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It’s summer. Which in San Francisco, means that it’s freezing cold, windy and generally miserable. But, we can at least pretend the sun is shining. This corn and tomato salad is an oldie (i’ve posted the recipe before – it’s a Sunset classic), but so good it’s worth repeating.
Bring on the sun!
Yes, yes, we all know the mis-quote from Mark Twain about San Francisco summers. That line might seem charming to non-residents in an “Oh, lovely, kooky, charming, San Francisco” way, but when you live here, it’s no laughing matter.
Every summer, without fail, the fog descends. Early mornings and early evenings are blanketed in a creeping gloom that renders everything damp, grey and singularly mysterious.
But, this doesn’t mean we can’t do a mean summer picnic. Even in the evening. And in the middle of the city. Here’s what we made on a recent jaunt to an open air screening of my favorite film, When Harry Met Sally, in Union Square. It was FREEZING, so we needed to keep warm, with sausages, fajitas and good red wine! Plus guac, because in San Francisco, you can’t really have a picnic without avocado:
What better way to spend a long, lazy Sunday, than lolling in the sun and drinking some delicious wine? At Scribe Winery in Sonoma, you can wine-taste from the comfort of your own individual picnic blanket. Then when you’re done trying some deliciously non-buttery Chardonnay (yes, the wine gods do exist), and young, feisty Pinot Noir, you can take a turn on the swing. It’s all beautifully picturesque and while the strains of Mumford & Sons do verge a little on the self-consciously SF hipster, admit it, they’re a perfect soundtrack to a day of sipping and sunshine.
I’d love to tell you where Scribe is, but I’m afraid I want to keep it a secret, all to myself…
As part of my own rejuvenation project, I’m trying to cook more at home. But it’s definitely tricky to balance my almost obsessive desire for white carbohydrates and fat (let’s face it, who doesn’t want those things in every single meal?) with the need to eat more healthily.
Luckily, I’ve managed to find a few recipes that meet my at-home criteria: fast, healthy and delicious. Here they are:
- Japanese mirin-poached beef: so tasty you’ll think it’s a restaurant recipe
- Chicken BLT salad with buttermilk dressing: hearty and with a great dressing
- Poached chicken with vegetable and orzo broth: poaching is my new best friend. No fat involved and it’s a perfect vessel for lots of flavors and veggies
And here’s one I made earlier! Not a bad rendition of the Japanese beef…
Here’s hoping I can keep this up!
It’s been a few weeks since I’ve posted, but now that Spring is right around the corner, it seems like a good time to re-start and refresh! My boss posted about rejuvenation this week, and I’m making a few changes on that front too, albeit mainly in my life outside of work.
Some of the steps are basic health-giving ones, that I’m excited to make a regular part of my routine:
- Drinking a huge glass of water on waking each morning. I’m trying to get into the habit of setting a large glass of water on my bedside before I turn in each night. Then trying to gulp it down first thing, before even shuffling into the shower. It’s actually pretty difficult at first – that’s a lot of liquid at 6:30am! But i’ve read enough about this tip to be giving it a try.
- Drinking less coffee, better coffee. For Rick’s birthday, I splashed out on a beautiful tomato red coffee maker (try that link for a good list of options), and we now start the day with a lovely, small cup of freshly ground and brewed coffee. Even better, we also bought some beautiful espresso and cappuccino cups from La Colombe Torrefaction. One cup is enough, and we enjoy it together at home before the craziness of the day starts. No more being jostled in line at Starbucks to buy a coffee larger than my own head? That’s a win.
- Adjusting my work hours. A tricky one this. I start work really early, but I had gotten into a bad habit of staying really late too. And it was hard finding time to work out, and the energy! After I saw a few sneaky extra pounds appear, I knew it was time to make a few changes. So i’m trying to leave a little earlier, in order to make a commitment to exercise. With smartphones and laptops, it’s actually pretty easy to be a little more flexible with your hours and still be productive. In fact, it might even increase my productivity. So, I’m definitely going to try and make this a consistent part of my routine.
