Perfect Day

We had a little brunch soiree in our backyard yesterday!

















There was bocce ball, a blind wine tasting,
and of course the spread.

















On the menu:
Brunch Cocktail-Grapefruit juice, campari, st. germain and prosecco

Buttered radish toasts
Fennel, citrus, spinach salad with mint
roasted asparagus
sauteed broccoli rabe
french toast bread pudding with rhubarb sauce and
 bourbon vanilla whipped cream
poblano and mushroom quiche with polenta crust
bacon


It was so great to see everyone and to enjoy the backyard
on such a perfect spring day. I'm kind of thinking that this
should become a monthly thing!

City Sanctuary

I ate my oatmeal in the backyard today.

If i didn't have this option I don't know if I could stay in the city.

It is so nice to be able to come out and enjoy the sunshine, or even

just look out the kitchen window and see some greenery.

They should have built the entire city like this, everyones quality

of life would just skyrocket.  

Now if only I could get these backyard animals to be friends with me.

Damn my Disney upbringing. I always want to feel like Princess Aurora

or Giselle. Minus the singing.

Latest Obsessions

*Gatsby
I know it looks like it could go either way, and maybe it's just
the 11 year old in me that wants to relieve that Romeo and Juliet experience...
But I do love The Great Gatsby. I love anything that is extravagant and gaudy.
So I'm thinking that I will go see this, anyone care to join me?

*Birthday Dress
I'm pretty sure that there are 3 people that think about my birthday
well in advance. Me, the husband (mostly because he has to hear me talk about it)
and my Mom.  That will be my birthday dress, a gift from my Mom :)
I know that you are thinking it may seem a little tame, but remember,
we're going to be in Charleston-in July. The humidity is not kind down there.
a lightweight flamingo dress is just the thing.

*The Last Bookshop
A great short film about the wonder of books.
What a sad world it would be without them.

*On Being Kind
The little things really do make all the difference.

*Letter Writers Alliance
How great is this? More people should write letters.
There is nothing like receiving something in the mail-
that isn't a bill or junk.

Home Remedies

I definitely jinxed myself. I had gone the whole winter
without being truly sick, and now here I am all stuffy
and sleepy. Boo.

I've been getting more than a little carried away with my sweets intake lately.
There is this amazing gluten free bakery right by work, and I think that most
of the days last week I stopped in for a coffee and a cookie. I usually just limit
myself to a piece of super dark chocolate-and not everyday!
This past weekend I indulged in Stock's Cake, chocolate covered pretzels and
other desserts.  Next thing you know...sickness.  (weather fluctuation never helps)
Sugar causes inflammation in the body and suppresses the immune system.
The best bet for fighting back is to put in foods that will help, rather than
sugar-laden medicine from the drug store (check the label, most have some
form of sugar: ie: fructose, glucose etc)
So here are some of my favorite home remedies or foods

*hot water with lemon
*Greens=spinach, kale, arugula, lettuce
*a teaspoon filled with honey, covered with freshly chopped garlic
swallowed down with water.
*Vegetable juice- make sure there are greens, beets and parsley
*No refined sugar
*No dairy
*Tinctures of Marshmallow Root-for throat health, and Nettle-for
inflammation
*Soup (anything with a lot of veggies and no cream)

Do you have any favorites?

A Weekend Away

Sometimes there is nothing better than a weekend away.
Your brain is allowed to reset,  your internet habits get
more few and far between, and you get the opportunity
to laugh until you cry (which is something that always
happens when I'm with my sisters)

This past weekend was awesome.
I got to see family on Saturday afternoon,
attended a birthday dinner for my best friend
that evening and it was GERMAN FOOD!
It really never disappoints.

Sunday I got to spend some time with my Mom,
we had brunch at Dandelion-and it was quite the spread!















We had their 2 versions of a Pimm's Cup,
a cheese board, fish & chips, and a butter lettuce salad.
It was so much fun. I love doing these kinds of things with my Mom.

Wish I could have stayed longer. These visits always go by so quickly!

Greenmarket Finds

Let's put the market list on hold for a minute and talk about this.

 



















My loving husband has stocked our fridge with my most favorite
beer ever.  I've been enjoying this since our trip down to New Orleans
in 2008.  It's a true sign that summer is around the corner.
I popped open the first bottle a few minutes ago and it's been
pure strawberry bliss ever since.  It really is the little things..

