My Favorite Things

If you're reading this blog, chances are you already know a lot about me. But in the event you were wondering, I've gone ahead and made a list of some of my favorite things:

Color: raspberry pink

Flower: peony

Book: The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger

Movie: Sliding Doors

Music: jazz

TV Show: Sex and the City

Season: spring

Dessert: Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

Cuisine: French

Drink: Prosecco

Car: red Mini Cooper

Animal: dog (mine, of course!)

Place to eat: alfresco

Time of day: early morning

Indulgence: chocolate

Meal: dinner

State of being: cozy

Way to spend my time: (okay, there's more than one) reading, cooking, traveling, walking my dog, going to farmer's markets, picnicking, entertaining, kayaking, and seeking out pretty things, just to name a few.

Now you know a little bit more about me than you knew before. More to come soon -- a big announcement and surprise! Stay tuned...

A Cherry on Top

After a stretch of unbearably hot and humid weather, (my least favorite) a little reprieve finally came on Saturday, forcing me outside to enjoy the much more pleasant temperature and sunshine. My mom and I made a trip to the Bidwell Farmers Market in Buffalo, where we enjoyed the colorful array of fruit, flowers and veggies.

The show-stopper?

Beautiful, bright, shiny, red cherries! Gorgeous enough to look at, even better to eat. Later on my mom and I put the cherries to use and made our first clafouti.

Custardy, creamy goodness just perfect for showcasing the best of the market. With a light dusting of confectioner's sugar, it was almost as pretty as the cherries themselves.

My Favorite Excursion

Finding myself with some free time and a gorgeous, sunny afternoon, I decided to make the most of my Saturday by taking a trip to one of my favorite places: Hurd Orchards. The love affair began three years ago when I happened upon this little gem looking to pick strawberries. It's an idyllic place where you can pick your own fruit, poke around their little shop, or attend a luncheon. This time I was there to pick blueberries, but first took a gander around the market.

Feeling inspired by all the red, white, and blue, I set off to the blueberry patch to pick myself a bucket of blueberries.

Hello cuties!

It was the perfect day to be out in the field with the beautiful sunshine, lovely breeze and ripe blueberries. The ladies at Hurd told me it was an especially great year for blueberries because of all the rain we've had, and I have to agree. They are delicious! Perfect for my patriotic dessert.

Blueberry Rhubarb Crisp with Pistachio Crust, served warm with vanilla ice cream. Yummy! Happy 4th of July!

This Reminds Me

Yesterday I spent part of the last day of my favorite month doing one of my favorite things: baking. Nothing fancy... just your basic chocolate chip cookie.

Doing so made me think of my grandmother, who always baked chocolate chip cookies in anticipation of anyone coming to visit her. If we timed it just right, the chocolate chips would still be soft upon our arrival at her house.

Aside from cookies, the other thing that always reminds me of my grandmother is rhubarb sauce. I've enjoyed it countless times, but have never attempted to make it. So when I visited for her 92nd birthday a couple weeks ago, I asked her to teach me to make rhubarb sauce. I tromped through her backyard in the rain to cut the rhubarb stalks that are still growing in her garden, cleaned them off, chopped them up and proceeded like this:

Me: So what's next?

Grandma: Boil the rhubarb.

Me: How?

Grandma: With water.

Me: How much?

Grandma: Enough.

Me: How much is enough?

Grandma: You know.

Me: For how long?

Grandma: Long enough.

Me: Then what?

Grandma: Mix in sugar.

Me: How much sugar?

Grandma: Enough.

Her recipe for rhubarb sauce is all just trial and error -- or years of experience -- but watching her make it, I can try to sum up the recipe.

Grandma's Rhubarb Sauce

Rhubarb, cleaned and chopped into 1/2-inch pieces

Granulated sugar

Water

Place rhubarb in a pot with enough water to just cover, (adjust for thicker or thinner sauce). Boil for approximately 20 minutes, or until rhubarb breaks down easily. Immediately mix with sugar until it is the desired sweetness.

To give you an idea, this is the amount of rhubarb I used and my grandmother added about 1/2 cup of sugar. I like my rhubarb sauce on its own, but I'm sure it would taste fantastic over vanilla ice cream.

