The Occasional Chef

I love fresh vegetables.  It's one of the adult things I look forward to in the summertime.  Sadly school days are long past, and Summer no longer holds its magical status as an untouchable time where I could drink in as much vacation as I wanted.  Now I have alcohol... which is not what this post is about!   The drinking kind anyway.   OK, sticklers, I am patently aware of the use of lactic fermentation in brewing. Brewing discussions will come.  B ut this is about food preservation.   Ooh, pretty As usual, I have more things to do than I imagine.  Will I take vegetables when offered?  Of course I will!  Of course I can use them!  And believe me, I have every good intention to do so, but the reality is that I cannot realistically eat 8 pounds of fresh tomatoes and peppers and more in the time that it will take them to naturally ripen, over-ripen, and begin to ferment.   No problem, I can use them for stuff!  I can make sauces and salads, casseroles, and salsa -- but, nope, I didn&

I had heard them all.  All the discouraging but well-meant things about making bread at home, having to wait and let dough rise, flour everywhere, needing a dough hook and a stand mixer, and getting better than a good workout. "Baking is difficult."  "Baking is tricky."  "Ooh, baking bread, you really gotta know what you're doing!" This kept me away, which is unusual.  The more esoteric a process and its arcane methods, the better by me.  At some point in the last couple years, I REALLY got tired of paying too much for a loaf of decent bread.  Stores sell a lot of good-looking breads, and especially so, in their store bakeries.  How many times have you been all amped-up for a gorgeous sandwich you made at home on one of these breads?  You're thinking, "I don't need to go to a restaurant.  I could be a chef!  Just look at this thing!"  The lettuce is bright green and offset by gleaming orange cheese and a blistering red tomato slic