Storybooks and Daddy's memories

In the last two weeks, Z has suddenly shown an interest in books with plots, not just reference manuals!  First was Go, Dog, Go!, which we read and read and read several times a day.  And this morning, when he woke earlier than either of his parents was really ready, he and I sat in his rocking chair and read The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Barnyard Dance (one of my favorites from my babysitting days).  He also wants to sit in our laps when we read -- so sweet!

After Daddy read my last post, he wanted to add two precious memories of Paris:  It was there that Z first started holding his head up on his own.  That meant he could look around, so he also started noticing the world around him.  He was transfixed by the windows at Notre Dame.

(Am I the only person who thinks that Caterpillar glorifies eating disorders?  My mother, who loves the counting in it, hates it when I say that.)

Today, Z "drove" a fire engine at the annual festival at OU's airport.  And when we were at our favorite playground in the afternoon, he ran up to me, unprompted, and gave me a giant hug.  He is happy and loving.  So far, so good.

Christmas in Cave Creek

While in Arizona for Christmas, we went to Tonto Bar and Grill in Cave Creek.

Local sweet desert shrimp:

Buffalo top sirloin with bacon quinoa:

Braised lamb shank with brie polenta:

The remains of buttermilk chocolate cake with candied pecan ice cream:

First Christmas dinner

Bleu cheese au gratin potatoes and pumpkin whoopie pies from the new Henrietta's Table cookbook:

Not beautiful, but delicious!

Thanksgiving treats

Cranberry bog turkey burgers:

Risotto with roasted sweet potato and brussel sprouts:

Putney Pasta butternut squash ravioli with brown butter, sage, and walnuts:

Classic Libby's pumpkin pie on Whole Foods crust:

Pumpkin bread:

Fall flavors

From NPR: Chicken sauteed with cider and almonds, with farmers' market broccoli (above) and pasta with roasted butternut squash and greens (below):

Blueberries for Sal Wiz

A late summer breakfast treat -- from scratch sour cream-blueberry muffins, stuffed with wild organic Maine blueberries. Delicious!

Labor Day Cook-Out

With local corn and tomatoes:

Simple summer suppers

Rubbed with love boneless pork chops, with sauteed brussel sprouts.

Rubbed with love wild salmon, local salad greens.

Knott's Ward's Berry Farm

After a successful three-plus hour shopping trip at the Wrentham Premium Outlets, we stopped by Ward's Berry Farm on the way home and picked up a bushel of fresh and local produce:

Pesto, pesto!

One of the things I miss most about Princeton is my friend Hannah's homemade pesto. (And I miss Hannah, too!) But I found myself with all of this beautiful basil, some from the farmers' market and some from our garden:

So I made pesto, and tossed it with our favorite semi-local frozen pasta and local grape tomatoes.

With the leftover pesto, I topped a pizza:

I make our own crust in the bread maker. A batch makes enough for three pizzas, so I'll usually bake one right away and freeze the other two balls of dough. My secret ingredient is extra sugar in the dough -- thanks to Lee H. for that idea!

Good morning, Sunshine

We love coffee. It is the theme of the decor in our kitchen.



So we grind our own each and every time we make a pot. Right now, we're drinking coffee roasted on Orcas.



We usually have decaf after dinner. On my to-do list is to find a good local coffee roaster, but right now we're drinking fair trade coffee purchased at a local independent coffee house, True Grounds. Usually we are customers of the big, bad corporate behemoth. But we should reconsider.

Rubbed with Love

Last summer on Orcas, Mom and Dad introduced us to Tom Douglas' Rub with Love salmon rub. We brought some home and have used it on salmon but especially love it on pork. We also recently used it on chicken. This year, we bought more salmon rub but also added pork rub to our collection, which we used on chicken tonight:



I had leftover grape tomatoes, goat cheese, and citrus dressing from "Bad-ass Pasta Primavera," so I made a salad by adding local organic romaine and not-so-local avocado. We topped it with the grilled chicken:

By the way, sometimes I am not nearly as bright as I look. I literally just now, while composing this post, realized that Tom Douglas of Rub with Love and Tom Douglas of Dahlia Lounge were the same. Duh!

Today at the Market

It was just a quick trip to the farmers' market today ... huge blackberries, bunches of basil, and some cookies for dessert. But raspberries were back and sweet corn is in season. So I'll be making a big trip next week!

Fresh and local

We were homesick for Orcas from the moment we left. While we were there, just about everything we ate was fresh and local -- the fish, the meat, the vegetables, the fruit. The colors and flavors were unbelievable. So we've been trying to recreate it at home, which means lots of (expensive) trips here and here. We also wanted to try to recreate a fabulous dinner Brent had at the Inn at Ship Bay. So we present, "Bad-ass Pasta Primavera":

I splurged on fresh, local pasta (though next time, I'll go back to the regular stuff). The veggies -- grape tomatoes and a couple of kinds of squash -- are from local farms. The "sauce" is a citrus vinaigrette (lemon juice, lime juice, zest, olive oil, sugar, and salt) and lots and lots of goat cheese.

Tonight, we went with an old stand-by, Broiled Salmon with Marmalade-Dijon Glaze:


We used wild Coho salmon -- get it while it's in season! It made the dish. I have been using low sugar (but no artificial ingredients!) marmalade for my orange recipes lately, and it's great. On the side, I sauteed local (of course!) chard with garlic and oil and warmed some leftover homemade wheat dinner rolls. The mix of salty-bittery chard and sweet salmon was perfect!