A Sunny Weekend

We have had pretty dismal weather here for the past week or two- grey skies, showers and the rest of it. This morning I was shocked to see a bright yellow round object in the sky. Apparently they call it the Sun. It was the perfect day to visit a local Farmers' Market and this week we stopped by Tower Grove Park.

I bought...

• Free range eggs which will be used over the next couple of weeks for omelets, curry and in baked goods. 
• Red lentils, which I forgot to buy on my last trip to the Indian store and which I plan to use for mesir wat tonight.
• Rainbow chard. I have friends coming over for a South Indian dinner tomorrow night and had this (what I thought was a) brilliant and innovative idea of making chard sambar. But it turns out that indosungod is far smarter than I am. I will try her recipe tomorrow.
• Strawberries, for use in two desserts, and for snacking, of course. If the desserts work out, I'll share them on the blog in a few days.
• "French breakfast" radishes- cute elongated two-toned ones. These will be served with a salad tomorrow. 
• A loaf of bread.

We lunched on the fresh bread. V made pesto and cheese sandwiches for himself and bread-butter-radish sandwiches for me. The joy of simple flavorful food.

What produce is in season where you live? 

On The Bookshelf

If you are looking for some light, easy summer reading, here are a few books that I've enjoyed in the last few days-

The Lost Ravioli Recipes of Hoboken by Laura Schenone. A food writer in NJ is obsessed with tracing back the roots of her family's ravioli recipe. It takes her to Italy and to homes and restaurants to learn the art of pasta making from expert cooks. I was reading this book on a flight and 36,000 feet high in the sky, I was seized by the overwhelming urge to roll out some pasta. It took all of my self-control to keep from banging on the emergency doors and begging the flight attendant to let me out. But I digress. The book is a good read and if you are passionate about home cooking, much of the story will resonate with you. For instance, someone in the book says,

"If you come into my house and I cook for you and feed you from my special plates and glasses, well that's nice. But it's a better thing entirely if I serve you on the everyday plates".

Now isn't that the truth?


The Sweet Life in Paris by David Lebovitz. These are the tales of an expat living in Paris, full of predictable snafus having to do with speaking French etc. But I'll admit that I often laughed out loud reading this book. Of course it is full of food, glorious food.

The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. I do enjoy reading the author's blog, and the book is a quick and fun read, reminding us about simple truths. The fact is that I know too many people who seem to have everything in terms of financial security, family and friends, a job and a fridge full of food, but are terribly unhappy. I'm not above kvetching about minor things myself, so reading this book makes me want to try harder to be happy and appreciate all that I have.

What are you reading these days?

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Dale says to have a good weekend- get some rest, enjoy a few long walks, and eat a treat or two.