Working from home can be dangerous to your waistline, unless you're careful about snacks. At about three every afternoon, we both need a little pick-me-up.
Our snack of choice is fruit. Some days it's just an apple. But, when our fruit basket is full of delicious ripe berries and peaches, they will make an appearance.
Occasionally, when the cheese drawer has a perfect match like this cheddar, a bit of cheese will join the party.
We have added fruit to our cheese trays over the years and now have quite a few favorite combinations like these bits of brie with figs.
When the stone fruit season is at its height, it can be fun to taste the contrasts. On this plate we had a sweet, luscious Saturn peach, a tart apricot, and a plum that was right in the middle of the other two on the sweet/tart scale.
The blueberries were on the plate to add color. We eat with our eyes and the contrast makes the plate of healthy fruit as attractive as a fancy and high-calorie fruit tart.
Working from home can be dangerous to your waistline, unless you're careful about snacks. At about three every afternoon, we both need a little pick-me-up.
Our snack of choice is fruit. Some days it's just an apple. But, when our fruit basket is full of delicious ripe berries and peaches, they will make an appearance.
Occasionally, when the cheese drawer has a perfect match like this cheddar, a bit of cheese will join the party.
We have added fruit to our cheese trays over the years and now have quite a few favorite combinations like these bits of brie with figs.
When the stone fruit season is at its height, it can be fun to taste the contrasts. On this plate we had a sweet, luscious Saturn peach, a tart apricot, and a plum that was right in the middle of the other two on the sweet/tart scale.
The blueberries were on the plate to add color. We eat with our eyes and the contrast makes the plate of healthy fruit as attractive as a fancy and high-calorie fruit tart.
When we have hot weather, you can be pretty sure we'll be eating cool food. Something like this fennel and pickled onion salad is perfect. It's easy to make, refreshing, and healthy.
On the last day of a recent heatwave, Penny found a bulb of fennel in our crisper drawer. She had a jar of red onion pickled in apple cider vinegar, salt, and sugar. (This was the remainder of a red onion she used to make our favorite version of gazpacho on the first hot day.)
She cut the fennel into thin slices, added a bit of scallion for color, and drizzled the pickled onion and some of the pickling liquid onto the fennel. Then it just took a few dollops of olive oil and a few grinds of black pepper to have this salad on our table.
This batch of pickled onion developed a pretty pink hue that really looked great on the plate. We've had batches that have had a much deeper tone like the one above.
We're already thinking up items to add to this dish for some variety. Penny wished she had a tart apple like a Granny Smith today, so the next time we have it, thin slices of apple may make an appearance.
Here are a couple more of our pickled onion posts:
When we have hot weather, you can be pretty sure we'll be eating cool food. Something like this fennel and pickled onion salad is perfect. It's easy to make, refreshing, and healthy.
On the last day of a recent heatwave, Penny found a bulb of fennel in our crisper drawer. She had a jar of red onion pickled in apple cider vinegar, salt, and sugar. (This was the remainder of a red onion she used to make our favorite version of gazpacho on the first hot day.)
She cut the fennel into thin slices, added a bit of scallion for color, and drizzled the pickled onion and some of the pickling liquid onto the fennel. Then it just took a few dollops of olive oil and a few grinds of black pepper to have this salad on our table.
This batch of pickled onion developed a pretty pink hue that really looked great on the plate. We've had batches that have had a much deeper tone like the one above.
We're already thinking up items to add to this dish for some variety. Penny wished she had a tart apple like a Granny Smith today, so the next time we have it, thin slices of apple may make an appearance.
Here are a couple more of our pickled onion posts:
For us, meal planning becomes far easier when the local farmers market swings into town with an evolving selection of seasonal food. Our food selections for the week start at the market. We call it our “walk-the-market, chat-with-farmers, buy-what-looks-great, and plan-for-what’s-coming” method of shopping. We visit one or more farmers markets a week.
If this walk-around, scout-the-best-system doesn’t suit you, consult a seasonal vegetable chart available from a site like www.farmfresh.org. There you can enter your zip code, select the harvest calendar, and see a full-season chart of what’s expected to be fresh each month. If you combine this with social media updates from your favorite farms, you can plan your meals from your desktop.
Star of the Day!
