A photographer, I am not! I know this, and I accept it. And if you stop by here often, then I am guessing you know and accept it too.  Sometimes I just can’t get the correct light or am unable to correct the light and color in Photoshop. I’ve never taken a Photoshop course and really only know a couple of quick tricks out of the whole big program. Marissa and I signed up for a community college photography night class five years ago when she was a senior in high school. We quickly discovered that the instructor wasn’t really organized enough to teach. Being the great example-setting mom that I am, after only two very disappointing classes, I turned it into girls-night-out for shopping and dinner instead. Hmm?

Imagine this blog without food pictures, even mediocre pictures. Hard to do, at least for me. So I take on average between 6 and 10 shots of each picture I want to feature and hope for the best. That didn’t work out so well for today. I took 9 different shots of this broccoli last night. Then we had it for dinner.  This morning, I downloaded the photos and every single one is out of focus! It sure didn’t look that way on the camera screen last night. Please forgive me, I still want to post the recipe because it was really good, but I won’t go to the store to buy more broccoli just to get a focused picture.

On a happier note; at the same time that Maris and I signed up for the photography class, we also signed up for a weekend watercolor class. I think there were five other women in there and Maris and I were, by far, the youngest… and the least talented! I mean, we were awful! And please keep in mind, that my son, Connor is a great artist! That is one of his many watercolors above, which he did when he was 11 years old. We came home each week with our pitiful “art” and I do not know how he kept a straight face. But we stuck with it! And we had fun. It helped that our instructor was very sweet and encouraging even though it was obvious that neither of us was getting any better. If you’re interested in seeing my talented son’s artwork, you can check out some of his work at this link. Most of the art posted here is done with a Pen Pad and his computer. Plus there are a few photographs of some of his oils as well. Hope you enjoy the broccoli and the art.

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I picked my first artichokes of the season today! Plus another 40 or 50 pounds of lemons! Really, someday, I will have picked that lemon tree clean… but not for a while. Only two artichokes were ready, so this recipe is for two, it can easily be doubled or tripled, no matter how many more artichokes you add.  But only go up to 1 1/2 cups of water to cook them in and no more than about 5 tablespoons olive oil.  When increasing recipes, know that not all ingredients increase in equal increments.  For instance, even if you double or triple the onion/garlic/thyme/fennel portions, you still will only need about 1 tablespoon of olive oil to sauté them in… that make sense?

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While our family was in Italy during the summer of 2008, I had Asparagus with Prosciutto di Parma, Parmegiano Reggiano, and Poached Eggs. The dish is a common sight on Italian menus.

I’ve taken quite a few liberties, basically Americanizing and bastardizing it at the same time! The inspiration to do so came after a cooking class on Monday night with Chef Chris Curtiss of Noca, who made these outstanding fried poached eggs and served them on top of a fabulous salad with pickled red onions, bacon, and red wine vinaigrette – truly amazing!

I often serve the asparagus as a side dish and it has already been featured on this site, but this is a wonderful light, refreshing, and satisfying main dish for any night of the week. Of course, it would also make a great brunch dish.

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On Saturday, I was at the Downtown Phoenix Public Market conducting a class for kids at the market. The class came about when I was contacted by a group of ASU students who are in a program planning class. Their assignment was to put on a community event, and they chose to teach kids about the importance of locally grown foods and organize a cooking class. They were so well organized and put together a great event. I want to extend a big congratulations to each of them; KC, Megan, Britany, Daniel, Ryan, Mary, and Jessi.

Plus KC made the most adorable visual aid for her presentation, I just had to include it here!

And the kids who participated were so attentive and excited to participate. Sadly, I didn’t get all of their names committed to memory; but to all of you, including Matthew, Ava, Brenden, Leanna, and Bekah – thanks for coming, and keep on cooking!

We made a roasted vegetable dish and a berry smoothie. Since we didn’t have access to an oven, I roasted a batch of the vegetables ahead of time. At the market, the kids sliced and prepared a second batch of the veggies, and I brought those home to roast and used them to create this soup. When the vegetables are pureed, they go from all their various lovely colors to a drab old brown. Not very appealing in color – but they taste – fantastic! It helped to hold back a few bits of the veggies to dice as garnish and my finished soup would have even been a little brighter if I had remembered to garnish with some cilantro, so be sure and remember for yourself!  The brioche croutons are a wonderful added flavor – and on their own – they are downright addictive.

