Look inside

For some reason, I have recently been finding new and creative ways to enclose my food. Some of it is enclosed for cooking purposes only and some of it is enclosed to eat.

Last weekend, I wanted a little of each. My first round began with a trip to the Farmer's Market. Fish for dinner is what was listed on my list, so I headed to my favorite fishmonger and got a lovely piece of Dolphin. No, not Flipper
Then I came home and had to decide what to do with it.

So, feeling a little adventuresome, I tried Tikinxic, also known as Yucatan-style grilled mahi-mahi. What makes it Yucatcany, you ask? It is cooked in Banana Leaves. Banana Leaves were pretty easy to find (found at the 2nd store I went to) though a little pricey- $5.99-which I guess isn't so much considering how many I got.

I then made a recado rojo for the fish and wrapped it up and sent it to the grill. HP made some zippy salsa to go along with it and we put it along side some couscous. We are ethnically diverse at the dinner table. We ate in the yard, under the little baby grapelings with a glass of cheap white wine. It was lovely, and a lot of fun.

My next attempt at swaddling my food, was sadly less successful. It is summer, and we had almost a week with temperatures enough above 90 to reach the top of the double digits. (Today is a "chilly 87") So I thought, what better time to make summer rolls. However, the grocery store gods have a different plan for me. I have now been to 6 grocery stores, 2 farmer's markets, a couple specialty stores and a gourmet shop, but can not find rice paper anywhere. Apparently, international doesn't mean what I think it does, but I have found all sorts of interesting food items out there. Unfortunately, I don't have a camera phone, so you'll just have to wonder about that.

I do have some pictures of the Yucatany fish, but right now I'm having problems uploading to flickr. So you'll just have to wonder about that too!

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Kiki, in the garden

We had a brief hint of sunshine this weekend. Unfortunately, it was short lived, but it was a full day of sun.
First we went to our favorite greenhouse. We drove up on a sunny Saturday only to find that there were about a zillion other people with the same idea. The grown-ups were rushing throughout like kids at opening day of Hershey Park. Couples were calling to each other like kids discovering candy. "Look at the Zinnias! Honey do we have space for these peppers or more tomatoes?"
Loading up the buggies and filling trays with young plants, there were smiles everywhere. The promise of lush gardens and fresh juicy tomatoes was like a call from above, as in the Song of Solomon:

2:12 Flowers appear on the earth;
the season of singing has come,
the cooing of doves
is heard in our land.

In our yard, the doves have returned. Last summer they raised a family, we watched as they fed the babies, and taught them to fly. We didn't have a chance to say goodbye to them as summer faded away, but we were overjoyed to see them return.

Our very small yard requires quite a bit of work to keep it presentable. While I have always favored the "natural" look (to the point my husband calls it wild or sometimes unruly) we at least try to start the spring with some trimming. I think we only buy plants as a reward for all our trimming. I'm not sure that makes sense, but it's my story.

The hedges needed attacking, the grapes & wisteria were taking over the world and there were sticks and twigs and leaves to be picked up. And then more grapes and wisteria to trim. It was a long day in the yard followed by pizzas made on the grill. (Which I have yet to have time to photograph, though I think of it each and every time.)

The trimming did reap an unexpected reward, I had lots of grape leaves and had a wonderful Sunday dinner!

Salmon grilled in Grape Leaves.

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