Great Garden, Green Goddess!

Hi, stranger!

Long time no see.  I've been in the kitchen, cooking up a storm, and in the garden, planting and pulling weeds and tending to my worm farm, aka my compost bin. I've been building the compost heap since around March of last year, and slowly but surely, it's turning into a happy place for worms, which have been slithering around there for many months now.

I can't remember when, but quite some time ago, I found a lone worm squirming around the raised bed, and I picked the little bugger up and tossed it into the compost bin.  The rest is history.  Now, it's worm city in there.  And in case you didn't know, where worms hang out, soil is happy.  Happy soil = happy garden.  And to my great delight, that's just what we've got growing!

We planted our raised bed and a bunch of things in pots around the middle of April, with a scoop of this wormy goodness added to the soil beneath each plant, and I can hardly believe it - everything is growing like gangbusters! Just under one month later we already have not only squash blossoms, but actual squash which will no doubt grow to the size of large buildings before we know it!  And also, all 4 of our tomato plants already have blossoms, as do the padron peppers, and the herbs are going crazy and the kale is prolific.  I attribute it to the compost. And this long stretch of very sunny days has certainly helped, too.  All of it is a very happy making combination.

April 16th, 2012

May 13th, 2012

Speaking of happy making... the latest culinary obsession around here is Green Goddess Dressing.  It's something I never gave much thought to until I stumbled upon the recipe and lovely photos of it at the Tastespotting blog.  I always had a vague inkling that it was an herby, creamy sort of affair, but beyond that, Green Goddess was a bit of a mystery.  But when I saw the recipe at Tastespotting and saw that it featured anchovies, I decided I had to try it, especially since I still had some fancy spanish anchovies that had recently been given to me as a birthday gift.

As the Tastespotting article mentions, the original recipe hails from the Palace Hotel in San Francisco, and that version, as well as many others, use some sort of dairy ingredient - be it sour cream or mayo.  This version uses avocado to make it creamy, and although I admit I've never tried any other version, I'm sold on this one.  It's absolutely bursting with flavor from the anchovies plus garlic and shallot, all of which add depth, and there's brightness from the herbs, plus a velvety silkiness from the olive oil and avocado.  It's heavenly just slathered on a baguette, or drizzled over any kind of vegetable or grain.  Haven't tried it on fish yet but I'm sure that'll be coming soon.  I think this might be my new favorite condiment/sauce/reason for living!

Without further adieu, here is my adaptation.  I used less considerably less honey, muscat vinegar instead of white wine, and I did what I often do when a recipe calls for raw garlic:  I poached it first for about ten minutes in boiling water, just to mellow it ever so slightly.  I hope you'll soon be slathering this on something delicious to make it even more so, and sharing it with someone you love!

Green Goddess Dressing

Ingredients:
1-2 garlic cloves
½ ripe medium avocado
2 tablespoons Muscat vinegar (or white or red wine vinegar)
1 small shallot, finely chopped (about 1 tablespoon)
2-3 oil packed anchovies
2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon honey
¾ cup olive oil
about ¼ cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
2-3 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon
2 tablespoons chopped chives
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Put the garlic cloves in a small bowl and cover with boiling water.  Let sit for about 10 minutes, and then drain. (Or better yet - save the poaching water to use in your next batch of stock!) Run the garlic in the food processor or blender until finely chopped. You will have to keep stopping to push the bits back down toward the blades.

Add the avocado, vinegar, shallots, anchovy, lemon juice and honey and pulse until fairly smooth.

With the food processor or blender running, drizzle oil through feed tube. Add herbs and process until combined. Transfer mixture to a bowl or jar.

Season dressing to taste with salt and pepper.

Cover and chill at least 3 hours (dressing will separate if not chilled).

Drizzle over everything you can think of, and enjoy!

An Everlasting Meal

Lifetimes have flown by since I last wrote, including a trip to the Oregon coast complete with wet dogs, a terrible head cold, a bit of snow and a hailstorm or two.  Fortunately, there was also much fresh seafood, a fireplace and stunning ocean waves to gaze at through a 24/7 Nyquil haze...

...and many beautiful clouds, and miles of gorgeous coastline for dog romping.

Towards the end of the trip, I started to recover, and cracked a crab for the first time ever.  I didn't clean & cook it though;  that experience will have to wait for another time!

But we sure did enjoy combining the fresh crab meat with a little garlic, olive oil, parsley & white wine over pasta.  And then, inspired by my newest cookbook obsession, An Everlasting Meal, I simmered the crab shells in water with a little more white wine, garlic, celery & carrot, crushed red pepper & lemon peel, and the next day's meal was born:  a rustic soup with the crab broth, a few leftover noodles, and some toasted slices of baguette tossed right into the bowl to soak it all up.  It was not only delicious, but pretty cool to get another whole meal out of a bit of leftovers, crab shells and odd vegetable bits!

To say that Tamar Adler's book, An Everlasting Meal, has inspired me greatly is putting it mildly.  It's done more than that - it's floored me!  It's influenced me in a major way, and really changed not only the way I cook, but the way I think about cooking and food and eating.  It's not just a book with recipes, or a book about food.  It's a beautifully written collection of essays, filled with warmth and wit, and no end of suggestions about how to make the most out of the food you have.  The premise is that good food doesn't need to be complicated or fancy, it simply needs to be prepared with attention and care.

I've tried a small handful of the recipes and so far I have not been remotely disappointed.  In fact, I was thrilled  with the recipe for ribollita, which I've made twice now, and it actually tastes nearly as good as the amazing versions of this dish that I had in Italy.  I've tried on my own to replicate this dish a couple of times now but never felt I hit it just right until I tried Adler's version.  The key, at least in part, is in using copious amounts of olive oil, and bread that is perfectly stale.

One of the suggestions in the book is that you shop at the beginning of the week, roast your vegetables in batches, and then chop and slice and dice and puree them all week long to use in salads, soups, and side dishes, dressed with simple combinations like olive oil and fresh herbs, or italian salsa verde - a combination of fresh parsley, capers, anchovies and olive oil.  With a couple of hours' worth of work at the beginning of the week, you can have the basic building blocks for quite a few meals, the ends of which then become the beginnings of the next meal.  I love this concept, and for me it is a radical shift from how I usually tend to operate. I love to follow recipes, to find new recipes and new cookbooks. But I'm also loving the concept of making the best meal possible from whatever you have in your fridge and pantry.

