Things entering or emerging from RochelLeah's kitchen in recent months

Entered:
Blueberries from the Burlingame farmers' market... It's really just this one farm where the berries are only in season for about 6 weeks in May through July. J. and I went through multiple flats' worth. We still have part of one half-pint frozen in the freezer. J. and I couldn't stop eating them and decided that they were (a) the world's most perfect blueberries, and (b) the best snack food on earth. I made an amazing sauce with them, but screwed up the seals by allowing the sauce and jars to cool too much before sealing. I was only briefly dispondent.

Truffles from Max Brenner, in New York City. They had these little pink boxes for $5 each with purchase. I bought two in early July and forgot to leave one with my mother in Baltimore. I felt guilty, but there was no way that I would send chocolate through the mail in the summer. I have eaten them VERY slowly. I am still only half-done with the second box. Of course, J. and I did also eat at Max Brenner in Tel Aviv this summer.

Seasonings from Istanbul's Spice Bazaar. Including Persian saffron.

Hazelnut butter. Also from Istanbul. Before our trip, J. and I had no idea that hazelnuts were such a big deal in Turkey. The hazelnut butter is sweetened (which I usually don't go for) and as a delightful, slightly chunky texture.

Early season apples. The approach of autumn brings with it a multitude of apples from local Northern Californian orchards. I still favor the apples-only merchant at the Palo Alto farmers' market, but I've gotten some great apples and pears in Mountain View recently. I haven't started my chutney and applesauce production for the season, but I can't stop eating apples with peanut butter. I'll have to try the hazelnut butter. Mmmmm...

Emerged:
Browned gnocchi with lemon, butter, and green peas. Plain boiled gnocchi bore me. Boil them and then brown them in butter, and you have pure magic. With J.'s feedback, I've been working out the kinks in this dish, which is great as a main dish or side. It went excellently with pan-fried, nut-crusted salmon (which I cooked to perfect done-ness but couldn't keep the coating on). J. gets disappointed if I don't make it often enough.

Watermelon sorbet. I learned from friends M. and A. in NYC that one can freeze fresh watermelon, slightly thaw, then puree with rum (or another alcoholic substance) and either simple syrup or agave syrup. I couldn't stop eating it during a particularly hot NYC Shabbat in July, so I made some when I got home. I think it's sublime; J. wasn't as impressed.

Chicken thighs with gravy, served with kasha varnishkes. I love chicken thighs. I find them highly underrated. Although I love chicken breasts, they just aren't as flavorful. You can't make a good chicken soup with breasts only. You can't make a gravy with them. But thighs... a totally different ballgame. I made the kasha on Thursday, and Joshua deemed it a bit boring, even with the sauteed onions. He recommended adding mushrooms and chicken. I forgot about the mushrooms, but I did acquire chicken for Shabbat. I browned, then poached the chicken in olive oil, Earth Balance margarine, herbes de Provence, white pepper, salt, and white wine. When the chicken was done, I removed it, then added additional water to deglaze the pan. Finally, I reduced it while stirring in the usual cornstarch-and-cold-water mixture. Not a lump in sight. Now, if I could only find a kasha that doesn't come with overly toasted and pebble-like pieces...

SPOTTED: At Seven Mile Market in Baltimore

How I spent my summer vacation

Last year's summer was, in a word, busy. Getting married in August will do that. You know, take over your summer. Locating the wedding in a city in which you are not currently a resident ratchets the busy-ness up a notch, adding in the element of frequent travel. But you already know that story.

I was hoping that this 2008 would contain a more restful summer vacation. Knitting. Exercising regularly. Scrapbooking the gazillions of photos from the wedding, honeymoon, and mini-vacation in British Columbia. Writing. Working with a few tutoring students here and there.

