by Greg Koelker
The kitchen weather station read 52 degrees outside this morning when Bo took me out for business and breakfast at 6:15. It was chilly in a flannel shirt and shorts. Nice really. I listened for a squirrel barking. I guess most of them were sensibly sleeping in. I recalled times back in the day wasting an hour or two on an August morning such as this, avoiding mosquitoes while hunting squirrels with a .22. Ostensibly, the idea was bagging a bushy for the upcoming Squirrel Picnic. The reality was just a reason for getting out in the woods after miserable temps and harsh humidity and bugs were mostly sleeping in too. The verdant over and under story make spotting squirrels almost impossible anyway.
We have company this week, Mountain Man Ben and Mountain Fur Baby Boots drove in on Friday. It’s always good to see your kids, and catch up in person. Ben is like his mother, always moving. He built a new stone raceway below a culvert that comes under our driveway. He met some friends in La Crosse and went biking up Granddad’s Bluff and on connecting trails. He and Boots have been on a couple hikes here. El, Ben, and I took the Ranger for a ride up our ridge last evening. Most of the crops look really good. We spooked two small bucks in velvet out of a cornfield. Bo and Boots raced about covering three times the distance we drove. Ben is planning on coming hunting later in the fall.
We need to get at the grass again today. It has been a week and it has rained some. Oh well, I can use the riding mower time to keep listening to Tom Clancy’s Firing Point audio book I started listening to in July. We have had eight nice tomatoes from our pet tomato plant. El’s hibiscus is exploding with color still. We have several meals of basil, brie, and tomatoes over hot pasta. The basil plant on the deck is thriving. Sometimes, I just have to stop and take in the sweet and spicy aroma.
If you haven’t tried Judy Swantz’s basil, brie, and tomatoes recipe, well … here’s the recipe:
Ingredients:
Four medium ripe tomatoes
One cup of fresh washed and chopped basil leaves
3 cloves of garlic, minced
One 8 oz wheel of Brie cheese (we like President’s)
½ tsp each of Salt and Pepper
One cup of olive oil
a package of spaghetti
Put the cheese in the freezer for twenty minutes or so to make it easier to peel the rind off and cut up. Some people like the rind so leave it if you like.
Peel and cut up the tomatoes into bite sized pieces
In medium bowl combine the oil, garlic, tomatoes, salt and pepper, and chopped basil
Cover the bowl with cling wrap and leave it out on a counter top to mellow for several hours
It is a treat to lift the cover and take in the aroma occasionally
At meal time, cook the pasta as directed
Poor the hot pasta out on a platter and immediately pour the bowl full of basil, brie, and tomato over it and let the cheese melt
Serve and enjoy – I think you’ll agree, it don’t git no better.
Until next time, get out – it is getting close to the time to get the house sprayed for asian beetles and box elder bugs. We did last year and hardly saw a beetle or box elder bug inside.
Pray for peace.
Greg Koelker is a lifelong resident of the Driftless region along the Mississippi River. He is the acclaimed author of the “Grouse Hollow Journal,” a column that celebrates rural life, nature, family heritage, and the traditions that bind communities together. While technically focused on the “outdoors,” his writing often explores broader themes of community values and education.
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