Of course, this style of cooking isn't new - I'm quite sure this was exactly how my grandparents cooked!  But it's nice to be reminded of this.  I know this is a book I will be coming back to again and again, in fact I'm feeling pretty inspired to try every single recipe in the book, so expect more to come on this topic from me.  And in the meantime, if you love great writing and great food, you'd do well to get your very own copy.   Enjoy!

La La Lemon Love!

It's the time of year when lemon trees go wild.  I've found myself making lemon vinaigrette every week, dropping a slice of lemon into every glass of water, bringing large bags to work and when visiting friends,  and still, the lemon tree runneth over.  I made 2 jars of preserved lemons.  Still, not a dent was made.  So last weekend, I was delighted to meet up with my Food Groupies pals again to work on changing that.

Sabine brought this recipe to the group for lemon confit.  It doesn't sound like much.  Just take some lemon peels and blanch them a couple of times in boiling water in order to remove any bitterness, and then simmer them slowly in a combination of oil and lemon juice, seasoned with garlic.  It didn't seem like the sort of thing that would knock my socks off, but it's knocked them off the charts!  When we finished making this, we dabbed a little bit onto a baguette that we'd also dabbed with arugula pesto.  Then topped it with some sauteed greens.  Heavenly!  We all agreed that the combination of pesto & this lemon confit would make a perfect sauce for pasta.  And now that I have a little jar of it, and a seemingly endless supply of lemons, I'm excited that I'll get to make this a staple in my refrigerator as long as the lemons last!  A little bit goes a long way and adds such sparkle.  The other day for lunch, I diced a hard boiled egg and chopped some kalamata olives, and stirred a bit of this sparkly stuf into the combo, and used it to top a green salad for lunch...with lemon vinaigrette, of course! I think it would also be great stirred into soup, or spread on fish or chicken.

Next up, we made this recipe for Tartine Bakery's lemon cream:  lemon curd's creamier, dreamier cousin. I have recently become a very big fan of the Food52 web site's Genius recipes, and this one is no exception.  It is described as "...your new tart filling, scone spread, and trifle layer -- and the best lemon pudding you'll ever taste.", and that pretty much sums it up!

We adapted the lemon confit recipe ever so slightly, so here it is below with our adaptations.  As for the lemon cream, I wouldn't change a thing!

I am very happy to have discovered both of these recipes, and grateful for the little extra bit of brightness they bring about in the winter.

Lemon Confit

Slightly adapted from Epicurious, by Sondra Bernstein

4 lemons

1/2 cup olive oil

1/4 cup canola oil *(you may also use grapeseed oil or a combo of grapeseed and canola, as we did.)

1 garlic clove

Pinch of salt

Using vegetable peeler, remove peel (yellow part only) from lemons in long strips.  Cut the strips into thinner strips, approximately 1/8 to 1/4 inch wide, kind of like confetti!  *The original recipe didn't call for this, but we found the large strips to be awkward & bulky, and figured the smaller pieces would work better for spreading the final result, and we were all quite happy with that call.

Squeeze 6 tablespoons juice from lemons.

Blanch the peels in small saucepan of boiling water 10 seconds; drain. Repeat twice.

Bring the 6 tablespoons lemon juice, olive oil, canola oil, garlic, and pinch of salt to simmer in small saucepan. Add lemon peels and simmer over low heat until peels are soft, about 1 hour. Cool.

 DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 month ahead. Keep chilled and completely covered in oil. Always use clean fork to remove lemon.

From Fresh Ricotta to Stinky Kale and Fake Chicken Nuggets

This week has been all over the map.

Sunday, my dear beloved Food Groupies friends gathered again for the first time in about 4 years.  We are a small group of friends who used to meet once a month to explore fun food projects, and wow, did we ever have a delicious blast!  When we were meeting regularly, we made many fine foods and drinks, like limoncello, fresh salsa, tortillas, pupusas, sauerkraut, biscotti & more.  Not really sure why we stopped... life just got in the way.  But on Sunday we picked right up where we left off and made fresh ricotta.  And now that we're back at it, we're all so delighted and inspired to keep it going!

As I wrote previously, I didn't have many resolutions this year, but among the few that I did, making more delicious things from scratch was high on the list.  I'm happy to say that I can already check a few items off the list.  Recently I made homemade dijon mustard, and last weekend, in the company of my fellow Food Groupies, I learned how to make the most creamy, dreamy ricotta that ever was.   We followed this recipe courtesy of Smitten Kitchen, a damn fine blog, filled with tasty recipes and witty writing.  I can't even express how much we loved this recipe, and how exquisite the results were.  We made a huge spread with Acme bread and Semifreddi's Garlic Croutons on which to spread the ricotta, and we had all kinds of treats to add, like caramelized onions, tomato & parsley relish with garlic, fire roasted jalapeños, blackberry jam, olive oil from Spain, and roasted garlic.  Oh MAN, it was heavenly!  Added bonuses:  Sabine made a big pot of this soup, and we drank a special bottle of wine that a friend from Italy recently bestowed upon me and the little mister.  And since little mister is more of a beer lover than a wine lover, I had no choice but to share it with the Food Groupies!

And then, then there is the matter of the marinated kale.  Lately I eat kale salad for lunch about a good 4 days out of 7.  I'm crazy.  Crazy for kale.  I never get sick of it.  It all began with this recipe, which is practically one of my all time favorites.   I'm wild for it.  And frequently, I vary it.  I add fennel or some cooked grains, substitute a chopped hard boiled egg for the cheese, or just use whatever I have in the house.  Lately I've been adding quinoa and diced roasted kabocha squash.  Sometimes lentils, sometimes not.  Anyway I love this salad but I do find it a bit of a pain to strip the kale from its stems, wash, dry and chop it.  And I'd recently read an article that says you can make the salad & marinate it well in advance...like, days in advance.  And so I did that.  Got 3 big bunches of kale on Sunday, cleaned it and prepped it all at once, and tossed it all into a big container with olive oil & lemon juice.  Had some of it on  Monday and it was fab.  Skipped Tuesday, but pulled the big container out of the work fridge  on Wednesday.  The moment I pulled the lid off, I, and the poor, poor souls around me were hit with the most rank smell, OMG.  Like stinky pickled stinky stuff. Like cabbage that's been sitting in the sink for days.  I was immediately apologetic to my poor coworkers who could smell this stink from 3 suites away!  ESPECIALLY cause I am that uptight person in the office who always gets all irritated when people pull out stinky things for their lunches!  Payback time!  But strangely, it tasted fine.  It WAS fine.  It wasn't off.  I don't really know what kind of chemical reaction happened to make it stink so bad.  But I know I definitely WON'T be marinating my kale salads more than a day in advance in the future!  And lest you might think it's a good idea, trust me.  It's not so good.

