saturday csa

some of this week's offerings from the farm.

My dinner tonight

What is it about the cold, dark days of winter that make me want to lay around all day in bed watching Nigella Lawson videos online? I made up for the first half of today's laziness by getting myself out to two markets and coming home to make the meal in the first half of this video. I feel so accomplished.

It's that time again...

Getting a jump on the Christmas baking for this year. I always make way too many, and as much as I love it, it can become a bit exhausting, especially if I wait until too late in the month to get started. Some of my favorites/staples each year: chocolate dipped coconut macaroons, chocolate crinkles, and this butter cookie recipe which can be used to make all sorts of various shapes and sizes of cookie (great for spritz cookies). New this year -- I think I'll try out this recipe. Got any favorites of your own? Share away!

Rereading

"USDA figures show a decline in the nutrient content of the forty-three crops it has tracked since the 1950s. ...you now have to eat three apples to get the same amount of iron as you would have gotten from a single apple grown in 1940.

The news of declining nutrient levels in American produce prompted The Packer, a trade publication for the produce industry, to suggest that this might actually be good for business, because people would now need to eat more produce to get the same nutritional benefit."

I suddenly had the urge today to reread this book - which I originally purchased and read when it was first released. I'm currently suffering from a second major illness in as many months, and am on my second round of antibiotics so that I can go back to work in a timely manner. It's no secret that I've been eating very badly since starting this job over a year ago, and I know that's at least partly to blame for my insufficient immune system. Time to make a change, i.e. get back to where I was a year and a half ago. It would be even better if I could get back to where we were 50 or more years ago. Maybe then I'd actually make it through a month without getting sick. Oh wait, there are other variables to consider, like the fact that my workplace forbids opening the windows, but thinks nothing of conducting ongoing construction in the building for over a year, forcing us all to breathe in unhealthy air for 8 hours each day.

Summer's Bounty

Last night I finally had the chance to use up some of the pounds and pounds of zucchini I just couldn't resist buying at a recent trip to the farmer's market. For dinner I made one of my favorite (light?) pizzas -- zucchini and kalamata olives with red onion and mozzarella cheese. While that was in the oven - and while I was still on my gin & tonic buzz around the kitchen, feeling super motivated - I finally decided to have a go at making the zucchini bread recipe that's been in my plans for a week. I'd heard that using a food processor for the zucchini works fine, and I still can't find my loaf pan from the move, so I opted for the bundt (I do love bundts so very much). An hour later, the fragrant, sweet bread emerged from the oven. Now there's the problem of what to do with the two-recipe's worth of zucchini bread (that it took to fill the bundt pan in the first place). I do recommend the recipe. Come on, you know you have some sqash to use up. ;)


Zucchini Bread Recipe from smitten kitchen

Yield: 2 loaves or approximately 24 muffins (or one bundt)

3 eggs
1 cup olive or vegetable oil
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 cups grated zucchini
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)
1 cup dried cranberries, raisins or chocolate chips or a combination thereof (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Grease and flour two 8×4 inch loaf pans, liberally. (See those pictures of the cakes inside their non-stick pans? Yup, they’re pretty much hanging out in there for the time being.) Alternately, line 24 muffin cups with paper liners.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs with a whisk. Mix in oil and sugar, then zucchini and vanilla.

Combine flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder and salt, as well as nuts, chocolate chips and/or dried fruit, if using.

Stir this into the egg mixture. Divide the batter into prepared pans.

Bake loaves for 60 minutes, plus or minus ten, or until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Muffins will bake far more quickly, approximately 20 to 25 minutes.

photo via smitten kitchen

Sweet!

I came across this brief article on vogue.com today from way back in March 2007. It's a short write-up about the wearable edibles & sweet confections of the then-soon-to-be owners of my favorite place on Earth.

Happy Weekend

this weekend we:
sipped sangria & ate too much at the best mexican restaurant in albany
had a valentine-making party & sang along to some great old records
baked & devoured red velvet cupcakes
had a mini documentary marathon

i hope you had a nice, warm weekend
xo

Get Inspired: Cooking

I thought to look for one of my favorite cooking shows online - and there it was! Actually, Nigella Lawson has done a few, slightly different-themed shows over the years, but they're all relatively the same and I've been watching all of them one by one for the past week.

A Good Sunday

A good Sunday starts with fresh baking banana bread in the oven, brunch with friends and mimosas, followed by an afternoon cookout that lasts into the evening, and is topped off with a classic film. A good ending to the last weekend of summer. I hope you had a nice one, too.







Best banana bread recipe I've come across so far:

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 1/3 cups mashed overripe bananas

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture; stir just to moisten. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 60 to 65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.

Sweet As Pie

tonight we ate mac & cheese,
drank lemon-mint champagne,
watched four hours of twin peaks,
and devoured an entire pie.

bon voyage, amy & matthew!
****

Sweet Sunday

today i'm heading to an outdoor party at a family friend's lovely farm. i will be baking and bringing this mouthwatering dessert.


