sunday Sunday SUNDAY!

We had a birthday party to go to yesterday, so the afternoon was not as domestic as I wanted. It was leisurely, though, so when we did get home I had lots of energy and got right to work in the garden ripping out the spent peas and replanting the bed with radishes of all sorts. Some dried peas had already begun to sprout, so I gently moved them under the sunflowers at the end of the bed so they’ll have something to climb. Peas in the fall are nice, but daikon are better.

I made three big jars of pickles, which I’ll post as soon as I photograph them. Dinner was a combination of several dishes prepared separately and eaten all together; a bit more time could have turned this into an elegant multi-course meal if the occasion had called for such. As it was, we enjoyed it out on the screened porch with the breezes and the chirping birds.

I started by seeding and mandolining a couple of cucumbers into a bowl, then kneading them with salt until they gave up their liquid. I squeezed them out, then dressed them with the local soy sauce and cider vinegar. I took a sweet potato and steamed it, then made a variation on our beloved tahini-miso sauce using black sesame paste, white miso, and raspberry vinegar in place of lemon juice. I used the same pan with the steamer in it to cook a small head of local cauliflower that a friend gave us since their CSA had given them too much. I tossed it in olive oil, cider vinegar, and a bit of leftover green mash once it was tender.

I dug what looks to be the last of the Washugyu beef from the freezer (meaning it’s time for another trip to Mitsuwa) and thawed it in a marinade of miso and white wine, then gave it a quick sear and deglazed it with soy sauce and more cider vinegar. It’s a joyful thing to have high-quality soy and vinegar made locally, and my pantry is much happier for it.

In the same pan, I sautéed oyster mushrooms and garlic, then flamed them with sherry and added sherry vinegar for good measure.

We carried all the little bowls out to the porch and helped ourselves, using my newest plates; I recently joined a ceramics co-op and these are the first to fire there. There’s just an electric kiln, so we fire to cone 6, but these look like they fired to cone 10 in gas because of the very nice glazes one can get these days. There will be lots more ceramics in the coming months. And food to put on them.