We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.
In America, a pasta dish is often used as a secondi (ie an entree - the use of the term entree for a main course is American). Properly done, the pasta is a small dish primi followed by a meat (eg braciole) and vegetable secondi. Well, in America we do whatever the heck we want but at Maggie's HQ we try to respect the time-honored Italian traditions.
For me, any pasta as a main meal is a disgusting, bloating, cloying, enervating, fattening, brain-numbing experience. Best for a small dish primi, for special flavors. Same applies to risotto, gnocchi, or polenta. American restaurants serve too much primi to fill you up on the cheap.
Most common American error is to dump the sauce (or "gravy") on top of the pile of pasta. Nope. Dump the pasta in the hot pan of sauce and serve thinly-coated. That's what pasta tongs are for.
"Whole grain." Don't bother with it unless you like the taste of it. It has zero "health" benefit. Living as we do in a prosperous part of the world with an abundance of varied foodstuffs, there is no reason to consume any grain products at all except for enjoyment and to soak up gravy. Breads were once poverty food, just enough carbs to keep the proles and soldiers working one more day. The rich ate meat and lived far longer and more happily.
The American lobbying and advertising Whole Grains Council has had huge success in selling their health scam. Just like Whole Foods. Food piety has two arms: the ignorant, and their commercial predators.
Enjoyment applies to OJ too. It's basically sugar with no other food value. Years ago, the Florida Citrus cabal convinced Americans that they should have it for breakfast. Tasty, but no different from a Coke. Scurvy is not a problem.
My point with my nutrition myth posts is that you should eat whatever you enjoy. If you have a weight problem or a health problem, that's another matter. Just don't pretend, for example, that an OJ is any "healthier" than a Pepsi, or brown bread is "healthier" than white bread. That is just marketing to the low-info shopper and gullibles like Michelle Obama.
We all love happy myths, do we not? The fantasy that we can control fate.
Got some advice from my chef friend about Goulash. I have a lot of venison in the freezer, some tender cuts and some tough cuts. Tough cuts are for the goulash.
It's all about paprika. Very simple. Chef tells me real goulash has no tomato in it, and the meat should be falling apart. Like real chili, should be made with meat chunks, not ground meat. No noodles in the stew, but can serve on egg noodles or rice with some sour cream to top it off. This stew at the end should be thick, not soupy.
Recipe:
Brown a few onions in butter and veg oil - not chopped, just quartered, with some garlic Then brown chunks of tough meat in butter, after seasoning heavily with salt, pepper, and paprika Cover with chicken or beef broth and bake covered in oven for 2 hours or more. Then check it for moisture, add some broth or water if needed, check for salt, add more paprika. Can add some potato chunks if you want. Then back in the oven for another hour or 2. If too soupy, uncover and let it thicken in oven longer or cheat and stir in some thickener.
I guess crock pot would work, but it would need to cook a while at the end to thicken.
We're getting into apple-picking season around here. Depending on the variety, it will run through October or early November. Apple trees prefer cold winters for their dormancy.
Many apple varieties were carried to the New World by early colonists. They were not as flavorful or varied as the modern types, but it's all they had. The only apple species native to the New World is the (mostly) inedible crabapple.
Should we mention once again that apples are not particularly "healthy" as they are mainly sugar and water, but they do make a good sugary snack or dessert, especially with cheese. Like all fruits, they are designed to sweetly tempt critters to eat, and to later poop out their seeds to spread their genes around.
We consume a fair amount of ricotta in our house. It's a versatile substance, but I like it on good bread with a slice of tomato and some salt, or some jam or jelly.
Peaches ripen late up here in New England. Yes, there are peach varieties which thrive in the North.
As of now, I have had five friends over to pick grocery-bags full and have delivered bags to others. I'll ask a daughter to take a bag home to NYC today. And I have made substantial batches of peach jam, peach chutney, and canned spiced peaches. I am close to peached out with God and nature's abbondanza.
Still, this is a pic of the tree yesterday after all that. Plus the windfall from yesterday's thunderstorm. The local deer do not seem to like peaches. Neither do the turkeys. Squirrels like them, but it's more of a crop than they can make a dent in.
I use no sprays, no fertilizer - out of laziness as much as anything else. These peaches are as sweet as honey. I guess I'll make more jam, but let's consider peach pie, peach crumble, and peach buckle (that's old-fashioned).
Problem is that Mrs. BD and I are currently on low-carb, high protein heavy-work-out diet plans in an effort to delay the discouraging and ennervating effects of age and entropy.
Anyway, there are two types of peach pie: a custardy one and the classic plain one. I like both but maybe prefer the more custardy one. There are many variations on both themes.
Now Peach Crumble. Dynamite with some vanilla ice cream or heavy cream. I salivate as I write this.
For me, it makes anything tasty - including burgers. Great with cheese and cream cheese. All cheese requires some fruity accompaniment. Really fine as a meat glaze. Heck, I dip my breakfast hard-boiled egg in some, and put some on scrambled eggs. I put some on rice too. It's not for little children.
