What Am I Cooking?

Thursday, October 25, 2012

But first, cuteness.

You might think they're watermelons.

Baby watermelons?

But, in fact, they're Cutecumbers.

Little, crisp, slightly lemony cukes. If they had them at the grocery store or the Farmer's Market, I'd put them just like this in my salads, or dip them in a nice tangy dip. I might even make a tomato/Cutecumber salad using mini Roma tomatoes.

My beautiful neighbor & friend is a produce Forager. She finds the best and most interesting things growers are growing. And then she'll call me and say, "Come see what I've got!"

These made my heart skip a little beat.

When we can buy them, we'll have fun, don'tcha think?

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Let's talk about Apples: Pink Pearl

Look at this beauty.

The Pink Pearl is a wonderful, wonderful heirloom apple with a pretty pearly exterior and look, a pink, stripy interior with a tart, crisp bite.

The apple is said to make a pink applesauce. And I can see why. But, I only have two, and when I cut into the first one, it was gone in a flash!

What's not to love? Flavor, texture and the really, the perfect introduction to apple season.

A group of friends and I head up to Riley's Farm in the southern California apple country in Oak Glen this time each year. I don't get to go so, I'm all the more grateful for these babies.

The lovely people at Frieda's tell me that our local Sprouts Market will have lots of heirloom apples coming our way. I have two favorites. The amazing Arkansas Black apple and the Mutzu. So I'm ready to expand my repertoire and see what flavors and textures are coming my way.

Tomorrow or so? King David.

What's your favorite apple?

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Happy Birthday Julia!

I have two grandmothers to thank for my love of the kitchen. Julia just made all of it more interesting. More practiced. And more fun.

Here's how she was remembered on what would have been her 100th birthday.

You have to start with Julia herself and the chicken sisters:

Then there's also the Natural History Museum exhibit.

Or the Huffington Post with thoughts on food in writing. (I don't agree so much with David Astor. I love many of her recipes. And...you can modify a touch here and there for heaven's sake.)

The LA Times remembrance.

An embedded quiz at the Monitor.

And her bio at Bio.

Happy Birthday Julia. And thank you for being the fearless pioneer you were.

Bon Appetit.

Well, what are you having for dinner?

Before the pandemic and Staying-Around-the-House became a thing for so many of us, we found ourselves often wondering at 4:00, 5:00 or 6:00 pm, (dare I say 7:00?) what we're for dinner. When it gets too late, we end up ordering something or driving thru someplace and handing someone a wad of cash - sometimes for food we're not enthused over.

Lately I found myself tired of my own ideas. (And, I love to cook.) So we had a sushi night, a Thai night and some other delivery night when the challenge became both real and fun. I want to continue to.be enthused about the joy of the kitchen.

To be excited about dinner, we need inspiration, ideas -- a plan. So, here we are, together, talking about the big question: What are you cooking?

Thoughts?

Henri Nouwen's said:

The table is one of the most intimate places in our lives. It is there that we give ourselves to one another. When we say, "Take some more, let me serve you another plate, let me pour you another glass, don't be shy, enjoy it," we say a lot more than our words express. We invite our friends to become part of our lives. We want them to be nurtured by the same food and drink that nurture us. We desire communion. That is why a refusal to eat and drink what a host offers is so offensive. It feels like a rejection of an invitation to intimacy.

Strange as it may sound, the table is the place where we want to become food for one another. Every breakfast, lunch, or dinner can become a time of growing communion with one another.

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