I've always had a fairly large request list at the library but it's grown exponentially since I joined Goodreads and began to get all sorts of fantastic book recommendations. Emma and I stayed so busy last week that I didn't make it out to pick up my books as they came in which resulted in a very large pickup this week. Looks like I have some catching up to do!
The fish vendor at the farmers market must not have a lot of regulars because it didn't take her long to start recognizing us. Yesterday she told us we should definitely let her know if we had any special requests and she'd try to have those for us when she comes. On rainy days (which there've been a lot of this year) she brings a much smaller selection so it can really make a difference. This week we bought a delicious wild salmon which Jason grilled for me. It fit in nicely with the recipe I'd chose. We have fresh green beans and tomatoes from the market, local chickpeas, toasted baguette from the market and our lovely salmon topped with a yogurt dressing that is well worth repeating.
Yogurt dressing for fish
1 cup plain strained yogurt
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
juice of half a lemon
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
Mix all ingredients and chill until serving time.
Isn't that how the rhyme goes? Yesterday morning I had a followup visit with the orthopedist to get my MRI results. They didn't find much (hints of tendonitis etc. but nothing major) so he opted to do another cortizone injection in hopes of eliminating the pain so that I can get on with strength building at PT and get back that last bit of range of motion. That meant I wasn't to use my right arm for 24 hours which made for a dull day for Emma. We'd planned to bake a blueberry pie to go with dinner after her mom arrived. Emma baked the pie virtually entirely on her own with just some direction from me. This is a recipe that worked nicely for me last year. Usually my pies come out runny and don't set up well so I tend to avoid fruit pie.
For the crust:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup unsalted butter, cut into cubes (cold)
1/2 cup almonds
ice water
Pulse almonds in the bowl of a food processor until finely chopped. Add remaining ingredients except for water and pulse until butter is incorporated and mixture is crumbly. With the processor running, drizzle in ice water one tablespoon at a time until dough comes together in a ball. Wrap tightly in cling film and chill 1 hour.
Set aside about 1/3 of the dough for the top. Roll out remaining dough on a floured board and transfer to pie plate, pushing it in a bit to allow for shrinkage during baking. Roll out reserved dough and cut into lattice strips or desired shapes for top of pie. Return top and bottom crusts to the fridge while you mix the filling.
For the filling:
1 quart blueberries
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter, cut into cubes
Stir together all ingredients except butter. Transfer berry mixture to the pie plate and top with butter cubes. Bake pie at 375 for 30 minutes, arrange lattice or cutouts on top of pie and return to oven for a further 30 minutes or until filling is bubbly. Cool completely before serving.
Yesterday we ventured in "to town" to visit the New England Aquarium. It's not really my favorite aquarium, having been spoiled at the Aquarium of the Americas in New Orleans and the Monterey Bay Aquarium, but it's been many years since I've visited so I wanted to give it a second chance. We had a lightspeed tour but it was just as well since the fire alarm went off and cut our visit short anyway. We grabbed a bite at the Summer Shack before heading home.
It was actually quite a chilly day (especially for July!) with highs in the 60's so I made some lovely chicken soup for dinner that banished that niggling sore throat I'd had all day.
Yesterday morning the girls and I went to Tougas farm to pick blueberries. This is a large variety (and quite delicious despite all the talk about the tiny ones being the best) so picking was fairly quick. The girls stuck with it through about half the box and then went to the playground and petting zoo while I finished up. I put away about 2 gallons in the freezer and the rest were kept fresh for breakfasts and pie.
