Jul 25
i love going to the farmer’s market. we have a good one close to our house – it’s grown quite a bit in the last few years. the fruits and vegetables have become a bit more exotic, there is usually entertainment and yummy food to sample. most of all, it makes me feel like i live in a community – people are out, enjoying the sunshine, buying locally, buying organic. it’s cool, i love it! i like to just walk through and see at what is in season. i nabbed some squash blossoms so i can make cheese stuffed squash blossoms with shaved squash and toasted pumpkin seeds. i’ve had to wait all year to find squash blossoms! the girls like to eat at “Red,” east african food. they make yummy sambussas stuffed with savory delights like cream cheese and coconut, spinach garlic and assorted spices, potatoes & lentils. so good and so different! it’s pretty at the farmer’s market – beautiful shades of natural color, textured fruits and vegetables and exotic foods to sample. my favorite booth has a couple dozen vintage chalkboards that they strategically place around their booth. so much to look at!
Jul 2
it’s summer, we’re on week two and i’m looking for things to do. the weather is kind of yucky, “june gloom” in san diegan speak. makes you want to sit on the couch in your jammies and well, eat ice cream! so that’s exactly what we did. except we made our ice cream. i dusted off the ice cream maker, we went to the grocery store for goodies to go into it and made some yummy, old fashioned ice cream made with milk and cream. and WOW! amazing. it’s been a while since i tasted home made ice cream and it’s truly heavenly.
May 29
i love in-season corn on the cob. it’s so easy to cook and tastes like summer when you bite into it. my friend cindy taught me how to make perfect corn-on-the-cob and i’ve been making it this way ever sense. super tender and sweet. to make: boil a large pot of water with two tablespoons of sugar. shuck your corn right before adding it to the water. bring water back to a boil, cover, turn off the heat and let sit for 5 minutes. remove corn from the water – roll it in a pan with melted butter, salt and serve! for a little something extra – throw on the grill and char a bit. perfect!
May 21
i have a tendency to obsess – if i like something, i think about it A LOT. well my latest obsession is cuba. i am trying to find a yummy cuban restaurant in san diego – after talking to megan one day, one of three sisters’ stamper extraordinaires, i confided my cuba-obsession. the timewarp feel of the country, their use of colors, the food, the music, the people. so cool! well turns out that there is a little “cuban patisserie” down the street from megan’s house in ocean beach called azucar. she brought pastries one morning for us all to share and WOW! my socks were knocked off: mojito sugar cookies, cream cheese and guava pastries, keylime white chocolate scones, coconut macademia florentine bars…. everything i tasted was a sensory seduction. if you live in san diego, you MUST make a trip to azucar. you will thank me! move over almond croissants, there is a new pastry in town!
May 17
i bumped into my friend nikki and she told me that she has tried a few of my blog recipes. i was totally surprised. i didn’t think anyone actually tried them! in fact, she said she was making the teriyaki chicken that night again. wow. so cool! how neat that my mom’s recipe is reaching others. i loved hearing that. so guess what? you get another recipe! it may not seem that exciting, but it’s a staple in our house. easy to make AND it serves a dual purpose. an affordable, easy to make meal and it it’s a good recipe for the parts of the rotisserie chicken that no one will eat! i have a weird hang-up and hate to waste food. i grappled with the rotisserie chicken issue – it’s great to grab and eat when you don’t want to cook, but what do you do with those darn legs and wings? my kids won’t eat them – niels will, but is it really not fair to make him eat the parts that no one wants? probably not, so niels concocted this recipe and it’s a hit. here is what you do: cook three 2 cups of long grain rice. while the rice is cooking, cook a pound of bacon in the oven (400 degrees for 20/25 minutes, turning once). make sure it is very crisp – the crispness adds good texture to the rice. once the rice is done (can be made in the morning), start your wok and heat to high. if you don’t have a wok, then use a large pan (can’t do nonstick though) and heat to high. throw in a handful and a half of finely diced or shredded carrots and stir fry until cooked. throw in the diced chicken and stir fry until heated through (don’t do chicken? use shrimp instead!). add the rice and cook until heated and then add chopped bacon and handful of chopped green onions. beat two eggs and add at the end. stir fry until rice is dry/egg is cooked and then add 1/4 c. soy sauce. drizzle with sesame oil and garnish with more onions (i use an entire bunch for the meal). it takes all of ten minutes to cook. we then dress it up with our assortment of chili oils! and lastly, try not to eat all of the bacon before you add it to the rice…
(PS – please don’t be scared of the picture of my wok! it was a gift from my mom when i left for college – that and a rice cooker. if my house was burning down, my wok would be one of the five top material possessions i would rescue. it’s seen a lot of meals and is well seasoned!)
Apr 19
ever since i went to vegas with lisa back in march, i’ve been obsessed with beets. while we were there, i had two beet salads in one day and i fell head over heals with those silly, little vegetables. how could a small beautifully colored vegetable be so perfect? i discovered prepared beets at trader joe’s and i’ve never looked back. when the kids are in school, i make myself a huge beet salad and gobble it up. they’re like little jewels sitting on a mound of pretty little leaves, surrounded by their friends – miss goat cheese and mr. blueberry. i love my beets.
Apr 8
spring makes me think of many things – birthdays, flowers, strawberries and…asparagus. the birthday dinner my mom cooked for me always involved asparagus. she was so excited that it was in-season that she made sure to use it in whatever she cooked for me, whether i wanted it or not. but the forced-asparagus dinners worked and as a result, i love asparagus. not only because it tastes so good, but it reminds me of mom and her delicious meals. i miss them so much! so asparagus represents a special time – springtime, loving meals and freshness. the absolute best way to cook asparagus is to heat the oven to 425, line the asparagus in a single layer on baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt. roast on the highest oven rack for exactly eight minutes (no more, no less). it’s perfect – crisp, roasted and slightly salty. chop it up and throw it on top of pasta, chill it and toss it with a salad or shave some parmesan on top and eat it on its own. it’s delicious and…special.
Mar 1
today was a sick day. we all had sore throats and since we had been exposed to strep, thought it best to stay home and pay a visit to the doc. going to the doc with three kids is really, really fun! anyway, we’re all OK – just a viral throat thing, nothing more. but it was a good excuse to stay home. of course i had a list as long as my arm of things to do – but instead we made OJ popsicles and had my version of chicken noodle soup: capellini, olive oil, basil, garlic, fresh mozzarella (“cheese balls” according to the girls), parmesan and fresh ground pepper. comfort food to the max!
Feb 21
i love to cook and what i cook is usually governed by the weather. we had a heat spell last week so i started to crave some yummy pesto. fresh and clean tasting – a bit like spring. excellent warm weather food ( i know, sounds ridiculous right now if you live out east). so i ran out and bought some basil, armed to make my friend holly’s famous pesto recipe. we have some yummy brie raviolis and it seemed like the perfect topping. elle helped me out – she is my sous chef. she loves to cook and help in the kitchen. sadly, it started to rain again and now pesto doesn’t sound so good. maybe we can make some roasted butternut squash soup and top it with a drop of pesto – that sounds a bit better. oh well, at least elle and i had fun together. this recipe is also part of the “over used recipe swap” at the Simply Modern Mom Blog - check it out!
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