Spring Break

 

We’re back from a week in paradise, namely visiting my in-laws in Gulf Stream, Florida. There was lots of swimming in the ocean, lots of french fries by the beach.

 

But best of all was watching my sons play together, with their cousins, with their grandfather. There is no vacation quite as perfect as the one that reminds us how lucky we are to have each other.

Packing a Bag…

Tonight my husband and I are escaping to a remote beach for just a few days. Just us. Our destination requires a passport. And a Jeep. I’m packing just one bag. In it will be this gorgeous ankle-length silk dress with a leather collar (above), designed by my friend Natalie Martin.

Perhaps a little Miles Davis on iTunes, and, synchronicity, some Deborah Lippmann Bitches Brew nail varnish to go with. Both just feel right.

I’ve packed a book.

And a bikini.

A Vanessa Bruno white cotton shirt…

…To wear at night to dinner with these black “Anna” shorts—also by Natalie Martin and named for our mutual friend, who is every bit as saucy as her namesake shorts.

And a favorite pair of Marni sandals.

See you on the other side.

Garlic Scape Potato Salad

Each summer when we arrive at my in laws’ summer place in Vermont, I can’t wait to hit the farm stands to get my hands on some garlic scapes. These are the shoots that grow from a head of garlic, and they have a slightly more peppery flavor and are less pungent than garlic cloves. I love tossing them in salads, pestos and pastas for a quick hit of earthy flavor—easy summer cooking at its best. On these hot summer nights in Vermont, it’s all about throwing something on the grill with a couple of great sides and eating family style outdoors.

And why wouldn’t you?

Last week, I used garlic scapes in a salsa verde that I tossed with squash, shallots and gruyere to make a gratin in one of my mother-in-law’s well-seasoned skillets.

I also used garlic scapes to add some crunch and depth to a creamy dill potato salad that was tangy with buttermilk dressing. The first batch disappeared pretty quickly so I made another a few nights later, using creamy new potatoes from the Someday Farm Stand in Dorset, VT. Garlic scape season is pretty short, so if you see some this weekend at your green market, grab them!

Creamy Potato Salad with Garlic Scapes and Dill

3 lbs new potatoes, halved (or quartered, depending on size)

1 cup mayonnaise

1/3 cup buttermilk

2 tablespoons dijon mustard

2 tables whole grain mustard

3 tablespoons chopped garlic scapes

1/2 cup chopped fresh dill

Freshly ground black pepper and salt, to taste

Place potatoes in large pot of salted water. Bring to boil, and then simmer for 10-15 minutes, or until potatoes are cooked through. Drain, and set aside. In a small bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, buttermilk, mustard. Season to taste with salt and pepper. When potatoes have cooled, toss with mustard mixture (you may not need all of it—depending how creamy you like your potato salad), dill and garlic scapes. Chill for a couple hours before serving.

Current Flame: Dahlias

My mother always has fresh flowers in the house, a goal to which I aspire but often fall short. When we were up visiting for her birthday over Labor Day Weekend, she had vases of flame orange and pink dahlias everywhere. I can’t stop thinking about them.

She gets hers from a local grower, Aztec Dahlias, at the St. Helena Farmers Market on Friday mornings. While visiting, I also spotted him at the Oxbow Farmers Market in Napa on a Saturday morning. The good news for the rest of us is that we can order bulbs for the 2012 season now online. Or zip up to Napa for the weekend…

Hurricane Irene in Quechee, Vermont

It was with total devastation that I read about and watched the footage of the Quechee Covered Bridge—and so many other treasured bridges in Vermont—being pounded away by Hurricane Irene. The above photo was taken a couple months ago from the Simon Pearce glassblowing factory in Quechee when we were visiting my inlaws at their summer place in Manchester, VT. Tiny G went absolutely nuts for the bridge…

Which now looks like this:

And with it, Irene flooded the glassblowing turbine at Simon Pearce, where visitors—like Tiny G—watched in awe as artisans created impossibly beautiful vases, bowls, barware and stemware out of molten glass.

Two of my favorite Simon Pearce vases (tall Woodbury vase & Woodbury pitcher), filled with French tulips from Lily Lodge:

And muddling strawberries for summer Champagne cocktails in our Simon Pearce Windsor Tankards:

Sadly, the Simon Pearce restaurant was also flooded so while they rebuild the Quechee glassblowing and kitchen facilities, I’ll leave you with a taste of our lunch at the Simon Pearce restaurant overlooking the river and bridge, complete with a burger comprised of Northeast Family Farms grass fed beef, Grafton cheddar cheese, basil aïoli and fries with house made spiced tomato ketchup; wonderfully chewy house made bread and local butter; and Vermont sparkling cider for me and fresh local apple juice for Tiny G—all served on Simon Pearce pottery and in their handblown glasses. My heart goes out to all Vermonters in the wake of this heartbreaking disaster. xx

Someday Farm Stand

Don’t you wish this was your local farm stand? The Someday Farm Stand sets up shop in East Dorset, Vermont, every Wednesday and Saturday during summer. The Proft family farms 100 acres of organic produce, which they sell at their farm stand as well as local markets. Sometimes there are wee chicks on hand, like this day-old little fella that Tiny G got to pet:

There were also baskets of herbs and lettuces, berries and carrots, fresh eggs and roasting chickens on hand. For one drizzly Sunday lunch, we roasted a small chicken and some of these carrots with a little salt and olive oil. They were the sweetest carrots I can remember.

