Summer Nachos

Once upon a time, I had a job that required working every Saturday. It was a job I got to sit down either on the potty, or to eat lunch, otherwise I was on my feet all day, and stairs were also involved. So, I was usually pretty tired by Saturday. I fell into a habit of making Nachos every Saturday night. Saturday became known as "Nacho Night", not just to us but also to everyone who knew us--friends, co-workers, and family would say, "It's Nacho Night". And this went on for several years. I would make a big platter of Nachos, bring it to the coffee table with a couple of brewskies, and we'd eat and watch TV. I got very creative with these Nachos, so they varied each week, using different cheeses and other ingredients (often leftovers from the week's dinners). Each week my husband would say, "Mmmm, these are the best Nachos ever!"

I got in the mood for some Nachos but it was entirely too hot to use the oven. In my ongoing quest to eat cold food, I decided to make a chilled version of one of our favorites.

Summer Nachos
2 medium tomatoes, cubed
1 avocado, diced
1/4 cup sliced black olives
4 cups (approx.) shredded crisp lettuce
6 oz. freshly shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese
1 can pinto beans, rinsed, drained, and mashed with 1/4 cup salsa
6 oz. sour cream

Layer from the bottom up. Drizzle top with a couple tablespoons of salsa and serve with your favorite tortilla chips.

Keeping Cool Without Air Conditioning

We live in a 1950's mountain bungalow. Like most older homes in our area, ours does not have air conditioning. Heck not even the Biltmore House is air conditioned. And I should have known that after the extrememly cold and snowy winter we just had, that a record breaking hot and dry summer would follow. Has it ever!

Here are some things I have learned about staying cool:

• Open windows at night and close them in the daytime (You may think you need the air, but you are just letting in heat and humidity)
• Use fans to circulate air
• During the day, keep curtains closed; cover windows, especially west facing ones with white, which reflects heat
• Keep lights off
• Wear loose fitting, light colored clothing in natural fabrics
• Drink copious amounts of water
• Using cold water on your forehead, neck, and wrists helps cool you
• Wear a wet wash cloth around your neck
• Don't turn on your stove, much less your oven
• Eat cold food such as Gazpacho

Living without air conditioning can save a ton of money and go very far in reducing your carbon footprint and that is always cool.

Gazpacho

(slightly adapted from Mollie Katzen's Moosewood Cookbook)

4 cups cold tomato juice

2 cups freshly diced tomatoes

1 chopped green bell pepper

1 diced cucumber

1 bunch chopped scallions

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

2 - 3 cloves minced fresh garlic

1 tsp. honey

juice of 1 lime

1 Tbsp. wine vinegar

1 tsp. basil

dash of ground cumin

dash of tabasco sauce

2 Tbsp. olive oil

salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Combine all ingredients and chill for at least 2 hours. May be pureed if desired. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. This time I pureed about half of it and it really did make the texture very nice.

Salad Nicoise

A good Nicoise Salad, a la Julia Child, is a fulfilling meal on a scorching summer evening. I love making this classic salad with sweet and buttery Bibb lettuce. But I happened to have some lettuce grown in my next door neighbor's garden so I used that, of course. Chef Child recommended a simple viniagrette for dressing this salad. I made my dressing a little sweeter because of the strong flavors in the salad, plus the home grown lettuce was a slightly peppery.



Honey Mustard Viniagrette
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 Tbsp. honey
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
1 plump clove garlic, crushed
1/2 cup olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Few drops hot sauce, to taste

Put all ingredients into a small jar which has a tight fitting lid and shake vigorously until emulsified. Taste, and adjust seasonings if desired. Place into refrigerator to chill and for flavors to develop, while composing your salad.

Salad Nicoise
Lettuce
Tuna
Green beans, cooked until tender crisp
Potaotes, cooked and cubed
Slices of fresh tomato
Sliced boiled egg
Anchovies
Capers
Oil cured black olives
Minced shallot

Arrange salad on plates, sprinkle with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, then drizzle with Vinagrette.

Blueberry Muffins

I made Blueberry Muffins using the exact recipe I recently used to make Strawberry Muffins. Except of course, I used blueberries.

I also added a simple glaze of confectioner's sugar blended with a little half and half because I was serving them for dessert.

This one didn't get as many blueberries or as much glaze. If I were still working in a commercial kitchen, I would have to "staff" this one. Which would have made one of my coworkers happy.

Mama's Cheese Straws

Of all the delicious food I enjoyed when I went home to Alabama, these cheese straws are the only thing I took photos of. I mean, I ate delicious and tender pork loin, squash casserole, fresh butterbeans and okra, fresh green beans, cornbread, cedar plank grilled beef tenderloin, twice baked potatoes, freshly sliced summer tomatoes, broccoli salad, homemade yeast rolls, watermelon, pulled pork barbecue sandwiches, cantaloupe, pineapple, blueberries (organic and hand picked by my Mother), blueberry muffins, morning glory muffins, cherry pie, chocolate chip cookies, cheesecake topped with chocolate ganache, which I ate for breakfast one morning, and these cheese straws.

I didn't photograph all those foods, except with my eyes, because for one, I'm not as familiar with the lighting in and around my parents home as I am my own, and also because I did not want to disrupt the flow of Mama's entertaining. And I was there to visit. I took these photographs hastily. I grabbed one of Mama's pretty Spode China plates, stacked up some of her exquisite Cheese Straws, and vamoosed for a few minutes.

My Mother has made these Cheese Straws as long as I can remember. She has a battery operated cookie press now and grates her cheese in the food processor. But I remember, as a girl, sitting in the kitchen with her while she hand grated the cheese and twisted out those beautiful and perfectly straight rows of cheese straws with a hand cranked press.

Everybody loves these and Mama willingly shares her recipe. But I don't know another soul who has made them. Even me.

Cheese Straws

One pound extra sharp cheddar cheese

1 stick (real) butter

2 cups flour

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cayenne pepper, or to taste

Grate cheese. Cream grated cheese and butter until smooth and creamy. Add salt and pepper. Gradually blend in the flour. Put mixture into a cookie press and extrude onto ungreased cookie sheet. Cut to desired length. Bake at 375 degrees for 10 - 15 minutes until lightly browned.