SUMMER COOKING

I have totally been inspired by local, fresh produce lately. Unlike any other time of the year, summer makes me want to eat clean, fresh, bright and beautiful flavors. Recent trips to Avila (mostly made by my very generous Dad) have provided us with to-die-for corn, juicy nectarines and peaches, fragrant basil, and gorgeous cauliflower.

All of these have been delicious but nothing can compare to the HEIRLOOM TOMATOES! I have never before been so in love with tomatoes. One of Tom's maintenance guys at the course grows oodles and oodles of tomatoes and to my delight Tom came home not once, but TWICE, with a large box of gorgeous Green Zebras, Grapes, Kentucky Beefsteaks, Brandywines, Goldies, German Stripes, and who knows what else! blemish-free, crack-free...and absolutely perfect and delicious.

I have built several dinners around these lovelies and am sad to see them go. I was informed Sunday night that the tomato season had ended so immediately snatched up all that were left.

Thus far i have made Halibut with an Heirloom Salsa, Tomato Vinaigrette, Heirloom Panzanella Salad (inspired by a dinner at FlatBread), Bruschetta, Greek Salad, Warm Heirloom Tomato Orzo and Caprese Salads. Each and every one of these were better than the next...and I'm not tooting my own horn because the ingredients were the stars here!

As i sadly bid farewell to Tomato season i leave you with the Tomato Vinaigrette recipe...try it before they are all gone!

HEIRLOOM TOMATO VINAIGRETTE

1/4 cup Tomato, diced

2 TBS Red Wine Vinegar

2 TBS Olive Oil

2 Tsp Shallots, minced

1 Tsp Dijon Mustard

1 Tsp Sugar

S/P to taste
4 cups Tomatoes (if using cherry or grape leave whole, otherwise med chop)

1/4 cup Basil, chiffonade

Puree first 6 ingredients in your handy dandy Cuisinart mini mixer (if your lucky enough to have one). Season with salt and pepper to taste and set aside.

In a sauce pan over medium high heat add 2 TBS of olive oil and add the 4 cups of tomatoes. Cook until the tomatoes start to burst or you see them softening slightly. Remove from heat and let cool for 2 minutes. Combine the tomatoes with vinaigrette, add the basil and you're good to go!

Serve over a salad or even your favorite fish or chicken.

DEE & LISH!

trabajo

Sometimes a day comes along that reminds you why you do what you do, and why you actually DO like it. My job has been somewhat lackluster for some time now (OK a long time) but in the past week I have really been enjoying it. Ive been negotiating with brokers, principals, bosses...you name it, I'm trying to negotiate with it. I am putting deals together and THAT is exciting. I being "I", not "we" and not "them". I'm turning over a new leaf and have decided to take some initiative. No one else is making it happen so i will. It almost makes me think that brokerage was really the place for me...

Then i slap myself and realize that a steady paycheck is worth more than a little adrenaline every now and again.

all in all, work has been on the upswing and Lord knows my work has needed a little swinging in that direction.

update: "OCD" (for now that is what we will call him) just walked in my office and i may take back everything i just wrote.

OBSERVATION of THE DAY

Kim's eyebrows and eyelashes look nice.

(for those of you who don't know me too well, this is complete sarcasm...she looks like a tranny)

QUICK AND EASY THURSDAY NIGHT DINNER

Last night i made a quick and easy dinner that is no fail. I made an Asian Chicken Salad with Coconut Rice . I got the idea for the chicken salad from a recipe in Williams-Sonoma but i tweaked it to make it a smidge healthier and more up my and Tom's alley. The coconut rice was inspired by a meal that i had at a Caribbean restaurant that I ate at with my family up in Carmel a couple years ago. ever since that meal, i have been wanting to recreate that delish Jamaican rice bowl.

ASIAN CHICKEN SALAD

Salad

1 Roast Chicken- shredded

2 Stalks of Celery- chopped

1/4 Red Onion- thinly sliced

1/4 C Cashews- broken up into pieces

1 Mango- thinly sliced

1 Avocado thinly sliced

Salt & Pepper to taste

Dressing

1/2 cup Canola Oil

1/4 cup White Wine Vinegar

1 TBS Dijon Mustard

2 tsp Garlic

1 cup Mango Chutney
Siracha to taste

COCONUT RICE

1 cup Rice

3 Green Onions Chopped
1/2 TBS Butter

1 cup Lite Coconut Milk

1 1/4 cup Low Sodium Chicken Broth

To begin, either purchase a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store or simply roast one at home using some lemons, onions, olive oil and salt and pepper. Bake for about an hour at 375 and let cool before shredding.

Combine the chicken, celery, onions, cashews, 1/4 of the mango, salt and pepper in a bowl and set aside.

Using my most favorite kitchen tool, combine the oil, vinegar, mustard, garlic, chutney and siracha. blend until smooth. the consistency will be thicker than normal but this works great because it really sticks to the chicken. this dressing is dee-lish! it has a slight sweetness but is absolutely balanced with the acidity of the vinegar. definitely one to keep in the recipe book.

Meanwhile start cooking the rice. Begin by adding butter to the bottom of a heavy pan. Once it is melted, toss in the green onions and cook until tender. Add 1 cup of rice and cook until golden brown.

