Our garden still had plenty of oomph when we left for Dallas, so I took with us 2 huge bags of produce - tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers. We also had a bag of basil and a bag of cucumbers. It was so wonderful to eat in season, and to eat so much that we had grown ourselves. My MIL is gracious enough to let me operate in her kitchen, and we are a pretty good team when we divide and conquer (Anth does a bang-up job with clean up, too). Anyway, the first night she made grilled salmon and I made a ratatouille with all our veggies. What a combo - yum! The second night was after our hot trip to the zoo, so we tried a new Thai restaurant I had spied (in order to avoid eating at a chain restaurant) and again - yum! On the third night, my MIL asked me, "What are we going to make for dinner tonight?!?" and I swear, I'd had an inspiration in my sleep! "Let's make pasta with a fresh pomodoro sauce - we need to use up all these tomatoes!" Marion grilled some delicious chicken breasts, and we boiled some of the excellent organic Garofalo pasta she had. I made a sauce with EVO, tomatoes, lots of garlic, and our basil julienned. We tossed it all together with parmegiano reggiano and some asiago. It smelled and tasted great. I also had an impromptu insalata of cucumbers, peppers, and herbs that she grows (thyme, mint, and parsley). We washed it all down with the excellent and very limited Cameron Hughes 16. Mangiamo bene!






















Keep watching this spot for campfire cooking.