BOUNTY

It's Labor Day, and time to make a special seasonal recipe: Todd English's August Tomato Tart. The recipe is in "The Olives Table", his wondrous collection of recipes from the Olives Restaurant, and he warns that this dish  "should be made only when beefsteak tomatoes are at their peak, in August and September. "

Beefsteaks are Jack's go-to tomato. He'll chop three or four of them, add some cucumber, and mix with balsamic vinegar and a little olive oil, salt and pepper. That's lunch.  And the garden is swimming in tomatoes.

Todd makes his tart in a cast-iron skillet, which gives a great crisp crust. Lacking the right skillet, I use an old standby pie dish. On the stovetop, I start by sauteing chopped bacon, then thin sliced red onion with some crushed garlic cloves.  I harvest fresh rosemary, mint, and basil from pots on the patio, chop the herbs together.  Then I turn on the oven and assemble the pie: I partially bake the crust, spread sauteed bacon and onions on the bottom, add the sliced tomatoes, sprinkle the herbs along with salt and pepper, then crumble feta cheese across the top. In just ten minutes, the autumn feast is ready.

Oil-cured black olives would also be good -- maybe next time!

SEPTEMBERING

Suddenly it's fall. The last roses are blooming, as expected.


But wait! The autumn anemones -- always a sign of September -- are already past their prime.




In fact, it's not yet Labor Day, and we seem to be missing the gentle, seasonal decline that I remember. Tropical storm Irene (as she was in our neighborhood) pulled leaves and branches from the trees last week, and the maples' few remaining, stressed leaves are turning rusty brown.



Now it looks as though Hurricane Katia will make landfall this week. Folks in North Carolina, where my mother witnessed her first-ever hurricane last week and went four days without power or phone, may have another dousing in their future -- to say nothing of the millions in the mid-Atlantic and New England states, which are still reeling from Irene's damage.

Meanwhile, Lee is drenching New Orleans, and spawning tornado and flood warnings in the south.   The weather seems to be climbing on the bandwagon to join all the other disasters our weary world is experiencing. . .