A stormy Sunday

... in that Spring-like way....

I made this lovely soup---the "everything green" soup from a recent issue of Bon Appetit.

... and a simple and delicious lemon-tarragon grilled chicken.

Between storms I was able to plant tomatoes and some herbs...

A good Sunday.

Now the sun is out

A gloomy start to the day, but now the sun is back.

Here are some highlights from the past week.

Grilled chicken... with Cherry Republic Cherryaki sauce.

Some truly lovely lavender scones. More elegant than they looked.

And here's a very nice date nut bread. The recipe comes from fellow Michigander Maureen Abood's terrific blog.

Time lapse

Well, sure.

Here are some of the highlights.

Might as well begin with dessert. A sturdy and delicious bundt cake I made...

And some very fancy desserts that I did not...

These lovelies were part of the brunch at The Whitney, in Detroit. The heart (on the right) was amazing.

Back home, the new favorite bread is white whole wheat honey. The recipe is from Emile Henry.

And Irish soda bread, an old favorite.

These lemon cakes didn't photograph particularly well, but oh well. KAF recipe.

Lots of trips to Michigan, per usual. Here's a pic of the new hockey arena, in progress. Big news in Hockeytown. I'm a fan from way back.

And here's a very lovely restaurant, 220 Merrill, in Birmingham, Michigan, where one of my sisters and I went for a late lunch...

Back home again.... soba noodles... black beans... lots of veggies...

This fancy food happened in LA. A darling loaf of bread, at Ford's Filling Station (Marriott at LA LIVE)...

 And Sprinkles cupcakes for an MFA party...

But it's best to be home. To eat real food. 

And sometimes pleasant things arrive in the mail... like these goodies from Cherry Republic in Glen Arbor, Michigan....

And then Spring does arrive... Summer, even, it's so warm suddenly. These ranunculus agree....

And finally here's Miss Kitty's commentary....

Thank you, Kitty.

Thanksgiving

Well, it was a snowy start to Thanksgiving week in Michigan.

But then that all melted and I got down to the business of cooking for family.

It was pretty much the usual things one makes. The (beloved?) green bean bake. Our sweet potatoes and apples. My best-ever gravy. My favorite, the cranberries. 

Plus, this pumpkin cheesecake. 

I was happy to be near the very lovely English Gardens, where I got this poinsettia (a pink more unusual than the photo shows) and two amaryllis, which I planted for my parents.

Fairy Doors, Whatnot

Well, one fairy door, anyway. Newly blue. And a gnome lurking outside.

Other than that, this post is mostly bread.

Here's a nice mushroom soup. Looks creamy and is but that's from puréed mushrooms, not cream. Nice.

I've made these "free form enchiladas" a few times and they're delicious. Too bad they don't photograph all that well. 

And this chocolate loaf was a tad dry... but still rich... and photogenic, with strawberries.

So, yes, lots to report.

A Sunday chicken

For my parents. Along with the butter top bread, etc. A mini-Thanksgiving...

The next night: mac & cheese. I do like real food.

One of my many walks while in Michigan took me past a park from childhood: Bookmobile Park, so called, of course, because that's where the bookmobile stopped. Loved that. And I was so happy to see this new addition: a Little Free Library. The only improvement I can think of: a doll library. Borrow a doll. Share a doll. Leave some doll clothing for a doll in need.

So that was last week. This Sunday's bread is wheat & buttermilk to go, soon, with some pumpkin soup.

The dough had a tremendous rise. The only improvement to the recipe might be a touch of honey. Nonetheless, this is good and will be even better with soup and as sandwich bread.