Are not just for breads and toast. I think, best of all with cheese and meat. Or cream cheese or yoghurt. Not to forget on crepes and Swedish Pancakes.And venison requires a jam or jelly on the side just as pork requires applesauce. Lean meats need a kicker.
Apple Butter
For me, best on ham, chicken, or turkey sammiches. Also good with the things listed here.
Lemon Curd
Supposedly used for scones, but I like it on fresh fruit or I won't eat the fruit - except raspberries
It's too bad that all of the peaches on a tree begin to ripen at once. I pick before ripe. Up here, it's September for peaches and pears, October for apples.
I have a pal coming over today to help me with the harvest, and we'll split the harvest. He cooks stuff too, another old farm boy. It's been an excellent year for fruit trees in general in the Northeast: frigid long winter, wet spring, hot summer.
Maybe Mrs. BD will make a few Peach Pies and tarts for friends and kids, and I'll can up some preserves and Peach Chutney. She is a crust-making expert And I will keep a bunch to ripen fully on the tree to eat. I am fond of fresh peach slices on vanilla ice cream. Aren't you?
Our hosts in Wellfleet last week provided abundant and elegant breakfasts. Fresh fruits first, of course. I am not a fruit fan, but with a good dollop of Trader Joe's Lemon Curd I can enjoy them.
They provided fruit forks and knives with the beautifully-presented fruit course. Civilized and quite effective tools for all fruits and berries. Yes, old-fashioned. We need some.
With decent cutlery and Lemon Curd, I may yet become fruit-tolerant. Is fruit "healthy"? Not at all. It's really just nature's dessert.
Friends have just returned from a week in Ravello, While there, the whole family (all 5 of them) took a full-day cooking class with Mama Agata. Despite their other holiday pleasures, they all agreed that was the high point of their trip. Mamma Agata (click on cooking classes - reservations required).
In 2 weeks it will be time to harvest my peach crop. I have a neighbor pal who likes to get into the tree with me, and shares the harvest. Mrs. BD will make us a couple of peach pies (my favorite pie), and I will can 10-12 jars of peach chutney.
I had a little spare time the other morning, so I did one last harvest from my rhubarb patch to make another batch of Rhubarb-Hot Pepper Jam. Golly, it is delicious and tangy. For the pepper component, I used chopped sorenos, jalapenos, and some sweet red peppers too just for their flavor. A little lemon juice and a dash of salt. Rhubarb is not to everybody's taste, but I love it.
I use one cup of chopped peppers per 3 cups of chopped rhubarb. I'll use up the rest of my chopped peppers to make ordinary hot pepper jelly. Sometimes I make it like a sauce, sometimes like a firmer jelly. Regardless, it is a bit too hot for some people.
My peppery special jams and jellies go well with cheese, cream cheese, pork, chicken, scrambled eggs, or anything else. Available at your specialty food store never. Photo is hot pepper jelly with cream cheese, but goat cheese is better. Any cheese, really.
There's nothing more refreshing than a cold Borscht. A family member handed me an old recipe for it yesterday.
There are countless ways to make it, all from eastern Europe. I think I like it best with chunks, and with a dollop of sour cream on top, but the one pictured is excellent too.
I like to soak sweet corn in the husks, and grill them in the husks. Three ways. Boiled corn is boring and it's summertime so you are grilling your food outside anyway.
I just had to get a new vegetable grilling basket from Amazon. Nice. Fewer of them fall through the cracks that way.
Even people who hate vegetables find pickled vegetables to be a treat. You can pickle anything - onions, summer squash, cauliflower, peas, beans, peppers, beets, carrots, turnips, cabbage, peaches - you name it. People will eat it before it is fully pickled because it tastes good. Here's Perpetual Pickles for you with gardens.
Vegetables (like fruit) are nutritionally borderline-useless, but they can be made to be tasty. Thus far this summer I have produced many half-pints and a couple of quart jars of hot pepper jelly, and about 12 quarts of dilly beans. Waiting for my peaches to ripen to make Peach Chutney. I did not grow cucumbers this year. I forget why.
A pal has been traveling across the US with family in an antique camper. He reports that they had possibly the best dinner they have ever had in the US at The Windsor Hotel in Del Norte, Colorado. Not likely that you would be passing through there, though.
In America, a pasta dish is often used as a secondi (ie an entree - the use of
Got some advice from my chef friend about Goulash. I have a lot of venison in the freezer, some tender cuts and some tough cuts. Tough cuts are for the goulash.
We consume a fair amount of ricotta in our house. It's
Peaches ripen late up here in New England. Yes, there are peach varieties which thrive in the North.
Man, I love them. Will make some this week. Just need to pick up 
Our hosts in Wellfleet last week provided abundant and elegant breakfasts. Fresh fruits first, of course. I am not a fruit fan, but with a good dollop of Trader Joe's Lemon Curd I can enjoy them.
In 2 weeks it will be time to harvest my peach crop. I have a neighbor pal who likes to get into the tree with me, and shares the harvest. Mrs. BD will make us a couple of peach pies (my favorite pie), and I will can 10-12 jars of peach chutney.
There's nothing more refreshing than a cold 
How To Make