bird is the word

 

let's all take a few moments (between planning your menu, dreaming up table settings and designing thanksgiving day decor) to think about pretty ways to display the turkey (or tofurkey or turducken) itself next thursday...most of us have some version of this enormous turkey platter and if you don't, make a quick stop at bed bath and beyond and use this coupon or one of the many you probably have in your glove compartment to save 20%...

but aside from the platter, what will you put on it? last year, i set our platter with thyme sprigs and whole cranberries...simple, but pretty. here are some other thoughts, courtesy of ms. martha...i love the idea of sliced or whole fruits, sprigs of all kinds of herbs, nuts, berries...anything emblematic of the season. also, though, i like the idea of using items whose flavors appear in your feast...there's something nice about people being able to visually identify the flavors they're experiencing...so if you're using walnuts or figs in your stuffing, slap some of those babies on the platter and call it a day.

decorating the platter that bears a delicious meal is an almost effortless way of elevating the meal to something more than that. at least i think so. what do you think?

warm and toasty

i for one am extremely happy that the temperatures are cooling and fall really feels upon us. isn't it amazing how our moods change with the barometer? one of the most changeable spaces in our lives is what we eat and drink, i find. all spring and summer, nothing pleases me more than iced coffee, but around this time of year, all i want is the spreading warmth of hot coffee, extra points for steamed or frothed milk.

the yogurt i've been enjoying for months (greek with sugar free jelly and roasted almonds) is starting to feel and taste too cold...so a warm bowl of oatmeal seems just the thing. i found this delicious sounding recipe for apple pie oatmeal i wanted to share, which makes use of warming fall flavors, including the best of fall's fresh produce (i think pears would be a perfect addition to or replacement for the apples). it seems so easy, and so adaptable according to your tastes and dietary needs.

i even love the idea of having an oatmeal brunch for a small or large crowd. it would start with strong coffee, glasses of ice cold water and milk, stacks of pretty, mismatching bowls and a large urn of piping hot oatmeal. brunchers would have a choice of many toppings and flavors...chopped walnuts, slivered almonds, salted peanuts, maple syrup, berry flavored jam, sliced apples, pears, roasted cranberries, warm figs, ripe banana slices, chunks of fresh melon and seedless grapes (maybe frozen!), even shreds of chocolate and coconut. wanna come? this would be a simple, inexpensive and unexpected brunch to host, don't you think?

is there anything autumnal coming out of your kitchen?

first image; second image

good clean sense

you know how i've gotten very into organic and i thought these two lists were something we could all use - the dirty dozen and the clean fifteen - easy guides for posting on the refrigerator or keeping handy in your wallet so you know what's worth the organic splurge and what's not. and there's an app forthat too.

the other important note i've read in several places is that it pays to buy organic of any produce you eat a lot of, even if its not in the dirty dozen, and i'd say that just makes good, clean sense. 

what produce are you enjoying this week?

bag from h&m, list image

farmers market day!

i LOVE farmers market day! yesterday, i went first thing in the morning again(new favorite way to start a day) and what struck me the most was the rainbow of colors in so much of the produce. plums in yellow, peach, red, blue, purple and everything in between.

peppers and tomatoes in every shade from palest yellow all the way up through screaming red, with some purples and greens thrown in for good measure. and the eggplants...stripy and speckled and tie-dyed looking, they look like they're related to the stripy and speckled tomatoes you see above...and it turns out they are!

 

i'm most excited about the very special mirabelle plums i bought...i'm told they're very rare in the united states and the woman i bought them from said they're from a tree on her farm that was smuggled in from france 25 years ago. she's planning on having her father in law graft the tree, which i just learned means that he'll attach a piece of it to rootstock so he can create another plant. (would the fruit that grafted tree bore be considered a GMO? if so, i think i'm okay with this kind).

i also bought one hot cherry pepper and one serrano pepper...WWBFD*?

*what would bobby flay do?

a tomato state of mind

i've been doing lots of reading and watching on local, organic and just otherwise quality food, and i've come to really appreciate foods like tomatoes, which aren't always in season, though our industrial food system would have us believe it doesn't matter. as i learned from the first few moments of food inc., the tomatoes we find in our supermarkets in non-summer months, and even some of those which are present in the summer, are very often ripened in trucks and by ethylene gas, rather than by time and nature and sunlight as they should be. 

so it's good reason to celebrate that the time for tomatoes on the east coast is here, as they start to finally appear at farmers markets and local produce outlets. my very own tomato plant given to me as a wee thing by my green-thumbed father is starting to bear fruit. for now, it's small, green fruit, but it's only a matter of time and of august heat before they ripen and blush and appear in my late summer salads.

i saw a great tomato idea on rachael ray the other day that i thought was so rustic and sweet and it was sort of, though not exactly, like this...she roasted large, halved tomatoes drizzled with olive oil and kosher salt and in the roasting pan, she tucked full cloves of garlic still in their "jackets" as she called them...when the whole pan was hot and gooey and roasted through, she hatched the little cloves out of their skins and spread the mild paste over ciabatta bread. then she smeared a warm tomato half over each piece of bread and that was that. 

here is a terrific article with all kinds of tomato recipes i thought you might like, and the gorgeous photos that accompany them (and the perfect one at the top, from hali bey) really illuminate how perfectly simple and simply perfect a tomato can be.

cool and fresh or warm and roasted, tiny and round or mutated and bumpy, mixed with fresh pasta, tossed into shrimp and fresh herbs, or all by its lonesome from a bowl on the counter directly into one's mouth, they're pretty close to perfection, don't you agree?

frittata anyone?

i made a frittata yesterday and thought i'd share it with you...it was really easy and made so much that half of it is breakfast for the week...umm, anyone want some frittata?

