Today was lovely and fascinating and involved lots of time with friends new and old. A few snowflakes fell, a gorgeous neighborhood cat with no collar ended up purring in my kitchen for twenty glorious minutes, my new hat for the Women's March arrived, and Tom indulged me by not complaining about the dinner I served him: two beautiful salads with nary a bit of meat in sight.

Remind me to tell you about the new internist he recently visited who suggested my carnivore husband go vegan. Hilarious!

Anyway, these salads resulted from A) a desire to use what was in the fridge, B) my having just made the kids dinner and not wanting to commit to much more time in the kitchen, C) my mad love of veggies, and D) a realization that it's been an awfully long time since I contemplated and crafted a proper composed salad.

Result 1:

A wintry mix of celery, cucumber, blood orange, pomegranate, candied kumquats, shaved Pecorino, parsley, blackberry Balsamic, olive oil, salt and pepper.

Result 2:

A hearty "don't let the rest of that baguette go to waste" salad of roasted golden beets, raw shallots (shaved), goat cheese, parsley, the baguette cubed and lightly fried, pimentón, and a very generous drizzle of olive oil.

Neither was difficult, both used a variety of aging ingredients and also pantry staples, and never can you underestimate the beneficence of a beautiful meal.

Peeps, our meals of late have reminded me that maligning winter produce is quick-tongued. The panoply of citrus alone, a bounty of multi-hued jewels, could sustain the pickiest eater for a month. And, forget scurvy! Much can and should be done with these delicious treats. My salads of last night and this evening were made that much better because of their additions of orange: last night the Minneola; tonight the blood orange.

I figured my Italians would be yearning for some pasta by now so made my Brussels sprouts, shallot and speck with long noodles (mafaldine this time) which is always lovely!!

This afternoon, the boys and I watched the first third of Raiders of the Lost Ark. What a fun, adventurous film. Harrison Ford was so ruggedly dashing, and within ten minutes of the opening scene, Jack had donned all clothes that could possibly resemble Indy's and fashioned a whip from Zoobs. I love that kid's creative bent. A costume always makes things more real, a belief he and Oliver subscribe to completely. Here is young Indy, sans hat and chest strap, attempting to put excitement behind him so as to do homework.

Isn't he handsome?! Look at that tussled hair and rosy lips, eyebrows and lashes any woman would kill for.

Em-i-lis

Meatless Thursday Salads, and a hat that says "Meow"

More delish food

Em-i-lis

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