eat make read

This article is super dreamy and inspiring. Check out what these 40 up and coming farmers are doing across the country. 40 farmers under 40 on the Mother Nature Network.

Oh, it’s a happy Friday. I just received my issue of BUST and I’m thrilled to say that I have a little piece in it. Even more exciting, there’s a picture of my lovely mother, my dad and the screaming baby (the red blob to the left) is yours truly. The recipe is one of my favorites and one that my mom would make every now and then called “puppy chow”. It’s a sweet treat made with chex mix that is completely and utterly addictive. The August/September issue is on newsstands now, so please pick up a copy. In addition to the puppy chow, there are all sorts of delicious recipes including kettle corn (which I will be making asap), kombucha and a cocktail called Miss Rossi’s Electric Lemonade that’s calling my name.

Cheers to you! Have a fantastic weekend!

The New York Times has a nice article about Julie & Julia and the styling of the food. Julie and Julia is in theaters beginning August 7. Oh Meryl Streep, Amy Adams (not to mention Julie Powell and Nora Ephron) and delicious food…

Image by Jonathan Wenk/Columbia Pictures

One week ago today Mark Bittman listed 101 salads in the New York Times. I promptly got my highlighter out and started marking up recipes that I wanted to make. The first one to make the list was this beauty, #2 which is described as following: Mix wedges of tomatoes and peaches, add slivers of red onion, a few red-pepper flakes and cilantro. Dress with olive oil and lime or lemon juice. Astonishing. Astonishing is right. It’s so fresh, so crisp and full of flavor, it’s the perfect way to use everything that’s fresh at the farmers’ market right now.

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Sometimes I open up my pantry and think, oh my goodness, why the hell do I have this much stuff in here. The problem is I visit Sahadi’s, our local dry goods bulk store, and I wait in line forever and then since I’ve waited so long I feel like I need to buy two pounds of nuts. Then I get home and there’s not room for two pounds of nuts. Siggghhh. Every once in a while my crazy hoarding comes in handy, like when I got this new cocktail book by Danny Meyer and it has a dreamy recipe for mixed nuts. Of course I jumped at the chance to clear a little space in there. It was a good decision because these are a tasty little snack and a breeze to make.

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I just found this great article from the Atlantic written by a farmer who sells at a market in Washington DC. Just an interesting insight into the other side of the table. via eatsustainable on twitter

Images by Gardiner Lapham

It happened again. I saw pretty fruit at the market and just couldn’t resist it. It’s that time of year when the market is in full swing, with lovely berries, stone fruits, plump tomatoes, all sorts of peppers along with everything in between. I’ve decided this is the summer of salsa, because I’ve been making at least one batch a week. I usually just chop up a bunch stuff, squeeze a little lime juice in it and call it salsa. This time I wasn’t necessarily even looking to make salsa, but I found this recipe that includes cherries, peaches and jalepeños and I was sold. Then I read it was written by Justin Rashid of American Spoon Foods and I knew not only that I was going to make it, but it was going to be awesomely delicious. If you’re unfamiliar with the American Spoon Company, they make delicious jams and spreads and they’re from Michigan, so they have a special place in my heart (I was born and raised in Michigan).

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Woohoo, it’s that time again! This week we’re serving up white ladies, a simple blend of gin, cointreau and fresh lemon juice. Gin’s started to grow on me, I guess if you make enough cocktails with it you’ll learn to like it. This one has a nice, clean and refreshing flavor (still with a little pineyness though) that is perfect for a warm summer evening.

I hope you have a great weekend!

white lady
makes 1, from Essential Cocktails

1 1/2 oz gin
1 oz cointreau
3/4 oz fresh squeezed lemon juice
lemon peel

1
Combine gin, cointreau and lemon juice with some ice in a cocktail mixer.
2
Shake well and pour into a glass. Garnish with lemon peel.
3
Sip and enjoy! Cheers!

Woohoo! Looky there. I’ve got two peppers growing at a rapid rate on one plant while the other pepper plants are little more stubborn and are holding out on me. On the tomato front, I’ve got about four tomatoes growing on one plant, two of which are golf ball sized and two are more blueberry sized. On my other tomato plant, the one that has super cute pudgy heirloom tomatoes, I’ve got two more golf ball sized fellows.

I think I’ve got the gardening bug now because I keep wanting to put more things out on my fire escape. This weekend I picked up some new pots while at ikea *sidenote, have you ever checked out their pots? so cute and so affordable*. I’m hoping to pick up some herbs at the market this weekend to fill them.

Check out this awesome article, 101 simple salads by Mark Bittman in the Times today. I can’t believe I’m this excited about vegetables.

Image by Francesco Tonelli for The New York Times