Preamble
I’ve noticed it these past few mornings — that cool, dry air slipping in before the day gets its bearings. It’s not fall yet, not even close, the afternoons still climb right back into summer’s heat. But those early hours have a different feel now. Energizing and soothing all at once, like the season is clearing its throat before it says anything. It’s a small thing, but it’s the kind of small thing that gets a day off to a good start. And this week, it had me reaching for eggplant — that late-summer Italian staple that always feels like it’s bridging one season into the next, same as these mornings are.
Farm Stand Report
I promised you an update on the beefsteaks, and here it is — patience is still the name of the game. The plants are covered in little yellow flower clusters, teasing tomatoes that haven’t quite decided to show up yet. Meanwhile, the plum tomatoes have no such hesitation — clusters of small green ovals are ripening away in the sun like they’ve got somewhere to be. Lesson learned: next season, I’m planting more plums. They’ve outworked the beefsteaks all summer, and there’s something to be said for a tomato that just gets on with it.
Weekend Menu
Friday
Charred Eggplant & Roasted Pepper Caponata, served warm with crusty bread and olives
Sausage, Peppers & Onions — This one’s been a hit at every family gathering. Hot and sweet sausage, seared whole in butter and olive oil with garlic, salt, and pepper until browned, then rested and cut into coins. Meanwhile, the peppers and onions are sautéed in the exact same pan to soak up all that rich rendered flavor, before the sausage coins are returned to cook through until no longer pink. Simple, no fuss, and the tray’s always empty first.
Saturday
Friday’s leftover caponata, warmed over rigatoni with shaved Parmigiano
Marinated Cherry Tomato & Cucumber Salad
Roasted peppers on the side
Sunday
Eggplant Involtini (Featured Recipe — full card below)
Garlic bread
Amaretti cookies
Featured Recipe: Eggplant Involtini
Ingredients
2 large eggplants, sliced lengthwise into ¼-inch planks
Salt, for drawing out moisture
Olive oil, for brushing
15 oz ricotta
1 egg
½ cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, plus more for topping
2 tbsp chopped fresh basil
Salt and pepper, to taste
3 cups marinara sauce (verify: homemade or store-bought preference)
8 oz fresh mozzarella, sliced or torn
Directions
Salt the eggplant planks and let sit 20–30 minutes to draw out bitterness; pat dry.
Brush with olive oil and grill or broil until pliable and lightly charred, about 3–4 minutes per side (verify: exact time based on thickness).
Mix ricotta, egg, Parmigiano, basil, salt, and pepper.
Spread a spoonful of ricotta filling on each eggplant plank and roll up.
Spread 1 cup marinara in the bottom of a baking dish — I like using my braiser for this, one of those pans I reach for more than almost anything else in the kitchen; it’s not cheap, but between searing, braising, and baking, it’s paid for itself many times over. Arrange rolls seam-side down.
Top with remaining marinara, mozzarella, and a dusting of Parmigiano.
Bake at 375°F for 25–30 minutes (verify: temp/time), until bubbly and golden.
Nonna’s Note: You’ll notice I still salt my eggplant before cooking, even though most modern varieties don’t actually need it to draw out bitterness the way older ones did. Old habits die hard — and honestly, salting still does good work pulling out excess moisture, which means a firmer roll and a better bite. Call it superstition, call it technique. I’m not giving it up.
Shoppable List
Eggplant
Hot and sweet Italian sausage
Bell peppers
White onions
Cherry tomatoes
Cucumbers
Ricotta
Fresh mozzarella
Parmigiano-Reggiano
Fresh basil
Garlic
Marinara
Rigatoni
Crusty bread
Amaretti cookies
Cookbook Tie-In
If those beefsteaks are testing your patience as much as mine are, my cookbook Red, Ripe & Ready is full of ways to make the most of whatever tomatoes do come in — plum, beefsteak, or otherwise. Available now in the shop.
Nonna’s Notebook
You know how it goes at the garden center — everything looks so lovely, so full of promise, that you start believing you could grow anything. That’s exactly how I ended up walking out with what I thought was a Meyer lemon tree. I use lemons constantly, I told myself, why not grow my own? Home it came.
Except now, months later, I’m having my doubts. Four walnut-sized green orbs have sat on that tree, unchanged, since early summer. No growth, no color, nothing. I’m starting to suspect I didn’t bring home a lemon tree at all — I think it might actually be a lime tree.
