The Three Macarons

Labors of Love ....... Verbena with a basil buttercream filling Lavender with a honey buttercream filling Hibiscus with a strawberry rhubarb filling

Blue Moon Strawberries

I picked up some strawberries at Whole Foods, today, mainly because they were so darn cute. Bright red & petite and some were oddly shaped, but really cute! Then I took a bite ................... the sweetest, juiciest, sinful strawberry I have ever had - I am completely in love with Blue Moon right now!

Super Woman ....

Not sure who I think I am today ~ maybe all of your inspirations have done this to me! Baking Portuguese masa, French macarons (3 flavors), Hummus, making homemade yogurt (which is really easy & super tasty) and baking some Zucchini bread (old family recipe)...all in this 20 Sq. Ft. kitchen! As well as the usual living stuff: errands, house-work, laundry, my job, yard work, breathing ...... Stay tuned!

Vietnamese Food with a French Flair

Check it out ............ TAO

Lamb Sausage

Finally grilled those Lamb Sausages - fantastic! Served with some grilled eggplant which was drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with grey sea salt & fresh ground pepper. Roasted a mixture of yellow, orange & red beets with thyme & made a simple salad drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, feta and more grey sea salt. Dessert .... simple summer figs!

Zucchini Ribbons

The theme this week is: "Create something from what you have on hand"! I made some zucchini ribbons and created a risotto with a bit of chili flakes and lemon. Let me say one word to describe this meal, "Delicious"!

This Week .................

....... is all about creating a flavor explosion in your mouth from what we have on hand - I won't be able to get to the grocery for a few more days this week!

Sunday Night

Tonight was a very special occasion for us. We or I, usually make something special but since every meal in our house is special, we decided to go out. As well this french bistro has a special meaning for us!

The last few days ......

have been away & did not have any internet access as well, we ate out every night! Great meals will continue this week .......come back soon!

Summer Vegetable Pasta

My mom use to make this zucchini dish when I was a child. I just remember how great the gooey goodness of vegetables with cheese was! This is an updated & lighter version. I tossed it with some pasta ..... light and easy for a hot summer night.

Vino

(tuesday) Baking like a mad woman tonight - father's day gifts! No time for food .... must drink wine for dinner!

Steak & French Fries

I had a special dinner with a special 4 year old and forgot to take photos - we were in such deep conversation about nail polish! We did dine on a petite cut of grass fed beef & Ian's alphabet french fries as well as some oven roasted asparagus - served with Lemonade. For dessert we had left over vanilla ice cream from the other night!

Sunday Night Dinner OUT

Check it out Sousa's.

Tangerine Soba Noodles ....

with roasted veggies! Light, refreshing & delicious! Had a butter lettuce salad with a wasabi dressing with hit. Served it with a nice 2005 Shiraz. Dessert ............ a big bowl of luscious fresh strawberries!

Eggplant Parmesan

(Friday Night) Made a Fantastic Eggplant Parmesan - fantastic, really!!!! It had a slightly spicy tomato base sauce. I used some dry farmed tomatoes I had frozen from last winter - very very flavorable . Then we moved to a grilled Niman Ranch Chili Marinated Beef Bavette, which I found when I picked up the lamb sausage. This cut was incredibly tender & juicy with excellend flavor - one of our new summer time favorite cuts for the grill! Really tasty! We had a salad course next. Baby butter lettuce with some chopped up baby red onions and fennel. I made a balsamic goat cheese dressing & sprinkled the crazy black salt flakes, I found last week, over the top - yum! For dessert I whipped up some Vanilla Bean ice cream!

Dessert for Dinner?

We felt like the naughty kids in the kitchen & were wondering when we would get caught! We were out late buying a new TV, so I had to put the wonderful Eggplant Parmesan that I was going to make, on hold. It was too late to cook, too late for take-out, so we had left over Plum & Apricot Clafouti, some fresh blueberries & cream and a couple glasses of wine for dinner.