When asparagus appears on farm stands, we plan meals around that short-lived, local season. Yes, we can buy asparagus other times of the year. But, while nice, the asparagus that appears in the mass market just doesn’t compare to what sprouts from rich Hadley, Massachusetts soil.
In season we tend to eat the freshest crops we can find, as simply as possible. This might mean steamed asparagus with hard boiled eggs and a hollandaise sauce on the side. At other times of year, the star of supper might be tomatoes, corn, or Brussels sprouts.
Watch the Sales
Sometimes we plan our week around something we found on special when we shopped, or at a good price because of a seasonal supply at our fishmonger or butcher shop. In winter we watch for sales on organic vegetables and fruit.
The price for the Faroe Islands salmon (above) was exceptionally good. Penny bought enough for two portions for one meal and leftovers for another. She sous vide cooked our Faroe Islands salmon to 115 degrees and then seared it in a blazing hot pan.
The leftovers became part of our salad bowl-for-two the next day.
Look at Your Schedule
There are weeks when Penny will have time to cook a few meals and weeks when her schedule means that there will be a bit of cooking and a bit of takeout to get us through some busy days. Shopping and cooking take time. If you try to cram both into an already full week, you’ll only add stress to your life.
Most cooks have a handful of meals they make all the time without a formal recipe in sight.
If you are ready for a change in routine or if you have a special occasion, pull out a cookbook or visit a favorite food site and find a variation on one of your family favorites.
If your beef meatloaf is met with yawns, find a recipe that uses a different meat, spice, or glaze. Instead of your usual lasagna, find one that features a new vegetable, sauce, or cheese.
Here’s where it’s important to know which cookbooks, websites, and resources will give you well-tested recipes that work the first time you follow them. Food sites that include recipe testers’ comments along with the recipe are favorites around here. Two sites we trust are www.Epicurious.com and www.LeitesCulinaria.com.
Some cooks accomplish meal planning on the run by standing in front of the open refrigerator and seeing what’s on hand. Others plan a week by having special days like meatless Monday or Sunday roast. You may write out the week’s plan on a blackboard or ad lib around what you found in the marketplace.
All these forms of meal planning are great, especially if, by the end of the week, you and your family have had a nutritious, balanced diet that included a lot of whole grains, fruit, and vegetables.
For us, meal planning becomes far easier when the local farmers market swings into town with an evolving selection of seasonal food. Our food selections for the week start at the market. We call it our “walk-the-market, chat-with-farmers, buy-what-looks-great, and plan-for-what’s-coming” method of shopping. We visit one or more farmers markets a week.
If this walk-around, scout-the-best-system doesn’t suit you, consult a seasonal vegetable chart available from a site like www.farmfresh.org. There you can enter your zip code, select the harvest calendar, and see a full-season chart of what’s expected to be fresh each month. If you combine this with social media updates from your favorite farms, you can plan your meals from your desktop.
Star of the Day!
When asparagus appears on farm stands, we plan meals around that short-lived, local season. Yes, we can buy asparagus other times of the year. But, while nice, the asparagus that appears in the mass market just doesn’t compare to what sprouts from rich Hadley, Massachusetts soil.
In season we tend to eat the freshest crops we can find, as simply as possible. This might mean steamed asparagus with hard boiled eggs and a hollandaise sauce on the side. At other times of year, the star of supper might be tomatoes, corn, or Brussels sprouts.
Watch the Sales
Sometimes we plan our week around something we found on special when we shopped, or at a good price because of a seasonal supply at our fishmonger or butcher shop. In winter we watch for sales on organic vegetables and fruit.
The price for the Faroe Islands salmon (above) was exceptionally good. Penny bought enough for two portions for one meal and leftovers for another. She sous vide cooked our Faroe Islands salmon to 115 degrees and then seared it in a blazing hot pan.
The leftovers became part of our salad bowl-for-two the next day.
Look at Your Schedule
There are weeks when Penny will have time to cook a few meals and weeks when her schedule means that there will be a bit of cooking and a bit of takeout to get us through some busy days. Shopping and cooking take time. If you try to cram both into an already full week, you’ll only add stress to your life.
Most cooks have a handful of meals they make all the time without a formal recipe in sight.
If you are ready for a change in routine or if you have a special occasion, pull out a cookbook or visit a favorite food site and find a variation on one of your family favorites.
