I am sorry for Radio silence from me here in this old kitchen. Life has been so nuts and it’s odd that on the first day of Harvest 2014 (Merlot blocks came IN today!!) and on this very same day I pulled on my big girl panties and faced my fears: I got my Epidural on the very lower left side of my Spine, my L5 disc. And today of all nutty days…including puking all too close to a lovely (and totally cute Doctor) coming out from anesthesia that I feel compelled to write to you all lovely, lovely Foodie Friends.
First Harvest — Merlot SO divine, I wear it around my neck as pendant every single day, thanks to sculptress and artist friend MIchelle Hoting (Michellehoting.com )
Anni and baby Trane helped IMMENSELY today “Bringing In The Fruit”.
Truth is, we’ve been too busy to write something even remotely worth reading. Summer ended and Anni started Preschool at Moldovan Academy. Dean is racing the Cannonball 2014 right NOW from Daytona to Tacoma, WA on his 1923 Harley with dear friends on Team Vino. The Open Road is his very first love and beyond good for his Soul! Yes, I hear you: “a month without your husband with two kids under 4 and a winery to run…what?what? what? Are you NUTS?” The answer is YES, totally. But trust me, the Cannonball is a gloriously rare adventure of the finest vintage bikes in the world. If you can’t hand-weld a metal part over a traffic cone? You can’t be there. Besides, I’m fierce too. In my Mom, yoga pants, paint brushes turned apron and kitchen spoon sort of way.
Here I sit. ‘Holding down the Fort”– Making wine, running tours, weddings, and crazy kids. Speaking of, Coltrane turned 1&1/2 officially yesterday! Both of our babes are great. But since August, my back got worse and I scheduled today’s procedure. Weathered the American Canyon earthquake aftershocks. Rehung the Art Gallery in the Barn including amazing art by Dennis Ziemienski (Ziemienski.com ). We DID manage to take our first “kids free” vacation — first one in four years! Yay us! And I’ve been trying to keep up with our garden and cooking as much as my body allows…and discovering that every year that we unplug more. I become more free and open to Universe and all of her crazy colors like some giant pseudo-Hippie now. I do promise to forever remember the under-wire and Chanel lipgloss though. Have no fear.
RECIPES: Lots of Tomato Crack (https://abisfarmhousekitchen.com/?p=99 ), Garden Green Pesto “Lasagna” (https://abisfarmhousekitchen.com/?p=508 ), and Easy Pea Soup (https://abisfarmhousekitchen.com/?p=434 ) around here. Last night, I thawed some frozen pancetta and sauteed it with the aromatics (onion, shallot, garlic) in EVOO then crap white wine (perfect for cooking) for heart warming “umpf” to the pea and wilted kale lettuce soup. Paired it with our 2008 Estate Blend (the earthquake revealed we had a whole palate more!) as well as Spinach and Feta Cheese Puffs. Hell, I needed some butter and carbs last night to face the big needle this morning. If you haven’t made these yet? Here’s the link. http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/spinach-puffs
But those of you following Abi’s Farmhouse Kitchen on Facebook and on Instagram (@abisfarmhousekitchen) see me every day. I hate to tell you, the domain here dumped 95% of my subscriber emails. So if you’ve stopped receiving any recipes and essays from me ALL Summer? That is why. I urge you to either save this Food Blog to your Bookmarks or better yet, Follow me on Facebook and Instagram? Then we won’t lose touch! I’m the one with Kermit the Frog cracking up over Sandwiches…