Lamb Sausage

I am a sucker for great packaging. I don't like fluff. I like somewhat rustic & simple - to really let you know how great the food is going to be. After all, I am going to eat the food not the packages! I saw these at one of my favorite neighborhood markets, Bi-Rite Market. The sausage is actually made by Neiman Ranch. They are a lamb sausage and the piece of fresh Rosemary really sold me! Start up the barbie .....

Pasta with Fresh Tomatoes

One of my favorite stand-by tomato sauces served with an assortment of pasta that I have left over and I tossed some little pearl size mozzarellas over it - I LOVED how they found their way into some of the orrichette pasta! Next we had a butter-leaf lettuce salad served with a simple vinaigrette and sprinkled with a black flake salt I found at Whole Foods and a loaf of bread. Dessert was a plum and apricot clafouti - I used this pear clafouti recipe but I substituted 1/2 of the cream for half and half and instead of brandy I used some Portuguese Passion Fruit Liquor.

Green Lentil Salad

Made a green lentil salad with shallots, cherry tomatoes, fresh mint and feta cheese - tossed with a classic vinaigrette that I make. I served it with a baguette, first of the season figs, goat cheese and a very nice white Bordeaux.

Monday

We dined out a lot this past weekend - no new stuff to show! As well, we are going to revamp this blog abit & add some new fun things! Keep checking back for some tasty dining treats!

Welcome Baby Dinner

Tonight we are going over to some friend's house to meet their new baby! Our thing is to bring over dinner whenever we go to meet the new addition to a family. It is always the same thing: Homemade Pesto (tonight I did a blend of arugula & basil), Pasta, Mixed Salad Greens, Homemade Vinaigrette, Bread, Wine, Bottle of Bubbly Water and Lemon Bars (I usually bring Barefoot Contessa Brownies (homemade), but have so many Meyer lemons that I decided to shake it up a bit).

Thursday's Dinner

As I mentioned it has been a long week so tonight we decided to take a drive down to Aldo's for dinner!

Wednesday's Dinner

It has been a long week, tonight we started with Tanqueray Tonics, which we never do especially during the week! The weather has been so gloomy, we wanted to pretend it was 90 outside and not cold & foggy! Then we moved to a nice meal of comfort food - my made up version of a french classic ~ Coq au Vin with a roasted Barley & Shallot dish. I served it with a wonderful 2005 Cotes du Rhone I found at Bi Rite Market (by the way, they have a wonderful wine collection & very reasonable).

Tuesday's Dinner

I did not feel like going to the market today so I had to get creative with what we had in the house, after a long weekend away, it was not much! I was inspired by BF's Portuguese background as well as my Basque background - both his mother and my grandmother use to use a lot of chickpeas in their houses and we have come to love them! Decided to throw in some secret seasons as well as some of the Portuguese Chorizo we won at the auction a couple weeks ago & why not some spinach I had picked up during the day - this is what we got! Enjoyed it with a wonderful glass of 2005 Blackwing Shiraz - super delicious!!! Dessert was left over frozen yogurt from last week as well as some strawberries I picked up. Enjoy!

Camping Cont ...

...... camping would not be complete without smores & .... home-made creme brulee?! The creme brulee became an added tradition last year & the recipe is from Fringale!

Memorial Day Weekend

BF & I went away for the annual camping trip with a group of friends, to Bishop, CA. This use to be a weekend of physical activities with little thought as to what we would be eating! Well, the last couple trips have become a weekend of questions, "what is for dinner tonight?" We went all out this past weekend - grilled salmon and corn one night. The next night we started with grilled portabella mushrooms and then grilled up some NY cut grass-fed beef steaks with a wild mushroom medley served with grilled asparagus. Now keep in mind all food is grilled over open fire!

