Finally the kitchen is finished and now the big, BIG project starts. Yes, the kitchen was just a "little" job. New back splash and counter top and a few lights here and there. Oh, and a big new sink! The big, BIG project is the basement, or first level if you look at it from the back of the house. But, before the big, BIG project, there is small big project... a new roof! No, we have not won the lottery, but circumstances have forced us to undertake three projects in a row that would normally take a few years to even consider.
The new roof is the result of the storms we had this year and last and qualify us for a new one, courtesy of our insurance company. There is a time clause in which to apply, so here we are. A new roof, now, before the big job.
I am telling you all this because last night was the first time in a month that I got creative in the kitchen. Not that we have starved, but frankly I haven't been too excited about cooking as you can see from all the posts about the garden. Not that this is unusual for me. April and May are mainly dedicated to the garden and we had so much damage from last winter that the work has been constant. On the good news front, the gardenias are coming back, little by little; and I mean little by little. The new growth is tiny, but it's there. We will have to wait for blooms next year.
The weather has been... the weather. Weird is more like it. On Monday, 87 degrees was the high and Wednesday morning 40 degrees the low. We are now back to long sleeve tees. So it was stew weather, just like last year around this time. My creative juices started to flow and the results were out of this world. I will post it next, but first here is the salad that went with the meal.
I have posted a cucumber salad before but this one is slightly different. First it is adapted from Craig Claiborne's book, Cooking With Herb And Spices, now out of print. The main difference is the use of lemon juice instead of vinegar and the addition of chives. It is subtle but tasty and goes well with a stew. A good substitute also for tzatziki.
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Cucumbers In Sour Cream
Adapted from Cooking With Herbs And Spices, by Craig Claiborne
Serves 6
Ingredients:
2 tsps. salt
1/4 tsp. Tabasco
1 TB lemon juice
2 tsps. fresh dill
1 TB chopped chives
1 cup sour cream
1 1/2 tsps sugar*
a few drops Worcestershire Sauce*
3 cucumbers, chilled (I used English cucumbers)
Directions:
Combine the salt, Tabasco, lemon juice, dill, chives, sugar and Worcestershire Sauce with the Sour Cream.
Pare and slice the cucumbers and add them to the sour cream mixture. Chill and serve garnished with additional dill.
*were my contribution to the recipe. You don't want it sweet, so add just a touch of sugar for balance
All photos Lindaraxa
You certainly have a lot on your plate, first with the kitchen and now the roof. Mother Nature brought us what the locals here in the mountains call a Blackberry Winter with lows in the upper thirties. Burr, good if you grow blackberries, cold if you're like and prefer warm weather in the spring. Your cucumber salad looks very refreshing. I'm crazy about English cucumbers and there's almost always one in my 'frig. It's also fun to see an old Craig Claiborne recipe. He and the New York Times cookbook played a big part in my learning to cook.
ReplyDeleteSam