And then, then there was tonight's bachelor dinner.  Lest anyone should ever accuse me of being too much of a food snob, I will have you know that tonight's dinner was frozen fake chicken nuggets with mayo and Sriracha, with a pretzel stick chaser.  Not a vegetable in sight.  Sometimes that's about the best you can do.  I'd like to say it was comfort food but it wasn't exactly comforting.  More like a little greasy and bloat-inspiring.  But it sure did round out the week!

Move Over, Val's Granola

Oh man, I am SUCH a goner.

Do you know how many calories I've consumed in the form of this granola TODAY ALONE??

Me neither, and I prefer to keep it that way.  I usually don't deviate from my own treasured granola recipe.  It's lovely.  It's not too sweet.  It's fragrant.  It's damn good.  People love the living crap out of it!  But, truth be told, for me at least, it isn't addictive.  I love every single bite, I do!  But usually, a small portion satisfies me and then I'm on my merry way.  I like it like that.  It's a bit labor intensive to make, too, so I don't make it that often, and it is always a treat when I do.

But this stuff is as easy to make as it is to inhale. It's sweet & savory, salty & crunchy and completely addictive. Reminds me a bit of really good caramel corn.  You keep reaching your hand back into the bag for another handful, just one more handful, and then, just one more after that.  Until the bag is empty and you're turning it inside out to dump the crumbs into the palm of your hand, looking around to make sure no one sees you licking said crumbs off of said palm.

So, as much as I love this stuff, I don't think I'll be making it again any time soon, or if I do, it'll only be to give to people as gifts.  Don't get me wrong!  This here is a glowing endorsement.  I just find it prudent not to keep things that are this sweet and full of carbs around my house.  I even cut back on the sweetness, using a little less than 1/2 cup maple syrup when the recipe calls for 3/4 cup.  I've read recommendations elsewhere that suggest taming the sweetness a bit, and I think that's a good call.  Even with just under half a cup of maple syrup, this batch was still plenty sweet.  Not sweet enough to hurt the teeth, but just enough to make me want to eat the entire batch in one setting!  And I nearly did.  And I bet you will too, just as soon as you try it out for yourself.  Enjoy, and be sure to give a lot of it away to spread those happy delicious calories around!

NEKISIA DAVIS' OLIVE OIL AND MAPLE GRANOLA


Makes about 7 cups

3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1 cup raw pumpkin seeds, hulled

1 cup raw sunflower seeds, hulled - (I used coarsely chopped almonds instead of sunflower seeds)

1 cup unsweetened coconut chips

1 1/4 cup raw pecans, left whole or coarsely chopped

3/4 cup pure maple syrup - (I used just under 1/2 cup)

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar

Coarse salt


Heat oven to 300 degrees.

Place oats, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, coconut, pecans, syrup, olive oil, sugar, and 1 teaspoon salt in a large bowl and mix until well combined. Spread granola mixture in an even layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Transfer to oven and bake, stirring every 10-15 minutes, until granola is toasted, about 45 minutes.

Remove granola from oven and season with more salt to taste. Let cool completely before serving or storing in an airtight container for up to 1 month.

Happy 2012!

Happy 2012!

It's a New Year, indeed.  Hope your holidays were fab.  I enjoyed some really nice time away from work.  Spent some of it lazing around the house, some of it working around the house, enjoyed some garden time (finally cleared out the summer garden remnants and planted more kale, yay!), read a ton, and had a wonderful visit with my whole family.  Did some baking, too!  The pizzelle baking has become an annual tradition now, as has the overconsumption of said pizzelles by the baker.  Thank goodness for that other annual tradition, the January cleanse!  Although truth be told, my regimen is not much of a cleanse this year.  For this month I've cut out alcohol and am eating sensibly, avoiding most sugar, fried foods and the like.  And I'm starting each day with an awesome smoothie made in my new Vitamix blender, OMG!!!  It leaves all the other blenders in the dust.  I have wanted one for the longest time.  This thing can puree like nobody's business.  Whole fruits and vegetables become smooth as butter.  I've been using it to make shakes, juices, sauces, even coconut milk!  It's the bomb and I am so so happy that I finally get to have my very own, courtesy of my brand new Grandma.  Well, she's not exactly brand new, but rather new to me, by way of that sweet husband of mine.  And what a gem she is.  Besides being a kind and generous human being, she's also sharp as a tack.  I miss my own grandparents a lot, and didn't get to enjoy them for nearly long enough before they left this world, so it's a treat to get to have a Grandma again at this stage of life. I appreciate her very much!

Besides the magical blender, I'm also the fortunate recipient of some really great cookbooks.  The first was a gift from my friend Mel:  My Calabria: Rustic Family Cooking from Italy's Undiscovered South, by Rosetta Costantino with Janet Fletcher.  Although so far, I've only made one recipe from it, I'm sure that I'll be going back to this again and again.  On Christmas, we made Polpette di Melanzane - crispy eggplant "meat"balls.  They were such a hit, even the carnivores reached for seconds!  I'm really excited to try many of the recipes in this book, like Spaghetti with Salt Cod and a Spicy Tomato Sauce, Creamy Chick Pea Soup with Shrimp and Anise Seed,  and Fresh Tuna Pizzo Style with Wine Vinegar, Garlic, and Mint.

I also got Bi-Rite Market's Eat Good Food: A Grocer's Guide to Shopping, Cooking & Creating Community Through Food, by Sam Mogannam and Dabney Gough.  Although I live in the Bay Area, I haven't been to the Bi-Rite Market proper.  I have been to the Bi-Rite Creamery and do declare their ice cream to be some of the most incredible that I've ever had!  The recipes in this book look great.  I'm particularly excited to try the Red Quinoa and Tofu Salad with Ginger and Pickled Daikon, the Winter Lentil Salad with Roasted Root Veggies, and the Curried Coconut Sweet Potato Mash.

I'm also quite excited about Canning for a New Generation: Bold, Fresh Flavors for the Modern Pantry, by Liana Krissoff.  I don't have much in the way of resolutions this year, but I do resolve to make more things from scratch, and I'm excited to fill my pantry (and my stomach!) with homemade things in pretty jars (well, the homemade things will go in the stomach, but not the jars!).  Lots of inventive flavor combinations in this book - like Strawberry and Lemon Preserves, Pickled Sugar Snap Peas with Mint, and Cardamom Plum Jam.

Yes, 2012 is going to be the year of More Homemade around here.  Here are just a few of the things I'm planning to make from scratch this year, some of them for the first time:  yogurt, tofu, tempeh, tomato paste, mustard, and vinegar, and Dad's Sauce.

