El Jardin De Kabri

Seriously, I am living "the life" ... and it really is the life I want to live ... well, sans a few important things like: my love. Oh ... and our dog .... and chickens. But it is gooood.

This weekend I went to brunch and out shopping in SF with J's mom - we had a lovely time, complete with brunch and happy-hour cocktails (mmm sake lemon drops), vintage consignment shop browsing and my first experience with Parisian macarons at Paulette. Having a thin, crisp outside, a creamy inside with a slight chewiness and a delightful filling, they were truly decadent (and pretty!) ... the candy-pink colored Sweet Wedding Almond and pale purple Violet Cassis outshone the others.

 

Otherwise, I've spent my days off re-planting my over-crowded tomatoes into 3 large pots, baking up a storm and enjoying the sun while perusing the Mountain View farmers market. And now I get to blog about it all with a glass of wine on my patio ... this is rough! My plants are all looking pretty good, but I feel like they will all shrivel up if I don't water them twice a day. I'm still trying to find the perfect locations for each plant so that they get enough, but not too-much, sun.

  

  

The Farmer's Market was fantastic. I got there 

earlier than last time and had my pick of fresh strawberries, asparagus, eggs, cheese, multi-colored potatoes, tomatoes, apricots, dried nectarines, avocados, zucchini and carrots. On my way there, I stopped by a store called Casablanca Market. There I met Katia, who had just arrived back in the States after a business trip in Morocco. She helped me pick a beautiful tagine and the spice mixture, Ras al-Hanout, that I'll need for my Moroccan Themed Cuisine week next month. The store sells gorgeous colored tile and an array of fragrant spices. She shared some dates while she explained how to cure and season my new tagine.

I took some pictures of the beautiful day and Mountain View's main street on my walk back to the car (I didn't ride my bike this week, because it is at the bike shop to be adjusted.) Being able to see not-too-distant hills in most directions makes me so happy. So does the sun. 

   

On the way home, I stopped across the street at Karoon, an international market, where I found freshly-made sesame halwa  (which I'll bring to J in two weeks), rose-flavored Turkish delight (my favorite sweet ever) and orange blossom water. I saw the latter of the three in the cookbook I mean to buy at Casablanca Market, where it was mixed with almond paste and stuffed into fresh dates {drool}. The nice guy at the counter at Karoon approved of my choices and asked what I planned to do with the orange blossom water. He smiled when I told him about the recipe, but shared that he knew of a lot of people who simply add it to drinking water. As soon as I got home, I added it to a large glass of ice water. With a splash of simple syrup, it is one of the most refreshingly light and lovely tastes I can imagine - similar to jasmine. I think the combination will become a summertime favorite.

On the home-front, today I've baked two loaves of bread and a dozen "Glazed Lemon Cakes of Love, Joy and Goodness". We'll see what my co-workers think of the tender, heart-shaped cakes, tomorrow - I'm really challenging that lemon tree to keep up! For dinner, I think I'll grill up some lemon-garlic chicken (marinating in the fridge) with carrots, asparagus and zucchini, smear some avocado on a grilled slice of bread and serve it all with a fresh-made salsa of tomatoes and herbs from the garden. Of course, I'll first have to consult my new favorite reference book, "Mastering the Grill: the owner's manual for outdoor cooking"  - it was a house warming gift from J ... I love it!!

 

Ah, California. You really do have a slower, more mindful pace. While it may be a challenge to adjust at work, I'm pretty sure I can get used to this during my non-work hours.

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UPDATE: Tonight's dinner confirms my previously expressed joy.

The zucchini, carrots and asparagus were tossed in celery salt and olive oil and grilled until just tender. Grilled zucchini and asparagus are up there as some of my favorite vegetables to grill (along with fennel and red bell pepper), but I had never grilled carrots. They took as long as the chicken, but came out deliciously sweet!

The salsa, made with farm-fresh tomatoes (soon to be from my own pots), green onion and basil, cilantro, society garlic, Vietnamese coriander, parsley and a few sprigs of arugula from my garden was so much fun to eat! It was simply sprinkled with fresh lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, pepper and a dash of chipotle pepper and topped with a few slices of avocado. Every time I got a fresh bite of one of my herbs I couldn't stop smiling. Growing things is fun!!

The chicken was great, too. The lemon zest and garlic really carried over through grilling. It all went so well together (yeah, Syrah probably doesn't belong in this meal, but it was open and tasted good!) and the freshly-baked bread (rubbed in the vegetable seasoning before grilling) was a great utensil and sponge :) I even have enough left over for tomorrow's dinner! Hooray!!

Dessert is a slice of bread with some of the fantastic apple butter J's mom shared with me! Dessert is also a slice of halwa with a drizzle of honey ... oh the joys of joy!