Ahhh, Happy Mother's Day! I hope you're all enjoying a lovely day! I sure am - John's doing the dishes from last night's dinner party - now that's a gift. (As you can see in the pic, we put a fair amount of tableware through its paces.)

So, last night's dinner menu (recipes posted in comments, below). I leaned pretty heavily on one of my favorite cookbooks, Sunday Suppers at Lucques by Suzanne Goin. The book is broken down into seasonal menus, eight/season - I didn't follow any one menu to the letter, but pulled favorite little gems from here and there, all spring-y, all tasty. Stu and Rudy brought fabulous wines to taste and share, also listed below.

Swiss Chard Tart with Goat Cheese, Currants, and Pine Nuts
Veuve Cliquot Ponsardin Champagne, Reims (France)
Ferrari-Carano Fume Blanc 2006, Sonoma County
McGrath Farms' Watercress Soup with Gentleman's Relish Toast
Adrian Fog Pinot Noir 2003, Anderson Valley, Savoy Vineyard (brought by Stu)
Chambolle-Musigny Clos du Village Monopole 1999, Domaine Antonin Guyon, Cote d'Or (France;
brought by Rudy)
Grilled Lamb Chops with Garlic & Herbs (my recipe)
Artichoke-Potato Hash with Black Olive Aioli (because there were no artichokes available at Byerly's - very odd - we instead had Asparagus-Morel-Potato Hash, worked quite nicely)
Faiveley Echezeaux Grand Cru 1992, Nuits-Saint-Georges, Cote d'Or (France; brought by Rudy)
Cain Five 2003, Napa Valley
Buttermilk Lemon Tart (the almond crust is via Sunday Suppers, from the cherry tart recipe; lemon filling is mine)

Despite being pretty wiped out from his birthday party the night before, Nathan was able to join us for (most of) dinner (he's a BIG fan of Bizarre Foods). Man, it was great to finally pull this party together, I'm kinda bummed that it's over. We've had good intentions, but getting Zim and Rudy in the same room, in the same city, at the same time, is a bit of a challenge - how crazy we pulled it off twice in one week! I particularly had a blast cooking all day, I don't get to do that very often these busy days. The only thing that could have made the day better was a lot less rain, and just a bit of warmth, for appetizers on the deck. But whatevs, we have all summer for outside fun (listen to me, so nonchalant about summer, ha), and having everyone in the kitchen with me while I cook is pretty damn sweet.

Today, leftovers baby! Already had some soup for lunch, nice. Perhaps a bite of a lamb chop in a bit. Dinner tonight a la Lucia's, with Mom and Stacey, to celebrate Mother's Day (natch) and Stacey's Birthday - Happy Belated Birthday Stacey Pooh (here with Cooper; I know she's having a Happy Mother's Day, ha.)

Moderate it: Stace, you may feel older, but you're never as old as me. After party - enjoy the party leftovers! It's too much work for just one meal - just be ready to pare back to normal. Er, tomorrow.

OK, here's the deal. It's just about midnight (which makes it Sunday, Mother's Day, Happy Such to all you Madres out there)... I got oh, about five hours of sleep last night due to Nathan's Boy Soup birthday sleepover... I have a cold... I just spent the entire day prepping a three-course dinner for nine (John & moi, Nathan, Rishia & Andrew Zimmern, Rudy Maxa & Ana Scofield, and Debbie & Stu The Wine Genius Williams)... Aaaaand I therefore have pretty much no right to be sitting here on the computer writing about said (fun!) exertions. That said, a quick overview of this weekend's kitchen kitsches (menu/recipes to follow tomorrow; er, make that later today):

• I love watercress soup.
  
• If your grill isn't firing perfectly evenly, monitor your lovely lamb chops carefully. (Smoke=fire, well, always.)
  
• If Stu Williams and Rudy Maxa bring wine to your dinner, drink it.
  
• Potatoes taste good with almost anything.
• Dinner by candlelight and flowers tastes better.
• Grilling meat in high heels rather sucks.
• Drinking champagne in high heels rather rocks.
• I must go to bed.

And with that, having experienced a lovely night, I bid you a fond farewell (of the goodnight variety). Sleep tight....

Moderate it: if you cook in heels - and who doesn't? - I suggest a bit of a platform sole. Easier on the ball of the foot; plus, a wider heel is more stable. Especially when grilling on a rainy, slippery deck.

