This Week I...

...enjoyed a walk through the valley.

...picked up some pretty new pottery at the flea market.

...got some garden beds ready for planting.

...canned some pickled carrots and pickled asparagus.

...devoured this book (oh my goodness it's so good).

...enjoyed a few glasses of this while soaking up some sunshine.

Happy Friday everyone! What did you all do this week?

What I've Been Eating!

Here's a quick little glimpse into a few meals I've cooked over the past couple of months that I've really enjoyed. I know posts have been a little sparse around these parts; I think I tend to go through phases where I get more caught up in the preparation and consumption of the food I make, and the photo taking and blog writing fall by the wayside a bit. That being said, I realized today that there has been some really tasty stuff being eaten that I should have been sharing with you all, so I'm going to try and do that right now. Sound good? Ok then.

Let's start with the Sea Bass with Swiss Chard and Piquillo Pepper Sauce pictured above. The recipe for that came from Cindy Pawlcyn's Big Small Plates cookbook, which I absolutely adore. I also absolutely adore Cindy Pawlcyn, who is a local celebrity chef, and the owner of 3 restaurants in the Napa Valley. I've seen her out and about at the farmer's market a few times, and at her restaurants a couple of times, so I think I can say that the two of us are friends now right? She even signed my copy of her cookbook, so I mean, yeah, were friends.

So my friend Cindy has some pretty great recipes, and this is one of them. The fish is simply prepared with salt and pepper, sauteed in a little olive oil, and served over some spicy Swiss chard with a flavorful and smooth piquillo pepper sauce. Yes I realize the sauce in that photo appears a very strange neon color, but trust me that in person it doesn't look as if it was something out of a zombie movie. Another meal that didn't exactly photograph brilliantly, is this oh-so-gosh-darn-good seafood curry:
I don't think that curry is one of those things that usually photographs well though, especially the brown and red ones. Even though they may taste amazing, they can be a little unappealing visually in my opinion. But maybe that's because I'm kind of late to the game when it comes to curry, and never really tried it until last year. I didn't know what I was missing out on though. It has quickly become one of my favorite things to eat, and this recipe that I tried out of Bon Appetit magazine has quickly become one of my favorite meals.

The curry paste is easy to make, and just involves a quick blend of some ginger, jalapeno, herbs and spices. That gets sauteed in a pan for a few minutes, and then a can of coconut milk goes in, and you've got a delicious green curry sauce. Just toss in some veggies & some seafood (I usually do green beans, red pepper, shrimp, and scallops), and you've got yourself a delicious dinner. I don't usually repeat recipes that often, but I've made this at least 3-4 times over the past few months.
And then there was the day I ate these pancakes. Hoo boy these were ridiculous. Ricotta pancakes, topped with toasted almonds, mango, strawberries and an orange maple syrup. They were very loosely adapted from this recipe in Food and Wine Magazine, and were light and fluffy and I loved the combination of orange and maple syrup. Yum.

Now back to dinner foods. I made these Chipotle Winter Greens & Buttermilk Grits one cold and yucky night and they warmed us right up. Once again, maybe not the most appealing looking bowl of food, but trust me when I say it was delicious. Smoky and slightly spicy winter greens, served over a healthy helping of creamy grits. I sauteed some mushrooms with the greens for a little extra protein, and added Parmesan cheese to the grits, because cheese is always a good thing.
Last but not least, I want to share with you the meal I made for Valentine's Day this year. Clockwise from upper left, Fried Chickpeas with Sage & Lemon, Parsley and Endive Salad, Homemade Pasta with Lobster Cream Sauce, and Champagne, which is an essential part of the cooking process. I loved every single one of these recipes, and will definitely be sharing them with you all in full detail in the future. But for now here's just a taste.
Thanks for letting me share! Hope all of you out there are enjoying some good eating yourselves!

Shaved Brussels Sprouts Salad

I have a tendency to get into a little bit of a funk in January. The holidays are long gone, the weather is rainy and dreary, and it makes me want to hibernate in my little shack with a warm fire until February comes along. During this month I definitely need a bit of inspiration to get me off the couch and get my creative juices flowing again. Luckily, I received some new cookbooks for Christmas, and inspiration is not so hard to find in this stack of loveliness:
Oh how I love me some new cookbooks. I can't wait to read them all the way through when I first get them, and mentally pick out dishes that I'm dying to try. I even like to read the recipes in bed before I go to sleep, thumbing through the pages until I can no longer keep my eyes open. Unfortunately as much as I love reading and gathering ideas from cookbooks, I am horrible at actually going back to those books on a regular basis and making new recipes out of them. I think it has something to do with the onslaught of cooking magazines I receive each month, when I tear out the glossy pages and place them in a folder that is always overflowing and easily accessible. Instead of reaching for a cookbook, I tend to reach for that folder instead. Not to mention the recipes I get inspired from off of other blogs and cooking websites. With all those other forms of cooking inspiration, I forget about the books that are tucked away in my cupboard, begging to be opened and used.

So I made a pact with myself after obtaining the most recent additions of cookbooks, that I would cook at least one recipe out of each book in the next couple of weeks, and make sure that they don't get put away before that happens. Which is how this delicious bowl of shaved Brussels sprouts with egg, almonds, and a citrus vinaigrette appeared in my kitchen.

The Napa Town & Country Fair Part 2

Well folks, it's a tad belated but today I bring you Part 2 of our epic Napa Fair experience.  But first, a programming note.  You've probably noticed that it's been a while since we've posted a new recipe.  I wish I had something new to share with you every day, or at least every week, but I also think it's important to keep it real.  And the reality is that all of our cooking and baking that we post here takes place in our day to day lives, and my life right now is taking a lot out of me.  I think even the most passionate cooks can relate to those days (or weeks or months) when the best thing you can do for yourself is heat up a frozen pizza and pour yourself a big glass of two-buck Chuck.  So I hope you forgive and bear with us, and I promise that we will have lots of great recipes in the future.

For now, please enjoy these baked goods that someone else created!  Today's photos come to you from the Home Arts Exhibition at the Napa Fair.  These were all made by amateurs like us and judged by some really sweet looking old ladies in matching yellow shirts. 

The Napa Town & Country Fair Part 1

When I was a kid, the Napa fair was the highlight of my summer.  My sister and I would get a week-long pass and wristbands for unlimited rides.  We'd wait outside the gates before they opened, and then spend hours running from the giant slide to the tilt-a-whirl, taking breaks for curly fries and sno cones.  Today I have a weak inner ear and an aversion to crowds, but I was dead set on making a night at the fair happen.

Before this weekend, I hadn't been in years.  While I was certain that it would still have that summer magic I grew up loving, John and Allison were slightly more dubious.  Think about the first time you went to Disneyland as an adult.  When I went in college, everything was a little smaller, a little more crowded, and a little more wooden than I remembered.  When we drove down one of Napa's main streets on Friday and saw a few lonely ferris wheel cars sticking out above a two-story building, I started to get a little nervous.

I had been hyping up the fair to John for weeks, and I badgered Allison and her boyfriend Nick into joining us.  Luckily, the night exceeded our lowered expectations, and we had a blast.  Let's start with the really good stuff, the fried food.

Corn dogs...  You had me at hello.  I never eat corn dogs because they render me powerless.  Had I not been in public and under the expectation that I would behave like a normal human, I may have inhaled 5 to 6 corn dogs.