weekend recharge

This weekend has been amazing - sunny, breezy 70-degree weather! It can't get any better than this. 

I had been craving the food at the Greenhouse Tavern for the past week, so early last week I made reservations for a Saturday dinner. Not having grown up here, I did not realize that Saturday the 17th was St. Patrick's Day. We decided to go ahead and brave the craziness downtown to go to one of our favorite restaurants. In the end we were both glad we went, as the food did not disappoint.

Citrus salad: grapefruit, fennel, Chef's Garden field greens and racing onion soubise; Very, Very, Very Spicy Greens n' Beans with pickled red chili paste, crispy shallots and white beans

Mushroom Risotto with truffles, candy cap mushrooms, chives, and Parmesan. The most earthy-delicious mushroom risotto I have ever tasted.

Buttered Popcorn Pots de Creme with Caramel and Sea Salt. No, there wasn't any actual popcorn in it, but popcorn was steeped in the cream. The dessert really captured that sweet and salty goodness.

 Then Sunday started with a quick breakfast...

blood orange olive oil cake with an extra pat of butter and orange marmalade

Then an afternoon hike at the South Chagrin Reservation...

light and shadows

I can hear the water!

getting closer to the river

green and yellow moss

muddy trails and happy feet

And lastly...our favorite pasta dish for Sunday dinner.

whole wheat spaghettini wtih wilted arugula, garlic, toasted pine nuts, and parmigiano-reggiano

Ending the weekend on a very thankful note. Ready for the week ahead...

tribute to fall 2011

I say it every year: "There will never be another Fall [insert year]."

So here we go: There will never be another Fall 2011.

Year after year, the fall season is different. The timing in which the leaves turn. The transitions I go through in my own life as nature goes through its own transition. The stage I am in at that point in my life. The sights, the events, the flavors, the emotions I experience as I soak in the season. It's unique, every year.

 my parents, at the Cleveland Botanical Garden

 

my parents... such lovebirds!

A visit to Auburn Twin Oaks Winery, Chagrin Falls - a special place for A. and me

(I'm a lightweight when it comes to alcohol of any kind, but I absolutely LOVE this place - it's where A. and I got married, very quietly, with only 8 witnesses present.)

 The most amazing fennel and broccoli soup at Moxie, where we took my parents for dinner. 

I promptly tried to replicate this soup that same week.

Some thoughts to ponder on...

 

One of our favorite restaurants in Cleveland, where we also took my parents for dinner

 with my mom, outside Greenhouse Tavern

 

 picture of A. and me, taken by my dad as we were walking on East 4th in downtown Cleveland

(that's me walking ON the sidewalk so I can be as tall as A. is... just a joke between us)

 funny carvings on a tree trunk, found during one of our walks in North Chagrin Metropark

Thank you, A., for grounding me.

I can't do what I do without you.

 light. color. shadows.

 beautiful blue skies - always appreciated during the long season of gray days in Cleveland

 North Chagrin Metropark - we are blessed to have this wonderful gem less than 10 minutes from our home.

Product of a cozy day of baking at home: buttery, flaky biscuits thanks to our very own Cleveland author Michael Ruhlman's book, Ratio. I'm not one to collect cookbooks, but in my (humble) opinion this is one of the best food-related books out there. In a nutshell, it's based on the premise that you're better off knowing a ratio than a recipe. If you know a ratio, you know exponentially more recipes.

Check out the flaky layers in the biscuit above - thanks to his technique of a few rounds of chilling the dough, then folding into thirds and rolling (for a total of 6x which, including chilling time, took a few hours). There are just no shortcuts to some of the finer things in life. :)

Biscuits were enjoyed fresh out of the oven, with my favorite Bonne Maman jam.

 vanilla bean ice cream churning in the ice cream maker

It may be getting cold, but I'll take good quality ice cream any day.

Check out those specks of vanilla!

There's just nothing like it.

(Pardon my poor kitchen lighting... it was nighttime)

 A fiery orange tree against the most unbelievably blue sky.