I hadn't really anticipated that J. and I would start the summer with a successful bid on our new home, we'd almost immediately have to start packing, I'd leave town for a day, I'd leave town for ten days (visiting three metropolitan areas), I'd come home to finish packing and finish writing two articles while slowly picking up more students and spending two days at a work training conference while finishing up packing, we'd move and immediately leave town for two weeks (and two countries) but not before my computer died, and we'd come home to finish watching the Olympics in English. Then we'd have a couple of weeks to catch up on our laundry (two weeks of lots of walking and profound quantities of sweat washed away) during the few hours of each day in which the water wasn't turned off for sewage line repairs. Plus, I got to change classrooms at work. And J. and I have worked to rescue my files from the computer that is no more and restore everything I need to the new computer on which I am tip-tapping at the moment (OK--the keyboard isn't brand-new, but the rest of it, right down to the new 19" flat screen monitor, is).

Phew!

Which is why we think that we'll be staying home for winter break. Or at least, on this continent.

And it continues! Today started with two loads of laundry (half-folded before Joshua was even awake), acquiring nutritious items at the local farmers' market, purchase of a new computer, purchase of red-meat (and discovery that we can now get Kosher elk loin alongside our Kosher bison), acquisition of new grill racks for our built-in brick BBQ at Home Depot (while carefully avoiding the plants and gardening supplies I want to ogle), and return of unneeded items (including inappropriately sized grills) at OSH. When we got home from this rather long set of errands, it was only 3-something in the afternoon! So, J. went to work cleaning our little backyard patio, prepping it for BBQing while taking breaks to put my new computer through it's various installs. I did a bit more unpacking of the house, marinated our meat, caught up on e-mail, and signed up for Facebook because one of my work projects requires it (really, it had nothing to do with the peer pressure). Within 4 hours, I had sixteen friends. That is, sixteen of my friends (so far) have already decided I am worthy of being their "friend"--which, I am told, may or may not have to do with whether we are friends in real life.

And I still can't find everything I moved. Although, I did manage to locate my bike helmet and gloves today while looking for my copy of Davkawriter to put on the new computer.

Is it any wonder that I named the new computer "Busy Bee"?

Post-Honeymoon New Zealand Obsession

Upon returning from our amazing honeymoon (its perfection only slightly marred by J.'s salmonella adventure), I became obsessed with the history of New Zealand and spent an obscene amount of time researching the natural history of New Zealand, its flora, fauna, and people. In particular, I was blown away by the performance of Maori music and dance we saw at the Auckland Museum. (You can find video of the cultural experience performance at You Tube.) I was fascinated by the relationship between mundane Maori activities--fishing, boating, fighting--and the dance. The Haka is their signature dance. It was performed in battle to intimidate the enemy. Today, the national rugby team, the All Blacks, performs it in international meets. The last time it was used in battle was WWII.

I was also fascinated by the fact that New Zealand was the last landmass occupied by humans and is so distant that no mammals lived there until more recent times. Birds dominate the native fauna. Moa are now extinct, but they were enormous birds that were at the top of the food chain prior to the arrival of the Maori's Polynesian ancestors.

Lastly, I should give a few more general comments on our honeymoon. It must be said that the Kiwi people are the nicest I've ever met. It's like they all understand that being friendly and polite really is a better way to get along. The food is amazing. Our local favorites were Kapiti ice cream and Cin Cin, a wonderful restaurant at the marina. Auckland is a lovely city, and J. and I concur that we must go back to Auckland again as the starting place for future New Zealand adventures.

Fiji was also awesome, but we mostly saw the island resort we had booked through Luxury Link (an amazing resource for big discounts on luxury travel). Vomo resort occupies an entire small island off the west coast of the main island of Fiji. They waited on us hand and foot, and were particularly helpful in bringing us meals to our cabin (called a bure), where Joshua was resting up from his lumbar puncture. The room and amenities were first class; the beach was unforgettable. The fish were absolutely gorgeous; you could walk right into the reef and see them. The water is so clear that we could see straight down to the bottom from our helicopter ride back to the airport. I did my first snorkeling jump from a boat and spent large portions of each day in or beside the water. For some bizarre reason, I rose at dawn every day we were in Fiji. I would wander out and lay in a hammock by the water and watch the world wake up.

Recommended Resources:
Pacific migrations - From West to East Polynesia - Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand
Auckland Museum Maori Resources