by Paula D.
on May 25, 2021 1:51 pm in bike
Last year I was riding my beach cruiser all the time. It was an outlet for me during the pandemic. The bike enabled me to get outside and explore the peninsula – more than ever before. I love riding around, touring streets in Far Rockaway. The architecture is so diverse in the 40’s. The parks in Bayswater are treasures. There’s so much shopping and pizzazz around Mott Ave. Then I’d reverse and bike to the end of the boardwalk on 126th, hit the street lane and go to the tip of Breezy Point. The beaches are expansive on the west end. The lighthouse is a must see pit stop. I had no idea Fort Tilden had so many trails. I rode on the rocky pebbles through the narrow paths and enjoyed looking at the native coastal trees and plants. I’d test myself to see how many I could identify. I saw the horses!
I found something new I really enjoy and that’s not common later in life. But I was landlocked with my cruiser. I needed to “graduate” to a road bike. Over the bridges was my next adventure goal. I was asking my friends who ride and my husband who knows a little bit about bikes. He used to fix them at a bike shop in Downtown Brooklyn back in the day. The consensus: a road bike, not a hybrid. Thinner wheels for speed!
My husband surprised me in January for the big 40 with a gorgeous vintage Peugeot. Admittedly as a novice, I had know idea how “cool” this French 10 speed is – crème de la crème. And… the bike is tomato red. Matt had been combing craigslist for months prior to my birthday to find the perfect bike … and it had to be red.
Even in January, I started riding the Peugeot any time that the weather permitted. I didn’t mind the cold, as long as the wind was calm enough. I quickly realized that I’m 40 years old and I don’t know how to ride a bike. I needed to figure out the gears and learn how to ease into the transitions. After my chain fell off for the third time, I decided I should watch some Youtube tutorials, “How to ride a gear bike,” “How to put your bike chain back on.” It helped!
Facebook also recognized I was struggling as a newbie cyclist. “Intimidated by long rides? We can help!” FB suggested I take “Intro To Road Cycling,” A 7 week course with outcycling.org. Seems fun, I may do it!
I was ready to take my inaugural ride over the Marine Parkway Bridge when my husband said, “You’re not going over the bridge without a helmet.” Ugh, he was right- safety first! So I started researching helmets online. They all looked ugly, except for this one brand – Thousand (www.explorethousand.com). Yup, leave it to me to find the most expensive bike helmet on the whole internet. Not only did I need to protect my head from injury, I need to look smokin’ hot on my bike this summer. So I “invested” in this cute hipster helmet and … I also got it monogrammed with a golden “P”. Don’t judge.
The helmet just arrived, so no more excuses (except for the wind). I’m headed over the bridge this weekend! My first destination is the biking trails around Floyd Bennett Field. My goal for mid summer is to make it to Shirley Chisholm Park, which for those of you who don’t know, was designed specifically for bike riding! Wish me luck!
I thought I was getting away with an easy job for my friends’ double birthday party. After all, one of the other requests was to fashion an edible shrimp necklace. All I had to do was make a melon ball salad. I had an ice cream scooper and another round tool, surely one of those would work. Nope.
Pro tip: if you’re tasked with making melon ball salad for a birthday party, get a melon baller and watch a Youtube video before the day of the event.
Failed attempt at melon balls
In a bit of a frenzy, only hours before the party, I googled, “how to make melon balls.” After watching this really annoying, flawless woman on Youtube demonstrate the process to make the perfect melon ball, I knew I was in trouble. I learned, the key to the perfect melon ball is pressing down firmly on the outer rim of the halved melon. Then scoop with the turn of your wrist. Next, you cut an inch layer down, for another clean flat surface, for the next round. There is a lot of waste in between layers. The “June Cleaver” lady on Youtube made sure to tell her viewers to save those and eat it yourself, but it’s worthy of presentation.
I had to think quickly and jazz up this regular fruit salad for the birthday “wow factor” in the hopes my friend would not be disappointed that the fruit was in fact square, not round. I have a beautiful glass fish dish and since the party was on the beach, I thought this would be perfect to use for the imperfect melon salad. I recall seeing mint growing in the garden already, so I hopped out the door and grabbed some. Mint is a lovely touch to fruit salad.
I’m thinking throughout all this … what’s the history of melon ball salad? It feels very middle-America, red and white table cloth vibe.
The only historical reference I found was of a Lady Augustina of Dungbeetle who invented the melon baller in 1846 (England). She believed “… ideally all fruits should be in the shape of a spheroid to coincide with the perfection of the cosmos.”
There is another, more eloquent name for the melon baller – a Parisienne scoop. The French have a way of making everything sound better. The purpose of a Parisienne scoop … to achieve a fancy “cut.”
Everyone wanted to try on the shrimp necklace made by Matt J
I do know fruit is a symbol of abundance and is associated with goddesses of fertility and harvest. In myths from around the world, it is also symbolic of overindulgence, pleasure, and temptations. Overindulging is definitely key to a successful birthday party. And in the end, my friend loved the fruit salad, so all went well!
