The Novel Bakers ~ Gathering in the Garden ~ Part I

This time the Novel Bakers are cooking from"Gathering in the Garden", a cute book writtenby Shelley Snow and Elaine Husband.
Shelley and Elaine have been lifelong friends from the time they were younggirls, growing up in much simpler times. If you're a baby boomer, youwill easily identify with these two delightful women and some of their experiences.
They had much in common then, (as we learn through the book), and are still best friends some 50+ years later.
They and their families live in Tennessee ~ both women are recognized watercolorist; their artwork is featured throughout the book.
This fun little gem of a book is filled with ideas for themed parties fortoday, and is interspersed with memories (at times hilarious)of their time growing up together.
~*~*~*~*~

I must say, this assignment has been a bit of a challengefor me since the forest fires around here drasticallycut into the time we were able to spend outdoors ~so this post was put together rather hastily (yesterday)on one of the first clear (ash free) and cooler days sincethe fires began in late July.

Ahem.I think I'm not so good at following 'themes'sometimes (that's just me...) So I skipped around andchose recipes from the book that fit in with whatwe normally eat.  I fudged a little and tweaked therecipes to suit our tastes. 



Not many cherry tomatoes this year, so I picked other tomatoes from thegarden and made the Pickled Shrimp recipe (I omitted the olives andsubstituted sliced baby cucumbers from the garden.) 



Cover painting "Still Life with Blue Goblet" by co-authorShelley Snow. (watercolor)





I took some liberties and made a Roasted Bell Pepper and Crab Bisque, because it complements the shrimp (though the soup recipe is notin the book.)  You can serve it hot or cold.




We're relishing the last few days of summer  here . . .




I served the soup with some slices of Asiago cheese bread.

Roasted Red Pepper soup with Crabmeat, garnished with Cilantro.





Tomato Salad from the garden harvest, drizzledwith herb vinaigrette and served with Pickled Shrimp.I used the same vinaigrette for both the tomatoes andthe shrimp... (see below.)

I love the fresh  colors of summer on a plate . . .




Fishy ~  Crate and Barrel glass tumblers from years ago.



 Zebra striped green tomatoes ~ one of my favorite varieties, very sweet and mild.






Savoring every fresh vine ripened tomato from the garden . . .








. . . because soon they will be gone. 
We won't be able to enjoy these treasures until next year.





Okay.
Truth in recipes . . . 
I didn't use the bottled dressing as the authors' recipe instructed.  I made my old tried and true simpledressing/marinade for the cooked shrimp:

Your favorite minced herbs (I used fresh parsley and chives from the garden), minced garlic if you want ~ a bit of oil, your favorite vinegar, salt and pepper and a pinch of sugar or  other sweetener just to mellow it a bit. 

You can't beat it ~ it's FRESH.And the bonus is, nosynthetic taste, no chemicals or preservatives (and costs only pennies.)





You can serve a few shrimp on the tomato salad . . .





. . .  or serve each person a bowl of shrimp.  :)





I hope you, too, are enjoying these last days of summer for this year.
Thank you for coming by to visit!


Please stop by Wednesday forthe next post from our featured book.

And please do check the other Novel Bakers tosee their fabulous impressions of "Gathering in the Garden"

Unlike me, I'm sure they followed the rules . . .  ;-)



a quiet life blog
Rattlebridge Farm
Home is Where the Boat is

Bon Appétit!

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