- Eating home-cooked food. I love to shop for food, and I love to cook. It’s super relaxing and great for your focus. And it HAS to be better for you to eat less processed foods. I’m really enjoying creating new dishes, and using my local farmer’s markets for fresh produce.
- Getting more sleep. Arianna Huffington is famous for her Sleep Challenge, and I’m a believer. Lack of sleep not only makes me irritable, but it also leads to me making less than stellar decisions about food. And of course, feeling refreshed is the best tonic for a busy and challenging day at work. So, i’m trying to get more sleep than I think I need. Most people need more sleep than they think they need.
I’ll be exploring more on this over the coming weeks and months, and I’m excited. Spring is here!
Much like my love of beautiful clothes, I also love delicious food. I mean, who doesn’t? But instead of always admiring someone else’s work in a restaurant, occasionally I like to challenge myself in the kitchen. Easy, breezy summer recipes are one thing, but hearty winter fare? That’s a little more work.
Luckily, I had a willing (ok, maybe not so willing) sous-chef at hand in the shape of my husband and a lazy Saturday stretching ahead of us. The perfect time to try something a little more complex for dinner.
We opted for Bon Appetit’s beef shortribs with a red wine sauce and tangerine gremolata, accompanied by celeriac and potato mash. Yep. Sounds daunting right?
I’m not gonna lie, this recipe was not easy. That’s not to say it was super-complicated fare. Just that the preparation involved so many different steps and ingredients. Making a good sauce is something that for me, marks the difference between a great chef and a home cook. It is not easy!
Four hours later (!), we actually arrived at something that looked and tasted pretty good. It wasn’t perfect, but that’s why you go to a great restaurant, right? Never again will I take the “shortrib” dish on a menu for granted…
Two side notes? Gremolata? Delicious and easy. Going to try that with more dishes. And celeriac, otherwise known as celery root? Oh so good. Soooo ugly. But so good!
Here’s the evidence!
Even though Fall in San Francisco is more about sunshine and outdoor wine tasting than bundling up in front of a toasty fire, I still appreciate the season and its open invitation to get cozy. I love the turning leaves (can’t quite bring myself to say ‘foliage‘ even after nearly five years in the US!), the opportunity to sharpen up my look with new layers and colors, and most of all, I love the harvest season for food.
When I was a child, Harvest Festival was one of the high points of the school social calendar. Yes really. And I still fondly remember struggling into church with an overflowing box of canned goods, fresh produce and having amazing looking pumpkins and corn on display. These days, Fall for me is a time to indulge in copious amounts of roasted butternut squash, and any roasted root vegetable I pick up at the market.
There’s something about roasting veggies that brings out their caramelized sweetness (especially squash and carrots), and it’s a great chance to experiment with flavored roasting oils, fresh herbs, spices and other condiments, like this incredible rosemary-flavored salt from Eatwell farms. Still one of my best Farmers Market finds.
What’s even better is that it takes almost no work at all to prepare. Perfect if you’re like me, and never seem to have enough hours in the day. I can roast up some vegetables and a protein like bone-in chicken or pork tenderloin, all in one pan, and just shove it in the oven for an hour while I do something else. True, that ‘something else’ is often a Bravo Real Housewives marathon, but hey, don’t judge another’s busy schedule…
The end result? A delicious and nutritious, comforting and satisfying plate of food. Much less work than a full-on roast, and practically now washing up. Result.
This month’s Sunset magazine has more great recipes for easy, one-dish dinners.
Here’s what I’m craving:
Fresh white corn
Firm, slightly green tomatoes:
(Photo credit: er, me…)
Fresh basil, avocados and best of all…
Purple bell peppers. How could I not have known these things existed? Thanks to the farmers market at Fillmore:
(Photo credit: Molly Watson)
Combined, most of these ingredients make the dish Rick and I have been living off for weeks now. Sunset Magazine’s stupendous Corn and Avocado Salad. Here’s a picture of it to make your mouth water:
(Photo credit: Annabelle Breakey, c/o Sunset Magazine)
Of course, for the aesthetes among us, the colors will also inspire. But for all of us, the taste will just really amaze. I will be quite beside myself when the season ends! Here’s the recipe. Dead easy and the dressing is beyond. I added the purple bell pepper after spotting and smelling them at the market. Smoky, a little sweet. Delicious!
