May 20th. Roasted Chicken with lemon and vegetables. Roasted Asparagus. Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and dates, eggplant with pomegranate molasses, brown sugar cookies Solar eclipse

Woke up early and began dinner preparation while boiling water for coffee.
I always seem to begin by roasting tomatoes.  This time, I added chopped up tasteless but firm romas to my usual little grape tomatoes and also  roasted neat slices of eggplant for the eggplant with pomegranate molasses.  While the vegetables cooked, I  rinsed and dried the chicken to get it ready for roasting,(sauteeing the liver in butter for a breakfast snack). Making the more elaborate variation, I chopped parsley, garlic and dill, which I slipped under the skin.  After rubbed the chicken with salt and pepper and slipping two well-punctured lemons inside, I sewed it neatly together, wrapped it in clingy plastic and set it into the refrigerator to soak up its flavors through the day.

Finished the eggplant, then proceeded to the brown sugar cookies.  Sarah discovered this recipe from Cook's Illustrated a few years ago.  I follow the text pretty faithfully, though I prefer smaller cookies, which means I get more and (I think) they cook a bit quicker than the larger variations.  If I get a good part of the dinner cooked in the morning, and do the rest in the evening, it doesn't feel as if I've spent the day cooking--and I do like filling the house with baking, roasting and buttery smells early in the day.  As I was planning on four for dinner both Sunday and Monday--with vegetarians and carnivores both nights, and no real time for cooking on Monday, my plan was to make the two meals at once.
To continue my slightly compulsive shopping, I  biked to the Ocean Park Farmer's market where I bought quite beautiful asparagus, golden beets, kale, garlic and  deep blue irises. I couldn't begin to cook all that produce immediately, but their  time will come.

Much later, resumed dinner activities beginning with my old standby of a zucchini and onion frittata.  Long a staple for brunches, I've now taken to preparing it as a vegetarian protein option for dinner.  Continuing the vegetarian option, I cut up enough vegetables--potatoes, carrots, onions, turnips and celery to cook some with the chicken and let others roast on their own. I feared the crimini mushroom might be aging, so I quickly sauteed them with garlic, and chopped parsley.

Vegetarian Vegetables--Ready to Roast

Moving right along, put the chicken in the oven (with its own set of vegetables),  got  the brussels sprouts and the asparagus  ready to go and headed out for the partial eclipse of the sun. 

Partial Eclipse of the Sun, Venice, May 20th, 2012

Late Sunday afternoon, always insane on the beach at the end of my block--today wilder than ever as huge crowds gathered at the drum circle to beat their way through the sunset solar eclipse.  We weren't getting the ring of fire, but thanks to the swiftly moving clouds, we had an ever-shifting celestial spectacular.  Rightly or wrongly, most viewers convinced themselves that the clouds made it possible to sneak quick glances without burning out our retinas, while others swiveled about with their pin-holed papers.  We all assumed our cameras would not be damaged by looking straight at the eclipse, so the non-drummers struck the by now normal pose of viewers in crowds--heads tipped back, hands  bearing small rectangular objects held aloft. 
Emily arrived soon after I returned home.  As we waited for the rest of the party (which turned out to be only Perry--oh indeed there would be plenty of left-overs), we devoured a platter of 
roasted asparagus with parmesan and a splash of lime.  
Needless to say, that left us plenty for dinner, ending with the cookies, coffee ice cream and fleur de sel caramel sauce.