Local Eating ......

We did not cook at home as some good friends were in town tonight. We wanted to dine responsibly, locally and organic as much as possible, so we hit the Blue Plate. Which was perfect as we have been dying to check it out! You should too ~ The Blue Plate . We are hitting the road today, for the rest of the weekend, a little camping and r & r! Don't worry we will be dining locally as we are bringing our own stuff! Come dine with us soon!

Bok Bok ...

We have decided to take part in the Eat Local Challenge. I do not believe I realized how hard it was going to be, when I talked L. into it, until I actually signed up for it - eeks!! I say this next statement in a few deep breaths; I hope we don't fail, I hope we live up to my expectations as well as the local challenges and ....I can not believe I committed to this without shopping first. It was be a challenge as well as we have family in town for a week and a half, which will require some eating out but we will be trying to have them over for our "local cooking" as much as possible as well! Anyhow, tonight I had to go with what we had in the house, which I am proud to say was "organic", not sure how local even though I did purchase at Wholefoods. Regardless, we are committed to giving this challenge our best! Tonight, I sauteed bok choy with some shallots, garlic, some hot peppers (from our garden) and Portbellas. Light, yummy and somewhat (a very little) local!

Ratatouille and not the movie!

I use to make this all the time; but, it has been awhile, such awhile that I forgot the recipe, so I had to wing it. I put layers of Italian eggplant, zucchini, sweet Italian peppers, shallots and garlic and heirloom tomatoes in a roasting pan. Each layer I sprinkled with herbs de Provence and drizzled with olive oil and then baked long and slow. It was delicious and L. gobbled it up. Dessert was more of that wonderful vanilla ice cream with Scharffenberger Ganache on top - L. hate it so fast we never got a photo and our Ratatouille photo came out blurred ... but it was good!

Sea Beans? Roasted Strawberries?

Went to the Ferry Plaza today, with my little friends, M., E., & M. and we played the game, "pick out something new, exciting and fun for me to cook for L. for dinner. They found Sea Beans! Sea Beans are also known as Glassworts. They are crunchy and salty - the kidlets LOVED them! So we picked up a 1/2 pint of Sea Beans! Dinner was left over Portabella Stroganoff, sauteed Sea Beans, and a wonderful Heirloom Tomato Salad with shaved Parmesan. For dessert I served what I had hoped to bring to the Festa Al Fresco but it was not ready ... Vanilla Ice Cream using my favorite recipe by David of The Perfect Scoop (a must for any ice cream lover)& we topped it with Roasted Strawberries! Can you say, "Heaven"??? These roasted little morsels are to die for - caramelly (is that a word), lightly sweet and ever so yummy!!!

La Festa al Fresco

We were so excited to be part of the La Festa al Freso 2007. So excited that we could not decide on what to bring to Cream Puff's and La Mia Cucina's; so, we brought it all! We started with a beautiful Zucchini Carpaccio (our first time making one - YUMMY) and then moved on to a Portabella Stroganoff and Belgium Endive salad with roguefort cheese. We also brought along some of the wonderful homemade butter that we are getting fat on! As well we decided to tote along a bottle of one of our favorite wines, Block 45! Tutti a tavola!!