Summer's now over, at least for us. School's back in session, which seems to slightly change the pace at Kavarna. Many of our customers are either teachers or students. Kavarna, like most coffeehouses, has always moved to the academic calendar, so when Fall arrives it feels like a new year. It's bracing, vacations are over and everyone's back to business! And then there are the tomatoes... If you're like us, you have tomato plants growing in your backyard and by this time of the year you're beginning to have a serious surplus of home grown tomatoes. Here's my suggestion: put them on top of this focaccia.

When I was a college student in Bologna, Italy, I briefly had a roommate named Francesca. She was from Taranto, which is in the Italian province of Apulia, and she was a magnificent cook. She taught me a lot of what I know about Southern Italian food. This past Spring, I accidentally stumbled across her food blog, Italian Eats in Canary Wharf (canarywharfitalian.blogspot.com), and nothing could have made me happier. Francesca hasn't updated it since April, but the site if full of wonderful recipes, many of which are vegetarian. The foods that she is most interested in cooking are simple, everyday dishes. A lot of them are very 'heavy,' things that you can imagine eating after a long day of fishing in the Gulf of Taranto. I particularly recommend her Polpette d'uova, which are a tasty vegetarian substitute for meatballs, being made primarily of grated cheese and breadcrumbs. Following her recipes involves a lot of metric conversion, but it's worth it.

In the photo, you can see Francesca teaching me how to make orecchiette, a type of semolina pasta that's regional to Apulia. Orecchiette means 'little ears,' because of their shape. They used to be fairly rare, but they've become commonplace. You can find handmade orecchiette from Apulia at World Market in Appleton, that's where I usually pick them up. One of our favorite Pugliese treats is a donut shaped cracker called taralle. Here's how you make them:

• 1. Pour 2.2 pounds of flour into a standing mixer and create a 'well' in the center
• 2. Heat 3 cups of wine on the stove, add about a tablespoon of salt
• 3. Pour the wine into the well, add 2 cups of extra virgin olive oil
• 4. Mix until very smooth and elasticky, shouldn't be too sticky.
• 5. Roll out into tubes about a centimeter in diameter, cut into segments about two inches long and then form into donut shaped loops.
• 6. Bake for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees, or until golden

We got this recipe from a Pugliese grandmother, so it's for an enormous quantity of taralle, enough for an entire family over Christmas. We divide the dough into quarters and make a portion at a time and freeze the rest.

Italian food feels like a good fit for September.

PS. I lost the beard.

- Linda and Alex Galt

Fall also means that we're suddenly interested in chocolate again. We'd like to try some new chocolate bars, so that means that we have to clear out our current stock. Here's the deal: buy two chocolate bars and get a third for free! We still have many wonderful varieties in stock, including Caffé Tasse, Vosges, Dagobah, Domori, Chocolina, and others. Perhaps it's time for you to try chocolate that's full of chili peppers, hemp seeds, sea salt, or made with goat's milk!

Summer may be over, but there's no end of things to do.

• → Being Dale Anderson: If you've ever had a secret desire to be like Dale Anderson, the singer for the Delta Jets (and frequent performer at Kavarna, the Broadway Farmer's Market, and other places), Dale has begun giving private lessons. The scope of his lessons include learning how to play the ukulele, and how to perform several different styles of guitar. Dale can be reached at his Myspace page. To get some sense of what it means to be Dale Anderson, you can see him perform at the Art Garage on September 8th at 8 pm.
• → See International Cinema: The Green Bay Film Society's Fall schedule is out, and it looks like they'll be showing some great, free films at the Neville on Wednesday nights. You can their schedule here.
• → Fresh Food: The Broadway Farmer's Market is going on through September 26th, so you can enjoy homegrown tomatoes even if you haven't grown them yourself. The hours are now from 3pm - 7pm, every Wednesday.
• → Go to a Petting Zoo: If you're currently raising a child, you know that parenting is all about situating children in close proximity to farm animals. We recently learned that there's actually a petting zoo in Green Bay. It's called Country Critters, and it's at 5033 Finger Road. This time of year, they're only open by appointment (863-3253). They have a pumpkin patch! They're a family run business, we have some coupons at the shop.
• → Sept. 14th and 15th, Have a Bluegrass Adventure: Like Bluegrass music? What would you say to a bluegrass festival just outside of Algoma? Kevin and Michelle's Great Bluegrass Adventure, featuring Frogwater (with Lil' Rev), the Oak Street Ramblers, Poor Man's Labor, and many others is the weekend after next. More info at myspace.com/michellekevin.
• → Sept. 20th, Go Green:Ever feel like immersing yourself in the local environmental activist community? Green Bay Green Drinks is where people get together informally over coffee, beer, and wine to talk shop. At Kavarna between 6pm and 10pm.
• → Sept. 21st, Kavarna Talent Show: Musical performances by Kavarna-related people, including Andy, Becky, Josh, Sarahh, and myself. 7pm until we run out of material.
• → Sept. 24th, Art by Kent Hutchison: You may have noticed the large dragonfly hovering over our kitchen. It's been there since March when we installed the last Recycled Art Show. We will be exhibiting more work by its creator, Kent Hutchison, from September 24th through late November.
• → October 6th, Pumpkin-Palooza: Pumpkin Palooza is a wonderful celebration of the Fall season. It spans the Broadway District and features an amazing number of autumnal activities. We had a great time last year, we dressed Johanna up like a pumpkin. More info at On Broadway.
• → October 11th, John Statz and Jeremiah Nelson: You may recall John Statz, the singer/songwriter who opened Jana Holland's CD release party last June, we're bringing him back! Jeremiah Nelson, the singer from Patchwork, will also be performing. You can hear his music on myspace.com/patchworknoise. I'm really looking forward to this, both are wonderful songwriters and performers. Evening begins at 7pm.

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