I can hardly believe that it's been a whole year (and then some!) since I watched my Dad make the family recipe for meat sauce, and I wrote it down, and I proclaimed here on this very blog that I was going to make it in the coming year.  Well, the year came and the year went and I never did make it.  Not gonna let another year pass without making it!  I might even break out the pasta machine and make fresh pasta to go with it.  Of course, this will have to happen after January, which already seems to be flying right by.

Wishing you many fine meals and happy, healthy times in 2012!

Well howdy, stranger! The months, they keep a flyin' by.  I've been enjoying a fair bit of winter hibernation, and not enjoying a sore lack of culinary inspiration.  It all makes for a big lack of blogging.  Boo.

Many of the meals I've made these past months have been rather blasé'.  Not necessarily bad, but not much to be chirping about either.  Simple soups made with some kind of legume and whatever kinds of vegetables are flopping around in the fridge.  Unremarkable frittatas.  Boring pastas that just make me depressed when I consider all the amazing pasta dishes I was lucky enough to enjoy in Italy.  And then, for the times when I can't even muster up that stuff, there has been takeout.  Burritos and Indian food mostly.

I did make an awesome but small batch of refried black beans a few nights ago, which inspired me to buy a big bag of pinto beans the next day, and cook them in the same method, and the second batch was just so-so.  Nonetheless, I find refried beans to be such a delightful comfort food.  Even a so-so batch really hits the spot for me on these cold, blustery days.  If the worst problem I have is boring food and so-so refried beans, well then, I could be doing a lot worse!

Tonight, however, I made the WORST stir-fried tempeh & green beans that a person could ever make.  It should have been rather healthy, you know?  Tempeh, green beans, quinoa, all the makings of a good meal.  Except I managed to make it charred black, artery clogging, greasy and heartburn inducing.  I told the little mister that we might as well have eaten bacon for all that fat and grease.  At least bacon would have tasted good.  He finds the mere idea of bacon to be revolting, and he swears he actually liked tonight's dinner, which is good, because I wouldn't dream of eating tonight's leftovers, as much as I hate to waste food.  I don't know if I'll ever come close to mastering or even *getting* the art of the stir fry.  I think I might need to take a class or something, or just stick to ordering Chinese takeout next time I get the itch.

To add insult to injury, tonight was the night I was going to make the first batch of holiday pizzelles, but even though I had thought I had all the ingredients on hand, it turned out I didn't have enough flour, and only had anise flavoring as opposed to real anise extract.  And after that greasy heavy heartburn inducing artery clogging meal, the last thing I wanted to do was to duck out to the store and wander around in search of real anise extract which they may or may not have at the market down the street.  So, no pizzelles tonight, but hopefully,  later in the week.

Wish there was something more exciting or inspiring to report, but sometimes, you just do the best you can, and your best is boring, uninspired,  greasy, and charred. And in those times, I find it helpful to remember that it's a very great gift to be able to have any kind of food, and a kitchen in which to cook it, inside a warm, cozy home, shared with a loving partner and sweet, devoted furry four-legged pals.  When I think about it in those terms, it's hard to complain about  a single thing, and in fact life feels very inspired after all!

Everything changes and passes eventually, after all. I have total faith in that.  But in the meantime, if anyone out there has any tips on the art of the stir-fry, by all means, please do pass them along!

Until next time, warmest winter wishes to you and yours.

Wow, that was some show!  Thank you to all friends near and far who made the journey to enjoy the evening with us.  We were blown away that so many people turned out to pack the Freight & Salvage, and what a glorious treat it was to play on a stage with such exquisite sound.   I'm still basking in the glow.  Here are a few pics of the show, courtesy of my pal Michael Z.

There was so much work leading up to that show that I hardly had a moment to think or cook or clean my filthy house for weeks on end leading up to the big day, and so it was a huge treat to have nothing much on the calendar for the rest of the weekend but sleeping in, spontaneous brunches with friends, and lots of playing in the warm sunshine with dogs, as well as a birthday celebration for my sweet friend Monique, whom I've been lucky to know for the entire 5 years of her life!  Icing on the cake, or pie, as it were:  Monique's dad Steve  made incredible homemade pizza at the big birthday bash.  What a perfect way to finish off a perfect weekend!   By the time I collapsed into bed on Sunday night, I felt so satisfied and serene and just plain giddy, and it still kind of felt like summer.

And then, just like that, all of a sudden, seemingly in the blink of an eye, summer slipped away.  But the tomatoes in our garden didn't seem to get that memo yet.  I'm happy to report that the last dregs of our Bloody Butcher heirloom tomatoes are still making a valiant attempt, and I can hardly believe it, since it's nearly Thanksgiving!  But somehow, we still keep plucking red, ripe, juicy, gorgeous beauties from the plant that I was sure would never even see enough sunlight to produce anything at all.  I am SO happy to be proven wrong!

Still, the days are suddenly so much shorter and it's hard to bid farewell to those long, lingering summer days and all the glorious  rewards that come with them.  I take sweet comfort in the fact that the lemons on our tree are starting to turn from green to yellow, and I start to get excited about things like winter squash and brussels sprouts and leafy greens, a few of which are doing their best to grow in our garden.  Well really, only chard and potatoes are growing at the moment, damn the critters that destroyed and ate the rest of it!  I figure this is a good opportunity to let the soil rest & replenish, and instead, I find myself spending more time indoors playing with a crazy silly puppy and getting some really good use out of the oven and the stove top.  Slow roasting tomatoes, baking bread, roasting squash, braising vegetables, and making lots of soup.  Nothing really remarkable to report, just enjoying the chance to hunker down and slow down and enjoy the moments as they come.  And I'm happy to say that so many amazing moments have been coming, one right after the other.  It's been an incredible year and it's not even over yet.  So I don't mind so much that summer is gone, because I know there is still so much to look forward to.  I'm happy to be able to catch these moments as they come.

Home Fires

Believe it or not, I don't spend all of my time cooking and dreaming of cooking and gardening and dreaming of gardening and playing with dogs and (not dreaming of) cleaning up after dogs.

Some times, I still find time to make actual music.  And in fact, I made some recently!

In fact, a new baby has finally been born.  This one was a year and a half in the making and created by a team of five, and brought to life with a little help from several more talented souls, cause it takes a village to make a record.

Yes, Loretta Lynch has a new album, and we are so excited to unleash it into the world!  And we'll be doing just that on Friday, Nov. 4th at the venerable Freight & Salvage.  I am so pleased to be able to play on that sweet sounding stage again, and happy to be able to make music with Ari, Heather, Dan and Nathan, whom I adore not only as fine musicians, but as wonderful and inspiring human beings, too.

