I made giardeneria the other day...

it sure is pretty...

I was having a hankering for cauliflower the other day. Specifically, pickled cauliflower. So I got it in my mind that I wanted to make a batch of homemade giardeneria.

I found a recipe, gathered the ingredients and went for it.

I chopped up cauliflower and peppers and carrots and celery and onions. I simmered vinegar and water and garlic and sugar and salt. I blanched the vegetables, some for longer than others. Then I stuffed it all in a big jar I got at my neighbor's yard sale and shoved it in the back of the fridge.

And then...I waited. I let it sit and marinate and pickle and soak up all that goodness for about 36 hours. Finally the time came to taste it. I was pretty stoked, really. Probably more than I should have been. But I do love giardeneria, I love most pickled things, really, so I was looking forward to seeing how it turned out.

I spooned up a small bowl and got to tasting...

And I gotta say...I was disappointed! Boo!

The carrots and cauliflower were "blanched" too long so they'd lost their crisp bite...especially the carrots. And sadly, those are one of my favorite ingredients!

On top of overcooked vegetables, the liquid was off. It was too sweet and too garlicky. And I only used three garlic cloves for the whole mixture. But they took over...and they weren't a good mix with the amount of sugar the recipe called for.

With each bite I hoped for a different outcome...but the fact was that I had missed the mark. In an effort to save all those vegetables, I sloshed in about another cup of white vinegar straight up, stirred it around and put it back in the fridge for another day. And it helped. The taste was better, for sure. But the overcooked veggies still remain.

Kind of a bummer, right?

Yeah...I think so, too.

Well...here's what I will do differently the next time...

• Blanche the cauliflower for maybe a minute or two, not the 4 or 5 the recipe calls for.
• Omit the garlic. Or maybe just simmer it in the vinegar but remove the cloves before adding the liquid to the jar.
• LESS SUGAR. I realize it's necessary to cut some of the acidity, but I will scale way back next time. I want tart, vinegar-y pickles...not sweet-ish. Blech.
• Definitely add pepperoncini peppers. I didn't have any and didn't want to go back to the store so I just left them out. I'm thinking they would have helped the pickly factor.

And just now, out of curiosity, since I was actually craving cauliflower I decided to look up it's nutritional value. Would you believe one cup of cauliflower contains 77% of your daily Vitamin C? Go figure! My body is still trying to tell me something...

every summer.

Every summer I dread that it's summer. (And I'm pretty sure that every summer I blog about dreading summer!) It starts in the Spring...the dread, the fretting...that in a few short months it's going to be so dang sweltering hot in my neck of the woods that I'm going to be forced to stay inside in an air-conditioned space for the next three months.

No matter my attitude...or my meager little tinge of holding out hope that it might just maybe possibly not be that hot this year...the summer arrives with a blast of hot air. And that, is that.

Oh, summer...why must you be so cruel?

However, over the past few years I've come to the realization that I can either fight summer (futile) or I can embrace it (realistic). Unfortunately, being realistic has never been my strength so this change in attitude has taken lots of hard work, lots of crazy self-talk and lots of blood, sweat and tears. Mainly sweat. (In case you haven't come to this conclusion on your own by now...being dramatic has been a strength of mine all my life. My mom and dad will attest to that.)

Honestly, what it's taken is a realization that not every.single.day of summer is sweltering. There are many nice days that don't go above 90 degrees. And if I'm honest, and pay attention, I realize that I'm really OK up to about 90. I don't necessarily love it. But I'm OK.

Another summer life saver is our garden. The knowledge that garden plants need heat to grow and produce amazing vegetables, that tomatoes won't ripen without the heat, is the knowledge that gets me through summer without too many major meltdowns. (Get it? Get it? I know...I'll be here all week.)

So every summer I become full of more angst than usual. Every summer I mope and whine and complain that it's summer. And every summer, in spite of my bad attitude and the sweltering heat, we grow zucchini. Number one because it's good. But also because it's so easy to grow and it's great for one's gardening ego. Zucchini grows big and lush and makes you look like you really know what you're doing as a gardener. And it produces! One day you've got nothin' and the next day you've got several zucchini the size of your forearm and you wonder where the heck they came from!

So every summer we harvest lots of fresh, organic, delicious zucchini from our very own backyard. And every summer we make Ryan's Fried Zucchini Cakes. They are delicious and we all love them! They are a bit labor intensive what with the grating of the zucchini and the draining of the zucchini and the squeezing out any extra moisture from the zucchini. But once you get through all that? Smooth sailing. And worth the effort. They're even good if you mess 'em up! Forgot the minced onion? No problem. Not enough parm in the fridge but you make 'em anyway? Still.so.good.

I'm telling you, if you like zucchini, and I'm thinking even if you don't, you will love you some fried zucchini cakes. I made them for dinner the other night with a marinated London Broil and an Asian slaw and it was fantastic. The four of us ate as a family and there was very little conversation. Just lots of chewing and a few "will you please pass the {fill in the blank}?"

Have I convinced you yet? Wanna make them and see for yourself? Here's the recipe again...in case you breezed past it earlier. You won't be sorry...I promise.

I say bruschetta...

Mom and I went to our local farmer's market last Saturday morning. We got some delicious peaches and plums and some gorgeous, ripe tomatoes. I knew as soon as I saw them that I needed to make bruschetta. (Curious...do you say bruSHETTA? Or brusKETTA? I never know how to say it so I say it both ways every time I say it.)

I already had everything on hand...sliced sourdough, fresh garlic, a beautiful basil plant out back and these luscious tomatoes from the market...not to mention a handful of cherry tomatoes from our garden.

I got the sourdough toasting in the oven while I assembled the tomato mixture. I had no idea how easy bruschetta was to make! I mean, yes, I've known that it was just a few ingredients on toast. But I mean...this is one.easy.recipe. (I followed this recipe loosely but omitted the parmesan. Just cuz.)

Why have I not made bruschetta sooner?

It was so, so, so yummy. And I can't wait to make it again and again all summer long. Between my new love of bruschetta and Chris' delicious homemade salsa I really hope we get a good crop of tomatoes this summer! We're gonna need 'em!