The Anthony Ciavarella Open....Beer Wenches.....Spiedis and Other Phenomenon

Last weekend was the weekend that our family looks forward to every summer. We only see each other Christmas, weddings and funerals. But the 3rd weekend in August, we all try to get together at my house for a picnic. It is so much fun. My cousins from Endicott come out and they spend the weekend visiting as much as possible and shopping even more. We eat at different restaurants. Lately Smoky Bones and Bellaria are the favorites. We keep trying to find some small "mom and pop" places, but Sunday is usually when we get out and those places are closed on Sundays.

Our family has a golf open every year on this weekend. It's called the Anthony Ciavarella Golf Open, named after my cousins Paul and Kim's son who passed away at the age of 6 in 2004 from leukemia.

The eight that came from Endicott this year were Marsha and daughter Leeann, (did I spell that right? It doesn't look like it.), Marsha's son Joey and his wife Becca, Paula and her daughter Amber, Luann and adopted sister and cousin Nadine. (She's not legally adopted...it's very illegal....it's actually a crime...that's how much we wanted her in our family).

I'm not sure when the "beer wench" tradition began. But one year, Luann and Leeann, went to the golf open dressed in German Wench costumes. They rode around on a golf cart serving beer, pop, and bottled water to the golfers. Of course, the next year the golfers were looking for the "beer wenches" and they have been labeled that since. Every year, they try to dress up as something more ridiculous than the year before, but "beer wenches" is definitely the best.

The rest (not including Joe, who is golfing) go shopping and then we all meet for lunch. For some reason I ALWAYS have something on Sunday morning, so I usually just do the lunch thing. This year after lunch, Paula and I went to my Mom and Dad's and "raped" their photo albums. Pictures will be posted in future blogs.

On Saturday evening we met at my house and invited the Ciavarella boys and their families and also Annette and Chris (who's in Florida). This year Annette didn't make it and Chris hasn't been able to, yet, but someday we'll keep inviting him until he's able to get up here.

The food is GREAT! This year the Endicott crew brought meat for spiedis, not knowing that I was going to do the same and we ended up with like 25 pounds of spiedis (or more). They brought Lamb (yum) and chicken (the Lamb deserves the capitalization) and I did chicken and beef. We had the roasted pepper and tomato salad, tossed salad, pasta salad, creamy cheesy potatoes (thanks to Gary and Patsy; Patsy was unable to make it), Aunt Pauline (who is in her early 80's) did fried zucchini, Annie (Tom's wife...Tom's band was playing, so he was not there) made this incredible dessert with cookies and whipped topping and pudding, there were chips and fresh salsa made from our garden and guacamole, Luann brought her olive spread. There was bread from Endicott and ciabatta bread from Hogan's bakery and of course, pepper cookies. My brother brought a couple different kinds of pie. Oh my gosh, we ate until we burst(ed) (is that a word? because it's a feeling!)

After we got done eating everyone went into my husbands garden and there was much raping and pillaging of produce. We were thrilled. I will try to get a picture of Ken's Amish tomatoes (sounds sexy in a very demented way). They are pretty magnificent and taste spectacular. (okay quit laughing and get your minds OUT of the gutter)

You could find most of the recipes in previous posts. But I will tell you, if you like olives (I love them), you will love Luann's olive spread. She told me quickly how to make it, so I will give you THAT recipe.

LUANN'S OLIVE SPREAD

Okay, here's how she told me. You can use canned black olives (she didn't say how many and I doubt that it matters...so let's just say....to taste) and green olives in a jar. Some olive oil (of course I would suggest extra virgin, because I like the taste) and garlic and put it into your food processor or blender and grind it up. There were no measurements, but I'm thinking if just put enough olive oil to make the mix spreadable.

This stuff is great on crackers and a good crusty bread. I took a sandwich to work with this spread, sandwich pepperoni, Swiss cheese and hot peppers on ciabatta bread and it was really great.

So enjoy the pictures. There's old and new. And try not to overeat...at least not all of the time.

One more Zucchini Recipe and then came the Tomatoes

Well, our zucchini plants have stopped producing, but the tomatoes are now ripening ever so lovely.
My cousin Marsha e-mailed me with a couple of ideas today. One of the ideas was for stuffed zucchini. Hello? Read the blog?
But the other two were recipes I had not posted. The one is zucchini fritters, which are amazing, but I have been spoiled by a friend of mine, Tony (75 -or so- yr. old man that frequents my work place). Tony loves to show up at The Way Station (where I work) with either a cardboard box or a brown paper bag filled with prepared food. He comes prepared with plastic forks and spoons and Styrofoam plates and napkins. His potato salad is to die for and he makes alot of things that my grandmother would make when we were kids.
One time when we were discussing recipes, specifically wedding soup, he said his mother would put "scooch" or "skuche" in it. These are phonetic spellings, I haven't a clue what he was saying. Finally I caught on to egg barley pasta.
Anyway, Tony makes the best zucchini fritters or zucchini patties that I have ever tasted. He uses tons of garlic and no matter how hard I've tried to reproduce them, they never come out as good as his.
Marsha also sent me a recipe I remember Grandma Civ making. I didn't realize Mimi also made this. I'm going to call it: Zucchini and Eggs.