I wish all my family and friends (and friends I've yet to meet!) could come to the show.  I wish YOU could come to the show!  And guess what?  Even if you live far away and can't come to the show, you can watch the show from wherever you are (as long as there is a computer where you are, that is...) because it is being webcast!

So join us, won't you?  Tune in on Friday Nov. 4th before 8 pm Pacific time and point your browser here.  Choose the single show pass, and from the comfort of your own home, sweet home, let us entertain you.

Puppy Love

This is Stella (aka Stellllaaaaaaaaa!), the newest member of our family and stealer of sleep, bringer of chaos, bringer of joy!  We're smitten!

 I'd love to post some more pics, but, being the squirmy little creature that she is, it's hard to get her to hold still long enough to pose for the camera.

We're having so much fun with her!  She came home with us last Saturday, Oct. 15th, from the Berkeley Animal Shelter, the very same place that dear old Spider once resided.  We've been missing that old gal like crazy, and we always will.  And also, we've been feeling for awhile that we're ready to have a new dog friend, not only for ourselves, but for big Bloom, who's been pretty lonely without his old pal.

This is a pic of Bloom & Spider together on her last day of life.  Still breaks my heart!!

We thought we'd wait until the end of the year, but oops, we just couldn't resist a visit to the shelter last Saturday... and when we met this little bundle of energy, it didn't take long to come to the conclusion that the time was going to be now, and the dog was going to be her.  Our fates were sealed!

The listing on Petfinder.com said she was part of a litter of Great Dane mix puppies, but the paperwork they sent us home with says she's part Mastiff.  We saw a picture of her mama, and she looked kind of like a chocolate Lab, so who knows?  As of now, she weighs 31 pounds and is approximately 4 months old.  She'll probably be bigger than Spider was, but not as big as Bloom.

We start dog training class tomorrow, hooray!  It'll be a great learning experience for all of us, I'm sure.  Having a new dog has got me reading a lot and thinking a lot about how to best raise her to be happy and healthy pup who'll live a good long life.  I'm quite intrigued by the possibility of a raw foods diet, or maybe even a cooked foods diet.  I've read a lot of articles that seem to say that at worst, dried kibble dog food is full of all sorts of awful things, and that even the higher quality brands are very highly processed.  I don't want to consume many processed foods or meat from factory farms, and I would rather my pets didn't either, but I still have some research to do.  Food for thought.

And speaking of food... I'm still searching for the perfect recipe for Ribolitta, that amazing Tuscan soup with kale & cannellini beans that we had several times in Florence.  I made my own  version last week, and while it was good, it wasn't insanely, dreamily good like it was in Florence... but then, I guess most things aren't!  But I'm going to keep trying out recipes so if anybody out there has tips, please send them my way.

Lastly... I'm trying out some new looks here at Soup and Song, so apologies if things look funny for awhile.  Thanks for checking in. Hope all is well in your world!

Ah, Italy!

Ciao, friends!

We made it back from Italy.  What an experience for the senses it was - the tastes, the sights, the sounds!  Warm breezes, blue skies, blue waters, red wine, salty anchovies, bright and beautiful vegetables, impeccably dressed Italians whizzing by on mopeds and motorcycles,  the hypnotic sound of water lapping against the side of the ferry, the musical sound of Italians speaking their language to one another, the scent of bread baking, that first bite of pistachio gelato, oh my.  Words can't do it justice.  It was an absolute pleasure to soak it all in, and I am still soaking in the memory of it all.

I so wanted to fill my suitcase with practically everything we saw - beautiful vegetables!  Delicate glass jewelry!  Prosciutto!  Bottle after bottle of wine!  Espresso!  Espresso makers!  Pasta!  Cheese!

Well, the suitcase wouldn't have been able to make it onto the plane if I'd done that, so we didn't bring a whole lot back with us.  We mostly bought what we could consume while we were there, and that was enough to keep us perfectly happy.

But I just couldn't resist that big, salty hunk of Parmigiano-Reggiano...no worries that I had to lug it around for a couple of days and pack it up nicely in my suitcase!  I just this moment finished chopping it into smaller chunks to give to friends.  Some people show their love with sweets and some of us show it with cheese.  Yay for cheese!

More coming soon!  But for now, a few photos and a quick moment to give thanks for the opportunity to enjoy such a wonderful experience, with such a wonderful human being by my side.  I am so, so thankful!

One of the greatest meals of the trip, or maybe my whole life, was inside these humble walls in Florence.   It was here I had my first taste of ribollita, with which I am now obsessed.  More about that later!

Spaghetti with freshly caught anchovies from the sea in Cinque Terre, at Trattoria Lanterna.  OH. MY. GOD. Another food highlight.

Produce market in Lido.  Such beauty!

                                                                    

        Masks in Venice.

The pizza of my dreams, also in Lido.  

Summer Squash: The Gift That Keeps on Giving

Ah, summer squash. It just keeps coming, and in a way, I think I can finally say that I have *almost* become sick of it! Or at least, I've reached the point where there is plenty of it to eat around here, and plenty to share with friends, too. Win win!

 It's been a busy busy week - the last week before we leave to Italy, OMG!!! And also, Loretta Lynch has a brand new album, more than a year in the making, that we are scrambling to promote prior to our big CD release show on November 4th. Since several of us band members will be traveling over the next month, we're doing our best to get things in order now. It's a little insane, and it's all good! But in light of all that, the house has been a mess, sleeping patterns are all messed up, and eating and meal planning has been sporadic at best. Thank goodness for all that squash!

 Last night, a lovely salad came together, inspired once again by the wonderful cookbook Plenty. The recipe in the book suggests a simple combination of grilled squash with fresh basil, hazelnuts, balsamic vinegar and shaved parmesan. But I used walnuts instead of hazelnuts, and beefed it up a bit by adding lentils and cooked barley, since I happened to have that in the house. The final touch was pepper cress directly from the garden (pepper cress:  my new favorite garden item!  hot!  spicy! peppery!).  I was quite thrilled with this lovely meal that came together  in the midst of chaos all around, and in spite of a mostly bare fridge.

Here is a loose guide:

First, slice some summer squash:  about 1 medium squash per person.   Toss it in olive oil and add a light sprinkling of salt & pepper.

Grill the squash or cook it in a grill pan, as I did.  Get it a little charred on the outside but stop cooking before it gets too tender - you want it to have a bit of bite to it still.

If you like, you can also grill some sliced red onions or shallots.

