OK, it's hot.
And it's staying that way for a good long while.
And nobody's going to tell me I can't have ice cream.
Tips for having your cool and eating it too.

Today, for Father's Day, I'm making my famous tea-smoked ribs, a relatively light potato salad and turnip greens, a menu suggested by my husband, by our pantry and by my fresh herb garden.

I've been working from home since February and cultivating a long-lost interest in gardening.  Late last year, I set up my hydroponic Aerogarden where no frost could get to it, in my kitchen. Three kinds of herbs began to sprout under the artificial lights, but basil gradually overshadowed. To give some perspective, my daughter, Nicolette, posed with the plants after about six weeks in the Aerogarden:



When this photo was taken, we had already nipped leaves several times to use in recipes. I've never had anything so vigorous come up from seed. I love this plant!

I waited until all danger from frost had passed (we had a very moderate winter here in the Daytona Beach, Fla., area, but still lost a hibiscus and a couple of other flowering plants). Then I transplanted this guy to a pot on the porch. it was a little tricky to break open the Aerogarden "pods" and spread out the roots. It took less than a week for the basil to begin looking like its old self. Then I planted it in full sun in the rock garden at the front of our house. it has now become a full-blown shrub with pretty little white flowers that taste good, too. Here's how it looked a few weeks ago:



We've had so many salads caprese, made so much red sauce and Thai and Vietnamese food from this plant, I can't believe it. It likes haircuts.

I'm going to do the same routine with my Aerogarden next year. It's really foolproof.


  







 

Vietnamese food has always been a little out of reach for me. Until recently, there were so few local places that served it that I had little experience with it. One of my longtime favorites had been Bamboo Garden in Ormond Beach, where my friend Vanessa and her family have served not only Chinese food, but also dishes from their native Vietnam and all around Southeast Asia.

Within the last year or two, several other noodle joints have popped up locally, and now, after a recent trip to Las Vegas, I feel renewed interest in Vietnamese food and in trying to make my own pho (pronounced "fuh," rhymes with "duh"), a noodle dish traditionally served for breakfast in its native land.

At a restaurant named Pho at the Treasure Island in Vegas, We had pho tai, which includes beef meatballs in the mix, and pho bo vien, which has strips of raw or seared beef that cook in the noodle soup's broth (that's me above with my noodle bowl). My husband, Nick, pronounced the stop, made after an evening of playing the slots, a highlight of the trip.

First, I seached for pho recipes online and found surprisingly little that was usable -- there was a shrimp pho I may try later, though.

The best version for an American home cook, I think, is in a book called "Quick & Easy Vietnamese: 75 Everyday Recipes" by Nancie McDermott (Chronicle Books, 2006, $19.95). Once I had finished, Nick was surprised at how close I had come to the inspiration dish. The rice noodles I used -- made by a Taste of Thai -- were even better than the restaurant's.

And, since Pho charged about $10 for each bowl, albeit enormous, I know I beat them on price.

McDermott's recipe follows (don't worry it's not as difficult as it looks or as the list of ingredients would suggest):

 
My at-home pho, because I can. 

Sure, I like sweets. A lot. Angell & Phelps is one of my favorite places. And I've felt that way as long as I can remember. But here's something I now love that took me a little while to understand:

 

On Saturday, I went to the Family Worship Center in Port Orange to pick up my $30 box of Angel Food.

For anyone who's unfamiliar, this is a program we mentioned a few weeks ago in The News-Journal. It appears to be just as advertised; the rib-eyes look particularly nice, but there are also chicken-breast fajita strips and other chicken that seems fine, too. Before tasting, I think the box is easily worth twice what I paid, but I'll let you know if I still believe that after cooking.

I'm still working on getting a discussion on cheap food going on the forums for three8six, but I hope anyone who's checking out the blogs will also look at the "flavor" forums and take part in the discussion.

Anyone who's just moving to the area knows the food scene is a little different here from the major metropolises, so we all need to band together and share info. 

   

Welcome to my kitchen/office.

It's getting late on a Tuesday, and we've just put another Wednesday Accent section to bed. A lot of people put time and effort into that part of the paper, but I always call it my section.

That's because it's about Food & Drink -- and that's mostly the topic of this blog, too.

Here's where you can look to see things that, for whatever reason, didn't make it into print. Stuff that interests me ...

For example, I might just post the strangest/funniest/most disgusting/most fascinating e-mail I get in my compost-heap of an inbox. Or I'll tell you what cookbooks I got through the regular mail.

Or maybe I'll just vent.

It'll be at least as much of an adventure for me as it is for you.

Here's what I'm eating after I get home:

-- Sesame-seared tuna (great to make in a cast-iron skillet, but turn the exhaust fan on high to make sure your smoke alarm doesn't go off)

-- Jasmine rice fresh from the rice cooker, one of my favorite tools

-- Edamame, easy to steam in the microwave.

There's also most of a bottle of sake that Nick, my husband, found pushed to the back of the refrigerator. That should be perfect.   

Time to go!