Add 1 cup of coconut milk and 1 1/4 chicken broth to the pan.

Bring to a boil and reduce heat to Medium/Low and cook for 20 minutes covered.

Combine the Chicken mixture with the a few tablespoons of salad dressing and set aside. Dress some lettuce with the remaining dressing and place on the plate along with the slices of avocado and mango. Scoop the chicken salad on top of the lettuce and spoon some rice on the plate.

(the picture doesn't do it justice...i swear its good!)

And there you go...super yummy, super quick, and really not all that bad for you!

I will say this...adding the coconut milk to the rice really didn't give it that Caribbean flavor i was looking for. Next time i may try adding more milk and less stock or even using shaved coconut in the rice. just a thought...

YELLOW & TAUPE

Yellow and Taupe is a color palette i am always drawn to. it's happy, soothing, sophisticated and relaxing all at the same time.

TEN THUMBS UP!

Do yourself a favor and run to the nearest movie theatre and see
Julie & Julia

Not only did I LOVE it, but Tom did as well! Leaving the theater i felt inspired to cook, inspired to be a better wife, inspired to unleash my inner creativity, inspired to DO what i LOVE to DO! Really, one little movie inspired me to do all those things.

Its really not about being inspired to cook, its about being inspired to do what you love and to follow your passion. Growing up my Dad always stressed that to my sister and I; do what you are passionate about, and be passionate about what you do. Ain't that the truth! i haven't exactly followed that but I'm getting there:) I chose the real estate industry because it allowed me to do what i love not because it was what i loved. someday hopefully those two things will be one in the same.

WEEKEND INSPIRATION

In the hopes of reaching the moon, men fail to see the flowers that blossom at their feet.

Albert Schweitzer

this weekend, let's appreciate and enjoy everything that we have been blessed with.
(i have a plethora of these, so this may take a while!)

IS ORANGE THE NEW BLACK?

Ive come to the conclusion as of late that ORANGE is the IT color right now. maybe some of you reading this already knew that but i am just now seeing it myself. Look at all these delicious rooms that use ORANGE as their POP color or even as the main event. I love it paired with neutrals; it really warms up a grey, or livens up a tan or taupe. these rooms are making me a lover of ORANGE for sure!

ORANGE has really grown on me and i love the versatility...so unexpected.

THEY HAVE ARRIVED!

OK, so yesterday the much anticipated delivery arrived....the 2 fab chairs were sitting on our porch trapped in a cardboard box screaming to be let out! i tore open the boxes, and threw the styrofoam and plastic whatnot to the side, to see our newest addition staring up at me. they are much larger than i had anticipated, but that's OK because it will only make a grander statement now (is that even a word?? i find myself making up words as i go along and I'm totally OK with that. Tom does that too, ask him about the Black Angus) anywhoo... they totally don't fit in our house right now as every crevice, corner, nook has something in it. In the new house (still, fingers crossed) we will have THREE bedrooms and THREE bathrooms to fill so I'm sure they will find a comfy home somewhere.

I'm not so much digging the wood or the fabric on the cushions but that was all part of the master plan...they will soon be transformed so stay tuned!!

INSPIRATION

inspiration can come from from just about anything... I am inspired daily by my surroundings, my drive to work, listening to the radio, reading my daily dose of blog posts which i religiously follow... the latest inspiration came from a somewhat interesting source.

last weekend my parents were having a dinner party so i decided to go over to their house to help my Mom out with the cooking and planning. this is one of my most favorite things to do; these are the times i cherish most with my Mom. after finishing up with the cooking i decided i would make a flower arrangement for the centerpiece of the table. per usual, i wandered out into my Dad's glorious rose garden to cut some beauties. as i walked through the patio though i noticed the cushions on the patio furniture and BAM!, i was inspired! those yellow and green stripped cushions provided just the right amount of creativity to venture back through the house and into the front yard to the lemon tree. A beautiful, organic arrangement of lemons and limes did the trick!

I started by cutting some branches...ones with multiple lemons, all different shapes, sizes, and variations of color. i thoroughly washed them because that damn tree is infested with spiders!...so much so that my Mom makes my Dad go out and pick her lemons for her. (i never knew what a wimp my Mom was with spiders until recently)

i chose a white vase with a large opening so the vibrant colors pop against it and placed a frog in the bottom to keep the branches from falling out.

i began to arrange the branches and let them fall where they wanted. some branches tore, others broke, but i went with it, i didn't force anything... it added to the organic, whimsical look i was going for.

i couldn't let those broken lemons go to waste so I decided i would use the ones that broke off by inserting a skewer into them and filling in the holes.

once i had finished my mom and i decided it needed a little something else...

and that something else were those gorgeous nectarines they received in the mail that day from the Harry and David fairy. insert three of those lovelies and it was perfection! (well, to me it was...)

and here is the arrangement sitting in front of its creator, the INSPIRATION that started it all...my Mom took this photo and it makes me want to jump in and enjoy the day.

it seems very Mediterranean, very Italian to me... which makes me want to escape on an exotic vacation!

WHO IS WITH ME?!