Dachshund Parade 2010

What's that you say? There's a dachshund parade in town today? What do you do at a dachshund parade?

Eat hot dogs.

Wash them down with a beverage.

Meet new friends.

Strike a pose.

Show off new outfits.

Bust out the jewels.

Strut your stuff.

Keep things under control.

Beg for treats.

Try not to get too excited.

Look cute.

Watch it all from the comfort of your grandma's lap.

Delivered Hot

I'm a big fan of pizza, and have my fair share of favorite places to order from, (here if I want white pizza, here if I'm in the mood for red sauce, and here if I'm out with friends). Not surprising, since there are nine pizza joints all within a two-mile radius of my house. Really. We like our pizza here in Rochester. Lately, however, I've become a big fan of homemade pizza, and try to make it at least once a week. It started when I discovered that naan bread makes a superb crust, especially when cooked on the grill. I don't have to fuss around with making my own crust, it's already thin, just the way I like it, and the perfect size for a personal pizza.

It's fun to experiment with different toppings and flavors. This sausage, red onion, and wild mushroom pizza had some nice spice, which counteracted well with the earthy mushrooms.

I've found that it's really easy to make pizza a healthy meal, and also an excellent way to use up some leftover vegetables, as was the case with this asparagus, fingerling potato, and goat cheese pizza.

I prefer to cook my pizza right on the grill rack in order to ensure a crispy crust. This artichoke, goat cheese and chicken pizza was oozing with cheese -- just the way I like it!

The best way to enjoy pizza, however, is al fresco with a bottle of wine and good company.

Spinach Feta Pizza from The Vegetarian Grill, by Andrea Chesman

1 pizza crust

1 pound spinach, tough stems trimmed

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons minced garlic

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

8 ounces feta cheese, crumbled

1/2 Vidalia or other sweet onion, thinly sliced

1. Prepare a medium-hot fire in the grill.

2. Steam the spinach until just wilted, about 3 minutes. Drain well. Taking a handful of spinach at a time, squeeze out as much water as possible. Coarsely chop.

3. Brush the top side of the pizza with olive oil, then flip over. Brush the other side with olive oil and scatter 1 tablespoon of the garlic over the crust. Sprinkle with the Parmesan and top with the spinach, feta, and onion. Place the pizza on a lightly oiled grill rack and grill for 5 to 8 minutes, checking the crust after 5 minutes.

4. Slice the pizza and serve warm.

Taste of June

I always associate the month of June with many of my favorite things: strawberries, peonies, pearls, the end of another school year, my grandmother whose birthday is Flag Day, and the official beginning of summer. But nothing is more reminiscent of June than strawberry rhubarb crisp, my most favorite dessert to make and eat. I've always liked strawberries. And I've always liked rhubarb.

Three years ago, I was in New England for a friend's wedding having dinner here. It was a cozy little restaurant in a quaint little town, very unassuming and very inviting. There was a moment during dinner when I watched dessert being delivered to the next table, and knew I had to try what it was I had my eye on: strawberry rhubarb crisp. When the waiter brought mine out of the kitchen, I was in heaven. The buttery crisp topping, combined with the sweet strawberries, tart rhubarb and melting vanilla ice cream made for a delicious combination. It was one of my most memorable restaurant experiences, and since then, I've been trying to perfect my own crisp using the restaurant's recipe as a guide.

(Yes, I emailed the chef after I got home and he was nice enough to share his recipe with me).

The colors are just beautiful, all mixed in together with sugar. I got my ingredients during my trip to the public market, in anticipation of company coming to visit.

It comes out of the oven piping hot, ready to be paired with vanilla bean ice cream.

Can't you just taste it? The taste of summer-right-around-the-corner?

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

1 cup white sugar

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

3 cups sliced fresh strawberries

3 cups diced rhubarb

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup butter

1 cup rolled oats

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup toasted almonds, sliced

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a large bowl, combine and macerate white sugar, 3 tablespoons flour, strawberries, and rhubarb until sugar dissolves. Place the mixture in a 9x13 inch baking dish. Mix 1 1/2 cups flour, brown sugar, butter, oats, and almonds until crumbly. Sprinkle topping over strawberry and rhubarb mixture. Bake 45 minutes, or until topping has color and juices are bubbly and run clear. Top with vanilla ice cream.