September 14th. Frittata with rice, herbs and two cheeses

Began the day with a very fast frittata.    Chopped dill, chives, lemon basil, grated parmesan and smoked mozarella.
Amanda had it for breakfast with toast.  It was a late afternoon meal for me.  After yoga, I'd stopped at Ralph's.  I was in search of their bargain gladiolas--and was happy to find them.  Bought two bunches--one purple, one white, and a few other surprise items as well.

That evening, I was meeting Suzanne and Peter at a book party for Michelle Markel's new children's book, The Fantastic Jungles of Henri Rousseau at my local book store,  Small World Books on the boardwalk.  I hadn't been there in a while, and it was a perfect opportunity to catch up some of the Sholem crowd, which was well represented.
Peter was eager to go to Santino's--a pan-Latino restaurant bar on Lincoln with Brazilian music.  I'd never been--I think it might be relatively new--but it was lively--very noisy--the food was fine (we didn't eat that much).  I don't know if I'd return--but I was happy to visit one of the mysterious spots I often bike past.  

September 13th. Left-over chicken with farfalle.

For breakfast, cooked up the beet greens from farmer's market, and happily ate them with a fried egg.

I'd stopped at the 99¢ store on the way home from yoga.   I'd been planning to go to Trader Joe's for a few items, but it's been so hot and muggy, I  didn't want to bike over the hill, nor did I want to go home for the car, so the 99¢ store it was.  My purchases included a pound of pasilla peppers.  Although I wasn't about to eat them, following a new rule which I adhere to sporadically I roasted them so they'll be ready one of these days for a round of rajas con crema.  (Towards that end, I'd also bought a 1/2 pint of heavy cream).

Heated up the left-overs two drumsticks.  There wasn't quite enough sauce, so I sauteed some more veggies--onions, carrots, celery, garlic, and soft tomatoes from Farmer's market.  After adding the new sauce and ate the drumsticks with farfalle.

September 12. Hunan Eggplant--Again!! Drumsticks with Tomatoes and Onions

Salad for lunch with long-ago roasted golden beets.
Filling the gap left by absence of Ashtanga teachers, I went to a yoga workshop at 10, which meant I had time for the Wednesday Santa Monica Farmer's Market.  Summer Bounty!!  Japanese eggplants, zucchini, tomatoes, lemon basil (by mistake--wanted thai or regular--but so be it).  I'd come prepared with backpack, so easily biked all that produce home.

Lena came by late afternoon with Phoebe who has just learned to almost crawl.  She crawls, but doesn't yet realize it's full locomotive potential.  We were quite happy chatting and watching as she made her way to assorted toys I brought from my quite ample supply box.

Patty called as we were bidding farewell.  She's just returned after months in Michigan and was happy to join me for dinner.  This is the situation I claim I most enjoy---a surprise dinner guest--no time to shop--just poking through the fridge and  cupboards to see what I can whip up.

New Round of Hunan Eggplant

Of course, I had that chicken in a sauce that had been getting better by the moment--the cacciatore sauce and the fresh tomato sauce had been augmented by the portobello mushrooms.  And I had a new batch of Japanese eggplants for another round of hunan eggplant.  I put up brown rice as soon as I hung up the phone--that would take about 40 minutes, but everything else could be ready in minutes.  Patty arrived with salad and ice-cream and we had a splendid feast.

September 11. Frittata. Drumsticks alla cacciatora.

Emily came over for some editing work.  For lunch, I made a different fritata--well--not that different.  Sauteed onions and chopped zucchini--mixed with six eggs, left-over brown rice, parsley, dill, grated parmesan and chopped smoked mozzarella-

The five drumsticks I'd been defrosting were ready to be cooked. Although I wasn't sure if I wanted a proper meal, the gray afternoon seemed a good moment to do some cooking.  I had been thinking just marinating the legs in some soy sauce brew but couldn't resist one of my favorites--Marcella Hazan's Pollo alla cacciatora.  I love the sauce--lots of onions, garlic, carrots, celery and pepper--there wasn't going to be much meat (how far can five drumsticks go?)--but this is a dish that always makes me happy--so although I had no plans to eat it that evening, I was happy to do all that browning and sauteeing--I'm often  happy enough just filling the house with the aromas and sensations of meal preparation---the actual meal is just gravy.  At the last minute I added the fresh tomato sauce I'd made the other day--so all in all it was quite a fine meal waiting to be eaten.  

While the chicken was cooking, I found two good sized  portabello mushrooms in the fridge.  They'd been there a bit too long, so I sauteed them with garlic and parsley....also for a future meal. 

A little nibbling on all of this counted as dinner.   

September 10th. Fried Egg with Roasted Vegetables. Quesadillas. Hamburgers at Lisa and Gar's

Up early enough to fry an egg with the last of the roasted vegetables (re-fried)  for breakfast.  For lunch a   a quesadilla with smoked mozarella and roasted tomatoes.

I'd defrosted chicken legs I'd bought some time ago and was planning to make them for dinner, but instead, after speaking to Lisa decided the chicken could wait another day.  She and Gar were making hamburgers.  I had two 1/4 pound burgers frozen in the fridge, and brought them over, along with the last bits of my hunan eggplant.

The rest of the meal was excellent indeed.  For starters there was burrata with fresh tomatoes followed by the burgers on ciabatta rolls with grilled eggplant and many fine condiments. Grapes and rasperries with greek yogurt and mint (from my garden)  for dessert.

September 9. Left-overs. Hunan Eggplant.

After all those activities and meals yesterday, today was a quiet day at home.  No visits.  No cooking.

Another round of hunan eggplant, to which I may have become addicted.  Also rice with the portabello mushrooms.  Here's that photogenic eggplant again.

September 8th. Westminster Garden. Gjelina. Beach Walk. Hunan Eggplant once again.

Monthly work day at the Westminster Elementary Garden.  A little digging, but mostly hauling of weeds to dumpsters, and a bit of snacking.  It was a special working day for the kindergarten garden so more parents and kids then usual. The pictures at the above link are from two years ago, and those dirt patches are now bursting with vegetation (source of the many weeds pulled up and dumped).

Gjelina for lunch with Diana.  She drove across mountains to satisfy her Gjelina cravings, and of course, I was happy to indulge her as I am not immune to such desires myself and have found myself thinking more and more about various dishes.  We miraculously got a table as soon we arrived (we discovered after we'd finished eating that our particular table, right next to the front window was the hottest spot in the house (not in terms of hip, but in heat from the sun).  No matter.  We barely noticed it during our quite perfect meal of squash blossom pizza and burrata with peaches and prosciutto.

Bumped into Joanie at sunset on the beach--After long walk, returned home and made a dinner of rice, hunan eggplant and a salad.

Walked Joanie home with my bike well after 10pm.  Coming home I'd watched 3 episodes of Breaking Bad--the end of Second Season until 2AM