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What do you think about fruit in salad? Not fruit salad – but green salads with fruit in the mix. I happen to love it and the combo shows up on our table often.
In the summer, peaches, nectarines and blueberries are some of my favorites; in the fall, apples and pears of course. For winter, persimmons and pomegranate seeds are a nice touch, and come spring I can’t wait to add red strawberries to the mix. And of course, a little complimenting cheese doesn’t hurt.
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Here are a few fruit & salad combos from past posts:
Spinach with peaches, blueberries and ricotta from a Summer Grilling dinner.
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Shredded kale with apples and persimmons (with beer braised turkey tacos).
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Butter lettuce with quinoa, roasted beets and blood oranges.
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Raw kale salad with grated pear, parmigiano, toasted breadcrumbs and a lemon vinaigrette (with weeknight turkey chili).
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Spinach with apples and blue cheese (and weeknight turkey burgers).
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Super quick holiday salad with spinach, persimmons and pomegranate seeds.
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And the fruit is equally at home in grain salads …
like this wheatberry salad with beets, carrots, apples and cranberries.
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What are your favorite fruits for salad (not counting the obvious veg-seeming-ones like tomatoes and avocado)? Or do you keep it separate and stick to vegetables for the add-ins?
Do you get any extra reading done in the summer? I must admit that my summer had fewer books than I would have liked … maybe it was because there weren’t many long vacations, just lots of short getaways. Long trips (with long flights) usually help the count.
I am a sucker for spy novels, so when the new Daniel Silva book in the Gabriel Allon series, Falling Angel, came out, it was devoured immediately. I also got in a few trilogys – some to remain nameless (and terribly written, by the way) – and a late entry to the Hunger Games, which I did totally enjoy.
Just read Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, with just about everyone else it seems, and really enjoyed it. I had no clue what I was in for — just a recommendation from a friend — and was hooked. Another one that sucked me in, where again I was going on nothing but a friendly recommendation, was The Leftovers by Tom Perotta. It seems to have received a lot of traction last year, so I was late to the game, but thankfully good books don’t age.
Have you heard of Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick? I hadn’t and currently cannot put it down. Surprise, surprise, a friend recommended it and I am in so deep. I am fascinated and awed by the strength of the people, and cannot recommend this book highly enough!
But to round out a true summer reading list, perfect for one last trip to the beach, is Apron Anxiety. I first followed the author Alyssa Shelasky through her blog, and bought the book as soon as it was published. It follows love and loss, by way of the kitchen (with recipes too) — which, as we know, makes it perfectly at home with me.
Any books you read this summer that you couldn’t put down? Any recommendations that you haven’t gotten to yet, but are hoping to tuck into come fall? Send ‘em my way — suggestions from friends are obviously my favorite!
How do you like to organize things? If it has an alphabetical option, I will take it. Spices, DVDs, anything really. Although I stopped at books, because it looked terrible and I am not running a library … plus I don’t need to access them on the quick (that is what the Kindle is for).
But I when I found myself reorganizing a friend’s spice drawer on Friday (took me too long to find the chili flakes) I realized perhaps I had gone too far. What is worse is I asked if I could come back and tackle the pantry.
Anyone else OCD on the ABCs?
For months, I would met a friend for an early morning walk – sometimes through the marina and Chrissy field, sometimes up the hills – taking in the views, catching up and getting our heart rate up all while we used to sleep. Unfortunately job and schedule changes put it on hiatus for a bit, so I am so excited to have this back in my routine (albeit with a different, but equally lovely friend). I snapped this pic yesterday as they were setting up for America’s Cup World Series here in SF– should be quite a show!
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I have made no secret for my love of Captain Mike’s smoked fish and the tartines they have at the Ferry Building farmer’s market. But for weekends when I can’t make it down there, this homemade version isn’t too bad.
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Thanks to Cup of Jo, I have fallen deep in the Everlane trap. Perfectly soft and luxurious Ts for a song … I haven’t stopped wearing them since my package arrived earlier in the week. In fact, I ran into Caitlin Flemming (from Sacramento Street) last night and the first thing she said (after “hello” obviously) was “Is that Everlane!?!”