Fruit Pie with Crumb Topping
(from marthastewart.com)

Ingredients

Serves 8

• 5 cups berries (blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries)
  
• 3/4 to 1 cup granulated sugar
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 Crumb Topping
• Easy Pie Crust

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine 5 cups fruit with 3/4 to 1 cup granulated sugar, 3 tablespoons flour, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, and 1/8 teaspoon salt. Pour into pie shell; sprinkle with 1/2 recipe Crumb Topping.
2. Place on foil-lined baking sheet in lower third of oven; reduce heat to 350 degrees. Bake until fruit bubbles and crust browns, 1 1/2 hours. If topping begins to brown too quickly, tent with foil. Let cool.

Summery Sweet

Tonight I'm baking this and listening to this.

Regarding the cake...I know I really shouldn't...but hey, I have an interview in two days I'm stressing about, and it's too cold outside to leave my apartment anyway {right around mid-May, I go from wuss to Super Pansy about the temperature}. :)

image here

Cheery

I love this adorable Dotty Garland from Little Glowing Lights.

{oh, and I'm totally making this cake as soon as I have an excuse}
Thanks Catherine!

A Saturday In May

The farmer's markets have finally begun to fill up with all sorts of vegetables, herbs, and flowers. (And bread. Ohhh, the bread). Oh, how I've missed this! When I visit the market, especially coming right off winter, I run around with a goofy grin plastered on my face, oohing and ahhing at everything in sight. I have to walk in with a fixed amount of cash, because I always end up spending whatever I have. Usually I go with a couple of friends, and Saturday mornings being what they are, we usually don't roll up until late morning. Last weekend most everything was gone by the time we arrived, so today we forced ourselves to make the trip at 9am, and wow! Getting there early is apparently where it's at. Other people seem to know this...while I was there I ran into Miss Kate!

---------------------------------

I was hoping to hit up the drive-in at some point this weekend, but unfortunately there isn't anything good playing (no offense, Terminator and Wolverine fans). I think we'll make a trip to the indoor theaters, instead. This dvd has been sitting on my shelf for a while. Maybe I'll get a chance to watch it.

Oh, and I bought a new dress. Perfect for a cookout.

Happy Memorial Day {weekend!}

Summertime

It's really, actually starting to feel like summer. It's started staying light outside until nearly 9pm, the humidity is beginning to hang in the air, and it seems every night in my neighborhood there is the familiar smell of a charcoal grill. I have a really teeny tiny apartment, not the most suitable place for entertaining, but now that summer's hit I've decided to throw that logic out the window.

One of the great things about living in the city is the ability to escape your living quarters and overflow into whatever *other* space you have available - whether it's a terrace, small yard, front steps, or perched at a little table on the sidewalk, talking to strangers as they pass by. Last night I had some friends over for dinner & drinks. We ate & talked until well after dark. It was fabulous.

Happy Summer to you all.
xo

I Want To Go

I'm hoping to take a little road trip with friends to the Catskills one upcoming weekend, cameras in tow. While we're there, I'd love to swing by Heaven for a pastry and some tea.


{seen here. thanks, mrs. french}

Marcus Nilsson

i love the work of marcus nilsson. he does such an amazing job of capturing and conveying mood in his photographs of food (and the people and places surrounding it). i love how he can portray a sense of *being there* - like you're witnessing the food as it's being prepared or eaten - food in its true essence. when you looks at his photographs, you get a sense of what might be going on just outside of the shot. it's not just about the food, it's about the details and situations the food is ultimately a part of.

No Reservations

I am super excited to have discovered full episodes of ALL of the seasons of one of my favorite shows, Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations. I can't get enough of his take on food, travel, people, his snide cynicism, and sarcastic sense of humor. If you love food (and plenty of straight talk), trust me, you will love this show.

Oh look, he has a blog, too. I think I'm becoming a groupie...

Daily Tidbits

"it is pretty clear that you need cake.... i believe in everyday cake."
~orangette

i completely agree with this statement
(unfortunately, my waistline does not).

**********************************

thoughts on today:
- i'm excited to be getting my first three rolls of film from my holga back tomorrow (some of the pictures dating back to october & november!)
- they've been filming scenes for the new angelina jolie movie in my town for the past week or so. i'm a total angie groupie.
- going to see about a new bike this afternoon
- temperatures are going to be in the mid 60's today, much nicer than 90s for April.
- the daffodils and famous albany tulips are in full swing. the trees have blossomed and the lilac bushes behind my house are full of tiny buds. i love the newness of spring.

Crisan

I've mentioned their tasty treats before, but what I love equally as much about this neighborhood bakery is the impeccable decor and beautiful design elements that seem to constantly be changing. The crisp whites, shiny reflective glass, and simple details provide a stunning backdrop to what is already an exceptional experience (noshing on those oh-so-fresh pastries). Oh, and everyone who works there is really friendly, too.

If you live in the Albany area and you haven't been yet, well, you just have to go. I seriously frequent this place way too often...I can't stay away. But really, why would I want to?

crisanbakery.com