Follow meon Instagram for the day-to-day @theglorifiedtomato
by Paula D.
on April 28, 2021 8:22 am in Food / Recipes
My friend Matt Johnson stopped by to borrow a blow dryer to fix a window screen. (Yes, it’s actually a thing). As a thank you, Matt brought over homemade clafoutis. What is clafoutis? I didn’t know either until I took a bite of this decadent French pastry. The dessert is traditionally made with black cherries and placed in a shallow, buttered baking dish. It is then covered with a thick flan-like batter and topped with powdered sugar and butter. It’s served lukewarm and sometimes with cream.
Matt’s been baking all winter in part due to Covid “free time” and I’ve been sampling his delicious and ambitious creations each Sunday at our winter swim meet-up organized by @seachanges.* From korvapuusti to pavlova to decorated lobster cookies, Matt’s desserts have no boundaries.
I’m intrigued (and slightly jealous) by his baking skills because I’m not good at baking. I try here and there but I find it a bit stressful and a little annoying to worry about following the directions exactly. Why should I force myself if it’s not enjoyable to me? And I have Matt’s homemade treats to eat, so why bother…
Clafoutis à la Matt Johnson
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter
½ – 1 pound blueberries (about one layer in baking dish)
2 oz slivered almonds
⅔ cup sugar
3 eggs
½ flour
1 ¼ cup milk
Pinch of salt
Directions: Preheat the oven to 375 F. Butter shallow baking dish. Arrange berries. Cut the surface down to a single layer. Add almonds. Whisk together ½ cup sugar, salt, eggs. Whisk in flour, add milk. Pour mixture over the berries. Sprinkle ¼ cup sugar over the surface. Dot with butter. Bake for 40 minutes until golden.
Recipe adapted from A Provincial Table By Richard Olney
Matt’s version was rich and sweet with a bitter berry overtone. The battered crust had a lovely texture which is a nice contrast to the filling. The taste of egg and butter makes a perfect sweet and savory breakfast. You can experiment with different types of berries and stone fruits. Matt tells me this is an easy baking recipe and so, I think I’ll have to give baking another go because I want more clafoutis!
Additionally being a French dessert, this automatically feels fancy and impressive. Clafoutis is a “wow-factor” pastry to serve at a gathering or to drop off to a neighbor.
Follow me in the kitchen on IG @theglorifiedtomato
*Artist Riitta Ikonen is the organizer of Sea Changes, the Rockaway winter swim initiative I participated in. Sea Changes is part of a global program curated by FLOCK to connect friends, family, community and strangers during Covid times. For more info click here.
Do brides these days still buy china? I remember when I told my mother I didn’t want china as a wedding gift. She was really annoyed. I explained that I wouldn’t use it often and when I did, I would be so worried I’d break or chip it.
Instead without my knowledge my mother bought me a set of wine glasses, champagne glasses and serving plates, hand-painted in Italy with beautiful fish illustrations. Now that is totally me. And I’m happy she did it, because it is a special keepsake.
I inherited my grandmother’s china, years after my wedding. So, turns out I have it anyway. Most of the dishware is still in a box in the basement but some is upstairs in my “china cabinet.” I forget it’s there and I’m not particularly keen on the pattern, but it’s my grandmothers so I love it and I will keep it forever. It’s more precious than anything I would have picked out new in Macy’s.
Last week I made a beautiful tomato herb salad and I wanted to instagram it but the red tomatoes didn’t look right plated on a red dish (all my dishware is red, matching my very red / black / white kitchen). Then I thought of using my grandmother’s china which is pure white with a delicate green floral pattern on the edge. It worked nicely and I was happy to use her special dishes.
It got me thinking … she must have been so excited to choose her pattern and own something expensive. I wonder what she was thinking regarding her upcoming wedding too. This happens to me alot – I wish I could just pick up the phone and ask these questions to my family whom I miss, that have passed away. At the same time, I’m grateful to have items like grandma’s china around my home as a reminder of them. It keeps their spirit alive.
Here’s the recipe for the deliciously fresh herb tomato salad I mention above. If you love parsley, you’ll enjoy this flavorful melody. I named the salad after my grandmother!
Grandma Mary’s Tomato Herb Salad
Ingredients:
2 handfuls roma tomatoes
About 1 tablespoon thinly shaved onions
All to taste:
Basil leaves chopped
Parsley chopped
pecorino romano
Fresh thyme
Freshly ground pepper
Salt
Olive Oil
Lemon
Directions: Half the roma tomatoes, chop the basil and parsley and add to a mixing bowl. Remove the fresh thyme with your hand from the spring, add to the bowl. Thinly shave the onions and add to the mixture. Add Salt and ground pepper and the cheese. Dress the salad with a little fresh lemon juice and olive oil (liberally). Mix and let it sit for at least a half hour before serving. Best served at room temperature. Plate on fine china.
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Why do we call these dishes china? China is in fact a delicate porcelain ceramic. It slowly evolved in China (the country) over 2,000 to 1,200 years ago. There are three main categories based on materials and firing temperatures: hard-paste, soft-paste and bone china. Americans and the English began calling this delicate sought-after pottery “china”, or “Fine china” as it was first seen in imports from the country. Why is fine china a traditional wedding present? I’ll leave that question for another column…
