on rustic spheres

so much depends upon the  iron sphere at the edge of the wood in the long shadows of the afternoon

or whereupon i make a case for and buy a rusting iron wire sphere. now, we can all agree: no one really needs a giant wire sphere in their yard. but you can't carry practicality too far. lest life would be an endless stream of uninteresting tasks and responsibilities injected with no imagination or verve whatsoever. no art, no passion. where would we be then?

no this nonessential sphere is important, nay, essential. a symbolic reminder of the state of cultural decay of world society, or civilized manners, or maybe worn and eroding physical networks, old technology soon to be replaced by newer virtual electronic ones. or maybe it's symbolic of life in the universe on the atomic level, spinning atoms, electrons, protons, or no, perhaps it's all future and sub atomic hypothetical higgs boson particles and hadron super colliders.

or maybe its just totally spherical. and beautiful.

anyway, whatever you do, don't take a lovely drive up to the all-too charming hamlet of kent, connecticut, one brilliant afternoon and have a look around at all the treasures of r.t. facts or you might come home with one too. or maybe you'll have some heady rationalizing to do.

baby lettuce

baby lettuces growing in my kitchen windows in little white pots from ikea. fresh and green, inexpensive (pennies!) and completely edible. a kitchen garden actually in the kitchen. not a new idea of course, but i find them very pleasing all the same. because, of course, i am never more pleased than when form, function and frugality all intersect. that is where i always want to be.

"you can't rise above your ingredients"

recently, my husband, r, was on what my children call a work vacation (more commonly known as a business trip) and sweetly brought me back some wonderful food gifts from the san francisco ferry terminal. that old haunt of mine, the one filled with marvelous food stuffs of all kinds like: broken rice from the slanted door (we are crazy for broken rice), french lentils, anson mills polenta and boulette's larder specially ground spice blend. this man obviously knows the direct route to my heart. through food finds.

which makes me think of my dear cooking school instructor, no longer with us, the wonderful peter kump. peter was founder of the james beard foundation and the cooking school that is now known as the institute of culinary education.  peter was also known for repeating this mantra "you can't rise above your ingredients," over and over to his students. often he would tell us a personal story, like the one about an impromptu dinner party at his manhattan apartment, how he ran out to buy a chicken to roast, accidently bought an old hen, only good for stewing, tried to roast it, failed. ordered chinese food had a lovely meal with his guests anyway. illustrating that even the great peter kump had his share of kitchen mishaps when the ingredients did not succeed despite his expertise. buy the best ingredients, he insisted, you won't be sorry. if all else fails, order out and above all, enjoy your evening, no matter what.

so this weekend i am loving having these special ingredients to work with in order to try to conjure up some food magic. i don't know what i'll make yet, but that will be the fun of it. have a great weekend. xo, g

fresh color

fresh color, lots of it, on my table and in the grocery store this week. the produce section is coming alive again. will roast these charming multi-colored carrots tonight and serve with risotto and garden salad. a cook's palette becomes more playful and interesting as the growing season progresses.

green tea latte

yes, i am still thinking about the color green. thank you for asking. and my love of green tea is well known. so naturally it follows that one of my favorite breakfasts these days is a green tea latte. similar to one i had at le pain quotidien recently. i love that chain. do you have one near you, yet? if you don't, i am confident you will soon. they are taking the world by storm. each one seems like a handmade charming wholesome european coffee/tea/pastry/sandwich shop. you would never guess it was a chain until you look around and notice all the branded products, teas, honey, jams, mustard, etc. they are originally out of belgium and make the very best brownies (shaped like a little round chocolate tart) i have ever tasted in my (increasingly long) life. we have two near us in connecticut for example. having also sampled their wares in belgium, france, and new york, i can tell you they were all consistently charming to be in and delicious.

back to the green tea latte. the color is incredible. so green. very photogenic. i could photograph it all day. this green tea latte is made with organic soy milk. i like it best this way. it is the fastest breakfast i know how to make. plenty of protein. a good start to my day. i usually just nibble on a little fresh fruit as i heat and stir. takes about 3 minutes which includes getting things out of the refrigerator and gathering the needed accessories. like spoons and cups.

i make it with ito en matcha green tea powder. a very special finely ground green tea. you can find various brands available from numerous japanese sources. it is often kept in the freezer and has a short shelf life. matcha is very handy in that it can easily be whisked into a foam when mixed with hot water, or as you see here, warmed soy milk. whisked just as they do in the beautiful ritual that is the japanese tea ceremony. (which starts with making your own ceramic tea cup out of clay). i bought my tea cup. but maybe one day i will get back to kyoto and enroll in just such a tea class.

i had never thought of making a green tea latte at home until i saw one on one of my favorite reads, lovely blog out of the uk, quaint living. really great photography, food, travel, that sort of thing.

green tea latte

preparation

i use a heaping teaspoon of matcha to one and a half to two cups of soy milk. i heat over the stove or in the microwave. good results with both. whisk while hot. serve immediately. brilliantly simple, fast and delicious.