Backroads 

Backroads, unsafe, narrow backroads giving way to stone walls and deep drops offs that shaped the earth long before pavement. Ashfield, MA, my home town is full of them. I grew up on a dirt road that would promise to wash out every Spring making it impassable, forcing us to park at the end on the "highway"  (A term I use loosely to describe any road at home with two lanes) and walk the mile to our log cabin. 

There is one of these elusive back roads that have been spared from road expansion or highway transformation from South Kingstown to North Kingstown that contains all the aspects of a perfect "backroad." It is full of danger, any sane driver is warranted in their concern of hitting the stone wall that incloses the narrow road. 

I am not a danger seeker or an adrenaline junkie (anymore) I choose to take this back road, even knowing that it will always certainly make me late to my appointment, because of a series of hills. 

Hills that make you step on the gas just enough to make your car pop over the top and drive your stomach through the floor. That first love, first kiss feeling, when your body leaves your brain and is instantly alive. This is the reason I take this back road that I am unable to name. 

The earth can move and speak to your body if your choose to let it. Spring speaks to me in this way it awakens me to food that can be made from the earth during this time.

Last week I had the pleasure of attending a class at Johnson and Wales. The class was centered on farm to table cooking. A good drop to remind me that the closer we cook to the earth the more awake we will feel.

Please try this recipe that inspired me last night: 

Marinated Mushroom Salad 

1 Ib Crimini mushrooms cleaned and sliced- brush clean, do not use water for they will get mushy

1 Ib Shiitake mushrooms sliced 

1 lb Hen of the Woods, sliced 

1 lb Enoki Mushrooms 

1/4 Cup Champagne vinegar 

1 Lemon juiced 

5 Tsp Honey 

2 Tsp Oregano minced 

2 Tsp Rosemary 

1 T Thyme 

3 T olive oil 

1. Place all mushrooms in large bowl toss with salt and pepper 

2. Transfer mushrooms to a sheet tray line lined with parchment paper, and place in 350 degree oven. Roast until golden brown color is achieved. 

3. In small sauce pot add remaining ingredients and bring mixture to simmer for 5 min 

4. Combine roasted mushrooms and hot marinade in pan allow to cool in refrigerator. 

We topped our herb chicken burgers with this mushroom salad last night and it was delicious!

Brody was born two years ago this Friday June 8th, I feel blessed to have this little being in my life. He is funny and daring and relaxed. All the things I struggle to achieve. As I plan my week I stumbled across his birthday and realized I have had not made any serious plans for his special day, but then again he is two so realize every day could be his birthday. This year I plan to fall back on a old classic: strawberry picking at Sweet Berry Farm in Middletown. Sweet Berry sits atop a hill over looking Second Beach. Its grounds promote a tranquil mindset. 

My boys love Sweet Berry. When I just had one child, my Eli we would go once a week and pick berries, flowers, peaches or just go for the ice cream. I find peace here I am not sure if it is the open air or the ocean view but no doubt it is an amazing place to spend a couple of hours, Sweet Berry embodies the wonders of Rhode Island. Rhode Islanders use beach front property as farm land, how truly amazing is that! 

A recipe for this early summer adventure- 

Fresh picked strawberry ice cream 

1 1/2 Pint fresh picked strawberries 

3/4 Cups clover honey 

1/2 Cups heavy cream 

Wash and husk strawberries, place clean strawberries in a large bowl mash with a large potato masher, when they all strawberries are broken into pieces and no whole strawberries remain pour honey over the strawberries cover and refrigerate for one hour. Add in the rest of the ingredients transfer mixture into a ice cream maker and follow the manufactures instructions. 

Serve with chocolate chips and this will make any birthday special.

Happy birthday Brody, my little wild one!

Women, dreams, goals and scraps of paper

Spring Pea Shoot Salad with Meyer Lemon Dressing, Pickled Radish from our garden, Blue Cheese, and Honey Comb

Blog this week 

Women, dreams, goals and scraps of paper 

I have pounds of paper, I write my best ideas on them. My thoughts, my wishes, things I think I should invent; starts to poems or short stores. I then carry these pieces of paper around with me, generally on my person in my pockets, I love anything with a pocket. I am sucker for little black dress with a pocket. I have plans for these pieces of paper. Projects they will become, stories they will fill the pages of, poems that will change the world. But then, it happens; the dishwasher leaks or Brody my baby falls off his bike, or someone wants something to eat and these papers get shoved into a New Yorker I plan to read from last August. My inspiration on paper then dies a slow death. 

Last night I had the true pleasure of seeing a friend set fire to her scrap of paper. Stephanie Addition owner of Up-Dikes Newtown coffee shop in North Kingstown had a dream; literally a dream. Not the Martin Luther King type, but the REM sleep type, Stephanie wanted to use the coffee that she was already trading into a skincare line that would change how women care for their skin and bodies.  