How lucky am I to have this tree outside our balcony?

Some grounding words as we live through the transitions and changes that are characteristic of this "vata" season. These tips, based on principles of Ayurveda, are especially helpful for someone like me with a predominant vata dosha, but can also be helpful to anyone.

("breathe in life" frame gifted by my uber-cool aunt, a proprietor of a B&B  and a yoga instructor; the gift tag was from a present given by this friend. I hung it over the side of the frame because it reminds me of a mandala. I have this displayed in my home office.)

As I mentioned earlier... there will never be another Fall 2011. Breathe it in...

they were all yellow

North Chagrin Metropark

Cleveland, Ohio

Yellow just lifts my spirits...

"creamy" tomato bisque

...without the cream.

Don't get me wrong, I am not against heavy cream. Sometimes I just HAVE to have it. Whether it's to make homemade caramel or to top off an intense dark chocolate pudding, cream is just... sigh. In fact, one of the most unforgettable foodie moments A and I shared is when we went to this brunch place called Vine and Bean Cafe, ordered one of the best waffles I've ever tasted, and asked for another serving... Not a second serving of waffles, but another helping of whipped cream to eat with the rest of our waffles. Seriously. We enjoyed waffles with whipped cream like it was nobody's business. I wouldn't have been surprised if the server asked "You want a waffle with that?" while we were spooning whipped cream out of the little cup. It was bordering on shameless, I know... but I hope they take that as a compliment.

Anyway, before I go on into a foodie daydream about Vine and Bean's "vanilla bean buttermilk waffles topped with warm peach rhubarb compote, *honeyed whip cream*, and striped with house-made caramel sauce" (isn't that enough to make you want to go out into the freezing cold and visit the cafe RIGHT NOW?), I did set out to share a recipe. So why no cream in this one? Well, I could have used cream, but I didn't have any... and I was in the mood for soup and getting grumpy hungry, and knew I needed to eat something. And almonds, which are in this recipe, are so good for you... a good source of protein, healthy fats, fiber, and vitamin E. It's nice to lighten things up once in a while.

So here goes...

"Creamy" Tomato Bisque
(serves 2)

half a medium onion, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
a few fennel stalks, chopped (I know that the onion-celery-carrot trio is the "holy trinity" soup base, but I was out of carrots... and I had leftover stalks from a fennel bulb I ate a few days ago)
1 garlic clove, minced
1 1/2 cups diced or pureed tomatoes (when tomatoes are not in season, I prefer the Pomi brand of packaged tomatoes as they have BPA-free packaging)
2 cups vegetable broth
1/4 cup (maybe more?) of ground almonds or almond meal (you can buy this at Trader Joe's... or you can grind whole almonds in a food processor. Just happened to have the almond meal which I used for a pie crust)
salt, pepper, lots of basil

Start with a heavy-bottomed soup pot.

Saute the onion, celery, and fennel in some olive oil. Add a pinch of salt to help soften the vegetables. Once they have softened, throw in the minced garlic. I like to wait until the onion, celery and carrots (or in this case, the fennel) are soft before adding in the garlic, because garlic tends to burn faster and get bitter - not good for soup!

Add the tomatoes, broth (or water), and basil (save a little bit for later!). Bring it to a boil, then lower to a simmer. Let it simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Enjoy the smells of your kitchen, and pretend you're in a Tuscan villa...

Sorry. Back to the soup...

Add the almond meal, then take the soup off the heat. Use an immersion blender and puree the soup until smooth. The almond meal adds a heartiness and creaminess to the soup, without the need for cream. Add more broth if needed or if you would like a thinner consistency. Check and adjust for seasoning, then add a little more chopped basil before serving. Serve with some crusty artisan bread with some really good, fruity extra virgin olive oil (this unfiltered kind is my favorite) on the side for bread dipping.

water + sunshine = PURE JOY

Happy to be back home, but still dreaming of the warm sun, relaxing swims under a vivid blue sky, and the healing powers of water...