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Sometimes San Francisco can seem like a delighfully small town – running into friends at every turn. Not sure if it has do with living here a bit longer now and getting my bearings, or just the gods were in my favor last night — I was in fact wearing lipstick rather than gym clothes … so there’s my answer. But it was such a treat to run into friends both old and new. And that it happened at a favorite spot while dining with one of my favorite peeps, all the better!
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Sunday night was family dinner at Catie’s and since she had the meal taken care of (expertly, might I add), I thought it would be fun to bring her some flowers. I am loving the cone hydrangeas… I should’ve picked up a second arrangement for myself!
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Cotogna is for sure one of my most loved spots in the city, and particularly excited to have lunch there today. This pic is from a few weeks ago, but I hope the squash blossoms are still on the menu, as I think I may need to sample them at least once more before summer ends. But as good as the lunch will be, excited for the company … it has been much too long since I will have seen this dear friend!
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Hope you had some lovely little things to enjoy this past week — and lots of excitement (or relaxation or both!) for the weekend. My grandfather is visiting, which is such a treat, I am so excited to wander through the streets with him. What are your plans?
xx
While many of you may be enjoying {or hiding from} the dog days of summer, our cold grey San Francisco summer has arrived full bore, calling for parkas on the way to morning coffee. But since we have had a pretty nice summer with plenty of days for seasonally-appropraite meals, I will do my best not to complain. Plus, weather talk is boring.
I only bring it up to set the stage for chili dinner in August.
A big pot of giant black beans were already simmering on the stove when I decided that chili was in order. I didn’t use a recipe, just a hodge-podge of versions I like, plus what I had on hand, plus what sounded good. I wanted something like mom’s version growing up – maybe not authentic in Texas – but a kind that hits the spot. Ground meat, or turkey generally in my case, beans, tomatoes and lots of spices. Instead of stock for extra liquid, in addition to tomato sauce, I added a bottle of beer. Once it simmered together, it became exactly what I was looking for.
We topped it with a bit of white cheddar, greek yogurt and green onion. On the side, 101 Cookbook’s Firecraker Cornbread cooked in a cast iron skillet and a raw kale salad flecked with grated pear brought it all together.
I’m not going to lie, this little dinner got me pretty excited for Fall!
Are you holding on to summer or ready for what’s next?
I can’t decide, which I guess works with the Indian Summer/foggy day combo we have coming.
On Saturday, I went to a beautiful baby shower for Brooke, a dear friend from college who also happens to live in San Francisco. Since a few friends would be coming in from out of town for the festivities, plus the local ladies, we figured it was the perfect opportunity for a girls night on Friday…which we opted to make a girls night in.
It was a weeknight, plus just good practice, so I kept things super easy – and called in back-up for apps and dessert. Tessa picked up pâté and other goodies from Fatted Calf and made great {and super simple} date, goat cheese and proscuitto bites.
I went for a version of something that has popped up on our table all summer — spicy spatchcocked chicken with salsa verde and heirloom panzanella. But to ‘catch’ the wine that was likely to be accompanying dinner, we needed something else warm (plus – it was chilly come Friday evening) and a bit hearty too.
Earlier in the week, in honor of Julia Child’s what-would-be 100th birthday, I spied a zucchini tian on Food 52 that seemed perfect. Two of the ladies are gluten-free, so the rice component was ideal (no fear – they had a separate, and equally delicious panzanella). And since it was primarily zucchini, even the liquid added for the rice to cook was drained zucchini juice, it was also much lighter and healthier than it seemed.
Dessert was truthfully more wine, plus a summer favorite of grilled peaches and vanilla ice cream. We topped it with a little dusting of coconut sugar and smoked salt for fun, but it needs nothing else. I just can’t help adding some flaky salt to dessert.
Such a fun evening catching up with old friends…nights like these are the reason I like to cook!
For the recipe for the zucchini & rice dish
Weekend brunch is often done in restaurants (and perhaps with a bit of a headache from the night before), but we really must work on bringing it back home. I know I don’t do it often enough, but it is such a shame … case in point.
Last weekend, some friends were in town for Outside Lands, and we had plans to meet Saturday morning for brunch before heading to the park. But a quick glance in my fridge revealed some things that needed to be put to use, so we changed the arrangements for brunch at home.