Zucchini & Eggs


Two medium small zucchini (cleaned and cut into small chunks...not diced, though)
Your favorite spaghetti sauce (about 1-2 cups)
4 eggs (beaten)
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
olive oil
onions
garlic (of course)
any other Italian seasonings to your taste (including salt and pepper)


In a medium fry pan (fairly deep) fry your zucchini in the olive oil with onions and garlic and seasonings. While zucchini is still crisp, add spaghetti sauce (my grandmother just used chunked up fresh tomatoes from her garden). While zucchini and sauce cook, beat eggs and cheese together. When everything comes to a good bubble, add beaten eggs and cheese mixture. Scramble with zucchini and sauce. When eggs are cooked (you don't want them still wet, make sure they are firm), you're ready. Marsha said they would dip french bread or any other crusty bread into this. I gotta make this!


Okay we got tomatoes! They are beautiful this year and incredibly flavorful. My favorite are what my husband calls Amish Tomatoes. Although they are slow to ripen, they taste great. (Ken said they were too slow and I said, "Yep, still don't have electricity"). These tomatoes are not pretty. They are big and sort of flat with bunches of dimples and bumps, but boy are they good!

A few months ago I told you how to make L'aqua Salle and Roasted Peppers and Tomatoes and you could go back and get those recipes.

We have been living on tomatoes for the past couple of weeks.
Yesterday I went to our favorite Italian Store, Rulli Brothers. If you are Italian, the smell alone will bring back memories of your childhood. All your favorites! I wanted fresh mozzarella cheese.
I never knew there was a difference, but you only need to taste it. It's so much richer. The important thing to remember is it need eaten right away, because it goes bad pretty quickly.



Fresh Mozzarella and Tomatoes with Crostini


1/2 pound fresh mozzarella cheese chunked into 1/2 - 1 inch pieces.
Very ripe cherry tomatoes (sliced in half) or the same size chunks of full size tomatoes
fresh garlic to taste
salt, pepper, fresh basil, fresh parsley to taste.
A drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
a drizzle of balsamic vinegar
very thin slices of red onion (just enough to your taste)


Mix all of this together and set aside. Let the flavors blend at room temperature. (Not for hours, just about 15 minutes)


Crostini

1/2 - 1 loaf of crusty bread (french, ciabatta, Italian, roasted garlic Italian, etc.)
Olive oil
garlic salt
black pepper
grated Parmesan cheese


Slice your bread about 1/4 - 1/2 inch think. If the bread slices are too large, cut them in half. Brush the extra virgin olive oil onto both sides of the bread - liberally! Then take your seasonings and sprinkle them over both sides of the bread. Place on a pizza pan or stone (I use one of those pizza pans with air holes, it works great). Your oven should be pre-heated to 400. Place in the oven and keep a close watch. You want it golden brown and crispy. As soon as it's down, sprinkle both sides with Parmesan.

Place the crostini on your plate and scoop your tomatoes and mozzarella over it. It's wonderful! Enjoy!


Green Beans and Tomatoes

1-2 lb. fresh green beans
4-6 large ripe tomatoes
fresh garlic to taste
salt
pepper
fresh mint
fresh parsley
a drizzle of olive oil (or more)


I love fresh green beans! It's taken me years to learn how to cook them to my liking. I hate them soft and mushy. Canned? Ewww! Whose idea was that anyway? I can stand them frozen, but I LOVE them fresh and steamed until they are just tender crisp.
When we were growing up, my mother made this next dish with wax beans. Again....Ewww! I have since, changed the recipe to green beans. I use my Pampered Chef Microwave Cooker to steam my beans. I rinse them. Then I break off the hard nubby end, leaving the pointy end and I break the bean in half so that it will fit into the cooker. I don't know how many pounds will fit in there, but I just fill it with beans. Then I add about 1 inch of water. Tighten the lid and microwave it on high for 6 minutes. That seems to work for me. You may have a better way for you, but I would NOT over cook them.
While the beans are steaming, I prepare the tomatoes.
Rinse the tomatoes and quarter them. Add your seasonings and olive oil and then with a potato masher mash it all together. Let sit about 15 minutes for flavors to blend.
When beans are done cooking. Drain them and add them to tomato mixture. Fold them together and let them sit. You can put them into the frig if you do not want it hot. Just be aware that olive oil does set (like jello) when cold.
This is another salad that needs a loaf of crusty bread with it.

Every summer we have one meal with just corn on the cob and this salad with bread. No meat. It's pretty good.


Hope you enjoy!