Courtesy
I’ve been having trouble sleeping lately because there are so many things on my mind, and I have too much to do. I can’t get it all done in a day or the next ... or the next. Our town has so many activities going on that you would be hard-pressed to do it all.
That’s one of the things that drove me crazy about working at the Legislature, the hurry-up-and-wait and then hurry-to-get-it-done. In the kitchen you were always busy — too busy.
There was so much going on this past weekend from our busy 3rd & Curry St. Farmers Market to the airport open house, the Stewart PowWow and the customer-celebration day at Greenhouse Garden Center (all were free).
The Taste of Downtown was one of the best ever. The food was fantastic and the Advocates to End Domestic Violence put on a great event. They have been doing it for so long, they have all the kinks worked out and make it look easy. All these events take a lot of hard work, with volunteers and staffers working together to get the job done. We are lucky to be living in a community where dedicated people and organizations are hard at work every day striving to make Carson City better. Thank you to Food for Thought, the Ron Woods Family Resource Center, Partnership Carson City, CASA and the Greenhouse Project at the high school, just to name a few.
Ralph and I attended a fundraising dinner for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Western Nevada at the home of Joe and Lisa Keating. I know she has a new last name, but she’ll always be a Keating to me. They have been doing this for seven years now with the help of many of their friends. The rest of us came for the Low & Slow BBQ (delicious) and the camaraderie of like-minded friends and neighbors who want to support a great organization. All the meat was donated by Butler Meats. The cream pies made by Tammy Westergard and her mom just topped off a great evening. We got a chance to meet some of the kids in the club who are paid interns. They have been going to the club as kids, and now they are part of the team. The cooks ran out of paper towels, and someone suggested the kids make a scavenger hunt out of finding some. They came back with the towels and a check for $100 from a neighbor who wanted to show her support. How can you not love a town where that happens?
Every week you will find nonprofits set up in and around the 3rd & Curry St. market. They change every week or two, depending on when their function is. Some are there getting the word out about their organization. The SPCA will be there this weekend, so check out their van. They will show you the dangers of leaving your dog in a hot car (which is illegal) and educate the public about walking one’s dog on asphalt when the pavement is hot.
Relay for Life has been there the past two weeks taking sign-ups, and the Carson Historical Society was selling tickets for their Garden Tour this Saturday. If you need a ticket for this great event you can drop by Due Sorella (Two Sisters) at Curry and Musser streets and purchase one. This little shop is going to be on the tour, and if you haven’t been there, you need to stop by and meet Julie.
Today, the Greenhouse Garden Center is hosting the second annual Wine & Daylilies Daze to benefit FISH. There will be some wonderful cheeses from Cowgirl Creamery as well as Sand Hill Cheese from Fallon with fresh fruit from the FM, of course, and goodies donated by Karen’s Cupcakes, LA Bakery, Campie’s Lavender, Carson City Confections and What Blooms Photography. My good friend Karen Gasper will be there keeping things running smoothly. There will be massages, olive oil and a raffle with smooth jazz by Barbara Baxter. All this will be in the beautiful setting of Greenhouse, with David Ruf answering gardening questions, makes for a great event.
Last but not least, starting Wednesday there will be an afternoon farmers market on Curry Street between Proctor and Telegraph streets. The Get-Down Downtown Wednesday market will run from 3:30-7:30 p.m. Sometimes you just can’t get through the whole week with the fruit and veggies you bought Saturday. So, “put a little weekend in the middle of your week” and “Get Downtown.”
The recipe I’m going to share this week will work with almost any fruit. It’s easy and pretty forgiving if you make a mistake. Galettes are easy because you only have to make one crust to roll out and free form it. You can use your favorite pie dough recipe, get one off the internet, buy a store bought one or even use puff pastry.
Apricot galette
Flaky pastry crust
1 1/4 cups flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter or shortening, if you prefer
3 tablespoons ice water, plus a little more if needed
In a bowl stir together flour, sugar and salt. Cut in butter until texture resembles course meal, add cold water until dough comes together. Lightly flour the work surface and flatten the dough into a disk. Roll out into a circle about 12 inches round. It doesn’t matter if it’s perfect because you are just going to form the dough around your fruit filling. Fold the edge of the dough over your fruit, pleating it loosely all around the edge and leaving the galette uncovered in the center.
I used 2-3 cups of ripe apricots that were washed and sliced and mixed with one cup of sugar, a tablespoon of lemon juice, a couple of pinches of cinnamon and a tablespoon of flour. Put the fruit mixture in the middle of your rolled-out crust and bring your edges of the dough toward the middle with a pinch here and there to form your galette. It’s best to put the dough on your baking sheet lined with parchment paper before you add the fruit; otherwise it’s hard to transfer to the pan. I use a pizza pan. You can use less sugar, but this dessert cries out for a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Both Minton Farms and Bravo have apricots at the market right now.
Linda Marrone is a longtime Carson resident, manages the 3rd & Curry Street Farmers Market and is director of Nevada Certified Farmers Market Association.