Happy Birthday Kevin!

Happy birthday to my brother, Kevin! The whole family is camping right now and they will have a little surprise party around the campfire tonight... wish Bry and I were there! Hope you have a great birthday, brother :)

Happy Birthday Rydin!

I cannot believe this little love-bug is already two! We celebrated my nephew's birthday on Saturday with a John Deere inspired party. A beautiful day in the park with family and friends.

{Rydin patiently waiting for cake at Diego's 7th birthday party in April}

Piqued Interest: Pinterest

Wow. I could... ok, do, get lost for hours on the wonderful new site... who thought of something so clever? I first heard about Pinterest from here. I gave it a try. I am hooked! So many beautiful images to see, pin, repin, like, comment... it's HARD not to pin EVERYTHING! Check out my pinterest boards here.

The Gastorian - A New Blog

I have started a new blog. I still love this blog. My new blog can do things this blog can't. This blog is a source of inspiration on all topics. My new blog is a place for me to concentrate on the art of gastronomy. I love both. I hope you do, too. Take a look here.

xoxo

A Weekend In Paris

Ok, not exactly... but I can dream, right? We started out last weekend by seeing a movie Friday night, Midnight in Paris. It was so great! We both loved it! It was charming, funny, romantic, intellectual and left us pondering the deeper (but simple) meaning of the film. It was also an artful introduction to the fascinating Gertrude Stein and bohemian life of 1920's Paris.

Henri Matisse, Femme au chapeau (Woman with a Hat), 1905

Intrigued and still on a Parisian "high", we made plans to visit SFMOMA for a timely tour of The Steins Collect, an exhibition of the expansive collection of modern art by the Stein family. Here were my initial thoughts that I jotted down half-way through the exhibit:

at the first mention i was curious
after an imagined visual i was fascinated
after a visit through the collection i became obsessed
with the enthusiasm
excitement
risk and
engagement
with the artist of the early 20th century
Picasso, Matisse, Cézanne, Renoir
incredible.

Pablo Picasso, Gertrude Stein, 1906

Au revoir Paris. Merci.

Color Wheel of Blogs

It is neat to see the creative names that people come up with for their blogs, their place of online refuge. I have noticed that many are inspired by colors (or it just happens to be in their name); here is a short list of a few I have come across:

Little Brown Pen

Black & Eiffel

Dandelion and Grey

Kelly Green

Orangette

Blue Cooper Photo

My Red Tutu

White on Rice Couple

After all... what would this world be without a little color ;)

At the Market: Zucchini

I am going to begin a new feature called At the Market which will highlight in-season fruits and vegetables. It is my hope that this will encourage not only fresh, seasonal eating in our household, but will emphasize an awareness for the changing of seasons and the passing of time. It is difficult to believe that we just passed our 1 year anniversary of having moved to San Francisco, and are acutely aware of our temporary stay in this beautiful city. With that in mind we are savoring every morsel we can, including the gorgeous, abundant supply of local ingredients.

I love the zucchina (zucchine, Itlaian pl. or courgette in French)... there are so many possibilities to showcase this summer squash: pastas, sautés, grilled skewers, casseroles, gratins and crudités. Botanically speaking, zucchini is actually an immature fruit and the swollen ovary of the delicate, bright yellow zucchini flower. The soft flavors of this mysterious little plant make it extremely compatible with sweet dishes, one of my all-time favorites being zucchini bread.

This is a quick-bread, one that is reminiscent of my childhood. My mother used to make a deep brown zucchini bread, that I have had difficulty replicating for a long time. Most of the recipes I had tried yielded a golden color that just didn't quite "do it" for me. If was only a few years ago that, after some tinkering around in the kitchen, I was able to come up with a similar recipe. Why not ask mom for her recipe? Well, for some reason, she just one day stopped making it, and I don't believe she ever had this recipe written down. It just came from memory and the lack of practice has moved said recipe to the back of her memory. I think it will one day resurface again... or we will find it scratched on a scrap piece of paper stuffed into a first edition Good Housekeeping cookbook.

Zucchini Bread

1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 tbls. cinnamon
3/4 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
1 c. white sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar (light or dark based on preference)
1/2 c. vegetable oil
2 eggs
1/2 tbls. vanilla
2 c. shredded zucchini (about 2 large or 3 small zucchini)

1. Preheat oven to 325°. Butter a loaf pan (I prefer a ceramic dish).
2. In a small bowl, mix together the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
3. In a larger bowl, combine sugars, oil and eggs. Mix in vanilla.
4. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and stir until just combined.
5. Mix in the zucchini, and then transfer to the loaf pan.
6. Bake until the center comes out clean when tested, about 50-60 minutes.

Enjoy!

note: Use all organic ingredients where possible.
image of zucchini flowers at the Mercato Centrale in Bologna, Italy

Dinner Conversation

One of my favorite, favorite things is great conversation over a leisurely, delicious dinner that lasts for hours; a great glass of wine, beautiful food, lovely people... is there anything better?

p.s... while thinking of this post, I came across the above movie, My Dinner with Andre. I have never seen it, so I cannot make an endorsement, however, it does sound intriguing! The entire movie takes place between 2 friends over dinner:

"Wallace Shawn and Andre Gregory, apparently playing themselves, share their lives over the course of an evening meal at a restaurant. Gregory, a theater director from New York, is the more talkative of the pair. He relates to Shawn his tales of dropping out, traveling around the world, and experiencing the variety of ways people live, such as a monk who could balance his entire weight on his fingertips. Shawn listens avidly, but questions the value of Gregory's seeming abandonment of the pragmatic aspects of life."- IMDB

image via a {random} find.

MIA

And I don't mean the snake. It has been busy lately (!) and while I have been absent from my blog, I have had her near my heart, thinking of all the things I want to share :) Gosh, here are a few things that we have done/seen lately:

*spent Friday with my lovely Unominame (an endearing nickname from our college days); we talked about food/cooking over coffee, over lunch, while thrift store shopping, on the muni, over dinner and anywhere in-between. She rocks my world and is an amazing, creative cook!
*enjoyed an UH-mazing late-night burger with Bill and Camille at Marlowe.
*we say The Tree of Life on Sunday. Wow. Complex, complicated, simple, beautiful... all those and more wrapped into an engaging film.
*finished reading The Alchemist (referred by miss Kim); it was wonderful.

*we have my cousin Mac coming tonight to visit for the weekend... so excited!

Fun times and I am having fun taking advantage of these summer months! xoxo

Oh, and "posture, posture, posture"!