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Friday, January 23, 2009
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Baked Eggs with Tomato Sauce, Kale & Gruyere
(from Jora, adapted from Metropolitan Home)
1 large onion, chopped
3 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 28-ounce can Italian plum tomatoes, chopped, with juices
1 bunch cavolo nero, also called dinosaur kale and lacinato kale (do NOT substitute regular kale!)
2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
6 (or so) eggs
1/2 cup grated Gruyere cheese
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 450°F.
In a nonreactive skillet over medium-high heat, cook the onion in the olive oil, until soft, about 8 minutes. Add the chopped tomatoes and juice and cook, uncovered, about 10 minutes (sauce can be made ahead and set aside).
Wash thoroughly and remove stems from kale. In a heavy skillet over medium heat, warm olive oil. Add kale; saute until wilted, about 5-7 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
Divide tomato sauce among two to three 8-inch gratin dishes or ovenproof bowls (or one larger gratin dish). Using the back of a large spoon, make indentations in the sauce in each dish (one for each egg). Crack an egg into each indentation and season with salt and pepper. Spoon about ¼ cup wilted kale around eggs in each dish. Bake for about 5 minutes, then sprinkle the cheese on top of the kale. Bake a few more minutes until egg whites are set but egg yolks are still (slightly) runny, about 10 minutes total.
Remove from oven and top each dish with a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil. Serve with toasted bread. Oh yeah, and some good red wine. Need that too.
John Boos- a modern take on our old tradition
the tale of a chopping block: a tragedy
Before I was born my parents purchased a John Boos chopping block. The kind with legs and casters. I feel like I spend my childhood sitting on that chopping block. At some point after college, my parents passed on some of their things to me as the downsized to a smaller home. Among the treasures was the butcher block. I was thrilled and it was my favorite item in the lot. When Sean & I (and baby Isabel*) moved to Morocco, many of the family treasures that weren't going with us were bequeathed to my brother, Jamie. Now we are home.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
the Vegetannual
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Orla Kiely for Target
The Old Farmer's Almanac
My Father-in-law, John, likes to share interesting bits of information with me from time to time. Somehow we got on the topic of the Old Farmer's Almanac and John informed me that the hole in the corner of the magazine is for hanging it on a nail in your outhouse. Now, neither of us have an outhouse, but he does have a great barn in New Mexico. Therefore, this Christmas, John became the lucky recipient of a 2009 Old Farmer's Almanac to hang beside his john at the barn.
side-note: Wikipedia also states that in 1858, Abraham Lincoln used a copy of a Farmer's Almanac to argue the innocence of his client, William ("Duff") Armstrong, who was on trial for murder in Beardstown, Illinois. Lincoln used an almanac to refute the testimony of Charles Allen, an eyewitness who claimed he had seen the crime by the light of the moon on August 29, 1857. The book stated that not only was the Moon in the first quarter, but it was riding "low" on the horizon, about to set. See? Random, perhaps useful, interesting stuff.
another side-note: the term john, came to be used in America in reference to a toilet or "indoor water closet" because it was first invented by a man named John Harrington. The phenomenal facts just keep coming.
At Last
Monday, January 19, 2009
Raspberry Pecan Muffins
Martin Luther King, Jr. - remembered
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Dwell Studio Chinoiserie
Mary Jane's Farm B & B
Sean and I have always shared a dream of opening a small hotel. We have spent endless hours imagining the where and what and how. This dream feel like it is a looong way off, if it is ever to be at all. After I came across Mary Jane Butter's Bed & Breakfast, I thought- now this, maybe we could do.
Friday, January 16, 2009
thank you, Andrew Wyeth
Frye Boots - family heirlooms
Some people leave their daughters jewelry. Should my daughters be blessed with size seven and a half feet, I will be leaving them boots. Not just any boots, mind you. Frye boots. Frye Company is the oldest continually operating shoe company in America, since 1863. These people know what they are doing. Not only do they make beautiful footwear of exceptional quality, but they also have figured out a way to have an almost universal appeal.