Sweet By & By

Weather trickery

Our weather forecasters have apparently been smoking a little somethin'-somethin' in the back room, because this week has been one of the most pleasant we've had in awhile. Cool, breezy, even a few raindrops yesterday. No excessive heat, no oppressive humidity as predicted. Los Angelenos are tip-toeing back outside, watching the sky suspiciously, wondering if it's ok to emerge from our climate-controlled homes.*

So, given that the temps were far less than expected, I decided to heat up the oven and embark on baking  a recipe from one of my magazines that caught my eye a couple weeks back  ... sugar lime cookies. 

They turned out ok -- not as tasty as the recipe made them sound. That gorgeous minty-colored sanding sugar from Crate & Barrel was supposed to be the pièce de résistance and make the cookies look temptingly lime-y, but when baked, it turned white. Plus, I have a tendency to throw in extra flour -  since I love soft, cakey cookies - and these cookies really needed to be dense, flat, and chewy. So, the overall turn-out is probably my bad.

I'll try again ... the lime zest is divine.  (and how cool and zebra-like are those limes, post-zesting?)

* I am realizing how much weather is a theme on this blog; my grandmother, who lived and breathed what the weather was in Denver and in all places in which people she knew lived, would be proud of her weather-obsessed progeny.

Product placement

Yum. More yum. My favorite drink this holiday season.

Think peppermint, cinnamon, and vanilla, and having nice warm hands while you drink it.

Stir, scoop, mix, lick

A very autumny smell of cloves and cinnamon is filling my house as I type. R. and I got inspired to make pumpkin bread after seeing this even though it's pretty warm outside and it doesn't exactly feel like fall yet. But, who can resist baking with a little helper like this?

Tomato bounty = soup

Nothing can beat late summer tomatoes from the farmers market. I got inspired last weekend and bought 8 lbs of beefsteak and plum tomatoes from our market in order to make my favorite Roasted Vegetable and Black Bean Soup. It is super easy to make and so hearty and satisfying, especially in the fall and winter. We usually serve some kind of quesadillas and a salad with it.

Here's the recipe and some prep photos to accompany it. L. was my sous chef and did lots of peeling and chopping for me as I made two batchs: one to freeze and one to serve for Sunday dinner with Nick and Marci.

Roasted Vegetable and Black Bean Soup

6 ripe tomatoes, halved lengthwise

1 medium onion, halved lenghtwise, peeled, and cut into thick wedges

1 medium carrot, peeled and quartered

3 medium cloves garlic, peeled and halved

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 tsp. dried oregano, crushed

1 can (14.5 oz) broth, vegetable or chicken

1/4 to 1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

2 cans (15 oz each) black beans, drained, rinsed well and drained again

1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley

2 tsp balsamic vinegar

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. In a roasting pan, combine all the vegetables and garlic -- drizzle all with olive oil. Sprinkle oregano on top, toss together to ensure even coating of spice and oil. Roast for a total of about 30 minutes -- stir vegetables once or twice during this time.

 

2. Remove the pan from the oven and transfer vegetables, including the skins of the tomatoes, to a food processor or blender and process to a smooth puree. Make sure to drain the juices and spices from the roasting pan into the processor.

3. Transfer to a medium saucepan. Add the drained beans and simmer 10 minutes.

4. Stir in parsley and vinegar and serve.

Notes: This soup tastes better the longer it simmers and tastes even better the day after. It also  freezes well; I make the vegetable base and add the parsley and vinegar and freeze. Once it defrosts, I add the broth and beans.

Bon appetit!

When life gives you plums....

Make plum cobbler.

Our tree hasn't been quite as prolific as the past two years, but when the bounty all decided to ripen within two days, I needed to put my baking skills to the test.    

   

Voila!   On a day that measured nearly 100 degrees, I baked two plum cobblers  mid-afternoon. They were mighty fine, and we were thankful for air conditioning. 

                                                               

   

                           

(with this, the first post of our blog, we enter into the blogging world with a mix of excitement and trepidation. I am still not sure I fully understand the psychological need for all of us to engage in online-journaling and for others of us to read it, but after finding myself visiting several blogs daily --- like this and this --- and really enjoying them, my little creative mind started to turn about the things *I* could bring to the blogging world.... Mostly musings about my garden, the kids, cooking, and funky finds from our flea market and yard sale adventures. We hope we do the medium justice)