lulu
Overnight it seemed, this big blob sprung up in the yard. Curious, I pulled it up, took it inside for a photo that was posted on Facebook with the question what is it. Immediately came back a number of responses, mostly from Maine friends, identifying it as an edible puffball.
Edible? I was a little doubtful but decided to give it a try. First, I sliced it to find it a little on the spongey side and solid all the way through. So began a series of dishes ranging from omelets to risotto to pizza and adding chopped, diced orsliced pieces of puffball. What was discovered was that a puffball is fairly tasteless until it is seasoned and has a very different texture from other mushrooms with which I am familiar.
Of all the ways it was prepared our favorite was mushroom soup. I had no recipe so I chopped a section of the puffball and sautéed it in butter with some onion and garlic. Chicken stock was added along with salt, pepper and herbs d’Provence. The mixture simmered for about 10 minutes and then using a handheld blender(my favorite kitchen tool), I pureed it. It tasted good, but thinking how it could be improved I added half and half and returned the soup to the stove and heated it through. Talk about good, the hubby and I both had seconds. Served with a green salad and some crusty bread, puffball mushroom soup is a simple and yummy dinner.
If you ever see one of these growing in your yard, pluck it right up. If it’s white all the way through, don’t be afraid to use it, but if it’s yellowish and has a mushy texture, throw it in the trash.
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For ideas, I go no farther than these two cookbooks loaded with recipes to suit any palate. There’s no chance I’ll ever get through the two!
Spoon 1/2-3/4 c. of polenta into the center of a plate. Arrange asparagus around it and spoon the sauce over the polenta. Garnish with chopped herbs.
Who can resist sweet and juicy strawberries bursting with flavor? Not me, nor can I resist making an all time favorite dessert which came to me via a high school boyfriend’s mother. That means I’ve been making it for a long time!
There are surely fancier strawberry concoctions, but for delicious, this one rivals any. Heck, just looking at the picture makes me want a bite right now! If you want to join me, here’s the very simple to make recipe.
Fold in baking powder, finely ground cracker crumbs and chopped pecans. Pour mixture into lightly buttered 9″ pie pan and bake at 325 until lightly browned. This takes about 30 minutes. Cool completely.
To serve, top the crust with strawberries and slightly sweetened whipped cream. (I often put the berries on the crust a couple of hours before serving to let the juice soak in.)
OK, you know the table is set so what’s for dinner?
Chicken Stoup
Just as the dishes and the dryer hose pumpkins are a staple at Thanksgiving, so is cornbread dressing made just like, well almost like, Mom used to make. For that matter, I think she made it the same as my grandmother, so I like the idea that this dressing has been around for a long time.
I’m not sure how Mother made her cornbread, so I rely on this recipe in my trusty Southern Living cookbook. Can you tell it has been around for years and is much used?
Now for the dressing which combines a few simple ingredients. I usually make it a day ahead of time so the flavors are well blended. 
Though the main ingredient is the cornbread, Mother always crumbled a few leftover biscuits into the mix. If I don’t have biscuits, I toast a few slices of bread and then make cubes or crumbs. That seems to work just fine.
Curious now, I took it inside and cut it in half to find that it was dense from top to bottom. Now, really puzzled, I posted this photo on Facebook and asked for someone to identify it. Immediately, several Maine folks informed me it was a puffball mushroom that was deliciously edible.
I wasted no time experimenting, first sautéing it in butter to get a feel for the taste. It was quite mild with a very nice flavor. Since then it has been used in scrambled eggs and spaghetti sauce and added to stir fried veggies, all of which worked beautifully.
Quite honestly, to make the soup I just started throwing ingredients…celery, a couple of small potatoes and baby carrots…in the pot and simmered them in chicken stock. For seasoning, I used a garlic/herb mix, onion powder, dried fire roasted tomatoes, salt and pepper. When the veggies were tender, I added about 5 cups of puffball, broken into small pieces, and let it cook for a few minutes longer. While the cooking continued, I used an immersion blender to puree the mix. At the last minute a cup or so of milk was added. 
For the first time in several weeks, it’s just the hubby and me at home. That means some relaxed moments on the porch enjoying the sunset over Rockport Harbor. The days are getting shorter now, and the colors are deepening as summer begins to wane.
When it’s just the two of us, life is pretty simple. Breakfast is a bowl of cereal or a smoothie or this time of year a blueberry muffin to go with coffee. Lunch is whatever, maybe a sandwich, maybe hummus with crackers and cheese. Nothing fancy for sure.
When it comes to dinner, it’s still simple, but a bit more effort goes into making it more than a stand up meal. Always, there are flowers gathered from the garden or from the side of the road.
Whatever dishes are used are meant to complement the runner or placemats that are on the table. This night they were from Dollar Tree which is a great place for picking up new pieces inexpensively. No tears are shed when a plate gets broken!
It was a piece of cake to finish this table by adding accessories that repeated the colors in both the plates and the cloth.
As silly as my kids think it is, I always use cloth napkins. Maybe it’s my contribution to saving trees and reducing what goes to the landfill! Besides, it’s so easy to tuck them into a napkin ring which makes their presentation a bit more special.
So, that’s the table. Now, what about dinner? More often than not, we have seafood which is local and fresh. 
One of our favorites is scallops, likely to have been brought in from the sea that day. They are at their best when seared quickly on each side to preserve their sweet goodness. This night they were served over corn risotto with a simple green salad on the side. It doesn’t get better than that!