The Great Out (and In) Doors

Litchfield County, CT

Years ago, someone described what we refer to as our annual “camping trip” as a series of activities organized around meals.  How true. Although, depending on weather and locale, we generally work off at least some of the calories hiking, canoeing or biking.

This year, eight of us convened in one couples’ terrific house in northwestern Connecticut (a while ago we deleted the tents and sleeping bags in favor of beds and bathrooms. Age does have its privileges.)  Saturday was overcast but warm enough for one group to visit nearby Hollister House Garden.

A small part of Hollister House Garden

HHG bills itself as an “American interpretation of classic English gardens…formal in structure but rather wild in style of planting. “ For a garden to still be lovely in late October says a lot about its bones.  We marveled at the Autumn Crocus, (Colchicum autumnale, attention botanists), that looks a lot like the crocus that heralds spring, as well as  the many varieties of dahlias and the lovely Japanese anemone, the last plant to bloom in my southern Vermont garden.

Autumn Crocus–wouldn’t you think “spring?”

However beautiful the flowers, the rolling hills and the area’s houses, the meals were the stars. One breakfast included French toast with ham, accompanied by diced apples and golden raisins cooked together with honey. Saturday’s lunch, provided by me, was cold avocado soup with Parmesan toasts (full disclosure: I bought them), an antipasto pasta salad and dessert of lemon pound cake with lemon curd and homemade raspberry sauce spiked  with a splash of Black Currant cordial. We could have made it foodless until the next day were it not for Saturday’s dinner of ossobuco, not your typical camping food, with grated Parmesan cheese and a garlic, lemon zest and parsley gremolata to top it with as well as polenta adorned with mushrooms and salad. Sunday’s lunch included turkey meat loaf with a choice of sauces; great bread and sliced tomatoes to be fashioned into a sandwich or not, served with an innovative salad of edamame, (immature soybeans to the uninitiated), feta and dill. I’m deliberately omitting mention of appetizers and floods of wine.

Edamame out of the pod

One member of our group was a St. Bernard who does not carry any kind of keg but if she did, it would have been as well to fill it with Alka-Seltzer. She seemed to enjoy mealtime as much as the other “campers” as she had kitchen duty,  aka licking spills off the floor. (She gave the cuisine four paws up.)

No more treats–save room for lunch

Here is how to make the Antipasto Pasta Salad. Other than the pasta, you can adjust the ingredients to include more or less of any of them.

Antipasto Pasta Salad for 8

1 ½- 2 lbs. short twisted pasta (the amount depends on how many you’re feeding)

8 oz fresh mozzarella, cut into cubes

1 ½ jars roasted red peppers, julienned

¼ lb. pitted olives (I used a mix of types but you could use plain pimento- stuffed)

¾ lb thin-sliced hard salami cut in julienne strips

2 jars artichoke hearts packed in oil, drained and quartered

Capers—about ¼ cup, drained

1 cup packed fresh parsley washed and snipped

Dressing:

3 T red wine vinegar

1 T white balsamic vinegar

1 T Dijon mustard

1 pinch sugar

½   c. olive oil

¼ tsp salt

¼ tsp fresh ground pepper

Mix together and taste. I like fairly acidic dressing but if you don’t, add a little more olive oil.

Cook pasta according to directions. Drain well, toss with a little olive oil and cool.

Combine all the other salad ingredients and toss with dressing (this amount may be a little too generous. Add most of it,  toss and check). Add parsley.  Toss again, check seasonings, adding more salt and pepper if needed and serve.

Note: pasta can be cooked, cooled and chilled the day before. On the day you plan to serve it, let it (and any other ingredients that were refrigerated)  come to room temperature first.

And here’s the amazing bit: fun dissipates calories!