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Monday, October 23, 2017

Eggplant Green Tomato Parmesan Lasagna Polenta Casserole

Or, as I like to refer to it, dinner and five lunches.  This is the result of facing a shelf of green tomatoes, some over-ripe red tomatoes and three softening eggplants.






My day started out fairly typically for a Monday.  In an effort to economize, I made a large pumpkin latte at home to help me make it through my commute.  Luckily, there was bumper-to-bumper traffic so that the coffee that spilled down the front of my shirt had plenty of time to dry.


The weather, these past three days, has been glorious.  Clear, blue skies, warmish, light breezes.  On Friday, I took the overland route to the state library and managed to take some pics of the architecture.  Rockefeller strong-armed his will to create a monument to modernism - smack-dab in the middle of an historical area.  You could call him the Robert Moses of Albany.  He bisected a neighborhood of glorious brownstones in order to erect what was, in fact, a monument to him.  I digress.
Looking north towards the State Capitol.  Behold!  The Egg!
Sigh.

One of the state office towers.
Lovely, ain't it?
This is was the existing architecture:
Back entrance (although you cannot
enter) to the Capitol building.

Capitol on right, education monument/building
on left

Too bad the state of the state's education is not
up to the glories of its edifice.
If you walk straight through those
trees, past the multi-towered building dead-
center, you would reach my
non-descript building.
The project slogs on.


It's that time again...
I tried to make a manageable list for the weekend - my new ruse to my over-reaching self - and did a pretty good job of sticking to it.  Saturday, I cleaned the duck hut, cleaned out two raised beds, planted my garlic, and started dead-heading and digging up the dahlia rhizomes.  Then I had to go north.  Sunday morning, I dutifully baked for the barn, visited for a period, then came home and started the fall coop clean.  It is much easier than the spring clean, let me tell you, but it was very, very dusty this year.  That took most of the late morning/early afternoon, so I decided to tick-off one of the long-standing items - recovering the wind

chimes from the farm.  The farmer's dad, Leo, had these lovely chimes on the porch.  I grew quite fond of them, sitting and visiting with Leo every week.  Since the house is now, sadly, going derelict, I asked if I could have them.
Hi-rise housing
My claim had to wait until two hatchings of barn swallows finally fledged.  There was one tiny egg left in the nest.
They are now musically bonging away on the pergola.


During all this activity, I had planted the dogs on the deck on their rugs, with their marrow bones.  Best thing ever - they were busy for almost two hours, before coming up for air.  I called it a day around 6:30, fed everyone and slid my fridge-cleaning dinner in the oven.  We had a quiet night - Lovey on HER sofa, and PB taking up an amazing amount of room for a diminutive being.

Getting the hairy eyeball for taking up
ANY space on HIS chair.


The tail is the only thing
visible.










17 comments:

Theresa Y said...

Your lasagna looks great. I've got eggplant marinating in the fridge now. Tonight I put it in the dehydrator and hopefully I'll have a gingered/white miso eggplant jerky when its done. Wish me luck!

Susan said...

OMG, that sounds so good! Now I am hoping to find another eggplant or five. Let me know how it turns out. That is brilliant!!!

Mama Pea said...

How do you manage to come up with all these wonderfully gourmet-ish dishes?

Did you hear me laugh when I read about the spilled latte having time to dry on the front of your shirt? And while we're talking about your latte . . . how do you make a pumpkin latte at home?

Thanks for the mini tour of downtown Albany. Those be some architecturally wowzer structures! Some I like. Others, not so much. ;o]

Those wind chimes will be a lovely reminder of Leo. So sweet.

I think PB's coloring is so purdy. Carmel-y browns. We've never had a dog that liked to snuggle under covers. The only time I can remember Zoey tolerating it was when she sprained a back leg/hip running through the woods like a maniac and we put the heating pad over it with a blanket over that as she laid on her bed. It must have felt pretty good or I know she would never have tolerated it.

Michelle said...

After an enticing title and photo, I didn't any more useable information on that dish!

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

That dish looks very good. I had to laugh at the last two dog photos. So funny.

Theresa said...

Ah yes, the tail. I am adept at short JRT white tails. Don't touch Jack's tail. Spikes white tip wags in his sleep, Smoochie who never goes undercover should have his tail looking like a big fat carrot in shape. And then of course Mandy's little skinny whip tail, dark spot midway up marking a primitive scent gland. I don't know Susan, eggs are cheap are chickens truly worth it? My prejudice is showing, fowl are foul. I love wind chimes, we must have at least 15 of them around the house and out in the garden and even one in the back 40. Mr. Butters has quite the aristocratic schnoz. Such a handsome fellow!

Ed said...

We are quickly losing the character of our urbanscapes. Even the farms are losing character as barns are replaced with square metal boxes. Building built by our ancestors are still here. I wonder what will be left of our era a hundred fifty or two hundred years from now?

Susan said...

I confess to going all-out on the pumpkin spice everything all winter long. I use pumpkin spice coffee base and add ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg to the half-and-half, heat and foam, then pour together. It almost makes the dark, early rising worth it! Dachshunds are notorious snugglers and burrowers. Sometimes I wonder how they can breathe...

Susan said...

It was a total mishmash! I used Leigh's recipe for baked fried green tomatoes - oil then seasoned cornmeal - baked them in a hot oven, then layered them in a 9x13 pan in alternate layers, topped with marinara sauce, sliced ripe tomatoes, then mozz. I topped it with some shredded asiago. Then foil cover, cooked for 45 mins at 375, took the foil off and baked for another 15 mins to brown. I would use more marinara next time, but it was good!

Susan said...

Theresa, yes, eggs are cheap but I am so conditioned to my farm-raised eggs that I cannot tolerate eggs bought in a store. No matter how hand-raised, free ranged, artisaned they are. I think you either love chickens or despise them. Isn't he a looker? He is still a little light on the fur covering - especially on his ears. A holdover from the neglect he suffered for who-knows-how-long. We're working on it.

Sandy Livesay said...

Susan,
I love eggplant, I could eat up your egg plant lasagna in a heartbeat.It looks amazing girlie!

Chimes make such beautiful sounds, they're very angelic. I have them all around the house. Where will you hang this one? This chime will be a nice remembrance of your friend😊

PB and Lovey totally enjoyed their marrow Mom....their looking for more. Give them each a scratch behind their ears for me.

Gorgeous pictures of the buildings in Albany.

Don't work to hard.
Hugs and love,
Sandy

Susan said...

I hate to think what we will leave as monuments to our arrogance. I feel so badly, as I pass all those big, old barns that are sagging to their demise. I realize how expensive it is to restore them, but how about we keep them up so they don't get to the point of no return? I cannot abide metal boxes.

Susan said...

He is a real character - very, very 'busy'.

Susan said...

Sandy! Hope all is going more smoothly on your little piece of Heaven! I have three wind chimes hanging from my pergola. It has been very windy lately, with all the weird weather fronts coming and going, so I have been enjoying the concert!

Theresa Y said...

Dehydrated Miso eggplant turned out well. Dried for six hours although I think I could have gotten away with 5. Very savory, gingery, chewy. Not bad at all.

Theresa Y said...

By the way, that eggplant recipe came from a book by Pamela Braun called Jerky Everything.

Leigh said...

That is a very good idea for green tomatoes! I'm holding my breath in hopes our first frost holds off but I doubt it. I'll probably have to hold off on the eggplant though. I love the stuff, but Dan turns up his nose.