Monroe's Page

Sometimes I think I should have just hunkered down and taken the extra calculus I needed to transfer to Cornell but then I realize that if I had, I’d have a real job in horticulture with real responsibilities and that would never do. As it is, I know enough to be dangerous* which is just enough to keep me playing in the dirt.

So, to the garlic.

I started growing garlic over ten years ago and had very good results for a number of years but when I went back to work, the gardens all suffered. Som… Continue

I just heard from Vincent Martin today. He was waiting to leave Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri for Camp Shelby in Mississippi by bus. He got his actual written orders so there is no more guessing or hoping for this of that rumor to be the truth.

He is going to Afghanistan. While anything else was possible, I had the comfort of every available rationalization to convince myself that this time wouldn't be as bad. I know it makes no sense but as long as I had any other fantasy, I could beli… Continue

Cliff died Thursday morning. He was working from home and when Mary got back from taking flowers over to my mother, she found him face down on the keyboard. He didn't make it to the hospital.

Cliff was part of "the lake crowd", the bunch of teenagers who thought we were so cool in our small lake community. He was the one to run up to Cropsey's, the local farm stand, to buy a watermelon which we would slather with Vaseline and use to play keep-away in the lake until it cracked or the lifeguards… Continue

Ok, so I didn't win. For some unfathomable reason they gave it to someone who had actually been writing a garden blog for a couple of years. Imagine that! I did, however, get by far the most hits. This is in part thanks to my son who lives and works on one of those Westchester estates, owned by someone whose name you might vaguely recognize.

Part of the security system on this estate is a revolving internet address. Soooo, I got about 200 hits from my son that all looked like discrete users!

A… Continue

From Vincent's friend Alfredo. I think he must have found an English version to send to us because the Note at the top says:
This is from Simetti's "Pomp and Sustenance - Twenty-Five Centuries of Sicilian Food"

which is out of print.

Anyway, here it is!

CASSATEDDI DI CECI (Sweet Chick Pea Turnover)

Makes about 3 dozen.

Pastry:
3 3/4 cups of flour
1/3 cup of white wine
1/3 cup of sugar
pinch of salt
1/2 cup of lard

Filling:
2 cups of pureed boiled chickpeas (cooked without salt)
(My Note… Continue