Our unseasonably cool then warm then wet then foggy and cool again weather this summer has extended the maturation of both our grapes . . . and the garden. The grapes will mature – eventually – (with a lot of work from our vineyard crew to expose the fruit and remove leaves, thin the already sparse crop for the best bunches and water sparingly) – they always do, and then it’s up to the winemakers to do their magic and make the best of Mother Nature’s wrath.
But the garden, well, it’s mid July and we’re supposed to be enjoying ripe tomatoes, hot peppers, string beans, and zucchini. Our freezer should be full of pesto from the big-leafed basil and our pantry full and kitchen hot, canning dill pickles and making jams from the fruit on the trees. But nothing is ripe except the zucchini . . .
Midsummer in St. Helena is the time of year when otherwise uncaring locals suddenly lock their cars when parked in town; not that we’re afraid of being robbed, but quite the opposite! – we could return from a trip to the grocery or Post Office and find a bag of someone else’s zucchini on the front seat of our car!
So after months of planting, feeding, weeding, staking and purring encouraging words to our plants, all we seem to have harvested from the garden so far is snow peas from the arbor, too many zucchini even for the chickens to enjoy and a handful of spring peas! So off to Google we go, and found the most scrumptious way to celebrate one of the first crops of the year, a recipe that even includes and is paired to go beautifully with Sauvignon Blanc! Fettuccine Pasta with Prosciutto, Peas and a Cream Sauce. Can’t go wrong with cheese and cream!
