On the morning of December 5th, at around 11am, Hugo looked outside the trailer he lived in with his wife Marolyn and 9-year-old daughter Milagros (“Milli”) in the Casitas area of Ventura County and saw the Thomas Fire rapidly approaching. They evacuated quickly, thinking they had escaped harm. But Coqueta, Milagros’s tea cup poodle, who initially followed saw the flames and ran back to her “safe” place: her cage inside the trailer.
Once his family was a safe distance Hugo returned and tried to rescue the dog. He suffered burns on his arms but couldn’t get her out. The trailer burned with everything they owned, including Milli’s home-school books and materials, and Christmas presents.
Their second trailer with Hugo’s jewelry business was also destroyed.
The Red Cross has them at a hotel temporarily and Marolyn still has a job but without Hugo’s income they don’t have the means to rent an apartment.
I met Hugo and Milagros and they said they are trusting that God will bring something good out of their tragedy.
Thank you for any donations you can send to this family.
Smitten Kitchen posted this recipe four years ago, and, by the grace of God, I stumbled upon it yesterday.
It is peak strawberry season here. Normally, I like my strawberries to go right from the bush to my mouth. This is an exception, however, that I will gladly make over and over again.
1 lb. fresh strawberries, rinsed, hulled, and halved
6 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar plus 1 tablespoon
1 egg
½ cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 ½ cups flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease a deep-dish ceramic pie pan. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter and 1 cup of sugar until light and fluffy. Scrap down the sides. On low speed, add the egg, vanilla and milk. Mix until just combined.
In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. With mixer on low, slowly add the dry ingredients. Mix until just combined. Pour batter evenly into the pie pan and smooth the top. Place the strawberry halves nicely on top. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of sugar evenly over the strawberries.
Bake in the oven for 10 minutes. Lower the temperature to 325 and bake for another 50-60 minutes, until golden on top and a tester comes out clean. Serve at room temperature as-is or with whipped cream (my preference.)
I came across this recipe from Bon Appetit yesterday and bookmarked it for future use. Today, my CSA dumped 2 lbs of fresh fava beans into my bin. Huzzah for my sixth sense!
The recipe calls for different beans, but, for this, I’m not sure there is much difference. And, I’m taking liberties with the fresh herbs. I have to work with what I have.
Tonight’s dinner menu:
Turkey meatballs with fresh tomatoes and basil Bean salad with lemon and herbs
Skillet focaccia
Apple yogurt cake
Bean Salad with Lemon and Herbs
1-2 cups shelled and cooked fresh fava beans*
½ lb. fresh asparagus, trimmed, cut into 1"-pieces, lightly blanched
¼ cup olive oil
Juice and zest of ½ lemon
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 teaspoons capers, drained and rinsed
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
Small handful Italian parsley, coarsely chopped
Small handful French tarragon, coarsely chopped
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
In a small bowl, whisk together lemon juice, zest, garlic and tarragon. Slowly whisk in olive oil. Salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
In a large bowl, place beans, asparagus, parsley, pepper flakes and capers. Toss gently with the dressing. Adjust seasonings if necessary.
*Fresh fava beans can be tricky to work with at first. Here is a helpful tutorial.
When working with artichoke hearts, many recipes call for frozen or canned hearts. I gladly embrace such recipes. I could not do that this time around since my CSA filled me up with several pounds of artichokes. So, do as they say, not as I do.
If you are a victim of circumstance, however, use this article as a reference. My ‘chokes still browned a little, but nothing like they would have.
3 tablespoons olive oil
6 cloves garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped
Small handful of Italian parsley, coarsely chopped
Juice of ½ lemon
8 oz. fresh artichoke hearts, halved (see note above)
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
If working with fresh artichoke hearts, parboil them for 3-4 minutes in lightly salted water. Drain and cool down to stop the cooking process. Do this in the morning and refrigerate until ready to use. Otherwise, set aside.
In medium skillet with lid over medium-high heat, heat the olive oil. Add chopped garlic and stir, cooking for 30 seconds or so. Toss in hearts to coat. Turn heat to medium-low and cover. Simmer hearts until tender, about 10-15 minutes. Sprinkle lemon juice over top. Salt and pepper to taste. Off the heat and toss parsley with the hearts. Serve warm.
I am from New Jersey. My husband is from Southern California. For some reason, when we were first married, I made him guacamole, working off my limited knowledge of bad restaurant guacamole. God bless him, he ate it. (He’s an excellent man, that way.) He would have been justified, however, throwing a “WTH, Jess?” at me.
It turns out, when you are working with really good avocados - Haas variety, golden yellow and green in color, buttery in texture - you don’t need much to make delicious guacamole. Acid and garlic salt; your favorite tortilla chips; throw in a cold margarita and a sunny afternoon and you are just short of paradise. Just.
Guacamole
(makes 1 cup)
2 small, ripe Haas avocados, halved with pit removed
Juice of ½ lemon, lime, or small orange
Garlic salt to taste
Into a serving bowl, put scooped out avocado flesh. Squeeze out some citric acid. Add a little garlic salt. Mash it all together with a fork. Add more garlic salt as needed. Serve at room temperature immediately. It does not keep, but that’s generally not a problem.
There were only two complaints about these biscuits during dinner last night. My eldest wished there was more cheese - a perfectly reasonable point and one to take into consideration for the next batch. My middle son was in a foul mood yesterday and saw everything with a jaundiced eye - I didn’t make him eat it, but, otherwise, completely ignorable. To me, they were the perfect biscuit.
Tonight’s dinner menu:
White bean soup with pesto
Mustard-crusted pork loin
Broccolini salad with lemon dressing and pine nuts
Cheddar and Gruyere Biscuits
(makes 8 biscuits)
2 cups flour, plus more as needed
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
12 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, diced
½ cup cold buttermilk, shaken
1 cold extra-large egg
½ cup grated extra-sharp Cheddar
½ cup grated Gruyere
Place 2 cups of flour, the baking powder, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. With the mixer on low, add the butter and mix until the butter is the size of peas.
Combine the buttermilk and egg in a small bowl and beat lightly with a fork. With the mixer still on low, quickly add the buttermilk mixture and mix only until moistened. With the mixer still on low, add the cheese to the dough. Mix only until roughly combined.
Dump the dough onto a well-floured surface and knead lightly about 6 times. Wrap dough tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (up to overnight.)
Preheat oven to 425. Roll the dough out to a rectangle 10 by 5 inches. With a pastry knife, cut the dough lengthwise in half and then across in quarters, making 8 rough rectangles. Transfer the rectangles to a sheet pan lined with parchment paper or shape gently into desired shape (I like mine more “roll” shaped). Sprinkle sea salt on top (optional) and bake for 20-25 minutes, until the tops are browned and the biscuits are cooked through. Serve hot or warm.
