Risotto with bacon and collard greens

Brown the bacon with just a tiny bit of olive oil and butter. When the bacon is rendered, add the rice. Heat the the rice through until it turns translucent. Then add warm or hot broth (or wine) in small amounts, stirring until the liquid is absorbed by the rice. When it is done, add blanched, chopped collard greens and heat until the collards are warmed through. Other spices or flavorings you could add include garlic or ginger. It's fast and easy.

Adolescent Collard Greens

I braised them with a pork roast -- pulled pork Stanley Marcus style -chili sauce and coca cola (and I added apple cider vinegar) although he used that combo for beef brisket. I am a porkatarian.

With it a traditional cole slaw and chocolate chip cookies and my neighbors' kumquat mousse for dessert. Starters - smoked albacore with meyer lemon, jalapeno, garlic salsa and the next evolution of the peanut butter spread -this time with chipotle and bacon.

Wines: Simi Sonoma County Chardonnay, Kendall Jackson Savignon Black (Jackson Estates) and Rodney Strong Charlotte's Home Sauvignon Blanc. The Rodney Strong wine caused the biggest stir because it came with a screw caps. I was surprised how much people did not like the idea of screw caps. This is a good article on screw caps and it seems more of what isn't known about the impact on long term aging - since cork permit some breathing of the wine.

Everything is Peachy

Peaches, pickled collards and bacon bacon bacon. Well a small amount of bacon. If you don't eat meat instead of the bacon --nuts add the same kind of crunch. The peaches are from my neighbor's tree.....a little foraging is a good thing.