Blue skies…

The skies are blue….the water is turquoise

the broom is in hand…and the spring cleaning continues

and continues…

and….

nevermind.

Dog days.

It ain’t happening.

Blast from the past….good food.

When I was in college…there was a cookbook I brought with me.

It was written by hand.

really.

Who does that?

Moosewood Cookbook did. That is who.

They were a once teensy little vegetarian restaurant in Ithaca NY.

and I LOVED their recipes.

So….I brought it to school. And my roommates and friends and I used it.

I remember an old boyfriend impressing me with the cream of asparagus soup from the book…made in his ramshackle beer can infested kitchen he shared with 4 other guys.

only…he forgot to add the asparagus.

After countless moves, countless kids. well four.

I invariably lost the favorite dog eared book.

But…continued to make many of the recipes…changed, altered glorified or not

On a whim…I recently bought a used Moosewood cookbook on Amazon. Pennies on the dollar, people

And looking at the hand written recipes just shot me right back to old college apartments in old houses…The smell of stale beer…and Ratatouille.

And while I make it differently….I opened the page and chopped and sautéed and stewed away.

The smell of fresh veggies and herbs stewing….Heaven.

 

Try it….You’ll like it.

ask Mikey.

find it here too.

And while the old ratatouille recipe is not on here too old school? you will find some newer fresher fab recipes on their Moosewood site

Go…find ye a cheap beer…preferably in a can…cause you can crush it on your forehead maybe did anyone ever do that? naaww.

And cook.

Ya know it is time to do some spring cleaning when….

The vines are vining around the rake handle…

…the elephant ears are earing everywhere

The dog path is canopied in ginger.

Pass the dayum machete.

Top o’ the mornin’ to ya…..

 

Off to count my shamrocks.

….and never iron a shamrock. You never want to press your luck

Winged Souls…

In the Red Hills of Tallahassee Florida

there are the yearly 3-day  Eventing Horse trials

Where the Olympians mingle.

Where horses have seeming wings

My youngest…an eventer and I were lucky to be there for the Cross Country portion.

The heart and trust that helps them to fly is palpable.

This is the triathlon of the horse world for horse and man

Involving stadium jumping, dressage and cross country.

Involving gusto and guts and….soul

Boyd Martin was one of the eventers…

(if you have a minute read and watch the link embedded in his name above. You WILL have tears as you meet his $850 dollar horse and a true story of life saving friendship)

We held him in our hearts as he flew by us…as his wife Silva…another Olympian

lay in a hospital 7 hours away…having been in a tragic horse accident herself last week.

‘It is not like teaching a horse to jump better and better but like turning a horse into a winged creature. Of course, once it has got its wings, it will soar over fences which could never have been jumped and thus beat the natural horse at its own game.’  ~CS Lewis

Winged souls.

Achingly beautiful.

A Key Lime and coconut flesh room….

Ok, Ok….perhaps a stretch.

It is just that a key lime has a beautiful subtle yellow/green/ochre color

and the flesh of a coconut…One of natures true whites.

And when I saw this loft room. I thought of them. those.

But could you just curl up in this room?

Languidly stretch out on this window seat…and while away your time with a good classic book?

Oh. I so could.

Designer and blog friend Lauren Leiss

did up her home sooooo right.

Just real and honest.

Find more of her gorgeous abode in the new issue of Domino Magazine.

Find a key lime and coconut pie

…on my kitchen counter.

yep.

Oh….and sadly, well not sadly for her…happily for her

Spotted and dotted beauty has found a home with another family.

But your names were oh so fun!

Coconut and Lime….and Thai red curry paste.

You know those days?

You know those days.

The air is thick…not so much with heat, but with fog.

They are insular days….make soup days.

I have lemongrass and limes growing

I ALWAYS have coconut oil and milk

and happen to have locally harvested mushrooms and ginger.

Put it all together…In a bowl, preferably that says “this bowl fights hunger”.

A local soup-kitchen fundraiser.

 

 

 

…and we get none other than a warm you to the core

Tom Kha Gai

:: Thai chicken soup for a foggy day ::

and while I didn’t have galangal, the traditional root used in this dish…ginger warmed it beautifully.

and instead of the requisite kefir lime leaves….I used the zest of the limes. Everybody was happy.

• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
  
• 2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
  
• 1 stalk lemon grass (pound the white ends to release the flavor)
  
• 2 teaspoons or more of red curry paste (found in asian section…most grocers carry it)
  
• 4 cups chicken broth
  
• 3 tablespoons fish sauce (found in same section)
  
• 1 tablespoon coconut sugar (brown or honey will do fine)

• 3 (13.5 ounce) cans coconut milk
  
• 1/2 pound fresh shiitake mushrooms, sliced
  
• 1 pound chicken breast sliced thin
  
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice and zest of 1 lime
  
• salt to taste
  
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Directions:

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. sauté the chicken pieces till done, add the ginger, lemongrass, and curry paste and cook, stirring for 1 minute. Stop and :: inhale :: the aroma. Slowly pour the chicken broth over the mixture, stirring continually. Stir in the fish sauce and coconut sugar; simmer for 15 minutes. Stir in the coconut milk and mushrooms; cook and stir until the mushrooms are soft, about 5 minutes.  Stir in the lime juice and zest; season with salt; garnish with cilantro. We love it served on brown rice.

Dare the fog to hang around…