Walk in the woods

Keeping up with my self-prescribed nature cure, I had an eventful walk in Biscuit Run Friday morning. Less than two minutes onto the trail, I had a dog, off leash of course, come bounding up to me, barking and snarling malevolently. The owner insulted my intelligence by telling me he was "just playing," as if that's how friendly dogs play. The funny thing is the dog had worked himself up into a frenzy over little old geezer me while there were two much more interesting deer crossing the trail not 30 yards behind him.

Things improved considerably after that. First, I heard a Wood Thrush, my favorite among all the avian singers, busting out his "ee-oh-lay," with the flute-like trill at the end. Fun fact: Wood Thrush have a double voice box, which allows them to sing in harmony with themselves. (See if your professors can teach you that trick, Cass.)



The Wood Thrush's beautiful, haunting song was soon replaced by the loud drumming of a Pileated Woodpecker looking for food. While the Wood Thrush is much easier to hear than to see, you can't miss a Pileated Woodpecker, which is about 18 inches tall (about the size of a crow) with a flaming red crest.

"Pileated woodpecker in southern NH" by KenWilliamsPhoto is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 

We usually walk by the pond without stopping, but there were a bunch of geese making a racket there on Friday so I went to check them out, too. You can see them in my picture if you look close:

Mom has said it seems like the pond is getting bigger, and I found out why by the water's edge—beaver at work:

I'll have to see if I can find their lodge on a future visit.

Last, but not least, some of the many mountain laurel in Biscuit Run are just starting to bloom. In the next week or so, the woods will be absolutely filled with them. It should be spectacular!

That's a pretty impressive collection of fauna and flora—including deer, Wood Thrush and other songbirds, Pileated Woodpecker, geese, beaver, and mountain laurel about to take over the woods—for a three-mile hike not 200 yards from our front door.

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You can't have too many tuna pasta recipes, in my book anyway. This one is real fast food, being easily made in the time it takes to boil the water and cook the pasta, about 25 minutes or less. The speed in no way diminishes the flavor, which is great, plus you get a double dose of healthy protein.

Tuna and Tomato Spaghetti

Adapted from Good and Cheap (2015) by Leanne Brown via Leite’s Culinaria

Time: ≤25 minutes

I took all of the tomatoes from a 28-ounce can of whole tomatoes, plus just enough juice to equal about 480 grams (there was still a lot of juice left in the can) and chopped them using the mini-chopper attachment for my Braun immersion blender (which also works well for grating the Romano finely before starting on the tomatoes). That makes enough puréed/chopped tomatoes to make this dish twice (or a double recipe). You can also hand-chop the tomatoes or use something like Pomì finely chopped or strained tomatoes and store whatever you don’t use in the fridge for up to 5 days. If you want to up the umami factor, you can sauté 2 finely chopped anchovy fillets or 1 teaspoon anchovy paste along with the garlic and red pepper flakes.

1 tablespoon fine sea salt, more as needed

8 ounces/227 grams spaghetti or linguine

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced, pressed, or grated on a Microplane

a good pinch of crushed red pepper flakes

1 cup (~240 grams) puréed or chopped canned whole tomatoes (see note)

1 (5-to 6-ounce) can best-quality tuna, preferably oil-packed (such as Wild Planet)

1 tablespoon capers, rinsed and minced, optional

¼ cup (28 grams) finely grated Romano cheese, plus 2 tablespoons (14 grams)

¼ teaspoon cornstarch, optional

freshly ground black pepper

    1. Bring 4 quarts of water to a roiling boil in a large, covered stockpot. Stir in the salt until dissolved. Add the pasta and stir a few times during the first minute or two to keep it from sticking. Cook just until al dente. Drain, reserving a mugful of the pasta cooking water.

    2. Meanwhile, place the oil over medium heat in a saucepan, saucier, or sauté pan large enough to hold the cooked pasta. Sauté the garlic and red pepper flakes until fragrant, about 30 seconds (see note)

    3. Stir in the tomatoes and cook for 3 minutes, adjusting the heat as needed to maintain a lively but not violent simmer. Stir in the tuna and the capers and cook until warmed through, about 3 minutes, breaking up the tuna with a fork or a wooden spoon.

    4. Combine the ¼ cup of Romano cheese with the cornstarch, if using, and stir it into the sauce (the cornstarch keeps the cheese from clumping when you add it to the hot sauce). Season with a few grinds of black pepper.

    5. Add the cooked, drained pasta to the sauce. Toss over low heat until the sauce coats the pasta thoroughly, adding some of the reserved pasta cooking water as needed to get the right consistency. Taste for seasoning. Serve promptly with the remaining Romano. Serves 2 to 3.