Healing and Texas Surprises

It has been a very emotional and rough week here at The Split Pea. Jack has been sick and yesterday was the first day without fever. He is exhausted but things are looking better. Bryan and I are relieved, sleepless, and ready for a date night. For now though we’re staying close to home, enjoying the calm that comes with healing.



On Monday I decided to make a quick meal making use of the zucchini covering our kitchen counter and some puff pastry that needed to be used. There’s nothing better than a homemade meal after a long and tiring day. We sat down to watch Be Kind Rewind, which was excellent, and ate the zucchini tart. I sighed deeply mumbling to myself every few minutes: “Mmmm, so good! This is just what I needed.”

The next day was just as tiring, but Lego the puppy provided some much needed entertainment and company. Jack loves him and although Lego is a dog prone to swinging moods, he has learned to play with Jack, even while grumbling.

Bryan is such a good daddy. Since we had all been stuck at home for almost a week, he got for Jack some cowboy gear and played shoot-the-cowbots with Jack. They make me happy; they make me laugh.



Today was our first outing in a week. In the car Jack said:

“Mommy, look, animals.”

I quickly looked and noticed we were surrounded by trees, no animals in sight.

“Where baby?”

“Look,” Jack says pointing to the clouds, “that one has his mouth open.”

I giggled with glee.

“Look momma, there’s a bug in his mouth. And there’s a gun. Pow! He’s dead now.”

Giggles stopped and I silently cursed East Texas for my son’s fascination with guns.

There are some really good things in East Texas though. I found three at the farmers’ market last week. The same familiar faces, sweating in the Texas morning heat. One of the watermelon guys was passing out watermelon slices to the other vendors. Who needs bottled water? The usual jolly vendor who sells me onions was replaced by a woman, who I assumed was his wife.

“Hi love,” she said in the thickest Texas accent she could, “here are some Texas sweets. And I have figs today, too.”

I could barely contain my excitement:

“Figs?” I squeaked.

I bought and devoured them the same day. Only this picture is left.



Another find was this yellow flesh watermelon. I gave Jack a slice of watermelon to quench his thirst. He loved it so much that he only wants yellow flesh watermelon now. What am I going to do but beg the yellow flesh watermelon guy to bring some every Saturday.



I also found some Cream Peas, which, according to my mother-in-law are an East Texas food. She cooked some for us and I fell in love with them ever since the first bite. They are, well, creamy, sweet and with a faint grassy flavor. So wonderful! Since the peas were so fresh, I did not want to add any other flavors that would overpower them, so I kept my cream pea salad simple.

As you can see I am back to cooking. It’s good to be once more in the kitchen chopping, stirring, crushing, and mixing. And most of all, it’s good to have a healthy family.



Zucchini, Red Pepper, and Thyme Tart

I thaw the frozen puff pastry in the refrigerator starting the night before using it. It thaws gently and thoroughly.

Ingredients:

1 box of frozen Puff Pastry, thawed
1 medium zucchini
1 red bell pepper
10 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
1 teaspoon olive oil
3 thyme sprigs
½ teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Preparation:

-If you haven’t thawed the puff pastry ahead of time, do so now according to package instructions. You will use both sheets.
-Preheat oven to 400 F.
-Once thawed, place the pastry sheets on greased or parchment paper lined baking sheets.
-Pierce the dough with a fork every 1 inch, making sure to leave the ½ inch outer border intact. This will allow the middle dough to stay flat while baking.
-Thinly slice the zucchini with a mandolin or a chef’s knife and slice the pepper into thin strips.
-In a small mixing bowl, stir well to combine the cream cheese, olive oil, thyme, and salt.
-Divide the cheese mixture and place each half on each of the pastry sheet. Spread evenly.
-Arrange the zucchini and peppers atop the cheese and sprinkle freshly ground black pepper.
-Place the tarts in the oven and cook for 12-15 minutes or until edges of the pastry have puffed and are golden brown.

Serve immediately.



Really Simple Texas Cream Peas

Ingredients:

2 cups of fresh cream peas, hulled
1 teaspoon of salt
6 cups of water
1 ½ tablespoon of canola oil
Black pepper

Preparation:

-Bring the water and salt to a boil, add the peas.
-Once the water starts boiling again, turn the heat to medium, scoop out the creamy foam from the pan, cover and simmer for 30-40 minutes, until the peas are cooked through but not mushy.
-Drain the peas, place in mixing bowl, drizzle the oil and sprinkle with black pepper. Toss to coat and serve.
-You can also add some freshly squeezed lemon juice, but I find cream peas to be so delicious, that they need no other flavors added.

Ju bëftë mirë!
-E.