Fresh Tart

Here we are, Little League baseball season once again, the third time since I started this blog - time flies, eh?! I have to say, it feels good to be back in the fresh air and warm sun, eating a little dust, catching up with the Baseball Moms (outside of McCoys, ha), and watching my nephew Cooper Cuteness running all over the place, thinking he's ready to play some ball. "I want to go in there!" says Cooper, age just-2, pointing over the fence at the Big Boys, the cool ones, the ones hitting and throwing the ball as hard as they possibly can... Eeek!

We had a game yesterday too, an appetizer of sorts before the dinner I made for Dad, Susanna, Stacey, Cooper, John, and Nathan. We all ended up here by four or so, in time for Jake (my parents' dog) to take the inaugural '08 swim in the pool (splash!), while I pulled together some (real) appetizers and Cooper and Nathan ran around chasing Jake. We vegged out - literally - with sauteed artichokes and roasted asparagus, followed by a first course of thin fresh pasta with favas and morels (hey, what can I say, 'tis the season) and a dab of creme fraiche. Oh, don't worry, we beefed up plenty - a whole beef tenderloin roast, rubbed with minced garlic, herbs, olive oil, and coarse salt, grilled crusty and served over slices of grilled bread with sauteed cherry tomatoes, spring onions, and Brussels sprouts. With zabligione for dessert, oy we were stuffed, daring to ring in spring with a truly spring-y meal.

Today, due to a lovely, sunny visit with my friend Kathie, I actually achieved sun rash, itchy and bumpy and...completely welcome. Hey, I'll take any sun at this point, especially on Kathie's pretty patio, especially in comparison to gray clouds and snow. Rash on!

Moderate it: roasted vegetables make delicious - and not overly heavy - appetizers. The goal is to set out a nibble, not fill everyone up before dinner.

An even better treat than going to a restaurant for dinner is heading to someone's home for dinner. Granted, I'm shockingly blessed with friends and family who are not just good cooks, but great cooks. (Thank you, Food Gods!) Seriously - some of the best tastes I've ever savored have been courtesy of none other than my parents, grandma, and aunts, not to mention in-laws and friends. Veal scallops a la danoise (my father-in-law), roasted goose with cabbage, lardons, and whipped potatoes (Dad & Susanna), fresh lemon-coconut cake (Suz), grilled tuna on Georgica Beach (Bartley), guacamole on Georgica Beach (Maud), grilled leg of lamb (Carol), Christmas prime rib roast (aunt Mary), apple pie (aunt Marge), crispy homemade pizzas (Kathie), Greek salad (Mary P), spanikopita (Mary P's mother-in-law), almond puff pastry (Mom), braised lamb (Stu & Debbie), heirloom tomato salad (Rudy & Ana), oyster stew (Andrew), fried fresh walleye with garden green beans (Grandma & Grandpa Meyer), Schaum torte (Polly), oven-roasted potatoes (Harry)... Oh my goodness, I could go on and on and on. It's unbelievable, really. From the simplest to the most involved, all completely memorable. So there you go, proof that I remember fondly damn near everything I've ever eaten. (Curse or blessing? Not sure...) Hey, if I am what I eat, I'm so jamming! As well as French, Greek, Mexican, Italian, Danish, German, British... NICE!

Also nice? In fact, where I'm going with all of this? (Sorry, I tend to get a little carried away with my reminiscing...) We're going to Suz& Cory's for dinner tonight - yays! For raclette - melted cheese served with all sorts of tasty Frenchy/Swissy accoutrements: potatoes, ham, pickles, vegetables. Little wine, little chat, little checking out Planet Earth in high def (The Coreman, like The Batman, has all the best toys). Aaaaahhh, Total Tasty Relaxation. Thank you in advance Shuberts! Wheee!

I'll hope for you that you're lucky enough to be heading to someone's home for dinner tonight too. If not, whip up a little somethin' somethin' for yourself (perhaps a simple pasta with broccolini with a nice glass of red) and...well...pretend? (Actually, it works, I do it all the time!)

Whew! A bit of a crazy week, but the good kind of crazy, girly, girly, girly. After opening the week with a late Monday-night baseball game (a guaranteed dose of feminine laughs and chat in the stands of Nathan's baseball games!), I met my friend Chris for dinner Tuesday night at Luci Ancora. Delicious food, as usual. And always great to see Chris! I had a salad and their chewy-cheesy-garlicky house-made ravioli with arugula. What's not to like about home-made pasta? Uh, NOTHING, duh!

Wednesday night was Girls Night In, with Suz and The Maven here at the hacienda for snacks, drinks, and chat. I reprised my grilled bread dinner from last week, spread out picnic-style on the living room coffee table, with shaved ham, sundried tomato spread, and roasted red peppers. Olives and almonds. Roasted cauliflower. And strawberries, chocolate, and coffee for dessert. I love having my girls over! (And staying up until obscene hours of the morning!)

Last night was dinner with Kathie at McCoy's. And a surprise visit from Nathan, because he'd left his backpack in my car (and I'd left my cell phone in same car), so his grandpa (very kindly) drove him over to get my keys! Hearing "Hi Mom!" in the middle of evilly cackling about some such person or thing was so out of context, I'm sure I looked completely confused, it was pretty hilarious. Luckily he knew I was at McCoy's, and found me, and was on his way, backpack in hand, soon enough, while Kathie and I continued on with dinner. I had what I always have at McCoy's - the black bean burger, topped with guacamole, pickles, lettuce, and tomato. Man I love that thing, delicious. I eventually mosied on home and almost had to go to bed at 8:30 I was so tired out from all my socializing! I'm WIPED today, ha - but in a very good way. I'm just old is really more like it. I've always needed alot of sleep and that doesn't appear to be changing anytime soon...

So, I'm making a light, healthy dinner tonight. Little breather, before we launch into a big, busy weekend. A simple salad, Nicoise-esque with tuna, capers, butter lettuce, hard-cooked egg, cherry tomatoes, and a few new potatoes. No green beans, but that's OK. Perhaps I'll sneak a few pickled beets into mine (John HATES beets, that crazy kid), mmmm, beets.

Happy Friday y'all!

If you're looking for casual, healthy, tasty eats in St. Louis Park, the black-bean burger at good ol' McCoy's is pretty damn hard to beat. I met my dear friend Kathie for dinner there last night and we each chowed one down, topped with guacamole, tomato, lettuce, pickles, and onions. We skipped the cheese (unnecessary with all those other goodies) and the top bun (ditto, especially since it's toasted white bread) and agreed we enjoyed them as much if not more than a burger-burger. Like all of the best goodies, it's got it all - spicy, crunchy, creamy, salty, chewy. YUM! And with a side of broccolini (they do it nicely, tender-crisp) it's damn healthy too. Perfect in my book. Yeah, baby!

I was ready to return to healthier eating after my uber-indulgent weekend. After buttery veal, mashed potatoes, cheeses, white breads, pasta, birthday cake - holy hell, I was feeling rather sluggish on Sunday. Much better today after a few days of the usual veggies, veggies, and more veggies, raw and cooked, supplemented with fish, raw nuts, whole grains, legumes, and fruits. It is amazing what eating whole foods (as well as fresh air and lots of water) does for one's energy level and skin. Even after 24 hours I look and feel more like myself. Whew.

It's nice to have a spot of sunshine and warmer air as well. It's not exactly Spring-y, but it's in the air, I can feel it and smell it. Puts a little bounce in my step. Sweet.