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This morning, I’m off to the Downtown Phoenix Public Market using the market’s fresh fruits and vegetables to teach a class for kids.  I’ve just enough time to put up this tasty twist on coleslaw before I dash out the door.  If you haven’t been to the DPP Market yet, you really need to take a break and go, check out the details HERE.  Have a happy Saturday!

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This quick and delicious vegetable side dish just screams “Mediterranean” to me. I love every single distinct flavor here. I served this with the mahi-mahi from yesterday’s post, but it just as easily compliments pork or chicken as it does fish. And it takes literally, only about 7 minutes to put together, well OK – depending on your knife skills! So sharpen your chef’s knife and have a wonderful weekend!

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Yes, it’s true, I’m still talking about our gorgeous Sunday Valentine’s Day at the Queen Creek Olive Mill, hope you don’t mind ~ because I really love that place! I picked up a bottle of one of their new flavored balsamic kinds of vinegar. Fig Balsamic – delicious!

You too can have a bottle of balsamic or any one of their amazing olive oils… just click here and mail order.

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Sunchokes, also known as Jerusalem artichokes, are bumpy, tan-skinned root vegetable that resembles ginger root but is actually a variety of sunflower root. You can find sunchokes sold in bulk at some grocery stores or in a one-pound package from “Melissa’s” produce called Sunflower chokes. Sunchokes have a sweet nutty flavor similar to potato or jicama. Serve sunchokes raw in salads or a crudités platter, sautéed, steamed, or boiled as you would potatoes and then mashed. When purchasing sunchokes, select chokes that are firm, and avoid any that are soft or wrinkled.

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The second of February! How is that even possible? I still have not gotten used to writing 2010! Honestly, sometimes I still write 19—when putting down the date on something. I guess that’s because we still do have to put 19—on so many things; for instance; when you have to fill in your date of birth, your kids’ birthdays, the year you graduated from high school… it all starts with 19, not 20….so I guess it’s understandable, but really, how can it already be February 2010?

Since this is so confounding to me, how about something I totally understand, appreciate, love, and might be just a little wee bit obsessive about? Trader Joe’s! I adore Trader Joe’s! Of course, I’m not the only one – for proof of that GO TO THIS LINK and be one of the more than 528,000 people who have already viewed this little ode to Trader Joe’s.”  As I watched this video; I smiled, I laughed out loud, and I shook my head in complete agreement.  After you watch, please share your thoughts and comments with me, and I’ll randomly pick one winner from all the comments. That person will receive a bag, full of some of “My Favorite –Must Have” items from TJ’s.

Trader Joe’s items for this soup

In that same vein, every single ingredient for today’s and tomorrow’s recipes is from my neighborhood TJ’s. And to prove my devotion to them and to you, I even went there on a Sunday to purchase it all!  As a rule, I do not visit TJ’s on a weekend day, but for you…I made the sacrifice. xoxo

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My darling daughter, Marissa, requested I post some yummy and easy sides. How about an outline – sort of a guide on how to make quick improvisational sides anytime you want? I made this dish with what I had on hand in my produce drawers. You begin by gathering your hard vegetables together; such as onion, carrots, celery, bell peppers, fennel, parsnips, squash, etc. Clean and chop.

Next, pull out your soft vegetables; things as spinach, mushrooms, tomatoes, leftover cooked potatoes, etc., and prep them. Sauté the hard vegetables together until soft, add in the soft veggies, and season, that’s all there is to it! You can add in other items too, such as canned drained beans, chickpeas, frozen corn, chopped olives, or artichoke hearts…getting the idea?

Once you have the vegetables cooked, use them in pasta, salads, quesadillas, wraps, or on their own as a nutritious, colorful side dish.  I like to keep a small bowl on hand to add to scrambled eggs for a quick, satisfying, and “no-brainer” breakfast. (because who wants to think too hard in the morning?)

Here, I am adding them to some brown rice as a side. Instead of the rice, mix it up by serving on top of couscous or quinoa. Also pictured at the bottom, I’ve chilled the rice and veggie mixture, and formed it into patties (mix in a tablespoon or two of sour cream, mayonnaise, beaten egg, crème fraîche, or soft cream cheese to help bind the mixture, if needed). Bread the patty with a mixture of Parmesan cheese and panko, chill the breaded rice cakes for a couple of hours, then cook in a little olive oil, to brown and crisp them, and serve on their own or with a bit of hot marinara sauce. Versatile, right?

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