Although part of me was pining for 10 days at home sleeping pretty much every second of the day, our honeymoon ended up being the perfect storm of social calls, sightseeing and sea-gazing. With plenty of pasta and gelato thrown in!
Starting in London, where my mom traveled down especially for the day, we had a wonderful time with friends and new additions, plus an amazing break with perfect English weather!
But that was just the start. Impossible to post about everything we saw and experienced in Rome and on the Amalfi Coast, so here are the vital statistics and best shots!
- 3 cities: London, Rome, Amalfi
- 20 gelatos, especially hazelnut and Nutella. Especially Rick
- 60 photos, including this one:
30 times we asked for ‘il conto’, after swearing to each other to use our Italian more- 2 bouts of travel sickness on Amalfi’s amazingly scenic, but very twisty roads
- 45 minutes travel on a hot sticky day to reach the world’s best cacio e pepe pasta
- 1 day to discover the wonders of pecorino cheese with honey
- 5 bowls of pasta all’ amatriciana
- 76 times we had to consult our map in Rome
- 78 times we had flash arguments about directions in Rome, always resolved by a ‘well, which way is the gelato place?’ conversation
- Endless times we were speechless about what we were seeing, in Rome and in Amalfi
- 2 sets of happy tears on seeing the Cistine Chapel
- 1 set of happy tears (mine), on finding my favorite Italian cookies in a grocery store
- 9 times that Rick said he’d be happy to live in Rome. Forgetting that a basic grasp of the Italian language would be somewhat helpful in pursuing that goal
- 7 pounds that I probably gained during our trip in my own personal Eat, Pray, Love homage. O Jenny Craig where art thou? Seriously.
- 15 instances of counting our blessings that the hardest decision of the day was finding the place with the best cappuccino
- 2 very happy honeymooners:
And yes, I made the word ‘goddessery’ up, but it’s Sunday evening, and the tail end of a long week… Now I’m a feminist. I believe in equal rights and equal choices, and that married life must go hand in hand with the retention of independence.
BUT
On a rainy Sunday (and sidenote: what in the world is going on with San Francisco weather right now? It’s April and resembles a soggy weekend in Wales), there’s sometimes nothing better than indulging in some Mad Men-era baking and basting. It’s a chance to burn up some calories in the kitchen rather than the gym for once, and for a small, heavenly second, believe you actually have a tentative grip on domestic projects. Until the week begins of course…
I like to channel domestic goddess of all domestic goddesses, Rita Konig, whose books, including Domestic Bliss and Culinary Trickery, have been my aspirational tomes for years. Rita is just one of those effortlessly stylish girls, who seem to have all the elements of their lives in perfect order. I’m not jealous. Much!
So what was on today’s agenda? A tempting new dinner dish, and some doggy treats to die for!
First up, deliciously addicting, even for humans, home-made peanut butter dog treats. These are so super-simple, but guarantee smiles and wagging tails for days, even weeks. Just mix wholewheat flour, oatmeal, peanut butter (I prefer organic) and a little hot water. Then bake for 30-40 minutes. Dogs prefer really crunchy, hard cookies, so don’t be afraid to cook them for longer than feels comfortable. They made Sophie smile on a rainy day (can dogs smile?), so the 30 minutes of time invested was well worth it.
Next, a new dinner recipe for Rick and I. It’s been one of my goals since we moved in together, that at least once a week, on a Sunday, I’d try and cook something new. Otherwise i default to chicken stir fry more times than i’d like to admit. And Rick has to work every Sunday, so it’s the least I can do!
This week was a triumph. Even if i do say so myself. A big thank you to Bon Appetit and their recipe for Chipotle Roast Chicken Tacos. Mmm, so delicious and good, even after hours of toil and lots of mess in the kitchen.
(Photo credit: Bon Appetit magazine)
The perfect end to a great low-key weekend in the city. Yoga, drinks with good friends and some great home cooking.
