Sassy Radish

This is what the sky looked like yesterday*. And this is almost what it looks like today. June, dear June, I think we need to talk…

But seriously, friends, happy Friday! A few days ago, the manuscript landed in my inbox with a heavy thud, and now there is much work to be done. Lots of chapters, lots of queries to answer, lots and lots of edits. But we’re making progress, we’re slogging along, we’re getting one step closer to the finish line, word by word.

Summers are, I think, generally for resting. Work slows down, people check out a bit more. Some places even have summer Friday hours where everyone goes home at noon, bless those places – they’re doing it right. Here, in this lovely household however, it appears to be that things are just beginning to heat up. Obviously, it happens during a period when all you want to do is pack a picnic basket, and wander over to the park. Instead, there are multiple files open on the computer, private chef menus to be finalized, groceries to be purchased, and meals to be cooked.

I hope you like today’s links, and I hope that you have a terrifically wonderful weekend. Here, in the Northeast, we are, finally, supposed to get gorgeous weather, and you know what? Since Sunday is our one year wedding anniversary, but I have to cook all day, we’re taking this Saturday for celebrating. It’s crazy to think: this felt like yesterday!

[P.S. you might notice a few cosmetic changes here on the blog - like the light grey social media buttons and such. trying to clean up this space a little at a time. hope you find it better and easier (and faster) to navigate.]

*The clouds in the picture above, were technically only named in 2009. They are called Asperatus clouds – and might be my favorite. Thanks, Andrew, for the heads up.

Darlings, I’m going to make it quick. Things are about to go all topsy-turvy (I’m told the manuscript comes back today – gulp), and I want to share this recipe with you. We’ve been making these roasted chicken legs with lemon and oregano for several months now; as soon as the recipe appeared in Bon Appetit magazine, it’s been a staple of our regular weeknight meals. Quick, effortless, delicious, and dare I say, idiot-proof?

Because I get up at 6am and work non-stop (maybe with a running break a few mornings a week) until close of day (or beyond), I sometimes emerge from my desk a little stupid. What I mean by that is it takes me a few hours to shake off the work on my brain, which sometimes impairs my dinner-prep abilities. Have I burned dinner? Yes. Under-seasoned it? You bet. Over-seasoned it? No doubt. Anything that can make my weeknights easier, more streamlined, less frenetic – I’m all for it. And if I’m being totally honest, any dinner that I can “cook” while sipping a glass of wine, is my kind of dinner. Which this chicken dish totally is.

Continue reading roasted chicken legs with lemon and oregano.

Happy Friday, friends, though if you’re living in the Northeast, you probably woke up to grey skies, rain, and a general desire to stay in bed all day in your jammies and eat bonbons and finish that Season 4 of Arrested Development. [Or is it just me?] I quite welcome some forced indoor time though as this week was an unusually busy one. On Tuesday, our friend, Heidi, who works with amazing folks (and pigs) at Mosefund Mangalitsa, got married. She decided to hold her reception at Marc Forgione’s namesake restaurant (it is through Marc that I met Heidi and we became friends) and Andrew and I got to be a part of her joyful celebration.

Wednesday night found us at the Barclays Center (for the first time) at The National concert. It’s hard for me to talk about their music not only because there’s a deep, visceral connection there, but also because it is their music that is getting me through some very difficult stuff at the moment. It’s letting me grieve in a way that I need to grieve: privately, internally, quietly. In any case, if you’re a music fan, and haven’t listened to their music, I recommend that you do. They’re a rare band with no weak spots in albums (and believe me, I’ve listened to them all). Also, I posted a video of one of the songs they did for the encore, Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks. Check it out if you’re curious.

And last night was another late night for me, but it’s not a bad thing. It’s just that after three nights of being out and about and social, I desperately need a quiet night with a book. It’ll help me recharge and feel less frenetic. So, I hope that your weekend is just that: restful, calming, subdued, but also fun. Until next week!

Continue reading friday link love.

Friends, I’ve been meaning to publish this recipe since Monday, but it has been a seriously busy week. That book I was working on for most of the last year is finally coming back to me, warts edits and all, come Monday. I’m bracing myself: With regular work, the private chef gig, and these edits, I might go into a cave and just work until the edits need to be submitted.

Here is another recipe I made for the client last week: mushroom bourguignon. I adapted it from Deb as it was a perfect “meaty” recipe to satisfy a non-meat eater. My client’s husband eats fish, but we agreed that I will cook a mix of meat and non meat to make sure that my client gets enough different proteins. The husband just agreed to eat all the dinner components that work for him and off we went. But seeing as at home we eat very little meat to begin with, it didn’t feel like a stretch to create many vegetarian meals that had all the heft and flavor of animal protein.

Continue reading mushroom bourguignon.

Hi friends and happy Friday. The week just flew by, and not because it was a short week. I was buried under a pile of work crawling out only late in the evening to watch and episode or two of a show plucked from us far too soon that finally (finally!) got released last weekend! [Praise be!]

I might think I have a lot of work now, but in about a week, I’m going to be three times as busy and I’m a little anxious about it. To combat the mounting anxiety that I actually might have bitten off more than I can chew, especially in the month of June, I’ve made a deal with myself: starting Monday, I have to get myself to the gym 3 times or more or I’m going to go batty. This means 6am wake-up, which lately I’ve been unable to do. But to stay sane and balanced, I need to start working out again. Some time ago, I got busy for a few weeks, and then it got too hot to run outside, and then too cold again (really, I was just being a wuss), and then I took a few trips and clearly didn’t make exercise a priority. But enough about that. This week’s links are a shortish bunch, but it was a shortish week, so there you go. And even though this weekend isn’t as long as the last one, I hope it’s relaxing and fun for everyone. Come Sunday, I’ll be cooking for my client, so there’s that.

Continue reading friday link love.

Greetings from the land of overbooked and overextended. Somehow, the end of May and the month of June have managed to shape themselves into something far more demanding than the sum of its parts. There’s work here, and work there, and work seemingly seeping out of every crevice I happen upon. This might sound like complaining, but it’s far from it – a few short months ago I was growing increasingly listless and anxious about not having enough to do, so having too much on my plate is arguably better. Still, some things must take priority and others less so, which is why instead of a picture of finished meatballs, you get an iPhone photo of the ones in the process of browning. To be honest, since I cooked a week’s worth of dinners that day, I just forgot to take a picture. Also, below is a random picture of mirepoix cooking. Aaaaaand you’re welcome for that one!

As I mentioned in my last post, I managed to pick up a private chef gig for the month of June. The upside is that my client eats almost everything – which makes cooking actually fun. But still, there’s quite a bit of work involved: from menu-planning, shopping for ingredients, prep, actual cooking, and to the dreaded clean-up. By the time I was done with this first week’s worth of meals, the kitchen looked like a small battle took place there, and I had to resort to Brillo pads and good old elbow grease to put the kitchen back together the way I found it. It took awhile.

Continue reading agrodolce meatballs.