 

Garlic Scape Chimichurri

Garlic scapes! They’re pretty, they’re delicious, they’re here for a limited time only! If you see these mild-tasting stalks at the farmers’ market this weekend, pounce. These past few years the garlic scape window has coincided with a visit to my in-laws’ in Vermont. If you have favorite recipes, please share! Last year I tried garlic scape pesto.

Really, REALLY delish, especially over a simple caprese salad or tossed with pasta. Last week I experimented with a Garlic Scape Chimichurri. Chimichurri is a green sauce from Argentina to accompany grilled meats, and we spooned ours over Mr. Foodinista’s expertly grilled New York strip steaks.

To make, I threw a couple scapes in a Cuisinart with some parsley, cilantro and mint from my mother-in-law’s garden, and then added olive oil, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, some chopped shallots, salt and pepper and few red pepper flakes. Total prep time: 5 minutes. And leftovers were great on steak sammies the next day…

THE FOODINISTA’S GARLIC SCAPE CHIMICHURRI

1/2 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 garlic scapes, chopped

1 shallot, peeled, halved

1/2  teaspoon fine sea salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper

2 cups (packed) stemmed fresh parsley

1 cup (packed) stemmed fresh cilantro

2/3 cup (packed) stemmed fresh mint

Place ingredients in blender or food processor and purée until well-blended. Spoon over grilled steaks.

 

Yosemite: First Taste of Summer

Each year my father’s family heads to Yosemite—a kick-off to summer that has happened in our family since 1949. Over the years we’ve fallen into a routine that starts with a Thursday Night “Social” in my parents’ cabin, to which we all contribute wine and nibbles and drink a little bit too much. We kind of do it up that first night, since the food situation in the park is pretty miserable. This year I was in charge of salads, and grabbed my three favorites from Joans on Third before leaving town to bring with: Brussels sprouts with dates, manchego and toasted almonds (and heavy on the dijon); braised butter beans with pecorino; and curried chicken salad.

My dad brought up an array of local cheeses from Cowgirl Creamery, as well as these Fra’ Mani salumi.

There was also smoked trout, prosciutto and cakes—and a glass or three of Hirsch Gaisberg Riesling. It was a totally delicious start to summer—but do we really have to wait another year to do it again?

Red is the Color of My True Love, Rioja

Back from a week in Rioja, Spain. I went for the wine—and more on that later—but fell in love with the place. And if there is one color that defines the region, it’s red. Everywhere you look. Painted flower pots, doors, windows, rooftops.

There were poppies sprinkled throughout the vineyards and barley fields.

And red pequillo peppers in tapas and tossed with morcilla blood sausage…

But yes. Best of all, the very heart of the region is its red wine. Like this pretty glass of 1942 Lopez de Heredia Viña Tondonia—still so very vibrant and seductive after 69 years, and seduction after all is what Rioja does best.

Belgium Revisited

Talking about the kriek and lambic beers the other day got me a little nostalgic for Belgium. My husband and I went to Brussels and Bruges for a week a couple years ago to research a story that ran last May in Bon Appétit magazine. I realize I never shared my pictures from that trip. Wish I could teleport myself back to a table at Viva M’Boma in Brussels, above—which means long live the grandmother—on this rainy day, and tuck into a dish of Carbonnades Flamande, sprinkled with gingery speculoos and Italian parsley, below:

Or hide out in the Fleur en Papier Doré for a few hours, Magritte’s favorite watering hole and one of my favorite bars on the planet. So romantic and Old World, and a great beer selection.

Or maybe I’d head off the beaten track to the Saint-Gilles neighborhood, and sneak down to the private basement cellar of Chez Moeder Lambic with owner Jean Hummler and taste our way through his stash of 300-some Belgian beers, what is arguably the best beer bar in the country. Here’s a look at the cellar:

And I loved the plate of local goat cheese with toasted barley that he served us. The perfect tangy counterpoint to a spicy glass of De Ranke XX Bitter.

Check back tomorrow and I will post pics of the chicest bed and breakfast in Bruges, where the husband nightly cooks up a superb dinner that rivals the country’s best restaurants. Now, is it too early to tuck into a pint of this?