Figs!

Figs always deserve an exclamation point, I think. Here they are, grilled, with spinach, avocado, feta, tomatoes, slivered almonds.

Tomatoes and other summer-y things

Let mostly to their own devices, my tomatoes, little and not so little, came along.

A couple of attempts and these zucchini cakes turned out nicely. 

They're delicious with chutney (and a lookalike chick pea patty)... and the leftovers made pretty good driving food on a recent road trip.

Finally, it's time for figs. Here are some grilled ones with spinach, pecans, raspberries, feta.

October, Sunday, Sewing

It's been unseasonably warm and the leaves seem to have skipped ahead, dropping everywhere with only ok color. Sigh.

And I've skipped ahead too, it seems, baking what I think of as a winter bread: Irish soda bread, one of my favorites. I've posted it here before, probably, but it's especially pretty this time.

For dinner: filet with some mushrooms, lovely baby kale with grilled figs and goat cheese with cranberries, asparagus:

And, sewing. Project #1: placemats. Very satisfying, just like cooking. A tangible result.

Autumn

A nice, productive Sunday.

Here are some lovely tartlets: blue cheese, figs, walnuts. Delicious. And no, I did not make the puff pastry. Maybe next time. The recipe is from Williams-Sonoma.

And for dinner, caramel chicken with sprouted brown rice. The recipe is from Food & Wine. Theirs are generally excellent. 

This and that...

Today is a day for catching up.

Here are some figs, grilled with olive oil and goat cheese. Tis the very brief season.

The photo doesn't do them justice.

~

My new favorite bread recipe, made last week and again today, is an oatmeal loaf. The recipe is from Red Star yeast and can be found here. I used honey instead of molasses. And I don't use Red Star yeast, though I'm sure it's just wonderful. In any case, the bread is very easy, rises nicely, has a good crust and  soft interior.

~

I recently got some new dish towels from Sur La Table. Very charming, as you might expect from them.

Note how the pig is almost smiling. This is often the case with pigs. Recall that in Richard Scarry books, the butcher is always a pig, happily selling sausage. Strange.

~

Finally, a simple but very pleasing dinner: grilled chicken and zucchini and summer squash quesadillas. With brown rice and some pretty little tomatoes.

Pizza!

I pretty much like everything I cook. Which is good, don't you think?

But these pizzas were especially pleasing.

Thanks to my friend Rosemary for expertly shaping the dough.

First, a lemon and prosciutto pizza, recipe courtesy of the Georis winery's Corkscrew Cafe in Carmel Valley, California. I didn't have meyer lemons, so this was a little stronger... and I forgot the arugula, which is odd since I used it in the other pizza. Anyway: delicious.

Next, a lovely fig-carmelized onion-arugula-goat cheese pizza (recipe), with the Georis crust.

And now both of them, Instagrammed for more dramatic lighting, etc.

While Rosemary and I were eating, a hummingbird stopped by for a sip at the feeder. He (she?) could very well be last year's Pedro, or Pilar.

Tough to see (bc tough to photograph), but in any case: