Berry Harvest Inspires.

It's getting hot in the desert. The berries are shrinking. They ripen too early and while they are delicious, this was the sum of my harvest today. *le sigh*

Not one to be discouraged, I scampered to the fridge and pulled out the carton of organic strawbs, determined to bake something yummy. Ta da!

Rustic strawberry tart.

I veganized this from an Epicurious recipe.

Crust:

1 1/2 cups unbleached white flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons soy margarine (I use Earth Balance)
1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 "eggs" worth of egg replacer

2 tablespoons vanilla soy milk

Filling:

1 pint of strawberries, hulled, cut in half

Handful of any other berries you like. I used up some frozen blueberries.

1 teaspoon grated lemon peel

1 teaspoon grated orange peel

Pinch of sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a tart pan of your choice.

Mix the berries with the lemon peel, orange peel and sugar. Set aside.

Mix together flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. In another bowl beat the margarine and the sugar. Add the egg replacer and the milk. Add the dry mixture to the wet and stir by hand until just moistened. Do not overmix. Spread the mixture into the bottom of the pan. Tumble the berry mixture onto the dough and arrange nicely and press down a bit.

Bake for 25-30 min.

It's cakey, but nice! I imagine it will be good for breakfast tomorrow.

Milano.

The Sartorialist posted this back in May and I can't stop looking at it. Yellow linen trousers!!! Sheer bliss! She walks in Milan, probably on her way to work as the head of some design firm, too chic to carry a bag. She arrives late: Milan is too beautiful to waste. After all, it's cool enough for a scarf and warm enough for sandals. You'd go for a stroll too.
Sure, I've never embraced yellow. But now I am on the hunt for this shade. I should like it in a top.
As soon as possible.

Bread, you are so cruel.

Once again, I've taken up the challenge of making yeast bread and true to form I've been unsuccessful.

I tried to make this:

High Calcium Bread shown above baked by Liz using Tracey's recipe. Looks yummy, right? All oaty and molassasy...

What I got was this:

Two sad little loaves that didn't rise enough. They're really heavy and I'm sure if I threw one at someone, it would hurt. Even the sesame sprinkles couldn't save them. I toasted up a slice this morning pretending it would be yummy and while it was edible, it was not very fun.

I am the walrus.

Well, we had a little allergic reaction Monday night.

Seems that little Kate got into it with a wasp or some such angry creature in the backyard. She puffed up like a walrus! The poor little tyke. At one point, driving to the pharmacy for Benadryl, her head looked like a softball. All's well now, after a sleepless night and her droopy face has gone back to normal.

It's love!

Alright, I'll say it: I love tomatoes. I especially love homegrown, pesticide-free, fish-free, warmed by the sun and sprayed with nothing but *questionable* city water tomatoes. This one I grew in my backyard and it brought me an immeasurable amount of joy. I picked it two weeks ago and ate it for lunch on a lovely panino with basil leaves and buffala mozzarella. Sure, the plant is a little slow to catch up; the rest of the fruits are still green, but I hope to eat more of these lovelies before the desert sun reaches its "destroy all living things" season.