Kitchen Remodel, Week Twenty-Five: Eency Weency Water Spout

I have eency weency spiders on my mind because Portland has been invaded by them.  You can't walk between two trees, bushes, gateposts, or any other pair of things closer than eight feet apart without getting spider web stuck to you or, worse, one of the little critters scurrying on you. Ick!

The kitchen remodel is still waiting on exterior bricks.  The word is, the bricks are now in the state of Oregon -- not at my house, but within the borders of the state.

In the meantime, I was just pleased to see this little length of copper drain pipe finally get installed.  It meant we could finally say Bye Bye to the black PVC pipe that has been hanging from our eaves since January.

Inside the kitchen was busy because yesterday was Caponata Day at my house.  Every year, I take advantage of friends' garden bounty and our local farmers market and spend one day making a huge batch of caponata.  I freeze it in smaller packages to enjoy all winter.

Part of this tradition is to try to find a caponata recipe in my Cookbook Library, get frustrated, and make it up from versions I've seen on the internet or eaten myself. Despite the number of Italian cookbooks I have and enjoy (see list below), as far as I found before giving up, only one of them has a recipe for eggplant caponata and it is a hugely simplified version -- basically sauteed eggplant with some vinegar and garlic.  

MY CAPONATA RECIPE

eggplant, with peel, in 1 1/2" cubes
yellow and/or green zucchini. with peel, in 1 1/2" cubes
yellow onion, quartered or cut into eighths, separated
celery, in 1" pieces
tomatoes, in 1 1/2" pieces or, if cherry or pear, whole
garlic cloves, peeled
pitted green olives, with or without pimento
capers
oilve oil
red wine vinegar
salt & pepper to taste

Amounts depend on what you like and have, traditionally heavy on the eggplant.  In years where friends grew lots of red or yellow peppers, I've included those too.

Heat the oven to 400 degrees.

Separately roast eggplant, zucchini, onion, and celery with olive oil, turning occasionally, until browned and soft, but not mushy.  Do the same with the tomatoes, but they will get mushy.  Roast the garlic cloves in olive oil either in the oven, on the stove top, or in the microwave.

Once cooked, combine the vegetables with the olives and capers and stir it all together. Add vinegar, salt, and pepper to taste.  Add more olive oil if desired.

Eat warm or at room temperature.  Add more vinegar right before serving to brighten it up.  Eat as is for a side dish. Chop it up a little and serve with crackers or bruschetta for an appetizer -- very good with goat cheese.  Or chop it up a lot and use as a sauce with polenta or pasta.

Many recipes call for canned tomato sauce or canned chopped tomatoes instead of fresh, but it turns out more sauce-like, which is good if you want sauce, but not as good as an appetizer.  You can always add tomato sauce later to use it as a sauce.

MY ITALIAN COOKBOOKS

(with no caponata recipes that I found)

The Classic Italian Cookbook by Marcella Hazan

Cucina Rustica by Viana La Place

A Fresh Taste of Italy: 250 Authentic Recipes, Undiscovered Dishes, and New Flavors for Every Day by Michele Scicolone

Italian Casserole Cooking by Angela Catanzaro

The Italian Country Table: Home Cooking from Italy's Farmhouse Kitchens by Lynne Rossetto Kasper

La Cucina Siciliana di Gangivecchio by Wanda Tornabene (with the simplified caponata recipe)

Marcella's Italian Kitchen by Marcella Hazan

Naples at Table: Cooking in Campania by Arthur Schwartz

Pasta Classica: the Art of Italian Pasta Cooking by Julia Della Croce

The Splendid Table: Recipes from Emilia-Romagna, the Heartland of Northern Italian Food by Lynne Rossetto Kasper

The Top One Hundred Pasta Sauces by Diane Seed

A Tuscan in the Kitchen: Recipes and Tales from My Home by Pino Luongo

Veneto: Authentic Recipes from Venice and the Italian Northeast by Julia della Croce

WEEKEND COOKING

Hosted by Beth Fish Reads

Book Beginning & DOUBLE GIVEAWAY: Cleans Up Nicely by Linda Dahl

SEE BELOW FOR DOUBLE GIVEAWAY DETAILS

LAST WEEK'S GIVEAWAY WINNERS:

Cynthia at Things You Read in Books and Juli at A Universe in Words are the lucky winners of Drive by Raymond Ahrens. Read more about this thought-provoking new book here.

BOOK BEGINNINGS

Please join me every Friday to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author's name.

EARLY BIRDS: I am experimenting with getting this post up Thursday evening for those who like to get their posts up and linked early on. We'll try it this way for a couple of months to see if people like the option of early posting. If you have feelings one way or the other, please comment.

TWITTER, ETC: If you are on Twitter, Google+, or other social media, please post using the hash tag #BookBeginnings. I am trying to follow all Book Beginning participants on whatever interweb sites you are on, so please let me know if I have missed any and I will catch up.

MR. LINKY: Please leave a link to your post below. If you don't have a blog, but want to participate, please leave a comment with your Book Beginning.