here's what i did:

in a little butter and on low heat, i sauteed 4 diced baby leeks, half of a medium zuchini and half of a medium yellow squash, each sliced the long way. i was careful not to brown them, but just to get them softened up. i added some kosher salt and garlic powder while they were cooking.

at the same time, i whisked together one small carton of liquid egg whites and four whole eggs with a little skim milk. i poured that mixture into a 10" nonstick pan coated with canola cooking spray and let it cook until the egg was completely set - not runny or wet at all.

then, i spread the squash and leek mix over the top of the cooked egg mixture and sprinkled with one of my favorite trader joe's shredded cheese - quattro formaggio which is a mix of asiago, parmesan, provolone and fontina. i also added a few slices of steamed potatoes for that breakfasty texture.

then i stuck the whole thing in a 375 degree oven to melt and brown. *my nonstick pans are only ovensafe to 400 degrees, so watch that if you're using one too.

it came out nice and bubbly and after a few minutes on the countertop, it pulled away from the pan beautifully and sliced up perfectly. this is a great make-ahead idea for breakfast but would also be really nice and easy for a crowd...you could serve it at a brunch with some bacon and fruit, or with a light salad for lunch or even dinner if you're in a breakfast-for-dinner mode. it's kind of like if a quiche and an omelet had a lovechild.

of course it depends on how much you add and the exact stats of your choices, but here's the nutritional info for the one i made.

mason jar meals

pursuant to our conversation about deconstructed salads, how completely cute is this idea? mason jar meals! it looks so charming this way, but a more commute-friendly way might be to use tupperware. it would be really cute to send kids off to school with this kind of healthy spread (or stack, as it were).

i'm tempted to make something like this for mine and mitchell's trip to see james taylor at tanglewood on sunday (!!!), but i'm having trouble picturing mitchell's response to this sort of visual presentation. kind of makes me laugh and want to try just for fun.

i could see using this idea for grilled chicken, feta, olives, tomatoes and maybe some tzatziki or hummus (much like this idea) or doing a taco one...spicy ground turkey, sour cream, scallions, some black beans...oooh now that's one mitchell might like!

what would you put in yours?

constructive deconstruction

i've been loving the idea of deconstructed salads recently. that's my word (and my mom's word) for salads that aren't all chopped and tossed together, but rather just the components you want, in larger chunks that you can mix and match, bite by bite.

both of my current favorites are decidedly greek - chunks or strips of grilled chicken and cucumbers, halved grape tomatoes, feta, tzatziki or spicy hummus and some kalamata olives. it's good just on a fork, but even better nestled in small romaine hearts. the salmon cucumber salad above looks amazing too, doesn't it?

another salad creation i've been enjoying lately is what i call an olive salad. i get pitted kalamata olives in a large container and i add a few spoons of the salty, briny liquid the olives sit in at the olive bar. then, i add thin ribbons of green peppers, halved grape tomatoes and diced cucumber pieces, shake it all up so the brine coats everything, and it's olive salad, no dressing required! you could easily add feta, chicken or shrimp to make it more meal-like but i also love the idea of the olive salad as a light, easy summer side at a barbecue or on a picnic day. packs so easily into a container and is full of perfect sweet, salty and bright flavors. some fresh basil or dill would elevate it to gourmet status. maybe even mint...and the best part of salads like this is that the longer the components all sit together, the better the flavors meld and marry.

summer is just made for salads, isn't it? what's your favorite?

a fresh bouquet

have you ever made a bouquet garni? ever since i heard about them, i've been charmed by the idea - it's so sweet and fresh and cozy, a tied together or wrapped collection of fresh herbs used to season soups and stews, and its neat little packaging makes it easy to remove it when the cooking is done.

traditionally, bouquet garnis include parsley, thyme and bay leaves, but can include absolutely anything you'd like, and if you go the cheesecloth route, can even include hard-to-tie items like cloves, garlic and dried herbs.


i love the idea of going to the farmers market or produce store and seeing what looks and smells delicious, and finding a recipe (in your head, even maybe!) for flavors that would meld well. finding perfect pairings can be a real exploration, and to aid in the exploration, i love the concept of the flavor bible, discussed here.


i also love the idea of giving a bouquet garni as a gift when you're a guest at someone's home for a weekend or an evening...perhaps with a pair of footed soup bowls or these sweet soup & sandwich plates.

images from here, here, here, here, here and here

how many cooks in your kitchen?

since thanksgiving is such a kitchen holiday, i thought it best we kick it off with some inspiring and calm kitchen pictures, courtesy of martha herself. here, we can see how everything is in order and everything has a place. though most real life kitchens aren't this organized, clean or color-coordinated, i like to think we can all take cues from martha and the other experts and implement them where they work for us in our own very real, very not TV ready lives.





i know in my family, a few key things help (though by no means eliminate rushing)...we try to always start with an empty dishwasher, ready to be filled as we go. we pre-decide and label all the serving pieces we'll use so they're clean and available, and we don't have to run around improvising. i find it also helps having that list to work from - it's methodical, it's orderly and it gives you a sense of control and purpose as you work. of course, trying to do as much as you can in advance helps to, which would explain why my mom has been chopping vegetables since last thanksgiving.



and speaking of vegetable chopping, i've personally found rachael ray's garbage bowl idea life-changing, as it eliminates counter mess and walking back and forth to the garbage leaving onion peels and wrappers in your wake.





if anyone has wisdom on cutting onions, i'd love to hear it...we tried the candle the other day. NOPE.

what time-savers or nerve-calmers are you using in the kitchen this year?

read the comments on this post for honey living readers' best kitchen tips!

and for other great martha tips for living, read on.

all images courtesy of martha stewart