LUNCH THAT IS NOT CANDY

After eating about 90 gallons of candy and sweets on Easter and the days (and weeks!) leading up to Easter, I decided on Monday to make a healthy lunch. I hardly ever make lunch, but Erik had the day off and we were just relaxing around the house, so I decided to go for it. I had seen this soup in the April issue of Bon Appetit, and it looked good. It was very good (especially considering there wasn't any chocolate in it).  The warmed tomatoes were particularly yummy, and it was great served with very dry toast.

Fennel and Zucchini Soup with Warm Tomato Relish

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 2 cups diced fresh fennel (from 1 large bulb), fronds chopped and reserved
• 1 cup trimmed diced zucchini
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 2 cups low-salt chicken broth
• 3/4 cup grape tomatoes, quartered

Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil in large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add diced fennel, zucchini, onion, and fennel seeds. Sauté until fennel is translucent, 4 to 5 minutes. Add broth; bring to boil. Cover; reduce heat and simmer until vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes. Puree in blender until smooth; return soup to saucepan. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Meanwhile, heat remaining 1/2 tablespoon olive oil in medium skillet over medium heat. Add tomatoes and sauté until just heated through, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Mix in 1 tablespoon chopped fennel fronds; season relish with salt and pepper. Serve soup with relish.

HAPPY EASTER!

TEA COSY

We love our little collection of traditional Brown Betty teapots that we have acquired over the years.  The English pots, used in Britain for centuries, are made with a special red clay that retains heat better than most any other material and are distinguished by their beautiful brown 'Rockingham' glaze.  They not only work perfectly, but are design icons that we love to look at everyday in our kitchen windowsill.  I made an adorable tea cosy for our most-used medium sized pot several weeks ago.  It looks like a little sweater sitting snugly on that fat little pot!  It was a fun project and will be well-used, I'm sure.

SPRING

Spring is mostly here and flowers are blooming everywhere and the grass is so green! We were able to take a couple of day-trips this past weekend; one day spent going up the coast to Mendocino and another making our way down the peninsula to the estate and gardens at Filoli.  We saw so many pretty things, ate some perfect lemon-cookie ice cream, picked up a few bottles of our favorite special occasion treat, and got some delicious bread from the famous Cafe Beaujolais.  A great trip.  We look forward to going back soon; especially to Mendocino for some camping once it gets just a little warmer :)

GRANOLA

I often make this granola recipe from one of my favorite baking books, Baked: New Frontiers in Baking.  While I wouldn't exactly call it healthy, I would definitely call it delicious (unlike much of that bird-seed-type granola you see out there).  It is great by itself, with milk, or with yogurt, and the recipe can be easily altered depending on the kinds of nuts and fruits you like.

Easy Homemade Granola
adapted from Baked recipe

Ingredients:
2 cups rolled oats
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup whole almonds
1/3 cup whole pecans
1/3 cup raisins
1/3 cup dried cranberries

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, toss the oats with the cinnamon and salt.

In a medium bowl, stir together the oil, honey, brown sugar, and vanilla. Whisk until completely combined.

Pour the honey mixture over the oats mixture and use your hands to combine them: Gather up some of the mixture in each hand and make a fist. Repeat until all of the oats are coated with the honey mixture.

Pour the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet. Spread it out evenly, but leave a few clumps here and there for texture.

Bake for 10 minutes, then remove from the oven and use a metal spatula to lift and flip the granola.  Sprinkle the almonds over the granola and return the baking sheet to the oven.

Bake for 5 minutes, then remove from the oven and use a metal spatula to lift and flip the granola. Sprinkle the pecans over the granola and return the baking sheet to the oven.

Bake for 10 minutes, then remove from the oven. Let cool completely. Sprinkle the raisins and cranberries over the granola and store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

DISHCLOTHS

I haven't knitted much lately, but I had fun making these little dishcloths as a quick and easy project.  My inspiration was a handknitted dishcloth we have had in our kitchen for a long time that my husband brought home from Labour and Wait, a beautiful shop he visited on a business trip to London.  After finding a nice pattern online, I bought some very cheap yarns ($1.25-$3 a skein) that I ended up loving; Red Heart Eco-Ways Bamboo wool (55% bamboo, 45% wool) and The Original Sugar 'n Cream (100% cotton).  It was nice to see that it was possible to find a few quality yarns hidden within all of that horrible acrylic at big craft stores like Michael's.  A good thing to know!

UNCLE

I have read some very good books; adult books, kid's books, and some that defy either category. Uncle is definitely one of those books. The story (and subsequent stories) were first told to the children of Methodist minister, J.P. Martin, before he was persuaded to write them down for a larger audience in the 1960s and 70s.  They were hailed as modern classics of children's literature, and have been very popular in England ever since.  The book is beyond brilliant, very strange, and very, very funny. The main character, Uncle, is an elephant.  "He's immensely rich, and he's a B.A.  He dresses well, generally in a purple dressing gown, and often rides about on a traction engine, which he prefers to a car." He lives in a place called Homeward, a fortress described as being like "a hundred skyscrapers all joined together and surrounded by a moat with a drawbridge over it".  He brings in much income by renting out the top stories to many dwarfs.  "They pay rent to Uncle every Saturday.  It's only a farthing a week, but it amounts up when there are thousands of dwarfs."  Most of the book deals with Uncle's ongoing fight with his enemies, the Bads (who live in Badfort), led by the much-hated Beaver Hateman.  The best part of the book is its amazing parade of characters.  There's Jellytussle (being drop-kicked by Uncle in the picture above), "one of the most objectionable characters".  "He is covered with shaking jelly of a bluish color, and whenever he is about Uncle looks out for trouble."  There's also the shoes-obsessed Muncle; the incredibly short-tempered Maestro (who travels with a miniature lion who can make himself supernaturally heavy), and the carol-singing Respectable Horses.  I haven't read a book this enjoyable in awhile.  Very reminiscent of Roald Dahl.  Highly recommended.