summeryness

Fun summer images and themes keep popping up today and, in fact, have been showing their bright little faces all week. Matthew and I took a little trip up the coast last week and I've got lots of fun photos that I'll post from that at a later date, but for now I'll just post a few photos that I took today.


The weather was a little bit warm(for San Diego) today so I made Hiyashi Ramen. This is a Japanese warm weather dish and is one of my all time favorite things to eat. I spent the whole day thinking about how deliciously cool and refreshing dinner would be, and it was exactly that!


The dish usually has cooked egg, cucumber and some sort of pork(ham or chashu) over noodles doused in a soy based sauce. I like to add other things to it like corn and tofu to try to "healthy it up."


One of my favorite additions is tomato. And these were particularly tasty little heirloom tomatoes from Trader Joes.


Finally it's cheap cherry season!! And for the first time in several years I found Rainier cherries for less than five dollars a pound which is the usual price for them in San Diego. These were actually 2 dollars a pound and while lovely and delicious, they might be a bit truck worn, hence the better price.


I mixed in a few of the twice-the-price and twice-the-size Bings that I picked up as well. I hope the rainiers don't feel dowdy next to their much more handsome friends.


Cherry Mug shots. Cute.


Ever the hopeful gardener, I've planted some micro greens and several herbs. Perhaps if we have some sun this summer, unlike last year, my plants will finally grow.


Of course, nothing will grow if I don't water them. Hopefully this funny little flattened spoon will remind me to give them a drink more often than once a week.

Triple Chocolately Yummy Bread

I realized a few posts back that I was obsessively posting on my home baked bread loaves because I was still so fascinated by the fact that they turned out perfectly every time. Well, I took a break from baking bread and posting about it, but I just have to post another one because once again, I'm delighted and shocked that this batch of bread turned out perfectly, and, in fact, came out far better than I expected.



I've grown to really trust the Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes book but when I decided to take on the task of making the author's recipe for an intensely chocolately and rich bread, I felt a little unsure. The recipe contains four eggs and over half a pound of chocolate along with almost a full cup of honey, so is by no means an inexpensive recipe.



Of course, as with every other recipe from this book, the bread is some of the best I've ever eaten. I was worried about giving a few loaves away but this bread is something I'll be proud to share with others. I will add that these recipes are so perfect for a casual (read: unwilling to measure precisely) baker who produces a lot of flops (read: terrible baked goods).



This recipe did take a few starting attempts before I was able to pull it all together. I started the first step of melting the butter and chocolate before I realized that 5 more oz of chocolate were necessary so I put off making it until the next evening. Then, I was several steps into the recipe before I realized that I only had half the amount of flour called for, so Matthew and I made an emergency run to Whole Foods and arrived with 15 min to spare before they closed. The dough seemed just fine, despite having sat as a soupy mess while we made our flour run and not rising as much as I'd expected. Perhaps I'll have even better results next time I make this bread, but, in all honestly, this didn't need to turn out any better to make me a happy little baker girl!

Cherry Jelly and colorful fishies

Not much to post recently, though not for lack of trying. I have just found that most of my recently taken food photos look terrible. I partly blame the grey skies which never provide for attractive lighting but also, most of the food I've made comes out looking kinda weird.

These are the only exceptions and even then, this all may be a little bit silly:



So, the two mugs at the top look like they contain liquid in them but it's actually Sour Cherry Jello!! which they call jelly in the UK. I like Jelly better than Jello! It's much cuter. You can see the jelled juice in the photo taken from above. I bought this delicious sour cherry juice from the Russian beverage section at North Park Produce about a month ago and just finally got around to trying it out. It's really yummy.


This darling little jar of crackers just caught my fancy and I had to take a photo. I served these along side a chicken and salami meatball soup that, as Matthew said, mostly contained beans and spinach. I have to admit the meatballs were a little odd as well, a little dusty tasting. hmmm...maybe the cracker crumbs contained dust?

So, I'll try to make more attractive foods in the next month in hopes that I'll be able to post a bit more often.

Little Things

Originally, I was planning to save these cute pictures to post later in the week, but my dear, sweet neighbor is moving out today and it just felt fitting to post them today. He has only been our neighbor for a full year (to the day), but I've realized during the past week of his move out process that he is one of the best neighbors that I've ever had.

Growing up we did have some good neighbors but this man has been such a wonderful and enriching part of our lives for the last year, in a way that I don't remember any neighbor ever being before. From the moment our neighbor moved in he has consistently shown his kindness and thoughtfulness in little ways, always remembering my love of all things little, and finding the time to set aside a small version of something for me, such as apples or avocados, anything he comes across.