Here is what makes Stephanie truly amazing: she woke from this dream, wrote down her idea on one of these scarps of paper and then never let it die. I am sure her dishwasher leaked and her children needed feeding. But while she tended to these life issues she still sparked fire to her paper and set her dream free by setting real goals, contacting the right people and creating. Last night I had the pleasure of trying this product as we catered her launch party.  The result: nothing feels better then rubbing creative, inspiring women's thoughts into your skin.
Thank you Stephanie, for your dreams put to paper, you have brought us JavaWorx
https://www.facebook.com/The.Java.Effect

Mother's Day 

What I would give for one more hour with my mother, just sixty minutes. In truth I would give these tiny little minutes to my boys for they never had the pleasure of meeting my mother. But if I was to be selfless I would take these moments for myself and return to her kitchen on a dirt road in Ashfield. My mother would read to me as I cooked. The literature always changed from articles from the New Yorker to Anne Sexton or fairly tales. I love to be read too, and have a horrible habit of downloading books weekly secretly seeking her voice. As she read I would cook, dinner, baking, soups and stews in never really mattered I just loved moving while she read. I pass along a favorite recipe for this mother's day. Asian inspired greens. The trick to cooking greens is to never really cook them at all it is heat the dressing turn off the heat and wilt the greens in the warm dressing. 

Recipe: 

In season greens

Right now include Bok Choy, Broccoli Rabe, Chard, Cilantro, Spinach 

Dressing 

1/2 Teaspoon finey chopped ginger 

2 Teaspoons green onions, finely diced green and white 

3 teaspoon cilintro 

3 Teaspoon soy sauce 

4 tablesppons olive oil 

1 Teapoons sesame oil 

Juice of one lime 

Heat oil add lime soy sauce, add green onions ginger saute for 2 mintues turn off heat add greens and cilantro untill wilted but not brown. Serve! 

lemonade

Spring, I love every aspect of it. I love the way the frozen ground melts giving off a steamy earthy smell as the worms stir the soil and let the buds of daffodils and tulips rise and present their colors. Spring reminds me of my mother the soft smell of her rose scented skin and how she loved an early Spring party with her closet friends that ended star gazing by the fire. Spring makes me happy and makes me want to entertain outside. I adore the following ideas to elevate any spring summer party. 

Homemade lemonade, the tart crisp taste goes with any back yard BBQ and is always a crowd pleaser. Spring brings the birth of strawberries so why not add it to your lemonade. You can also pick your own fresh Rhode Island strawberries starting in June at Sweet Berry Farm in Middletown, one of my favorite places on earth.

Homemade Lemonade 

Ingredients: 

1 1/2 Cups fresh lemon juice 

1 Cup superfine sugar 

3 Quarts warm water 

Juice lemons add the super fine sugar whisk until well blended.  Add to the warm water slowly while stirring so that ingredients are fully incorporated chill 

Add to this lemonade strawberry mash

Strawberry Mash  

3 Pints fresh strawberries husked and washed 

1 1/12 Cups superfine sugar 

1 Cup water 

Blend all the ingredients in the blender until it forms and puree add to lemonade 

For extra treats: 

Freeze strawberries in ice trays with water to add to guests glasses 

For an adult party make your lemonade electric by adding a cup of Gray Goose vodka 

Edible Flowers 

Edible Flowers will elevate any salad or cheese plate. They add vibrant color and tangy flavor much like the flavor of a spring radish. They can be found at Whole Foods or your local farmers market. 

Herb Compound Butter- YUM 

Butter is one of my favorite things in the world and we don’t use it enough. Let go of the fear of butter I say. I fear food that comes out of a plastic package that can be left on a shelf for years. Or better yet fear powdered meals ,in the words of a good friend, I enjoy chewing!  

Compound butter can be added atop grilled steak, salmon or veggies for extra favor and richness. 

The compound butter I love for spring and summer is a Meyer lemon chive butter 

Ingredients: 

1 Stick un-salted butter at room temperature   

3 Tablespoons fresh chives finely diced 

3 Tablespoons Meyer lemon juice 

Salt and pepper to taste 

MIx all the ingredients together in a bowl salt and pepper to taste, transfer mixture to parchment paper form into long strip. Roll strip into a log refrigerate until ready to use. Slice the butter and lay atop hot grilled veggies steak or salmon. 

Happy entertaining! 

A new cookbook- 

A new cookbook, oh the smell the pictures, hours of entrainment all wrapped in a wonderful white cover. Of course I am talking about The French Laundry Cookbook. Ben bought me the cookbook last week as an inspiration, and it worked; it stirred my blood and made my heart race. 

I started cooking right away! Beet powder, how could you go wrong with beet powder. Spring is here, and with its arrival comes salads of spring vegetables and pea shoots oh the wonders of golden beet dust covering my latest salad creation. 

I just gave myself goose bumps. 

Disclaimer:  I may have started a small fire in my microwave while dehydrating the beats, at which point my son Eli “the rational one”  proclaimed, “mom please don’t do that again.” No Eli that is just it, we must go to the store right now, and buy more beets and try again!  We must try and try and try! A small fire is not enough to stop us from making beautiful, soulful food. 

I am a poet in truth, but I keep trying to be other things, I have tried teacher, coach, line cook, realtor, 1950’s house wife. But here is the rub of being a poet, no one will pay for your son’s karate by writing a sonnet or put money in their 529 plan, no matter how many times I publish. What I am left with is choices and changes, the world will allow you to do any thing you wish if you are willing to put pen to paper so to speak. The same love I have for words I have for food, I am not referring to the food that you shove in your mouth because you are hungry I am referring to the food that speaks to you from the ground. I find poetry in food, cook books, farmers markets gardens and honey comb. It speaks to me. I carry cook books around with me, I read them over and over again, I dog ears pages, I re-write recipes, I cook for hours to create one single bite. I love this sexy little company and want to turn it into a company that promises that every bite will taste like the earth, wind, rain and sun