BBQ Time

To start off BBQ season, we had some friends and family over Sunday for a gathering and enjoyed many simple and delicious dishes, including simple chicken and veggie skewers, a lovely fruit salad that the East Bay crew brought, and what I think might become my new summer dessert obsession - Ice Cream Sandwiches. I made these ones with cocoa cookies (homemade) and mint chocolate chip ice cream (store-bought). They look pretty darn good, don't they? Maybe I'll try making my own ice cream next time...Recipe to come.

Thai Night

Pineapples were on sale 2-for-1 at Whole Foods last week and I couldn't resist their sweet tropical smell. Then I got home and I had 2 pineapples. The first one was easy to get rid of - I made a lovely fruit salad with mangoes and garden strawberries. With the second one I decided to get a little creative. I found an easy enough sounding recipe online and attempted my first Thai Pineapple Fried Rice. Cousin C came home and offered to make Tom Yum soup from scratch (I was impressed!) and before we knew it we had a Thai dinner fit for a king.

Oooohhh Oysters

Maybe it was the gorgeous weather or the laid-back beach vibe or the great company, but the oysters I enjoyed at Coast Café in Bolinas on Sunday were some of the best I’ve ever had. The Coast Café has a wide variety of yummy food, but on this visit we simply enjoyed oysters on their patio. They get their oysters from Drake’s Bay (they source a lot of local and organic food) and on weekends they bbq them on a large grill in front of the restaurant. I know some of you will insist that the only way to eat oysters is raw, but these warm jewels, with their delicious tangy and tomato-y sauce, were fabulous. (Sorry no photo – I left the camera at home on this adventure).

What's in the Garden this Week??? Peas!!!

This is a MO creation, inspired by the most recent issue of Vegetarian Times. It was delicious, but like most of his creations this one came out a little on the spicy side. However, if you used just a pinch of red pepper flakes this would be an absolutely amazing spring side dish. Quickly stir-frying sugar snap peas really brings out the sweetness, but you still get the fresh crsip texture. This is really easy and more of a technique than a recipe:

Quick Stir Fried Spring Peas
Wash and stem peas. Toss with a little olive oil, juice of one lemon, and a pinch each of salt and dried red pepper flakes. Heat wok or frying pan until hot. Quickly stir fry peas until bright green (they will still be crisp - not browned). Remove from heat, toss with lemon zest and serve.

Strawberries

For as long as I can remember, I've loved everything about strawberries - their taste, their smell, their color. The first book I could read front to back was a tale of Strawberry Shortcake and her sidekicks Apricot and Hopsalot. To this day I can't think of a better dessert than flaky biscuits with fresh strawberries and real whipped cream.

As usual when I went to the farmers market last week I bought too many strawberries (they were such a good deal!), so I had to come up with some other uses. Here's what I came up with.

Buttermilk Pancakes with Fresh Strawberries:












Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler:

I Grew My Own!

I'm thrilled to be expanding my blogosphere by partcipating in "Grow Your Own Roundup #27", which features dishes using home-grown (or foraged) ingredients. It's great to see so many recipes featuring local food - from all over the world!

Check out my recipe for Farro Salad with Green Spring Vegetables highlighted on House of Annie, the host for the Roundup this month. Thanks for the invite, Nate and Annie!