Our weekend was productive - how was yours?

We've had a productive weekend! The start of spring means that we're all getting out of bed earlier (bring on DST!!), the markets are sunny and full of gorgeous produce, and Pete and I have been playing in the kitchen.

The weekend really started on Friday, during which a trip to the markets produced a box of rhubarb offcuts (about 20 bunches worth for $10 - woohoo!), most of which we cleaned and cut into 1inch pieces for freezing. Pete cooked a small portion down with fresh strawberries to make a fruit topping for his breakfast cereal. Strawberries were 15 punnets for $10, and really ripe. We froze some, ate some, and cooked the rest.

On Saturday, Pete made a batch of vanilla icecream, and I used the leftover eggwhites to make strawberry and hazelnut friands. We also made Gary's eggplant dip, as well as a large vat of lentil soup using some great bacon bones I found at the markets. Oh, and some chocolate ganache (which we plan to turn into chocolate icecream soon).

Today it was a batch of baked beans (Oz style, with bacon and tomato), and while the pressure cooker was out, I cooked some lentils and chick peas for future use. Pete's got a large pot of spag mince on the boil, there's a large batch of sourdough rising, and I've just made some channa dal for dinner.

How is your weekend going? Hope you're all having an enjoyable one!

Cheers, Celia

How is your weekend going? Hope you're all having an enjoyable one!

Cheers, Celia

Good so far - In a while I'll be picking up almost 600 pounds of Pinot Noir grapes. 250 pounds for me and 300 pounds for Dan Smothergill and a friend. Hopefully, myshare will translate into 10 gallons of red wine and 6 gallons of bubbly.

We also made Gary's eggplant dip, as well as a large vat of lentil soup using some great bacon bones I found at the markets.

Bacon bones? Do tell. Is that like smoked ham hocks?

My weekend was bittersweet. My houseguest from Japan left Saturday morning after 3 weeks of a cooking marathon with me. She culled the best of the recipes we made together and had 25 in her notebook. The off-season Christmas party we did on Monday (9/22) was a total hit with everyone. She didn't particularly care for the prep (2 days) and clean-up (1/2 day). But, she has memories and pictures to prove it. All this we did without a functioning oven (still!!!!) -- thank God my mother-in-law's apartment has a fully functioning kitchen. I taped a radio interview with her on Wednesday night and gifted her with a professional copy when she left. Hated to see her go -- glad to see her leave ! We planned another get together for next year.

Bacon bones? Do tell. Is that like smoked ham hocks?

I asked that same question a while back. Check out this thread on baked beans.

My weekend was bittersweet.

Mine, too. My last weekend in the Bay Area for quite a while. But we managed to put together several variations on grilled cheese sandwiches. They did not suck.

We've had a productive weekend!

Good grief, girlfriend! You are amazing.

But we managed to put together several variations on grilled cheese sandwiches. They did not suck.

Were any of them buffalo mozzarella panini? YUM!

No, I don't like cooking bufala and these were all cooked. However, that is exactly what's on tap for halftime today.

Lessee, we had cheddar and heirloom tomato; cheddar, heirloom tomato, and green chile; raclette, matsutake, and tomato (yeah, we had tomatoes!); and prosciutto and fontina (I skipped the prosciutto). Trader Joe's "English Muffin Bread" is terrific for grilled cheese.

We've had a productive weekend! The start of spring means that we're all getting out of bed earlier (bring on DST!!), the markets are sunny and full of gorgeous produce, and Pete and I have been playing in the kitchen.

The weekend really started on Friday, during which a trip to the markets produced a box of rhubarb offcuts (about 20 bunches worth for $10 - woohoo!), most of which we cleaned and cut into 1inch pieces for freezing. Pete cooked a small portion down with fresh strawberries to make a fruit topping for his breakfast cereal. Strawberries were 15 punnets for $10, and really ripe. We froze some, ate some, and cooked the rest.

On Saturday, Pete made a batch of vanilla icecream, and I used the leftover eggwhites to make strawberry and hazelnut friands. We also made Gary's eggplant dip, as well as a large vat of lentil soup using some great bacon bones I found at the markets. Oh, and some chocolate ganache (which we plan to turn into chocolate icecream soon).

Today it was a batch of baked beans (Oz style, with bacon and tomato), and while the pressure cooker was out, I cooked some lentils and chick peas for future use. Pete's got a large pot of spag mince on the boil, there's a large batch of sourdough rising, and I've just made some channa dal for dinner.

This was a WEEKEND????
I'm exhausted.

Actually, Linda, this time they looked more like soup bones than ribs. Still produced a lot of meat. Thank you for the reminder - I guess the shape is a bit generic over here - but it always refers to smoked pork bones.

I got up this morning.

Last night I cooked an old Sunset recipe for Lemon Chicken. We've been eating the bounty from the Farmer's Market for breakfasts. Perfectly ripened Sunset Peaches, red seedless grapes, an asiago and basil pesto bread makes the most glorious toast, blackberries, red and yellow raspberries are still in abundance.
Tonight is left over lemon chicken, with tortellini smothered in my home made tomato sauce, fresh spinach and broccoli.
Tomorrow I will make a second picking of the Swiss Chard and first of the baby lettuce and a bit of the arugula, which is surprisingly peppery for being so young and tender.

I cleaned out my freezer today and found a container of green enchilada sauce I made from my fall harvest last year. All sorts of peppers, cilantro, and as I recall it tasted great. I'm going to do some pulled pork and mix in the sauce. Eldest son is coming home to hunt with friends and they may like to take some of this camping with them.
Oh, and I was able to get enough of the first apples coming to the market to make four 1-1/2 cup containers of applesauce for my freezer. The nice thing about cleaning out your freezer is that you purge all the old things, freezer burned things, and gain room for more things!!!

I got up this morning.

Much better than the alternative!

Then I read the obits to see if my name is there.

I spent mine at a three-day music festival, so cooking was not done. Had a couple of very tasty "caprese sandwiches", though.