Monday, July 17, 2023

Apricots to cheese and onion, spiderwebs

Yesterday's reading in Apricots on the Nile led, of courses, to the kitchen. The memoir is lovely, old family photographs and anecdotes about relatives, staff, and with inserted recipes. 

This one was definitely for me. Sambusaks, pockets of pastry filled with a cheese mixture. I adapted, making a cheese and onion and garlic filling, all minced together, using the last of the feta crumbles and the parmesan, and a bit of  the cheddar, and an egg 


In the course of making the filling, a random chunk of onion ended up on the page, the first evidence that this is a cookbook.


The resulting dough is enough for twenty, but I froze half of it for a future fruit filling, probably apricot and cranberry or blueberry. Maybe even apple.





Home grown basil, fancy touch 


The pastry is lovely, light and crisp, flaky. That's because it's equal parts butter, avocado oil and hot water. The pastry with various fillings, is a keeper. Could be fruit tarts, too 

This book will be slow going, if this keeps happening. Delicious interludes expected.

And this morning's patio prowl, after a day of torrential rain, showed spider activity

And the zinnias are coming along

*Also the spider wort out front, growing where nothing else will.

*correction, thanks to Ellen's greater knowledge, it's dayflower, commelina communis. Corrected also on spoutible, to thanks from followers there, too.

I expect our local frog and toad population are happy today. Certainly the birds are, after the rain. There was a gang of house sparrows pecking busily all over the path.

Happy day everyone, I hope you get rain if needed. And relief from it if needed. Quite a bit of flooding around here. But thanks to a good power company, no loss of power.




19 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. It's an easy pastry, too. Definitely a keeper.

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  2. your little blue flower is not really spiderwort which has three petals but dayflower which has only two. different growth patterns as well.

    I'm going to have to make my own pie dough one of these days for small empenadas. I usually buy the premade pie crust and just make one big one the we split for dinner.

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    1. Thank you for the info. Noted. This dough is so easy to make, easier than going shopping!

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  3. I would love the dough recipe :) We need rain, it's a real drought we are in.

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    Replies
    1. Google on cheese sambusak. It's there. I made the filling differently from theirs.

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  4. Sambuskas look like an easy meal the make for picnics.
    Big spider webs like that are scary.

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  5. Some more distraction, enjoy! https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2023/jul/17/rebellious-robes-and-stitches-from-the-civil-war-the-radical-story-of-palestinian-embroidery

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    1. Thank you. This exhibit about the history of Palestinian embroidery and its significance, is currently at Kettles Yard in Cambridge (uk) and will later be at the good old Whitworth in Manchester. Worth the trip.

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  6. It all looks very delicious indeed.
    You can always tell if a cook book is a good one. By the number of stains on th E pages.

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    Replies
    1. Yes, easy to spot favorite recipes that way.

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  7. I really like being inspired by a book or an article! It really brings the article/book to life! The pastry looks great alright!

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    1. I'm enjoying this so much, thanks to Liz of blog Finding Life Hard? for the mention. I have a good idea now about the writer's taste, and I've looked up terms for other foods, to really take part in the narrative.

      It's like checking on the Italian foods Donna Leon mentions in her novels. You understand the narrative better when you literally taste the subject.

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  8. I am off to google that pastry. I love paper cookbooks. The stains on the pages show which were the favourite recipes (or I am a messy cook!)

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    Replies
    1. Definitely worth trying. Find the one that's equal parts hot water, oil and butter.

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  9. Those 'handies' look good and so many fillings that could be inside should make that recipe a keeper.

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