Sheri's Garden

  


This weekend I attended a professional conference and my husband had to go out of town leaving us in deep need of childcare.  I am fortunate enough to call an amazing woman my friend who took Ceci for two days of the weekend.  Not only did she care for and love Ceci, but she also fed us a very delicious dinner, on Sunday night, but gave us enough left overs and pickings from her garden to have more fantastic dinners for the next couple of nights.  
  Lets start with Sheri's baked ziti that we ate on Sunday night, one of Ceci's favorite meals in the world.  Have I ever mentioned that this child would live on pasta and sauce with a little cheese if I would let her?  This version was a light red sauce over Tinkyada brown rice penne with melted cheese on top, baked in the oven to finish.  After Ceci and I both polished off a big bowl each, we had some very happy tummies.  And if that wasn't enough, we were also treated to bread related treats from Bare Naked Bakery and Cafe, including a pepperoni roll, a chicken roll, and a baguette, which Sheri doctored up with some garlic, butter, and herbs.  Sadly many of Bare Naked Bakeries products retain a very over powering flavor/after taste of yeast, which was the case again here.  I can say that the spiciness of the pepperoni in the roll was enough to cover up the yeast based crime, but the chicken could not hide the flavor.
  When dinner was over Sheri invited me to her small but over productive garden to take home some veggies and herbs.  She sent me home with a shopping bag filled with basil, 4 good size tomatoes, 1 huge cucumber, and a handful of cherry tomatoes (that are not the size of cherries, but rather apricots).  
  I sliced up one tomato for my lunch sandwich and realized I had forgotten how good veggies SHOULD taste.  This gave me inspiration for tonight's dinner, I already knew the basil was destined for a huge batch of pesto, which has become a favorite dish of my husband and I.  But the fresh tomato and cucumber intrigued me.  I decided to chop them into large bite size chunks and toss them together, which was delicious in it's own right.  You will find as you follow this blog, that I'm mildly incapable of seasoning food on my own, so I leave this to my husband Tim.  He added Kosher Salt, ground Tellicherry pepper, and dried dill.  The tomatoes took on a sweet velvety texture, while the cucumbers became more lemony, and retained their crunch.  I probably could have eaten the whole bowl by myself, but I managed to control myself and eat only a big portion.  
  It was sooooo good!  And so super simple to make.