Mighty Salads! and a bit of re-entry burrs-in-butt

We got home around 10pm last night, after leaving Lake Charles just before 2. The children were, shall we say, rambunctious, and I have not, in a long while, been so glad to insert my ear plugs and call it a day as I was last night when everyone was tucked in.

Our trip home was wonderful, and I admit to crying on and off all day yesterday. I'm sure I was primed for tears not only because of a happy week in the sun with my parents but also because just before leaving for the airport, we all went to visit the graveyard in which Nanny is buried.

I miss her always, but rarely do I get to sit atop her grave, rearranging the pebbles into an obvious heart and talking with her. 

This morning I began the pleasurable task of sorting through a week's worth of mail. In it I found my new Maxine Waters "Shade" shirt, which delights me to no end, as well as two new books: Down and Out in Paris and London (Orwell) and 100 Tricks Every Boy Can Do: A Memoir (Kim Stafford). 

Additionally, the new Food52 cookbook, Mighty Salads was just released, and I am very excited to have a recipe featured in it: my Farro and Golden Beet Salad with Chive-Sage Oil. 

The book has so many delicious dishes in it- salad for dinner without going hungry is the mantra. Woot!

Although some cooler temps remain in our forecast, today was beautiful, sunny and hovering around 60 degrees. I got a burr in my butt to not only plant everything Mom sent home with me (amaryllis and calla lily bulbs, indigo, lemon grass, and something that now escapes me) but also to remove two Nandina bushes that irritate me and whose absence would make room for something wonderful. I got it all done. So therapeutic and fun.

In the meantime, the boys, tired as all get out from the trip home yesterday, played and bickered, bickered and rested. This evening, after getting them to bed, I found this note from Ol to Jack. I'm going to be honest- it cracked me up. Just what I needed.

A) Jack kind of was an ass today. But so was Ol.

B) I love the "Dear" leading into the "you suck."

C) Who is Carrot?

Em-i-lis gorgeously featured on Food52

I awoke this morning with a sore back (too much garden) and a stopped-up nose (damn cold) but otherwise feeling quite good.

Then I saw this gorgeous story on Food52 highlighting a salad of mine of which I'm quite fond. Not only do I now have another photo of a dish of mine by the insanely talented food photographer, James Ransom, but also I'm so touched by the generous sentiments and tone in the article itself (written by another terrifically talented individual, Lindsay-Jean Hard).

She picks up on some of the things I most enjoy about cooking-combining ingredients not often thought of as friends- and on my effort to avoid food waste by finding new uses for bits and parts often tossed. 

It's a lovely surprise when you feel that quiet elements, things you take pride in, of your being are noticed and appreciated. What a Sunday surprise. 

PS- Nigella wants to eat it too! Lawd a'mercy! 

A heck of a sandwich; food news

Em-i-lis' Apple, Bacon, Caramelized Red Onion Sandwich with Arugula-Thyme Spread. Fantastic photograph by James Ransom of Food52.

Friends, I am delighted to see that my Apple, Bacon, Caramelized Red Onion Sandwich with Arugula-Thyme Spread was chosen as a Community Pick on Food52. I thought it was good, but one never knows. So, thank you!

If you only know me here, online, you might think I'd been on cooking strike as of late. In short, I have not. Just busy, busy -did I tell you we have a squirrel family in our attic? a presumed cannibal fish?- and keeping things simple. And yet, isn't that often the best kind of cooking?

Applesauce, pan upon pan of roasted fall vegetables, chili verde...hearty comfort food to the max.

roasted fennel is soo good. so are roasted parsnips.

roasted celery root and romanesco broccoli with a little pimento

I already miss peaches and good tomatoes, but this stuff is pretty delicious too. Hope y'all are eating well.