands. Five hundred, maybe."

"We should eat a baby chick... Why not? Ooh - or an old person!"

...Yeah... so...

Anyway, it's delicious. It does not taste like chicken. I don't know why the general population insists that everything tastes like chicken. It's sort of like with rattlesnake - rattlesnake tastes like rattlesnake and bunny tastes like bunny. It's sort of rich and buttery and has a delicate flavor and a nice chew to it. If you're at all inclined, you should definitely try.

Yummy.