Hi, everyone!
This weekend, Joe-san and Nancy-san came to visit, and they brought Moose-san! I was glad to see him again! Joe-san had been shopping at the Public Market, and he found skinny eggplants — the kind we need to make ratatouille, just like in the movie! Moose-san and I checked the recipe to make sure we had all the vegetables we needed. It’s a very complicated recipe and uses two kinds of tomatoes, zucchini, summer squash, eggplant, three colors of peppers, garlic, onions and fresh herbs!
It was already late afternoon when Moose-san came, so we didn’t have enough time to make the ratatouille Friday evening. Instead, we took a boat ride to watch sunset. Moose-san and I shared a life jacket, so we could go in the boat! We had to go way out in Lake Ontario to see the sun set over water, instead of over land. The bay was very calm, but there were some waves on the lake and the boat bounced around! I was glad when we came back into the bay through the channel. The light house is very pretty at sunset! The boat made a pretty wake in the bay, too! When it was bedtime, Moose-san and I shared a bed that was just our size!
Right after breakfast on Saturday, Moose-san and I helped make the piperade. First, we had to roast the peppers and peel them and dice them. Then we had to dice and sauté the onions and garlic. We put the tomatoes in boiling water so they were easier to peel, and then we chopped them up and added them to the pan, too! It took a long time to cook the vegetables into a sauce for the ratatouille, but the piperade was delicious when it was all done!
After lunch, we helped Joe-san and Nancy-san and Grandma and Grandpa assemble the pans of ratatouille. First, we spread the piperade on the bottom of the pans. We let Grandpa use the slicer, because it is very sharp! Joe-san and Nancy-san assembled stacks of vegetable slices – zucchini, tomato, summer squash and eggplant — and Grandma put them in the pans. Don’t the ratatouilles look nice?
While we were waiting for the ratatouille to bake, we went to Burnap’s farm market. Moose-san has never been to a pumpkin patch before! We posed for pictures and made friends with the giant pumpkin. Moose-san picked out a big pumpkin to take home, but Joe-san found one that was more his size!
After we got Moose-san’s pumpkin, I showed him where James and I played this summer. We went down the truck slide and I let Moose-san get to the bottom first! Then we played on the train — both the caboose and the engine. After that, we made friends with the ghost and looked at the fall flowers and gourds. Moose-san understands about pumpkin patches now!
When we got back from Burnap’s, it was time for dinner. We ate ratatouille and corn on the cob. Grandpa grilled a pork tenderloin and we had the blackberry sauce that Grandma and I made last month. For dessert, we had apple crisp made with some of the apples I picked last week. Almost everything we ate was grown nearby!
It was already dark when it was time to drive back to Fairport. There was a bright crescent moon in the sky that made me think about Harold and his purple crayon!
Love,
Lion-san
We all had a fun time with you even if it was short! It was really fun making the ratatouille and it looked so pretty. We had some tonight. Yes Joe-san picked a better sized pumpkin for Moose-san than Moose-san did! Moose-san and Nancy-san liked the great big pumpkin but Nancy-san said it would be too big for their house!