Glorious garden

Upon returning from a week away, MO and I were greeted with about 10 pounds of gorgeous garden tomatoes! In my opinion there is nothing more delicious than a fresh-picked garden tomato...

We also had 2 obscenely large zucchinis, about 10 cucumbers, 4 eggplants, and lots of green and purple string beans. So, needless to say, we've been eating a lot of veggies this week. We've made:

• the beautiful caprese salad pictured above


• fresh salsa with tomatoes, jalapeno, and cilantro from the garden


• Spicy Summer Pasta Sauce (with fresh garden tomatoes instead of canned)


• a Thai-style eggplant and tofu stir-fry


• Zucchini-Walnut Muffins (I'm still perfecting the recipe, but will post it soon)


• Dill Refrigerator Pickle Spears

I still have zucchini and eggplant to use up, so I'd better get cooking!

a whole lotta lobstah

MO and I just got back from a week vacationing and visiting friends in Boston and Bar Harbor. We went hiking, swimming, exploring, and of course, did a lot of EATING. Highlights included:

- that first iced coffee from Dunkin' Donuts (I know it doesn't exactly fit with the rest of my gourmet tastes, but having spent 6 years in Boston I am a D&D girl at heart)

- tea and popovers at the Jordan Pond House

- lots of lobster (steamed, lobster rolls, lobster sushi rolls, lobster salad)

- our two fabulous meals at The Burning Tree (yes, we ate there twice in 4 days)

Mid-August is such a great time to visit Maine - the weather is wonderful, the lake water is the perfect temperature, and fresh local produce appears on the menus of the best restaurants. Still feeling the glow of a great trip. Good times, good friends, good food.

Tacolicious is abso-fab

I don't blog about restaurants very often, but I just have to mention how much I am in love with Tacolicious (thanks for the recommendation, Hols)!

Tacolicious is a fun trendy new restaurant in San Francisco's Marina neighborhood. It was packed when MO, my mother-in-law and I stopped in early Saturday evening. We squeezed into a high-top table near the giant altar-like painting of a bottle of Tapatio (which MO loved) and soon were enjoying chips and a salsa with a flavor that made me go "Hmmm" (I later found out that the mystery ingredient was mint). Between the 3 of us, we tried a variety of tacos, including the fish, veggie, filet, and chicken. The only disappointment to an otherwise fabulous experience was my drink. I had the house margarita which was underwhelming at $9. I'll probably try a different drink next time (they have lots of choices).

The food was really fresh and truly delicious, but my favorite part of the meal was the sauces. The minty salsa we started wuth was great, but even better was the beautiful trio of habenero (tangy and hot!), chipotle (smoky), and tomatillo (the best tomatillo salsa I've ever had).

Who wants to meet up for tacos???