MY BOOK BEGINNING

Her destination, that summer of 1977, is a luxury apartment building, upper Fifth Avenue, a slice of New York life completely alien to her.

Cleans Up Nicely by Linda Dahl. 

THE BOOK: "When twenty-something artist Erica Mason moves from laidback Mexico to Manhattan in the mid-1970s, she finds a hard-edged, decadent, and evolving art scene. Her life there leads her to a self-destructive string of affairs with men, alcohol, and drugs – but also, ultimately, to the self-respect that has long eluded her."

So far, this strikes me a gritty chick lit with an edge.  The mid-70s New York setting makes it retro-cool irresistible.

THE GIVEAWAY

Thanks to hard-working book publicist Mary Bisbee-Beek, I have TWO copies of the finished paperback edition of Cleans up Nicely to give away to TWO lucky book bloggers.  Even better, this is a LEAPFROG giveaway, meaning that both winners will get to host a giveaway of their own!

The contest is for readers in the USA only (sorry) and is open until Thursday, August 29, 2013, at 4:00 PST. There are five ways to enter and each one is worth a chance to win. To enter, do any or all of the following, but you must leave a comment for each one and you must put an email address in a comment:

1. Comment on this post. You must include an email address. If I can't find a way to contact you I will draw another winner. (1 entry)

2. Blog about this giveaway. Posting the giveaway on your sidebar is also acceptable. Leave a separate comment with a link to your post. (1 entry)

3. Follow this blog with Google or NetworkedBlogs, or subscribe via email (or tell me if you already are a subscriber or follower). Leave a separate comment for this. (1 entry)

4. Tweet this post on Twitter. Leave me a separate comment with your twitter user name. (1 entry)

5. Post this on a social network. Put it on facebook, post it on Google+, pin it on Pinterest, Stumble it, digg it, reddit, or otherwise put it out there in the social network. Leave a separate comment with a link or explanation. (1 entry)

There are a lot of ways to enter (maximum of five entries), but you must LEAVE A SEPARATE COMMENT for each one or they will not count. I will use random.org to pick the winners from the comments.

This contest is open to entries from the U.S. only. The deadline for entry is 4:00 PM, Pacific Time, on Thursday, August 29, 2013. I will draw and post the winner's name in my Book Beginning post going up at 5:00 PM on August 29, 2013.  

Teaser Tuesday & GIVEAWAY Reminder: Drive by Raymond Ahrens

The ocean lurked below him. He floored it, his tires screeching as the Impala fishtailed it dangerously close to the cliff.

-- Drive by Raymond Ahrens.

THE BOOK: "Willy Easelman, 86, born in Brooklyn and a perennial finalist in the American Dreams Sweepstakes, is committed to the Morningside Nursing Home by his daughter, Anna. Cunning, despite his dementia, Willie sneaks behind the wheel of his '86 Impala and escapes, heading north along America's roadways that paved the way for the post-war exodus to the suburbs."


THE GIVEAWAY:  I have TWO copies of the finished paperback edition of Drive to give away to TWO lucky book bloggers. Go to the GIVEAWAY PAGE for details and to sign up.

PLEASE DON'T SIGN UP FOR THE GIVEAWAY HERE. GO TO THIS PAGE.

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by Should Be Reading, where you can find the official rules for this weekly event. 

Mailbox Monday

Thanks for joining me for Mailbox Monday this holiday weekend! MM was created by Marcia, who graciously hosted it for a long, long time, before turning it into a touring event (details here).

Kathy at Bermuda Onion stepped in to host in August -- thanks, Kathy!

I got one book last week, thanks to author Sarah Stonich and her publicist.  They also made a giveaway copy available, which I will get posted in the next week or so.



-- Vacationland by Sarah Stonich.  Stonich's new book is a collection of interlinked stories all set at a faded vacation resort in northern Minnesota.  It sounds great and I love the paint-by-numbers cover.

Stonich is the author of two other incredibly good novels, These Granite Islands and The Ice Chorus, which I reviewed here.

Kitchen Remodel, Week Twenty-Four: Where Are the Bricks?

This is what is making me glum:

The inside of our kitchen is all but done (still waiting on the decorative tile backsplash), but the outside still looks like a constructions zone.  No bricks, Tyvek paper, a PCV pipe instead of a downspout, blue plastic, and dirt instead of landscaping.  This shows the bump out, but we've got the same look going on the other side of the exterior door.

If this was the middle of winter, I wouldn't mind so much, but this construction zone is the view from the patio, which puts the kibosh on outside entertaining, including a kitchen warming celebration.

I'm losing patience.

Luckily, I'm reading a great little mystery set in Aix-en-Provence, where the characters enjoy good food and spend a lot of time describing the wondeful meals they eat and wine they drink. Maybe more wine would make me not mind my unfinished remodel.



-- Death at the Chateau Bremont by M. L. Longsworth.

WEEKEND COOKING

Hosted by Beth Fish Reads