My friend Spike...

There are more than 2300 species of praying mantid (plural for mantis). I have been waiting my entire life to see one. With all of the years of gardening I've done, little did I ever think one would come visit me in a large flowerpot in the middle of Chicago. I was stunned! At first she and I just stared at each other. She turned her head to get a better look at me because I was the demon that flushed her out of her comfort when I was watering the flowers. A praying mantis is one of the only bugs that can turn their heads.

She was so graceful looking. I was just mesmerized. Praying mantid range in size from as large as 17 cm in length to as small as less than 1 cm when fully grown. The one I was looking at was about 4 inches long. (Don't ask me to convert that to centimeters. That would be work.) I brought my cocktail and a chair closer so I could study her. She didn't seem afraid. She'd turn her head when my husband talked, and she'd check him out with her magical eyes. I was afraid she'd fly off or duck back deep into the flowers at any moment and I didn't want to miss one second. She sat most of the time in her praying pose. Arms up in front of her with her long legs stretching across the leaves of a sun coleus. Once in a while she'd start to gently bob. It was as though she was imitating a breeze going by to see if I'd make a move toward her. None of the leaves were moving. The air was still. It was she who was bobbing.

I finally felt sorry for her. She must have felt trapped. She started to slowly move, so we let her be. I had named her Spike. Seemed on target for a female that's known to devour her mate even while in the process of making "baby Spikes." I learned, too, that Spike could reproduce without a mate if she wanted to. The only difference is all of her offspring would be female. Fascinating. If I were the male, I'd leave her to herself, considering the risk.

Having waited several decades to see my first praying mantis, I figured Spike and I had parted ways. The next morning I went out to retrieve something I had left on the deck. I checked for Spike and, sure enough, she was sunning herself balanced on the flowers on the other side of the pot. This was a shorter visit. I just smiled, greeted her and went back to my work.

I can't wait for tonight. I'll be watering the flowers again.

We often entertain on the roof of our Chicago penthouse during the summer. The views are spectacular, and now we have Spike to watch out for. At a recent party on a sunny Sunday afternoon, I served this pesto-prosciutto focaccia. If you made pesto this year and have it in your freezer, break some out for this dish. If you don't make your own pesto, it's readily available in grocery stores these days. This is simple and makes a light, wonderful appetizer or even a light lunch with a salad.

Pesto-Prosciutto Focaccia

I start most of my focaccias with bread dough. I use frozen dough to make it an easy part of a bigger menu. You can make your own dough or use a pizza crust too.

1 loaf frozen bread dough
Olive oil spray
1 pkg sliced prosciutto (2 to 3 oz) cut into thin shreds. (Be messy. It's okay.)
3 Tbl basil pesto
1 Tbl pine nuts (optional)
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
3 oz goat cheese

Early in the day, remove the bread dough loaf from the freezer. Place it on a cookie sheet greased lightly with olive oil. Then lightly grease the loaf. Let it sit on your counter during the day while it thaws. While the day goes along, I periodically spray the loaf with olive oil spray so it doesn't get dry, but this is optional.

When you are ready to bake your focaccia, turn your oven on to 400 degrees. Flip your focaccia over on your greased cookie sheet. The air will come out of your puffy, risen loaf and it will collapse. That's fine. Spread it out with your hands and make dimples in the dough with your fingers. You are spreading it to a misshapen form, probably an oval that will cover a size about 15 inches wide and maybe 10 inches tall -- kind of an-out-of-shape pizza. The dimples are a good sign that you've shaped your focaccia correctly.

Next spread on your pesto. Keep it one inch from the outsides because, when you heat pesto, it will spread. Just mush it around with the back of a spoon to spread it. Then spread the prosciutto on top along with the optional pine nuts. Scatter on your red pepper. Take the goat cheese and put it in fingernail-sized dollops around the focaccia. You'll notice you have a green, red and white focaccia--the same colors as the Italian flag.

Bake your focaccia for approximately 15 minutes. If you like your crust doughy, it might take a little less time. I like mine crunchy, so I usually leave it in until it has a nice brown crust and the bottom has browned a bit.

Serve it the rustic way. Slide it on a cutting board, provide a pizza cutter and let your guests slice away. Easy as pie--pizza pie.

Enjoy...
Zola