OK back to to the market
















*Milk
*Heavy Cream
*Carrots
*2 apples
*Shitake Mushrooms
*Portobello Mushrooms
*2 Onions
*1 Shallot
* Loaf of Sourdough Bread
*Large bag of Spinach
*1 beet
* Begonias (we're trying to get some flowers and plants into our house)
*Turkey Breast (not pictured)
*Perch filet (not pictured)


It's a pretty good start to the week, I don't have a serious meal plan
worked out yet so it will be a work in progress this week.
Speaking of the meal plan, here is the Bolognese that I made last week.
We substituted turkey for beef and added in some portobello mushrooms.
It was delicious!

Latest Obsessions

*Liberty Chocolate
They have a lot of flavors but I love the dark kind.
It's made at a low temperature to preserve all the good stuff
and is made with honey instead of refined sugar, and is
also made without soy/dairy- the other flavors may have those,
but I always want just plain super dark chocolate.

*Housewife dresses
For whatever reason I love dressing like a
50's housewife. sans pearls.
1, 2, 3, 4

*Using my Paella pan
I WILL have a Paella Party this summer
and the pan WILL get used. ooh,
wine can be spanish themed too!
This will be fun....Maybe late June.

*Watching my herb garden continue to grow
It's happening more quickly than I could have imagined.
I'm kind of notorious for having a black thumb so I really
hope these can last me through the summer!

*Garage Wine Co. Cab Franc
Yes, I am obsessed with Cab Franc. It is basically
my ideal varietal with it's funky spicy nose,
wet earth, violet, peppery flavors, and (usually) not
so overwhelming tannins.  We just got this into the store
and I was totally taken by it's smokiness in addition to
all of my usual favorite notes. At $28 on the shelf it's not
an everyday drinker but definitely worth a try.
Their website and story are worth checking out.

Meal Plan: week 4

It's 8:51am and I've already got a soup
going on the stove.  My bedtime has shifted a bit earlier
which means that I wake up a little earlier.
This time has been used for cooking-and it's
been extremely enjoyable. Especially now that
the spring sun actually shines some heat into the kitchen.

This week we're eating:
*Mushroom Poblano Tart
















*Lentil Soup
*Black Bean and Butternut Squash Burritos
*Fish with Mango Sauce (we used Haddock instead of Tilapia)
*Bolognese Sauce

both the tart and  the fish turned out great.  The mango sauce
was a little too thick, more like a chutney really, but still
super tasty. (note: I did puree my own mango because I couldn't find
a mango puree at the store-so that it probably where I went wrong)
 We ate that outside by the fire last night. It was perfect.

I was also thinking of trying out a bread recipe this week
possibly tomorrow...

also,
My herb garden has started to sprout!

A Year in Books: March

*The Battle for Wine and Love-or- How I Saved the World
from Parkerization- Alice Feiring

*Passenger to Frankfurt-Agatha Christie

*Death on the Nile- Agatha Christie

Assorted passages from : Entering the Stream-An Introduction to
the Buddha and his Teachings-Edited by Samuel Berchikz &
Sher Ab Chodzin Kohn

I know you're probably thinking that I read way too much Agatha Christie,
but I haven't read them all yet-so get used to seeing them on the list.
I'm just a sucker for a good Victorian era murder mystery. Even better when
they show up on Masterpiece Mystery!

The Alice Feiring book was a really good read, got me thinking about
how my wine is made. It also made me jealous of some of the things
that she was able to drink!

Finally, if you have any kind of stress in your life you should consider
something like Entering the Stream.  You don't have to follow it exactly
but take what you need from it.  The whole concept is actually fairly overwhelming
(at least to me) but I've been taking baby steps.  We'll see how it goes.

Meal Plan: week 3

We're all out of whack this week, food-wise. This past
Sunday was spent in South Jersey indulging in Easter treats
(read: ham/Mom Mom's chocolate chip cake)
so we couldn't do our regular market/cooking activities.
Now I'm playing catch up.
I ran to the market today and grabbed some essentials
*spinach
*eggs
*heavy cream (for making butter)
*portobello mushrooms
*crimini mushrooms
*apples
then grabbed a few things at whole foods.

Now I have a mushroom bourguignon simmering on
the stove top along with a huge pot of vegetable stock.
Tomorrow I'll be making this. (I'm a sucker for anything
with pineapple in it)

I haven't been keeping track of the budget because we've been
doing our shopping so randomly.  But we'll get back into the
routine this Sunday.

Just Like Honey: pt 3

We did it! We successfully fermented our own

honey wine.  It tastes like springtime in a glass.

I think the next step from here is to work on bottle

aging (it seemed a little intense for the first try).

Stay tuned :)