Sweet, sweet Saturday. As much as I love being with my kids, every other Saturday (due to our second-marriage, share-custody status), John and I have the day to ourselves. We try to take full advantage of our limited - yet usefully predictable - alone time and have ourselves a fine Saturday (lemons to lemonade as they say, not that I'd suggest divorce and remarriage as a "fun" way to find alone time as a couple, Lord no; but hey, we all have to find and polish life's duller benefits wherever they exist).

We usually scrape out a tasty brunch or lunch of some sort (if not a movie as well), either here at the hacienda or at, you know, La La Lucia's. Today, it was here, with leftovers from my high-input-yet-solo dinner last night. John had a work thang, but I was in the mood to cook, so I made myself (as I had mentioned) Watercress Soup with Gentleman's Relish Toast as well as grilling up a few lamb rib chops. Oh Good Lord, I had such a good meal by myself it was almost obscene as I talked, sang, danced, and laughed through the preparation.

Best of all - plenty of leftovers for today's lunch, which we just happily, heartily consumed. With sips of the holiest of wines, our beloved Turley Zinfandel, this time a 2003 Lodi Zinfandel, Dogtown Vineyard. Sigh. We only pull out the Turley if I've worked really hard on a meal, and it's turned out particularly deliciously, and this meal qualified. Charred, salty lamb chops, followed by creamy, spicy watercress soup, bathing a crispy, chewy, herb-buttered crouton... Ridic, really, and best consumed in a lavender-scented garden somewhere in Provence (the window in the pic makes me want to leap right through, sniffing deeply as I crash-land, ahhh...), but we made due with our own - because, you know, we had to - winter-in-Minnesota kitchen. Cold, gray skies warmed by Larry Turley and Suzanne Goin, as it were. And perhaps (!) a bit of my own enthusiasm for eating and sipping heartily and well with my Johnny on a Saturday's afternoon...

No complaints here, my friends, none at all. (Well, perhaps one tiny complaint - as in, it's over! Lunch is gone, wine is put away, sniff. Always the moderate epicurean's dilemma - knowing when to call it quits. Shucks. Time for a cup of really strong coffee - nothing signals "the end" of a meal like a great cup of coffee.)

Earthy. Good word, right? I'm all about earthy these post-Christmas days, merrily reading The Pillars of the Earth, relishing the descriptions of 12th century English peasants enjoying their "horse bread" (multi-grain) dipped in ale, their fire-roasted meats washed down with homemade wine, their thick ham-n-cabbage soups, served with slabs of farmer's cheese. Rarrr, I'm a total sucker for rustic-food writing of that sort.

Which made me enjoy tonight's last-minute dinner even more. I had John stop for a rack of lamb on his way home, and stirred up a batch of truffly risotto while I waited for him, and we ate both accompanied by the earthiest of wines - a 2003 Turley Paso Robles Zinfandel, heavenly. In fact, if you notice (in my lame phone-photo, sorry, my camera is at Stacey's), there are flecks of what appears to be black pepper in the risotto, but no, it's char from the grilled lamb juices. Yep, I decadently stirred the carved lamb meat juices into the risotto, before a finishing shower of freshly grated Parm and a sprinkle of truffle oil and coarse salt, and I dare you to find an earthier combo. (Recipe for risotto in comments, below.)

John and I just looked at each other and giggled like the 12th century English peasants we're not - John the Jew of York and his mistress, Stephanie Ricemaker of Lake and Field. Har!

Happy Birthday (yesterday!) to my mother-in-law Dot!

Yikes, where did this week go? Crrraaazy around here, as I'm sure it is for all of you too, wow. It's nice to finally see that gorgeous October sun! (Rain much?!) And all of the leaves slowly turning. I keep trying to remember to look around - and SEE - and enjoy that the leaves and birds are still here, that the grass is still green, that flowers are still blooming. In such a short time we will be living in a black-n-white photograph and I will miss all these beautiful colors. Sniff. Sigh.

