Best in Show

I would like Jane Lynch to play me in the movie please.

From the LA Times

That's right. 

The latest sequel to The Marvelous Misadventures of the Fabulous Baker Girls (and the lesser known but no less heartbreaking Scientific Method of Pie, and If at First You Don't Succeed, Pie, Pie Again) has an incredible surprise ending*.

This pie...

was...

Plus it was the winner of Best Fruit Pie and Best Crust!

I'm speechless with happiness**.  And really full of pie. 

Here's a slideshow from the event, before the unexpected plot twist *** left me with my mouth hanging open in front of all those people and my camera stuck in the bottom of my bag.  

New to Coffee

Before:



After:

Let's just say that having coffee worked out way better for our steak than it did for Will Farrell*.

I put an extra pluot on the barbie for you

And some pound cake, too.
Let's just say it was a very good day, mate.

I totally remember watching this on TV, partially because everyone kind of wants to go to Australia and see koalas, but mostly because we couldn't skip the commercials.  I mention this to the kids --- minds BLOWN!

#tbt

21 years and counting.

#supercutekidsasabonus*

* Why I am not really allowed to use hashtags.  Per the kid on the left, "Mom, it's just embarrassing." #teenagersareannoying.  #amIright?

Little Summer Fruit Cakes

There are winter fruitcakes, and there are summer fruit cakes.  Hands down, the summer ones are way better*.

And little vanilla, lemon and almond-laced summer fruit cakes are the best of all.

Tomatomania makes even me look good

I am such a crappy gardener that last year I actually paid a farmer to grow vegetables in my own back yard for me.

My farmer's name was Anthony, and he was awesome.  I had beautifully tended raised beds of exotic produce, and bumper crops of squash and eggplant.  I also had a husband who informed me that I needed to stop hanging out with my girlfriends who were doing things like hiring farmers.  

So this year, I was on my own.  

Consequently, my carefully selected* baby heirlooms from the good people at Tomatomania, planted lovingly back in April in neat rows and tied up with string, are now a massive jungle of crazy ass tangled up tomato plants.  Plus, there's a scraggly patch of sage and some sad, leggy basil bushes with holes in all the leaves, probably from some kind of icky bug.  Anthony would know, but I'm not allowed to call him anymore**.

Amazingly, the tomatoes are thriving under my policy of complete and utter neglect, and the thicket is spewing out fruit like there's no tomorrow.

I can't take any credit for the crop, but I will take credit for all the delicious food we've been having as a result***.

Heirloom Tomato Pie

Consider the reunion

My food writing class ended a while back.  I didn't mind.

Class turned out to be both more and less than I expected*  Recovering from the initial anxiety, I showed up at a stranger's home and read my piece, Consider Chopped, out loud.  Six pairs of eyes stared at me blankly.  No one, it seemed, had ever watched the show.

WTF?

At least there was wine.

But then, despite their evident confusion and concern about why I was stifling a case of the giggles as I spoke, they gave me feedback that made my work better**.

I think it was kind of like that for everyone. The range of sensibilities in the small room was huge, and it was an effortful thing, the writing about food.  Talking about food, though, was easy.

It makes perfect sense then, that almost as soon as class ended, someone planned a five course dinner party reunion.

With wine***.

Jess' spectacular cool, creamy and spicy avocado soup (recipe below)

 Amelia's light and summery Arugula Salad with Parmesan, heirloom tomatoes, homemade croutons, and lemon vinaigrette.

 Keitha's meltingly tender Pan-Seared Salmon in a Sorrel Cream Sauce (recipe, from Daniel Boulud's Cafe Boulud Cookbook, is here)

 Catie's marvelous cheese course

 My (Ridiculously Good) Lemon Tart

We may never write together again, but I sure hope we get together again.

* More earnest reading about oysters and making dinner out of weeds, and a lot less snacks. I did enjoy Consider the Lobster, by David Foster Wallace, and the one week we had cake.  The best part for me was the directed short in-class writing time. Most of Cherry Blossom Picnics was written during a 15 minute exercise on food memories.
** You can read it here.
*** Keitha, our hostess and a wine aficionado herself, invited a fellow wine expert Alexander, of The Maverick Palate, to do pairings with the meal.  Words like "chalky" and "zingy" were used by many people (Not me.  I used, "yummy").  Alexander has posted the wine list, some great photos, and notes on the evening here.