Set the squash & onions or shallots aside in a bowl, and toss with a light sprinkling of balsamic vinegar.

Take some fresh basil and tear the leaves and sprinkle into the bowl with the squash.  Toss it all together and divide the squash mixture onto plates.

If serving with lentils & barley as I did, combine the lentils & barley and add more olive oil, salt & pepper, basil and a bit more balsamic vinegar.  Add a scoop of this mixture to each salad plate.

Top each salad plate with toasted walnuts & shaved parmesan, and garnish with pepper cress and another little drizzle of olive oil.

And there you have it, dinner!   Good with bread, if you've got it, or croutons, or lots of wine, or all of the above!

Can't wait to post all kinds of updates about Italy - and more importantly... can't wait to GO TO ITALY!  Much to do before then - things to pack, music to promote, squash to pick.  Life is good!  Ciao for now!

Carpe Diem!

Seize the moment, seize the day. Pick, pluck, cull, crop, gather, make use of, enjoy. It's a good way to live life. Sometimes, I am able to do this. To live and love and be grateful in THIS moment, knowing that THIS moment is all there is.

And sometimes, it takes death, suffering and loss to remind me of this. This year has been a doozy. Hell, this month alone has been a doozy. My dear friend Sabine lost her dear friend Pam to cancer just last week. Pam was a loving mother and wife and daughter and friend. Many of my friends who knew and loved Pam are grieving, hard. I wish I could have known Pam beyond meeting her a couple of times. She was no doubt an amazing soul and has left a huge hole in this world, in this life of all who knew and loved her.

My Uncle Pat also left the world and lost his battle with cancer earlier this month. His cancer was sudden and shocking and brutal. He was a wonderful friend to my Dad. He was the one who would come and visit my Dad during his illness and brighten his spirits, bringing him treats from the Italian store, a family member who was also a dear friend. The last time I saw him, he was strong, healthy & vibrant. I was so glad to know that he was there to support my Dad through my Dad's illness. I can still hardly believe that he is gone, and heartbroken at the way cancer snatched him away from his loved ones so fast. And I can't even get started here about how much my Dad is suffering now, not only over the loss of his dear brother, but through his own illness. He has been so strong for so long now through this journey. I'm proud of him and inspired by him and doing my best to take each moment as it comes, thankful that he is still with us.

My friends Steve & Patsy lost their dear friend & musical co-conspirator, Scott Petersen, to cystic fibrosis, this month as well.

The last email exchange that I had with Patsy, she said something about us needing to get together more, to seize the moments while the moments were still ours to seize. So I invited them over for dinner that night and to my great delight, they didn't have a gig. And so last Friday, we managed to pull together a very spontaneous barbecue, along with our dear friend Lucio, who was in town for some shows, and Berge, another treasured friend and musical partner who is dealing with a landslide of difficulty and illness in his own life right now. Sabine would have been there with us, except she was at Pam's memorial that night.

I wanted to make something fabulous but didn't have the time or the wherewithal. We got some fish & veggies to throw on the grill and I made some cole slaw, and we had each other and plenty of beer & wine and guitars, and that was all that was needed. It was summer in the bay area - by the time the sun went down, the fog had rolled in and we were freezing and had to start a fire in the fire pit just to keep warm. But it didn't matter, because we were all together. Anything else was just icing on the cake.

Steve & Patsy's 4 3/4 year old daughter Monique cracked me up all night long. I've known and loved Monique all her life and it's been an absolute pleasure watching her become the person that she is. She ate all the tomatoes we'd recently picked from our plants, straight out of the bowl, with pure delight, the way Sabine had taught her to do. When she later asked me for a blanket so she could lay on the couch, I gave her one, which she proceeded to sniff and then proclaim indignantly, "… you need to wash things more!!! This stinks!!". I couldn't help but agree with her and laugh through my horror. The blanket did indeed smell like dog. We must have used it in the car at some point, and I swear it was clean and had been washed, but somehow that dog smell has a way of lingering. If you ever want the truth about just how much your shit stinks, just ask a kid. They'll tell you straight up!

Monique also brightened my spirits by letting me play with her Grouch Marks glasses. I got a little obsessed with taking pictures of me and that nose and mustache. I think the pic below pretty much sums it up. I hope it will always serve as a reminder to me to not take myself too seriously, to remember that not only does my shit stink, but many of my the things in my house do too, and to love, love, love and be grateful for every single moment. Carpe Diem!

Let's Make Mustard!

Recently I experimented with making mustard. I started with this recipe for a Spicy Beer Mustard that I found in Food and Wine Magazine. The flavor was great, but be warned - the recipe makes a huge amount of mustard! Definitely enough to share. I ended up adding even more mustard powder and seeds than the recipe called for. In the end, I was pretty happy with it but have been wanting to try out some different recipes.

Luckily, today I stumbled upon this post on the awesome blog Food In Jars. I have never canned anything, but I love this blog and am thinking it may inspire me to give it a try one of these days.

The mustard post is actually a guest post, written by Kaela Porter of the blog Local Kitchen, another fine and inspiring blog with many lovely photos.

Enjoy the blogs, and enjoy making mustard! I plan to make another batch soon, and will report back.

Lotta Frittata

Lately I've been going to the farmers market every week, sometimes twice per week, and the produce has been blowing my mind. I've developed a sweet summer ritual of making a frittata every week with fresh farm eggs from the market, and whatever produce I pick up there. Lately that's been corn that is explosively sweet, sometimes chard or potatoes, and sometimes squash and fresh herbs from our garden. Tonight's frittata featured corn, chard, sweet red onions & juicy early girl tomatoes from the market, basil & sliced padron peppers from our garden, and shaved imported parmesan. The simple tastes of summer abundance. It doesn't get much better than that and I'm savoring it as it comes and enjoying it while it's here.

Hello, Summer. And Thank You, Portuguese Bringer of the Fava Beans!

I'm finally sitting down after a good five hours spent in the kitchen, and wow. It was such spontaneous joy.

It all started with a little Portuguese woman. I don't know who she is, only that my co-worker Todd knows her, and that every year around this time, she brings him garbage bags full of fava beans. And he never has the heart to tell her that actually, he just isn't quite up to growing callouses on his thumbs to shell & peel them, and so he brings them to work & implores that we take them off his hands. And that is how I find myself, once a year, with my own callouses after having shelled & peeled a big old mess of them like I did tonight, so they could enjoy a starring role in tonight's amazing impromptu summer bounty bachelor dinner!

That's right! No pizza or mac & cheese for this gal tonight. Tonight was all about those fava beans...


and shaved zucchini from our garden...



