I don't know about you, but I'd have a hard time getting through the day without plenty of sips of tea and coffee. It's not about the caffeine - I have to down the decaf/low-caf version these days. (Old much? Sigh...) It's really about flavor and interest. What can I say? My 'buds get bored fast. I've been on a green tea in the a.m. kick these days, experimenting with different high quality brews from TeaSource. A visit to their store is always a blast for sampling various teas and tisanes (herbal teas), but ordering online is quick and easy too, check it out. Recent favorites are Green Arrow green tea and Lemongrass herbal tea. Hot in the morning, cold in the afternoon, hot after dinner, that seems to be the pattern. Tasty, healthy, no-calorie drinks, as stand-ins for a glass of wine or something "dessert-y" at the end of a meal, are a moderate epicurean's best friend, along with:

...ripe peaches and strawberries. I can't say how much I'm enjoying them right now. Pure decadence - but not really. Prrrfect.

...dried red pepper flakes. Yeah, the kind you grew up shaking on pizza slices, I'm a bit obsessed with them right now. Add a generous pinch, along with minced garlic, to olive oil and heat for a few minutes before sauteeing a variety of vegetables. Finish with lots of freshly squeezed lemon (or a drizzle of really good balsamic vinegar), and Kosher salt, and you will be glad. Good for you too, nice.

...grilling food. I'll grill damn near anything at least once. Well, maybe not eggs. But fish, veggies, fruit, bread, pizza, potatoes - yum! I love not having to clean up pans afterward. I love cooking outside. I love delicious results from lighter ingredients. Get thee a grill basket, and a roll of aluminum foil (for making packets), and start experimenting, says I. It's fun!

...iPods. Yay for summer songs! Yay for shameless reminiscing! Yay for looking like a complete dork while you walk/bike and (try to secretly) sing along! Hey, if it helps me get my butt out the door, it's all good, dorkiness be damned.

So, I'm very much looking forward to tomorrow! Yep, I'm talking about the Sex and the City movie, like everyone else, I admit I'm dying to see it. The girls, the clothes, the city (even the food!) - all of it. I have a date to see it with my husband, in fact, since he's the one who introduced me to it. A little lunchy-poo, followed by the 'vie, ooh now that's a nice Friday. Then to top it off, Baseball Moms - how appropriate, right? SATC followed by Happy Hour with the girls? Absof--kinglutely!

Moderate it: pop your own popcorn in a little bit of olive oil and smuggle it into the theater for a healthy treat. We've all heard how bad movie popcorn is calorie-wise, even a small, unbuttered. Plus - I realize I'm in the minority here - I think it sucks and that the freshly popped at home version blows the theater stuff away. Pop that!

I am in some sort of cooking slump lately, I have to admit. I'm not sure why - just feeling less, I don't know, inspired. Is it the hot weather? Overly-busy days? I'm sure part of it is that I feel like I should just be grilling food, instead of heating up the oven (and the whole kitchen), and that limits my options a bit (as happy as I am to grill pretty much anything). I guess this just happens, where inspiration wanes, and you reach a little further for something interesting...

...like tonight, I faced a fridge full of CSA share veggies, a boatload of eggs, and decided to make crepes filled with a simple saute of diced carrots, onions, green pepper, garlic, and mushrooms. With a tablespoon each of creme fraiche and minced fresh herbs* to finish, it really did make a light, lovely din. With a French white, on the deck, very nice. And - thank goodness - Not. Our. Usual! Don't forget about crepes, they're easy, delicious, and mix things up nicely.

* My poor fresh herbs, in pots on my deck. The parsley and dill are completely defoliated by black swallow-tail caterpillars, and the basil is being sucked dry from the inside out by hideous, bronze-y Japanese beetles. Luckily the oregano, rosemary, summer savory, and chives (as well as the tomatoes and chilis) are just fine - plenty of flavor to carry us through the season - but the buggy (and batty!) infestation is a bit disgusting, sigh.

And oh, I DID get the scanned pic of our dinner at Morton's with Andrew & Rishia Zimmern, and Carol & Aaron Mack, to celebrate Aaron's birthday. We were very...BLUE that evening! Fun night, great to see everyone, and once again, Happy Birthday Aaron.

Moderate it: thank goodness that just a little creme fraiche - one of the most delicious creations on Earth - goes a long way. Just a teaspoon to finish scrambled eggs, or a dab in a pan of sauteed veggies (above), or a smidge with fresh berries, makes a dish over-the-top delicious.

Happy Bunny to You! One of the most entertaining Easter dinners I've experienced included a rendition of that song, sung to the dinner guests by one of my (to remain unnamed) friend's usually teetotaller mom, after half a glass of wine. To the tune of Happy Birthday. Oh, man, it was fabulous, I thought my friend and her dad (and I) would die laughing. Happy Bunny indeed. It was awesome.

We opened this day with Nathan's annual Easter egg hunt, here in the house. Less hilarious than a tipsy teetotaller, but adorable and fun. I'm kicking myself that I didn't store the eggs in the fridge so I could make egg salad today. Dumb. Oh well. It's not like I can't hard cook another bunch of eggs in no time and make egg salad anytime I want. It's just the idea of waste, I guess, bugs me.