I've actually been too busy to do much cooking and for me, that's pretty damn busy. I did get a solid (simple) meal on the table last night - crispy roasted chicken drummies, asparagus, and rice. Before that, it was a bit of catch-as-catch-can from our various leftovers. Which is fine too, hey, I feel like we didn't waste a thing. But I'm getting ready to fire up the ol' stove again. Or tonight, the ol' grill as it were, since I'm throwing on some lamb chops. Mmmm, nothing like crusty, garlicky lamb chops for a perfect (easy!) Thursday night dinner (I smear 'em with minced garlic, olive oil, and a generous sprinkle of coarse salt about an hour before grilling. Grill until just-pink in the center. Baaa voilaaa.) I actually have a few good tomatoes left, from my pots on the deck, so my plan is a big salad, chock full o' said tomatoes with lots of dill and feta. Perhaps some grilled pita (rub uncut pita on both sides with olive oil, sprinkle with a bit of coarse salt, grill briefly until hot and lightly browned in spots, about 5 minutes total) as well, yum. Can't wait!

Two down, one to go! Woo hooooo, we are party central again this weekend! Friday night we were invited to dinner by a family at Nathan's new school. So fun - cool people, lovely home, great kids, and delicious wine and food. Salmon, fresh herbs and vegetables, a drizzle of lemon juice and olive oil, all wrapped up in foil and passed over the grill. We opened up the individual packets to find perfectly moist and fragrant fish, with lovely juices that flowed handily over to the pile of rice waiting patiently on the other side of the plate. Yum. I baked and brought a Cherry Tart with Almond Crust, with fresh cherries as well as fresh peaches and blueberries. Good stuff.

Then yesterday, another pool-and-wine party with Debbie and Stu The Wine Genius (Rudy and Ana are in the Hamptons, poor souls, ha). Sooooo fun, a gorgeous, hot day, perfect for floating and sipping. And eating! Stu and Debbie brought two Turley wines, in honor of our Napa trip (and stay at Larry Turley's home), both delicious. In the pool we drank the white, a 2003 The White Coat, a rich blend, quite golden and delicious. With dinner we drank a 2004 Lodi Zinfandel, from the Dogtown Vineyard (not the one we overlooked), fantastic. Tasted just like Napa, sigh.

After a quick shower, it was time to get some food on! I started by grilling bread for a quick appetizer, served alongside hard salami, roasted peppers, and olive tapenade from the deli. For a first course I made a red cabbage salad - red cabbage sauteed until wilted and then tossed with crispy bacon and a warm shallot dressing and topped with a warm, breaded goat-cheese medallion. Crunchy, creamy, salty, gorgeous - all the good stuff (recipe in comments, below). And for dinner I grilled a couple racks of lamb chops, cut into two-chop pieces before smearing them with a mixture of minced garlic, mint, oregano, rosemary, and tarragon (the herbs on my deck) bound with a bit of olive oil. Alongside I grilled Potatoes on the Grill, or more accurately, La Finca Veggies and Potatoes on the Grill, because I threw in carrots, fennel, green pepper, and onion, all from my veggie share this week. For dessert I had baked a Lemon Picnic Cake (lemon cake soaked in lemon icing, yum; recipe in comments, below), with whipped cream and raspberry sauce. Uff, we were stuffed as we chatted in the dark, watching the pool lights shimmer eerily off the trees, while Nathan took a pre-bedtime dip.

So! Now it's Sun-day, and time for a Baseball Moms and Players Swimming Party! Another hot sunny day, perfect for grillin' some 'dogs, eating lots of salty chips and appetizers, drinking ice cold beer, munching on cookies and bars, and chatting the afternoon/evening away while the boys raise hell in the pool. Yeah, baby!

In the mood for something a bit spring-y, I made roasted asparagus and sauteed lamb chops for dinner (nothing fancy - just seasoned with a little coarse salt and dried thyme before I tossed them into a smoking hot skillet). Oooh, all I needed were morels to make the perfect spring dinner, mmm... And perfectly ripe strawberries with creme fraiche for dessert... Oh, my, I'm getting a little ahead of myself, slow down, Stephanie, slow down. OK. Just asparagus and lamb chops, and they were mighty fine. (Sigh...)

Oh, speaking of lamb...if you're looking for a fabulous recipe for any of the upcoming spring holidays, here you go - Carol Mack's Grilled Leg of Lamb. Garlicky with a browned, crispy exterior, it's easy and absolutely delicious. (Recipe posted in comments, below.) Nothing beats a perfect leg of lamb for a dinner party. With rich (do ahead!) mashed potatoes and a simple vegetable like sauteed pea pods with mint, you really can't miss. Lemon buttermilk tart for dessert? Oooh, yum!