I’ve done this before, in fairness. When I lived down south, I had a lemon tree in a container on the deck that grew beautifully and gave me real, usable lemons — I wasn’t trying to start a lemon grove, I just wanted fruit I could actually cook with. So I know it’s possible. Which makes me wonder if this one simply isn’t suited to the growing zone I’m in now.
For the moment, my plan is to bring it inside at the end of summer and see what happens. Maybe it just needs warmer, steadier conditions to finally do something. Maybe it never will, and I’ll have a very confused little lime tree living in my kitchen all winter. Either way — to be continued.
Around the House: The After-School Landing Zone
Last issue I teased the Sunday Reset — that 15-minute head start on the week. This time, let’s talk about what happens the second the front door opens after school.
You know the scene: backpack drops wherever it lands, shoes end up in two different rooms, a half-eaten snack wrapper somehow makes it to the couch, and by the time you’re looking for tomorrow’s signed permission slip, it’s nowhere to be found. The fix isn’t more rules — it’s one landing zone that does all the work automatically.
Here’s what a good after-school landing zone actually needs:
A hook or bin at kid-height for the backpack — not a closet, not “put it away,” just one spot it always goes
A shoe spot right there too — a mat, a basket, anything that isn’t the middle of the floor
A small snack station nearby so they can help themselves without raiding the whole kitchen
A charging spot for devices, away from the bedroom
A “tomorrow” tray or clipboard for anything that needs to leave the house again — permission slips, library books, forms
Set it up once, and the chaos has somewhere to go instead of everywhere.
Grab the free printable below — a simple one-page checklist to help you set up your own landing zone this week. [Get Your Free Checklist]
Nonna Explains
Eggplant has been carrying some baggage for centuries. Its Italian name, melanzana, actually comes from mela insana — “mad apple” — because Renaissance-era Europeans were convinced this nightshade cousin of the tomato was either poisonous or would drive you insane if you ate it. Meanwhile, the name we use in English has nothing to do with any of that drama: early European varieties were small, white, and genuinely egg-shaped, which is exactly where “eggplant” came from — long before the deep purple version we know today took over. And here’s the fact that surprises most people: botanically speaking, eggplant isn’t a vegetable at all. It’s a fruit — a berry, technically, same family as tomatoes and peppers. So somewhere between mad apples and misnamed eggs, we ended up with one of the most useful “vegetables” in the Italian kitchen.
Worth Knowing
The mosquitoes have been atrocious lately — those teeny little black buggers you swat at without even realizing you’ve been bitten until later, when the itching starts. We’ve had a lot of rain this season, and that’s exactly why: standing water is prime breeding ground. The good news? This one resolves itself. Mosquito activity drops off sharply once nighttime temps consistently dip below the mid-50s, which typically starts in October, and a hard frost — usually late October or early November — ends it for the season entirely. No repellent negotiation required. Fall’s got this one covered.
Weekend Kitchen Planner
Friday
Salt the eggplant planks for the Involtini early in the day (20–30 min), even though it’s for Sunday — makes for stress-free advance prep
Char the Roasted Pepper & Eggplant Caponata; let it cool and sit so the flavors meld
Sear the sausage whole in the braiser with butter, EVOO, garlic, salt, and pepper
Rest the sausage, then slice into coins while the peppers and onions sauté in the same pan
Set aside extra caponata for Saturday’s pasta
Saturday
Warm Friday’s leftover caponata and toss with cooked rigatoni and shaved Parmigiano
Marinate the cherry tomatoes and cucumbers early in the day
Roast the peppers for the side
Sunday
Grill or broil the eggplant planks for the Involtini
Mix the ricotta filling, roll, and assemble in the braiser or baking dish
Bake until bubbly and golden
Warm the garlic bread
Set out the Amaretti cookies
This week’s standing invitation: check on the beefsteaks one more time before the weekend’s over — they might just surprise you.
Worth Keeping
“Cool mornings ... the season clearing its throat before it says anything.”
Before You Go
Some of you have already sent your children back through those doors; others still have a week or two of summer stretching out in front of you. Either way, I have found there’s no wrong time to start practicing the new rituals — the landing zone, the tomorrow tray, all of it. Get the habits in place now, before the real rush hits, and the whole year gets off to a steadier start.
See you next Friday. Bring your appetite.
— The Jersey Nonna