Eating:  Tonight we are making a recipe that we first tried a couple weeks ago, Tagliatelle with Fresh Corn Pesto  http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2010/08/tagliatelle_with_fresh_corn_pesto  We use fetuccini because our grocery store doesn't carry tagliatelle but whatever.  It has a great corn flavor, making terrific use of the fresh sweet corn we just can't seem to get enough of this time of year.  It has a rich creamy flavor which tastes almost like carbonara (the bacon in there helps with that taste too!), and is really pretty easy to make.  Yum... my mouth is watering just thinking about it. 
This recipe came from an issue of Bon Appetit from last summer.  They had 3 whole menus, from appetizer/first course, to entree, side dish and dessert, each featuring a different abundant summer produce item: Corn, Zucchini, and Tomatoes.  And yes, there was a corn dessert and a tomato dessert.  Both sounded quite tasty but have not yet been tried by me.
A subscription, even if just for 1 year, to a cooking magazine is a great way to introduce yourself to new recipes.  And unlike most magazines which you read and then toss, you can keep them around forever and keep trying new things, or going back to old favorites.  And they usually have pictures for all the recipes, a big plus in my book.

Reading: I am finishing up Rhoda.  She is now in her late 50s/early 60s, as spunky as ever.  The story I finished last night took place in Paris.  Now I want to go back to Paris...
I selected my book for Sunday bookclub.  If you recall, I was trying to decide between a classic that I loved and wanted to re-read, or a classic that I had not read but think I should.  I ended up picking Pride and Prejudice, the one I should have read but have not.  The reason I went with this one is that it has been on my shelf to read for about 5 years and on my list of "books to pick for bookclub" for about 3 years.  What better time than "The Year of Classics" to pick it?  I don't anticipate loving it but at least when I am done, I can check it off my list.  And isn't that really what it is all about?  Checking things off our lists?  I love lists.

Weeding: The new veggie bed is done (need to get pics on this blog) and waiting to be filled with soil/compost.  It is big enough to bury a body in.  Not that I need to bury a body...
Did I ever tell you about our "volunteer" tomato plants that started growing in one of the compost bins?  It is one of the inactive bins, one where we are not currently adding to it or doing anything with it.  We noticed there were some things growing in there and realized they were tomato plants.  We let them go, just to see what they would do.  We now have at least 3 giant plants, one with cherry tomatoes on it, another with larger tomatoes (type yet to be determined) and probably another cherry (it is hard to see what is going on in there, really).  I harvested the first 6 "compost tomatoes" last night!  Don't know that we will get a whole lot out of them before it freezes but does it really matter?  They were free!  I love volunteer plants.  Last year I added some compost when transplanting some plants including day lilies.  A while later I noticed something growing next to a daylily.  I let it grow to see what it might turn out to be (didn't appear to be a noxious weed, so why not?).  A few months later, I harvested an acorn squash out of the daylilies.  And boy, was it good!

Off to cook dinner.
Hallie