Home Sweet Home

Wednesday, July 17, 2013 – Home Sweet Home

After a week away, it’s great to be back in my own house, with my own shower (terrific water pressure) and my own kitchen (where’s there’s always soy milk, hummus and goat cheese in the refrigerator).  I welcomed the chance to stock up on fresh fruit and vegetables at our local farmers’ market last Saturday.  Among my purchases – a bunch of garlic scapes, which I’d never seen before.  They’re the shoots of the garlic plant and are only available for a short time in early summer.  They ended up sautéed in a little olive oil and then mixed with freshly cooked white beans.  A gleaming purple eggplant formed the basis for my own version of caponata, a Sicilian vegetable and olive mixture whose sweet and sour flavoring points to a Sephardic influence.  The white beans, caponata, herbed goat cheese and crusty bread made a light and delicious summer supper.  

Garlic scapes!  Available now at your local farmers' market.

The joys of summer cooking

With so much good food in the house, I didn’t have any desire to go out to eat.  In fact, when the weather is insufferably hot and humid, I’m not tempted to leave my sweet abode for any reason at all.  However, I make exceptions for certain local road trips, such as the one we took yesterday.  Over the course of eight hours (including a lunch break), we logged only 60 miles, but we managed to visit some of the highlights of Northern Virginia.  First stop, Morris Tile in Springfield where we tried unsuccessfully to choose floor tile.  Next stop was USA Granite and Marble in Fairfax where we visited and photographed the slab we’ve chosen for our bathroom vanity.  Then it was west to Chantilly, site of our closest Lowe’s.  This was a productive stop, as it yielded several items we need for our bathroom:  floor tile (hallelujah!), a light fixture, and a new toilet.  Yes, we are now the proud owners of a gleaming white porcelain sculpture that is currently sitting in a box on the back seat of our car since neither Elliott nor I can move it.  Elliott wisely decided that he wouldn’t even try.  We did, however, manage to transfer several pounds of floor tile from the car to the garage by carrying them one tile at a time.  Our final stop, before returning home sweaty and exhausted, was at Wegman’s so I could (1) buy groceries, and (2) devour a combination of Indian and Chinese delicacies from the hot food bar as a reward for my day’s hard work.  Road trips sure are fun!