A perennial favorite (that also made use of the arugula and spinach that were some of the must-be-used culprits) are the baked eggs with rocket, chili & yogurt from Yotem Ottolenghi’s Plenty. The original recipe calls for arugula, I have made it before with spinach, and this time I used a combo. I doubled the recipe, which gave us 8 eggs (also, # of eggs in fridge) and was perfect for 5 people. I am sure no one would have complained with 2 eggs a piece, but I was fine with one … plus all the other goodies.
To supplement the fridge basics, I did a quick run for bacon (roasted in the oven – my favorite – less work & less mess), orange juice and bread. The bread became pan con tomate, with fresh from the vine tomatoes that Audra brought straight from the farm, and the orange juice met up with bubbly for brunch-required mimosas.
A few more beverages (flat + sparkling, bloody marys and coffee) as brunch calls for LOTS of drink options, some fruit and a bit more yogurt, and well, I may just give up my standing brunch at Nopa.
Baked Eggs with Yogurt and Chili
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Last week Billy and I celebrated our third anniversary, and that night he cooked me a lovely dinner. He doesn’t often spend time in the kitchen, so a delicious dinner at home {that I didn’t have to think about at all} was much more welcome than a fancy reservation.
In an attempt however to make sure he didn’t buy the whole store, not realizing we had things like chili flakes or olive oil, I went with him shopping, and then stayed out of the way.
Can we talk about how adorable this is — he took the cookbook in the store. When I asked if he wanted to make a list, he seemed genuinely flabbergasted – why write it all down again, when someone else already had?
The menu included grilled figs with proscuitto, spicy linguine with crab and buttermilk panna cotta with raspberries. He has decided that Italian will be his area of expertise. He poured through Mario Batali, Andrew Carmellini and a few other cookbooks – with these three recipes coming from those two.
I have no idea why he doesn’t cook more, because everything was really f*ing good!! Here’s hoping that this trend continues, and we see more of his work. Italian food has a lot to offer.
Thank you for a wonderful evening and Happy Anniversary my love! Here’s to many more!!
xxo
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wedding photo © Annie X Photographie, the rest from me
On Saturday in Tahoe, the plan was barbecue chicken, smashed roasted potatoes and a big veg salad. Then the power went out on our block and so we switched the potatoes to the grill and same with the summer squash – nixing the salad that would be easiest made in the kitchen. But then, the propane ran out while the chicken was only not close to done. Half-cooked chicken is not exactly salvageable, so we scratched it all and walked down the street to dinner.
But the barbecue chicken hankerin’ has remained.
So last night I quickly grilled chicken thighs, painting on a bit of BBQ sauce at the end, just to caramelize. It was fast, easy and just what we were looking for in the weeknight version.
As for the salad, while the chicken was grilling, I added radicchio quarters to the heat, removing once they were nicely grilled on all sides. A quick blanch for the green beans, plus a basic shallot-red wine vinaigrette, made a little richer with the slightest splash of cream, toasted pinenuts, and we were just about there. Once those elements were tossed together, I finished it with basil and goat cheese. It was one of those things that came together on the fly, but will most definitely be added to the regular rotation.
Not quite as fun as the outdoor grilled version while sitting lakeside, but was a pretty close second.
Back in June, I mentioned flowers I arranged with a friend for a baby shower we hosted — the shower came and went, the baby is almost a month old, and I never shared the invitations. But they were too fun to leave off altogether, so here they are, finally.
Our initial plan was just to order something from a stationery store – keep it easy – but turns out any options we liked required way more lead time than we had and cost more than we imagined. Those that seemed reasonable were way too far in the rubber ducky camp — which didn’t quite fit with our vision.
Nothing wrong with a baby-themed baby shower, but since it was co-ed and none of us hosting are terribly into pastels, the pirate look seemed much more fun!
We bought the materials at Paper Source – and then did the rest ourselves. We designed the basic look, which we simply printed on cardstock with my home printer. Katy & Catie then took turns embossing the red pirate & heart, mounting the pieces and cutting the red lining for the envelopes, while I did the addressing. I love embossing a little something when everything else is done on a home printer — the texture makes everything seem much more luxe.
For a little afternoon project, I think they turned out a-okay!
Oh, and we embossed the same little pirate on the placecards…