... and lots of other garden goodies too, like sweet as can be cherry tomatoes, cool and crunchy cucumbers that I can hardly believe I finally managed to grow, preserved lemon from our bountiful tree, and freshly cut parsley & marjoram (and shallots from the farmers market!).



It all would have been perfect just like that, but then there were fresh eggs from Riverdog Farm that I couldn't resist poaching in homemade vegetable broth, because I had just made it using all the ends of the vegetables from the week, so why not enjoy it right away?

All this chopping and slicing and poaching and shucking and shelling served as the perfect way to pass the time for hours while a big batch of granola slowly baked to perfection. Lots of dear friends & loved ones have birthdays or other occasions they're celebrating right about now, and I bet you can guess what they'll be getting from me! Yes, all my love and some of my granola. The gift that tastes good *and* keeps you regular!



But, I digress a little. There's no recipe really, nor much of a point to all my rambling tonight. I just had to stop & share my pure joy & gratitude for the fact that summer is here, and for all the sweet, crunchy, tender, vibrant gifts that come with it. Thank you, summer, and thank you, Todd, and most of all, thank you, little Portuguese woman of mystery for helping me to complete this warm & breezy summer night!

You May Want Your Own Tagine for This One

Today, like many days, was spent more in the kitchen and garden than in any other place or pursuit. The kind of day that just thrills me. There have been so, so many of those days recently and I realize that I haven't been documenting them much, but tonight I'm here to change that.

You see, tonight I tried out a recipe that my dear friend Ari (amazing chef and musician) passed along to me, along with her adaptations, that she'd found via the SF Chronicle. I added a small adaptation of my own, popped it into the oven and waited with great anticipation while out in the garden planting a new batch of lettuces, greens and herbs. And when that timer went off and it was time to take it out of the oven, and more importantly, when it was time to eat it, I couldn't get over how wonderful it was. I served it with a quinoa pilaf I made that was inspired by the cous cous recipe in this posting, and all told, it was one of the finer meals I've made so far this year. Too good not to share.

And so here I am, sharing.



Original recipe says to use "halibut, true cod or any other firm fish". I used a couple of swordfish steaks that together equaled about a pound. The original recipe calls for only about a 1/2 cup of diced tomatoes, but Ari suggested using more, and so I did - and since I had them, I added some preserved lemons too. Ari suggested making some extra chermoula sauce cause it's so damn good, and using canned artichoke hearts instead of futzing with fresh ones, which I happily did, because I just so happened to have a can of them sitting on the shelf, which is what inspired me to attempt this recipe in the first place. Lastly, my little mister isn't a fan of the cilantro, so I used much more parsley and much less cilantro, and no one was any the wiser!

The tagine calls for a chermoula sauce which, besides adding incredible depth of flavor, adds moisture to the dish and helps all the ingredients to come out juicy, tender and so very succulent. Instead of using the extra sauce for dipping, as Ari suggested, I used it to flavor the quinoa pilaf.

Fish Tagine with Olives, Potatoes and Artichokes, with Quinoa Pilaf:

For the Sauce:

1 1/2 cups parsley leaves
1/2 cup cilantro leaves
1/2 small yellow onion
4 garlic cloves
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 T. lemon juice
1 t. salt
1 t. pepper
1 t. paprika
1/2 t. cumin
1/4 t. cinnamon

For the Tagine:

2 halibut, swordfish, true cod or sea bass or other firm-fish steaks, about 1 pound total, and ideally about 3/4 inch thick
1 can artichoke hearts, cut into quarters
2 t. olive oil
2 medium potatoes, sliced very thin
1 t. salt
1 t. pepper
16 oil cured black olives
1 to 2 cups diced tomatoes, with their juices (I used early girls from the farmers market!)
1/4 preserved lemon, diced
chopped parsley & cilantro to taste

For the Pilaf:

3/4 cup quinoa, rinsed
1 1/2 cup water
Chermoula sauce
1 - 2 T. dried cranberries
1/4 preserved lemon, diced
2 scallions, diced
1/4 c. diced parsley & cilantro, in whatever ratio you like
1/4 c. diced green olives

To Make the Sauce:

Combine all sauce ingredients in a blender or food processor. Blend until smooth. Add more olive oil if needed.

Take half the sauce and coat the fish on both sides, and refrigerate the fish for an hour or up to 3 hours.

To assemble the tagine, pre-heat the oven to 350. Smear the olive oil on the bottom of the tagine. Add the potato slices - you should have enough for about 2 layers. Sprinkle with salt & pepper. Top with the fish steaks. Scatter the artichokes & olives over & around the fish. Dot with half of the reserved sauce, the tomatoes & their juices, more salt & pepper and a final sprinkling of the chopped herbs.

Put the cover on the tagine & bake for about 1 hour & 15 minutes, until the potatoes are tender and the fish is moist, tender & simply divine.

Since the tagine magically makes a broth that is nothing less than transformative, it's good to have some bread or a pilaf to soak it all up.

To make the quinoa pilaf:

Bring the quinoa, water & chermoula sauce to a boil, along with a bit of salt and the dried cranberries. Cook for about 15-20 minutes or until all liquid is absorbed & quinoa is tender. Off the heat, stir in the preserved lemon, scallions, herbs & olives.

To serve:

Spoon some of the quinoa pilaf into a bowl and top with a spoonful of the fish, potatoes, artichokes & broth. Enjoy, savor and enjoy some more!

Garden Joy

On a brighter note, it seems like summer is finally, finally here! There is no end to the amount of thrills I get from going out to the garden every morning and every evening to see what has changed, what new blossom has appeared, what ripening has transpired in the twelve or so hours from when I checked it last. Every morning and every evening feel like Christmas used to feel when I was a kid - such surprise, wonder, delight and gratitude!

Tonight, I discovered the first tomatoes beginning to ripen. The same tomatoes that last night were green. It made my day, made my week, made me delirious with joy to know that the spot we've placed these girls turns out to be sunny enough after all.



And although the radishes we planted from seed a little over a month ago only netted a modest crop, I was and still am so delighted with each and every one of these beauties that I pulled from the dirt tonight.



There was also a questionable meyer lemon tree here when we moved in. We thought it might be diseased and considered cutting it down, but it has turned out to be a wild, lovely, incredible jackpot of fragrant, sweet lemony goodness that is still producing sweet gorgeous fruit, even now. There must be some kind of metaphor in there about how the thorny, hard to understand, imperfect situations bring the most growth and reward, but I'm not sure I'm feeling eloquent enough to put it into words just now.

