It's August!

Last night I froze those green beans pictured above; I also made a huge jar of pesto. I probably should freeze some!

Today we went to Honey Pot Hill and bought peaches, apples, corn, as well as picking blueberries! Ouma (MIL) hung out with Annie while Arij and I picked. As you can see, I froze two bags according to the instructions in a Cook's Illustrated from last summer.

Last night for dinner I cooked some beet greens and onions; I added some water and some chickpeas and let it all stew for maybe 20 minutes or so -- it was really good, much better than the sum of its parts. (Let's see. I sauteed 2 onions chopped medium with some salt in a couple tablespoons of olive oil till they started to brown. I chopped the beet greens and added them too . . . let saute for a few minutes before adding the water, the chickpeas, and a lid.) The greens and onions took on a silky quality that was really lovely.

Today made eggplant "jam," based on what I remembered of a Deborah Madison recipe. I had four smallish light purple and white streaked eggplant; I baked them whole for an hour at 400 on a foil lined sheet. After they cooled a bit I sliced off the tops and peeled off the skins, scooping the flesh into a bowl. While they were still warm, I poured in some olive oil and a clove or two of garlic pounded with salt in the mortar & pestle. Delicious on little toasts I had made last week and saved airtight.

I also made hummus, a huge amount with the remainder of the chickpeas I'd cooked the other day.

Finally, I made risotto (that's the third picture above). Sort of a plain one as the base, with the chickpea broth, but I sauteed onion, pattypan squash, and a few fava beans and stirred that (as well as several big scoops of pesto and lots of Romano cheese) in at the end. Sort of similar to what I've been making and putting over pasta, but mixed into risotto instead -- a nice change.

Now I'm exhausted! But in a good way, and Herm washed dishes, cleaned the stove and generally made it fun to be in the kitchen today!