Oh, speaking of bugs, we had a brief pause in the action for me to vacuum a spider off the ceiling. Lots of the the creepy little speedsters this time of year. Ick. Shiver. Ick. (Sorry for the visual, Suz.)

I shrugged off the heeby jeebies and turned to the refrigerator, where there awaited me cold mmmmmmmatzo balls. My favorite leftovers' breakfast. I had two, right out of the pan. With three strips of crispy Neuske bacon. Hey, not exactly Kosher(!), but I had to get the nod to pork in there on Easter Sunday, I'm not having ham today. In fact, we're having the mellowist of Easters, hangin' here at the hacienda with no plan at all. I, of all people, don't really dig Easter eats. I don't know. Not a ham lover. I'm much more into the Passover goodies, truth be told. Me and my matzo balls, that's a Happy Easter in my book. You enjoy whatever treats and traditions you're sharing today!

Bistec Cubano (Cuban steak with onions), yellow rice, and black beans for dinner (recipes posted in comments, below). With lots of fresh lime. Not particularly Easter-y, but de-li-cious! I powered up for cooking dinner by having a little late-afternoon nap, ahhh. Nice enough to grill the steak outside, although not quite warm enough to eat out there. That's OK. It's been an amazing week, couldn't ask for more.

Happy Labor Day! Flew by, of course, as all holiday weekends do, but this one was particularly fun because my brother David was here. That meant extra hang time with Stacey and Cooper too, and as a group we had a grand old time. We pretty much just chatted, cooked, ate, and hung by the pool. Yeah, that pretty much covers it.

The foodie highlights:

• I made a tomato-goat cheese tart for a late din Friday night. Nothing more than a short-pastry crust, smeared with minced garlic, filled with tomato slices, a drizzle of olive oil, a sprinkle of salt, and dabs of soft goat cheese. I baked until golden brown and soft, served alongside a salad, in the dark on the deck, with a glass of crisp white, and it was nice.
• Scrambling for a brunch idea Saturday morning, I innovated crepes filled with softly scrambled eggs and a "sauce" of cherry tomatoes sauteed with onions and fresh herbs. With a few slices of Nueske's Canadian bacon on the side, we were well-fortified for a day of...lying around in the sun, listening to music, reading books, and chatting. Hey, what can I say?
• Saturday night we dined deliciously at 20.21. As usual, the star was the lobster risotto with crispy spinach, I'd say one of Minneapolis' top five restaurant dishes. It hits all the notes, baby - creamy, spicy, sweet, salty, chewy, crunchy. And it's gorgeous. And delicious. Oh yeah, I already said that.
• Last night I made not just shrimp saltimbocca, but scallops saltimbocca as well, due to a bit of a screw up in purchasing frozen shrimp at Whole Foods. A tasty mistake, turns out, since Stacey, David, and I all love scallops (while John and the kids opted for shrimp). With grilled bread, topped with ricotta cheese and grilled tomatoes, we had ourselves a summer feast.
• And the wrap up today, more tomato goodness, this time in the form of post-exercise BLTs at Stacey's. Garden-ripe tomatoes and Nueske's bacon. 'Nough said.

David (pictured at right with Etta, a couple of weeks ago in Wyoming) left around 5 pm this evening, unforch totally missing the chicken I roasted tonight, whole on the grill (with my Weber poultry roaster), this time with a Mexican spin - garlic, lime, and ancho chili powder. We ate the crispity slices in warm corn tortillas alongside potatoes roasted with jalapenos, onions, and green pepper.

The End to a lovely Labor Day weekend.

Moderate it: yeah, a pretty big food weekend. I biked in the wind, walked in the heat, and most surely didn't come close to working off that lobster risotto. Good thing the weekend is done and we're back to "normal" tomorrow. Uff.

I made John and Nathan's night by preparing nothing more than avgolemono (Greek egg-lemon soup). It's one of their very favorites, which is incredibly lucky for me, really - four ingredients, that's it! Broth, rice, egg yolks, and lemon juice. Simple perfection. It is delicious, and makes a satisfying dinner with a big (but not fat, ha) Greek salad. Or for Nathan, with toasted pita and eggplant and/or olive spread. Opa!

Earlier I shared a yummy brunch with my aunt Mary, at the newly remodeled Edina Grill. Much comfier and spiffier digs, same deliciously eclectic, comfort-food menu. I had their classic salad of greens with crispy goat cheese (fresh, tasty greens, tossed lightly with a delicious vinaigrette) alongside an over-easy egg. As you know, an egg with salad is one of my favs - soooo good. Mary had their scrambled egg salad (same delicious greens tossed with crispy pancetta, dressing, and scrambled eggs). Variation on the same theme, also delicious. Then she was off to Nisa at Spalon to get (even more) gorgeous and I was off to - where else - Byerly's, aka my second home, to pick up the family's daily bread. Pita, as it were. Opa, again!

And now? Bedtime, my friends! I'm tir-ed, for no good reason, really. The sun shone today and lo, it was beautiful to behold. Should have given me energy, but no. In fact, it hurt my eyes! Have I been so long in the dark that my body doesn't remember how to respond? No! No, no, no! Me thinks I gotta get out of this special hell we call...Minnesota...