Thursday's Dinner

As I have said before, when BF is not here, I tend to get a bit lazy ... actually, too busy tonight to cook, so I whipped up some of David Lebovitz's Frozen Yogurt - can you say, Viva La France?! Very Berry Good!!!!!

Wednesday's Dinner

I, was, again, inspired by the Traveler's Lunchbox! We dined on this outstanding Risotto - at first BF was curious & suspect about cauliflower in Risotto .... but, then one bite and he was sold! This will be a new staple in our household! As well I attempted a recipe for a berry Clafoutis ............ it looked pretty but was terrible!!!!! I need a better recipe - a more french one! ?????

Macarons

Okay ... I am in love with Macarons. Not the coconut ones (or as my sweet 6 year old friend M. calls them ... "the American ones"), instead the actual French ones! I am trying to master the recipe for M.'s sister's tea party next week & as you will see from this photo .. I have a lot of work ahead of me. Mine actually look like Driedels! Let me tell you, looks are deceiving as these babies - ROCKED and they received more compliments from my astounding taste panel than I have ever had! I used three recipes for them & varied them a bit: The actual cookie part - I used the Basic Macaron Recipe and flavored with almond extract. AS well I ground my own almonds. The filling, I used two different ones: a Blood Orange Curd & an Italian Buttercream (flavored with Vanilla Beans). A BIG THANK YOU to those of you who inspired me!!!

Our Fridge this week!

In response to Becks & Posh's posting, here is what is "Chillin Out" in our Fridge which is definitely the coolest part of our apartment this week! Top Shelve: Lots of Diary Items! As well as some Portuguese Peppers as well as homemade hot sauce from Boston - thanks to BF's uncle & dad!! Second Shelve: Eggs, Peanut Butter, Sesame Paste, Strawberries, Raspberries, Blackberries, Feta and Parmesan Cheeses. Third Shelve: Homemade Ketchup, couple bottles of white wine (french), Prosecco, Iced Tea, Bubbly Water, Portuguese Chorizo (which we won at an auction), Elk (which we are grilling up this weekend) and peppers. Vegetable Bin: Lots of Meyer Lemons from our neighbor (YIPPY)!! Mushrooms, Lettuce and Baby Carrots. On the Fridge Door. Top Shelve: More cheeses! Rest of the Door: Rum, Vermouth, Homemade (from my step-mom, she makes the best) Peach Jam, Thai Curry Paste, Horseradish, Japanese Ginger and assorted condiments.

Tuesday's Dinner

Was inspired by the market visit! Fresh made pesto as well as pasta. Served with a red-leaf lettuce salad and vine ripened tomatoes drizzled with Olive Oil and Meyer Lemon juice. Sauteed an assortment of baby squash and their blossoms with some shallots and olive oil, zested Lemon over the top! Served with a nice wine from the Loire Valley - wonderful!!

Farmer's Market Visit

I use to shop at Farmer's Market weekly, but have not been in months. It was a beauitful day today so I decided to venture down to the Ferry Plaza - I have to say, I love this time of the year, great stuff is hitting the market! Wanted to share some of it with you! Enjoy! See Flickr for more great shots.

Monday's Dinner

Homemade falafel served with a Meyer Lemon Cannellini bean hummus, toubeleh and whole white pitas. No dessert tonight ... watching the waistlines!

Sunday's Dinner

A whole weekend spent eating out - boy, was I glad to get back into the kitchen! We had a couple hungry guy friends over so decided to fire up the grill and throw some burgers on! Was fantastic if I do say so! Started the meal with homemade meyer lemon (thanks to my neighbor for bringing a whole bag full of them over) hummus & Stacy's Pita chips. Dinner was ... Organic grass fed beef burgers seasoned perfectly with fresh herbs, served on egg/sesame buns with homemade ketchup. Served with grilled white corn and a Greek salad with it! For dessert, I used a recipe from Tartelette, Cardamon Ice Cream - WOW!!!! I am now addicted to my new Kitchen Aid ice cream maker!!!