If you’d like to post some guest posts that you think might fit with the theme of “Mindful Hedonism, Decadent Sustainability” please let me know. Yes, even if you might have let me know that in the past and I might have blown you off because I was distracted.  So far, its mostly been about food, wine and friends, but you might have another angle.

Rebecca

We started the visit with omelets.  They were delicious – I made them.  My mom had just “forgotten” to tell me in advance that I had cooking responsibilities.  We’re lucky there was enough coffee and they turned out well (I had feta, mushrooms, red peppers, onions and spinach).  There wasn’t a hope for remembering to take pictures.

Lunch followed, with the first of the birthday cakes. My mother made an amazing fondant frosting that had a bit of white chocolate in it.

Dad's Birthday Cake the First

Lunch of course transitions to coffee which transitions to dinner. Well, not dinner exactly. Crabs.  Crabs should not be misunderstood as a simple item that is part of a meal.  They are, in and of themselves, an event.  You may never have worked so hard for your food.

Crabs Hon

After dinner there was a last food event for the day.  Cake the Second.  Cake the Second was more exiting for me, because this was one I could eat.  My mom used one of the Gluten-Free Pantry mixes and baked a chocolate cake.  Joseph lent a hand with whipping up some cream cheese frosting (and consequently got a taste of just how sweet a stand mixer would be).

Cake the Second

A “full” day to say the least.

What you need

• kale
• a few tablespoons butter
• 3 scallions, whites and lower green chopped
• Bragg’s amino acids (or tamari or soy sauce)
• wok or saute pan
• medium – large pot 1/2 full of water
• wooden spoon
• collander

What you do
The timing on this is a bit tricky, so read it through first! You need to do a couple of tasks simultaneously at the end.

• Put on a pot of water to boil
• Strip the leaves from the stalk, ripping pieces in the couple of inch range, rinse
• As the water comes to a boil, heat the wok or saute pan, and add a couple of tablespooons of butter
• Add the kale to the boiling water, poking it down with a spoon so it is submerged
• Immediately add scallions to butter in wok, sauteing for 1-2 minutes
• Take the kale off the stove and drain immediately in the collander. It should only have been in the water 1-3 minutes. It should still be bright and still have its shape.
• Turn off the heat under the wok. Add the kale, and 1-2 teaspoons of Braggs. Toss.

David’s recpie did not use Bragg’s, instead he sprinkled 1-2 teaspoons of sugar and a teaspoon of salt on the kale at the end.

What do you do with kale? Let me know in the comments.

Each Tuesday evening Tammy joins us for dinner and wine. We’ve developed a great friendship over the last year or two and always look forward to this sort of “family night.” On many of these evenings Joseph takes the lead on the cooking – actually, he does this many weeknights. Tonight it was in pursuit of a joint inspiration to use some leeks: tortilla espanola. Fresh organic greens on the side. My contribution was nothing more than mixing up some dressing:

• mayo
• dijon mustard
• garlic powder
• balsamic vinegar
• olive oil
• dash of tamari

Simple, and quick with a few rounds of the whisk.

We assumed this was our last asparagus for the season, although if we get a bonus week we won’t complain. We decided to go for a redux of a new-to-us recipe we tried earlier this season and if anything it was more delicious than last time. Sweet and sour tofu (Joseph found the recipe online), black bean garlic asparagus (from “Passionate Vegetarian” by Crescent Dragonwagon) and rice (by us, more nights than most folks can imagine).

As we were moving into the last lap of the cooking race I suddenly remembered we had no wine. None. I headed over to Red Feet Wine Market and announced I had a wine crisis. I was assured they were there to help. “Chilled. White. Not too fruity. Not too floral. Must go with sweet and sour tofu and spicy asparagus.” “Not a problem. Oh, asparagus. This one’s a little more grassy and will be nice with that.” Cono Sur 2008 Sauvignon Blanc from Chile. And they were right. We’re not big white wine drinkers normally, but that bottle is more than half empty.

This morning was the time to finally dig into it and to use up the strawberries from last weekend that were getting to be overripe. Joseph made gluten-free buttermilk pancakes (from scratch) and cooked up some Kingbird Farms bacon. I took on the fruit sauce:

• 5 stalks of rhubarb
• leftover strawberries
• water
• cinnamon-sugar
• vanilla
• maple syrup

Cooked down until much of the rhubarb was mush.

Delicious! Not too sweet, not too tangy.

• leeks
• kale (Stick and Stone Farm)
• scallions (Unexpected Farm)
• eggs (Kingbird Farms)
• bacon (Kingbird Farms)
• purple asparagus (Blue Heron Farm)
• flowers

Asparagus from Yoder’s farm with aioli options – curry or lemon-ginger. Joseph made phenomenal frittatas, one with red pepper and sun-dried tomato, the other spinach, onion and feta. Bethany brought potatoes. Sarrah brought fruit. Jenny, Mary, David and Sara brought the makings for mimosas. Topped off with my personal favorite cupcakes: gluten-free cardamom-rose.