I still feel like I hardly know what I'm doing, placing seeds in the soil and doing my best, hoping for the best, hoping nature cooperates, crossing my fingers, trying to learn, paying attention as best I can. It doesn't always work out, but it is so gratifying when it does. I'm sure it sounds cliche' but it is no less true: it's a lot like life. Best to enjoy the journey and celebrate and give thanks when it all works out. And tonight, I most certainly am.

Plenty

Plenty, by Yotam Ottolenghi, is my current new favorite cookbook. And it's fitting, because right now, I'm feeling plenty. Plenty good, plenty bad, plenty scared, plenty perplexed, and plenty grateful in the midst of all of it.

Tonight, rock star husband had a recording session, so for me it was a bachelor dinner night, but I wasn't in the mood for my usual old mac & cheese or pizza, and since I'd just gotten my hands on this inspiring collection of recipes thanks to my pals Jamie & Eve, I decided to dig right in and treat myself to a solo summer dinner as fine as anything I'd make for company.

The food was sweet comfort in the midst of difficult family times. My heart is pretty broken at how badly my Dad is struggling again even though he was here only a month ago and looking and feeling strong and healthy. And in the meantime there has been news that several of our other family members are struggling too, despite everyone's best efforts to be healthy and do all the right things. Sometimes I feel myself going down that dark road where I think, what does it even matter if you try to eat healthy, exercise, and do all those other things that are supposed to be good for you? As my friend Kathleen says, you still have to breathe the air. You still have to live in this world and come to the realization that cancer doesn't discriminate. Cancer doesn't care what you do. There's no eloquent way to phrase it. It just sucks.

So tonight, I cooked my worries away, at least temporarily, and enjoyed the fruits of my labors all by my lonesome. I practically jumped for joy at the goodness, the vibrance, the sheer freshness and delight of this perfect marriage of flavors and textures: lentils and watercress in a watercress vinaigrette with asparagus and manchego, a squeeze of lemon and toasted walnuts.

I adapted this recipe a bit - it called for walnut oil but I used toasted walnuts instead, and I used french lentils instead of green, because that's what I had in the house. I can't take too much raw garlic so instead of a raw clove, I used the piece of garlic that I'd cooked with the lentils, which was nicely mellowed but added just the right bit of subtle garlic flavor.

It was my first time using watercress at home. I've enjoyed that intensely peppery green in salads at restaurants, but never ventured to use it myself. And never would have considered pureeing it as part of the dressing while at the same time serving it as part of the salad - it's a winner, to be sure!

So without too much more adieu, I will post my adapted version of this recipe from this fabulous, inspiring book, which I can't wait to dive into further. I will urge you to make this for lunch or dinner while you can still get good asparagus, and to enjoy it, if you can, with someone you love. I will continue to give thanks for food, for family, for friends, and for every moment spent being healthy and strong in my body, and I will wish the same for you.

Lentils, Asparagus and Watercress

Adapted from Yotam Ottolenghi's recipe in Plenty

Serves 4 generously

1 cup french lentils

4 cups watercress, thick stocks removed

1/4 - 2/3 c. parsley (original recipe called for 2/3 cup but I only had about 1/4 cup on hand, so that's what I used)

1/2 cup olive oil (original recipe called for 2/3 cup, but to me, 1/2 cup seemed the right amount)

1 T. red wine vinegar

1 clove garlic

salt & pepper

1 large bunch asparagus (about 1 pound), cut into roughly 2 inch segments

shaved manchego cheese to taste

toasted walnuts to taste

lemon wedges

Rinse the lentils and place in a saucepan with plenty of fresh water and 1 plump clove of garlic, peeled and smashed, and 1 bay leaf. Bring to a boil and then lower to a simmer, add a generous sprinkling of salt, and cook until just tender. This could take about 20 to 30 minutes.

While the lentils are cooking, put half the watercress, the parsley, olive oil, vinegar, salt & pepper into your food processor. After the lentils have been cooking for about 10-15 minutes, fish out that clove of garlic and add it to the food processor. Blitz until smooth & creamy, and pour into a big salad bowl.

Once the lentils are tender, drain them well and dump them into the bowl with the dressing, and toss it all together while the lentils are still warm. Taste & adjust seasonings - you may well need more salt.

Steam or boil the asparagus for about 2 to 3 minutes, until just crisp-tender. Original recipe suggests boiling but I steamed them. I also think it would add another whole dimension of flavor if you grilled the asparagus!

Now it's time to serve the salad, warm or at room temperature. Add the drained asparagus to the lentils, and toss it all with the remaining watercress. Pile onto a plate or into a bowl and shave a little manchego over it, sprinkle a few toasted walnuts, and don't forget to squeeze a bit of lemon over it, which really serves to bring all the flavors together. Enjoy every bite, welcome summer, and then enjoy some more bites! You'll be so, so glad that you did.

Hitched

Geez! It seems that now that I'm a married lady, I can't seem to get around to this here blog!

It's been a delightful couple of weeks of feasting and celebrating with friends and family. The truth is, I'm still taking it all in. We have the greatest friends and the most wonderful families, and I'm still completely blown away by what an awesome wedding ceremony and celebration we were able to have, thanks in large part to the kindness & generosity of our friends & families. The food was divine, the music outstanding, and the company could not have been better.

We had a pretty limited budget, and our friends came through BIG TIME, pitching in to take care of every last detail from the music to the food and drinks and organization and photographs and flowers...oh, the flowers!

It was so great that parents and sister came out and finally got to see the new house. I am incredibly grateful that my Dad was here & feeling good & strong, and it made me endlessly happy to make his favorite potato soup for him and the rest of the family.

There was much feasting, did I mention that? Some of the feasting was done at places like Venezia and The Lake Chalet, some of it was done at home. It was an extra treat to be able to cook with some of the food that was grown in our garden! A good time was had by all. We chose Venezia for the dinner the night of the wedding, suspecting that it would appeal to every last one of us, and we were right on the money. Classic Italian food done perfectly, excellent service too. And we had an excellent brunch at the Lake Chalet featuring not only great food and a stunning view, but a really good Bloody Mary, too.

The week passed way too quickly, and when it was over, there was a short honeymoon in Big Sur, a prelude to the not-so-short honeymoon in Italy that will happen in September (OMG! I FINALLY GET TO GO TO ITALY!!!). Big Sur was gorgeous as always, only much colder than it's been when we've been there in the past. But that didn't stop us from feasting and relaxing in front of the fire, nor did it stop some of us from enjoying a hot soak in the glorious outdoor tub!

All in all, it's been wondrous, and I still feel elated from it all, and ever thankful for this sweet life and all the people and places and experiences that make it so.