I have enjoyed so much of the delicious foods that he buys and shares with us, such as dried cherries and figs, or his favorite chocolate cake and coconut macaroons. He loves juicing and shares the new flavor concoctions he makes because he knows they are tasty and good for us. So often, he says, "get a plate" "get a bowl" "hold out your hand; I have something to share with you" and he proceeds to share a portion of whatever he has, no matter if he only has very little of it in the first place.

His enthusiasm for our interests and our well-being really made an impression on me, and last night as we were sipping our farewell brandy with him(just one more example of how he loves sharing with others) I felt at a bit of a loss, knowing that I'd miss his generosity and thoughtfulness in our lives.


It was a very strange and funny parting gift, but it was all I had, two tiny deviled eggs. He loved them and thought they were tiny and cute.


They look like normal sized eggs without any reference. The green plate is actually the saucer for an espresso cup.


This photo gives you a better idea of how small the eggs are, unless my hand is exceptionally large!


A very small easter basket: Maybe this is the sort of eggs the easter bunny should deliver?


Don't ask what got into my crazy head! I really wanted the contrast between the pale yellow and the blue. Sadly, this looks more like merry-go-round the citrus juicer rather than a cool interesting photograph, but I guess it made me chuckle.

Treats at Opera Cafe

Anybody who reads my blog has probably picked up the fact that I really like treats. After all, my two main reasons for going to Japan were eating Cake and buying cute clothes. So, I'm clearly a fan of going out of my way for delicious nibbles. Thus, after hearing/reading several recommendations for The Opera Cafe in Mira Mesa, I finally realized that this was a situation where I needed to make a little effort to go out of my way for some seriously nummy treats.

Last Friday Matthew and I finally had a totally open day together, so naturally I forced him cakeward to The Opera Cafe. I think even he agreed that it was worth the 20 minute drive; everything we ate was truly amazing and expertly made. In all honestly, the fact that it's a little out of our way will be an advantage in the end and it should keep me out of too much cake-induced trouble.

A little warning: the picture quality of these photos is deplorable and I apologize for them. Some of the photos are so blurry that they may hurt your eyes. I really should have taken a camera with me but instead I just had to use my dinky little phone camera.


Duck Confit salad with dried apricots and candied walnuts. This half order was huge!


Matthew ordered the Croque Monsieur (crunchy mister) and love, love, loved it. He said that, although he hasn't ordered a lot of them in his lifetime, he felt this was the best one he's ever had. The fries were very good as well, and so adorably presented.


The pistachio, strawberry, pomegranate cake with lovely little decorations. The tiny balls on the top of the cake seemed to be candied pistachio praline balls.


The layers were so pretty. This cake was incredibly light in texture and taste with all the flavors perfectly balanced.


Teeny french pastries. We weren't exactly clear on the flavors of the two round pastries but the eclairish creatures were coffee and chocolate.


Naturally I adored this little peach colored flower pastry but it was so mildly flavored that I'm still not sure if or how it was flavored. Possibly apricot?

This was a darling and elegant cafe and a perfect place to go for a little afternoon outing.

teeny pink piggy tissues

So, I know that everybody can find these cute boxes of tissues at Target and in all likelihood I'm the last person in the world to find out about them, but I just love them and had to post a couple photos of the adorable pink piggy. I find that using cute tissue boxes makes the misery of colds and allergies significantly lessened. How much happier is it to reach for a tissue and through one's blurred vision see a tiny smiling face or pretty bright flowers?


Front and back- of course, you can't see the tiny piggy's backside but it's probably very cute.

mini "canned" apple crisp

Remember last spring when I posted the sad story of the limequat curd? And the cute little jars that never got to fulfill their duties as vessels for limequat curd? Well, at last their day has come!



Several days ago, my friend Jessica mentioned a crazy, adorable fad that is sweepin' cross the nation: baked goods in canning jars. People are baking up all sorts of treats in these jars, such as baby pies and teeny cakes. Now, thanks to her brilliant thinking and suggestion there exists mini canned apple crisp. I just couldn't resist such an adorable project.

Want to make your own mini "canned" crisps?

Step One:


Pack freshly cut apples(or other yummy fruits) into adorable jars. I mixed the apples with a sprinkle of sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.



Step Two:


Top apples with a crumble topping. I just smooshed together a knob of butter, a sprinkle of flour, some oats, a splash of vanilla and a little more nutmeg.



Step Three:


Bake the crisps in a moderate oven for 30 min, or so.

Step Four:


Serve in a very elegant setting with a wee little fork so as to savor the crisp for a long as possible.