If your beef meatloaf is met with yawns, find a recipe that uses a different meat, spice, or glaze. Instead of your usual lasagna, find one that features a new vegetable, sauce, or cheese.
Here’s where it’s important to know which cookbooks, websites, and resources will give you well-tested recipes that work the first time you follow them. Food sites that include recipe testers’ comments along with the recipe are favorites around here. Two sites we trust are www.Epicurious.com and www.LeitesCulinaria.com.
Some cooks accomplish meal planning on the run by standing in front of the open refrigerator and seeing what’s on hand. Others plan a week by having special days like meatless Monday or Sunday roast. You may write out the week’s plan on a blackboard or ad lib around what you found in the marketplace.
All these forms of meal planning are great, especially if, by the end of the week, you and your family have had a nutritious, balanced diet that included a lot of whole grains, fruit, and vegetables.
Occasionally, Penny will follow a recipe from a new cookbook to the letter, to be sure her results are the same as the author. It's a good way to test the reliability of the instructions. But, sometimes, there is no way for us to enjoy the recipe as written because of an allergy to an ingredient or because we would have to shop for a few items before we could try it.
Sarah's recipe was dressed with a toasted walnut sauce which would not work with one of our allergies. But the combo of arugula and figs was certainly worth exploring.
This salad was not just delicious, it was spectacular! What's more, it will become a model for salads that can keep us eating healthy all summer long. We'll combine one tangy seasonal green with one ripe and luscious fruit and some dabs of creamy cheese and top with a dressing that will bring out the best in that combination.
Occasionally, Penny will follow a recipe from a new cookbook to the letter, to be sure her results are the same as the author. It's a good way to test the reliability of the instructions. But, sometimes, there is no way for us to enjoy the recipe as written because of an allergy to an ingredient or because we would have to shop for a few items before we could try it.
Sarah's recipe was dressed with a toasted walnut sauce which would not work with one of our allergies. But the combo of arugula and figs was certainly worth exploring.
This salad was not just delicious, it was spectacular! What's more, it will become a model for salads that can keep us eating healthy all summer long. We'll combine one tangy seasonal green with one ripe and luscious fruit and some dabs of creamy cheese and top with a dressing that will bring out the best in that combination.
“You don't have to cook fancy or complicated masterpieces – just good food from fresh ingredients.” Julia Child
This plate of fresh goodness only required a little scrubbing, slicing, and seasoning to become a supper for two on Sunday evening. With a plate of good bread off to the side, we were both happy.
That meal began with a basket full of fresh organic produce from the Copley Farmers Market. For information on area farmers markets, we have a post we're keeping updated.
On Monday we added some of those goodies to a beautiful gazpacho. We try to shop with care – buy what we can use up while it's at its best, reduce the amount of food we waste, and get the best value out of our food dollars.
We think Julia would approve of our food philosophy.
About Photo Tales & Quotes: We keep hearing that people miss our cover photos that ran for years in the Back Bay Sun. That assignment was to provide a photo that showed what the week was like in the neighborhood. Often the photos illustrated favorite quotations. Photo Tales & Quotes is an occasional offering to our BostonZest readers featuring photos along the same theme but taken wherever we happen to be.
Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!
“You don't have to cook fancy or complicated masterpieces – just good food from fresh ingredients.” Julia Child
This plate of fresh goodness only required a little scrubbing, slicing, and seasoning to become a supper for two on Sunday evening. With a plate of good bread off to the side, we were both happy.
That meal began with a basket full of fresh organic produce from the Copley Farmers Market. For information on area farmers markets, we have a post we're keeping updated.
On Monday we added some of those goodies to a beautiful gazpacho. We try to shop with care – buy what we can use up while it's at its best, reduce the amount of food we waste, and get the best value out of our food dollars.
We think Julia would approve of our food philosophy.
About Photo Tales & Quotes: We keep hearing that people miss our cover photos that ran for years in the Back Bay Sun. That assignment was to provide a photo that showed what the week was like in the neighborhood. Often the photos illustrated favorite quotations. Photo Tales & Quotes is an occasional offering to our BostonZest readers featuring photos along the same theme but taken wherever we happen to be.
Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!
or ad lib around what you found in the marketplace.
from here to support this site!