Here’s some pictures my father took last weekend when we were all over there decorating Christmas cookies.

Here’s some cool stuff that Claudia made at school:

Being a vegetarian and the parent of a small child I am both slightly horrified and overwhelmed by the cuteness of this video:

From Today’s Big Thing:

Remember, when you were a kid, that magical day when your dad brought home a box of live lobsters? You really wanted to touch them, but you were afraid of them. You acted really adorable about the whole thing. Remember that? No? Imagine it happened, then relive those wonderful memories through this kid.

The leaves are falling, the air is crisp. Fall is right around the corner, and being back in the Midwest I feel a strong connection to the seasons. Summer has been a season to enjoy food, the company of friends, and the outdoors. Here are my three favorite recipes from this summer:

Truck-Stop Buttermilk Pancakes. Mark discovered this recipe when he was planning for our Memorial Day Pancake Breakfast. Now it is in our regular breakfast rotation. The secret to successful pancakes appears to be butter! and buttermilk! This one will get carried through to fall and winter, I’m sure.

Zucchini Fritters. I was inspired to seek out this recipe when thinking about how to make zucchini into a filling and satisfying meal. This recipe was perfect (I didn’t use scallions because we didn’t have them). Using olive oil to fry the fritters, rather than canola oil or something else, makes a huge difference. Also, salting the zucchini to get rid of the excess moisture makes them fry much better. I cooked some Indian-inspired chickpeas with onions to go with the fritters.

Plum and Peach Crisp. Heidi Swanson’s 101 Cookbooks is awesome. I had been wanting to try one of Heidi’s dessert recipes, and the perfect opportunity presented itself when I was searching for a good dessert to pair with a Mediterranean meal we were making for some friends. We had grilled vegetables, stuffed grape leaves, hummus, tabouli, Moroccan spiced rice, marinated feta, spiced almonds, olives, and plum and peach crisp with vanilla ice cream. I used brown sugar in the topping, used cornstarch for the arrowroot, and skipped the orange blossom water. I really liked the yogurt in the topping - this crisp was not too buttery or too sweet, and the fruit to crisp ratio was perfect.

The other night I was watching television and I saw this amazing, pro-high fructose corn syrup commercial. It was paid for by the Corn Refiners Association. The messaging of the commercial is fantastic. Basically they say “You are too stupid to quickly explain what’s wrong with eating tons of corn syrup, so you should just knock back a giant glass of nasty purple bug juice and shut up”. While the whole commercial is terrible on so many levels, I am really encouraged that there is such an increased awareness of healthy diets and processed foods that they even felt the need to run the ad.

…and here’s another one:

I’ve probably been off the syrup for about six years and the other day I accidentally picked up a jar of jam with the stuff in it. After you haven’t had it in a long time the unnatural flavor cuts through you palette like a knife.

So if you find yourself in a situation like those portrayed in the ads where a close friend pressures you to quickly explain your views on high fructose corn syrup, you should just cite some passages from Michael Pollan’s Omnivore’s Dilemma or you can just say that it makes you fat and is part of a government mind control conspiracy.

This dish was inspired by pretty rainbow swiss chard, and fresh herbs growing on our deck. It was so tasty, I wanted to make note of the recipe.

Ingredients:
Extra-virgin olive oil
1 bunch rainbow swiss chard, tough stems removed, cut into strips
2 carrots, chopped
1 package tempeh, cut into 1-inch segments
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2-inch segment of fresh ginger, finely chopped
1 teaspoon minced red serrano pepper
1 sprig of basil (leaves only)
2 sprigs of thyme (leaves only)
1/3 cup red table wine
Fine grain sea salt
Fresh ground pepper

Heat a generous amount of olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Add the tempeh, carrots, garlic, ginger, red pepper, basil, thyme, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir-fry for a couple of minutes. Add the wine and stir-fry for another couple of minutes. Add the swiss chard, stir, and cover. Steam for a couple of minutes, until chard is tender.  Viola!  Pretty, tasty, and good for you.

My favorite cooking blog is Heidi Swanson’s 101 Cookbooks.  Tonight we tried the Tasty Asparagus recipe, and it was so, so good, plus nutritious, and easy to make.  The recipe calls for brown rice, but we used whole grain orzo pasta, which tasted great, and is faster to cook.  The tahini dressing is delicious, and the sauteeing and steaming is just right to bring out the flavor of the chickpeas and asparagus.  The toasted almonds add a lovely crunch.  The perfect recipe for wonderful spring asparagus!

I first took note of Venus on Shattuck in Berkeley when I heard that Sean Penn’s car was stolen while he was dining at the restaurant (see news story). The exterior of the building is somewhat over-the-top with Art Nouveau elements and a large Venus sign.  I wanted to try the restaurant but feared that it might be a little too fancy and too expensive.  Last Saturday Mark and I ate brunch there, and it was one of the best brunches I have had.

Once inside, the atmosphere is relatively relaxed and comfortable.  I ordered a caramel latte and Mark ordered a “Cloud 9,” an indulgant mocha with chocolate shavings and fancy whipped cream.  The drinks were excellent.  I had the lemon-ricotta hotcakes with lemon curd and blackberry syrup.  They were not so much like hotcakes, but more like thick crepes filled with ricotta.  Hearty, fruity, interesting, and delicious with the caramel latte.