Frustrations of Having a Cold

Andy Warhol-like art project

    Being forced to rest for more than a day presents me with a dilemma.  Plenty of time to blog, no time to cook, no energy to photograph. For the first day of my chest cold I read all day. I enjoyed being able to sit still long enough to read 280 pages of London  The second day I needed to watch reruns of Bones on netflix and Downton Abbey on Masterpiece Theater. The third day I decided a trip to the Conservatory of Flowers' steamy aquatic plants room would clear my lungs.The beauty and humidity I found there made me feel much cured, peaceful and a little too enthused. With temps in the 70's I was tempted to walk too far taking in Golden Gate Park's beauty around me. 

    So, today, day four, I am trying to show a bit of modesty and repentance by resting on the couch.The beautiful weather outside is calling to me, but I want to get over this bug once and for all. I will be firm with myself, no cooking projects (which come with their own follow-up cleaning jobs), no fitness activities, like climbing the Lyon street steps. My only activity will be dreaming and planning what I will cook in the upcoming week. 

   One of the pleasures of living in San Francisco is the availability, through the public library, of all the newly released cookbooks.  I currently have My Calabria and Tartine Bread checked out. I was able to note some great recipes from In The Kitchen. Before succumbing to this cold I prepared Carmelized Onion and Radicchio Quiche.  I substituted endive for the racdicchio, because that's what my CSA delivered. The result was luscious. The recipe did not seem labor intensive and I am considering whether cooking it today would be too much work or would interfere with my resting. I also made Braised Cabbage with Pancetta and Black Pepper from My Calabria.(I love this cookbook and have half the recipes flagged) I served this as a side dish for Lamb Tagine from Around my French Table. My husband was well-pleased. The cabbage was a succulent delight. 

   My cooking and eating dreams for this coming week include Raw Brussels Sprouts Salad with Manchego and Toasted Walnuts from In the Kitchen, Stuffed Pizza with Chard from My Calabria and Orange Almond Tart for the FFwD cooking group, among others.  

   BTW regarding the ginger tea I made yesterday, WOW strong tasting stuff.  I hope it does its work with this bug so I can get back out in the sunshine.

   Also,  I could not post without a photograph, which is why I have included an assignment from an old art class above.

My First Post and Green Smoothies

Hello blogging world!

I've spent so much time reading my favorite blogs, that I've decided to actively join the community. I will share my love of cooking, books, San Francisco, traveling, health and how they work together for me. I hope I can be an inspiration to others in the same way Amy Sherman, Heidi Swanson, Pim, Clotilde Dusoulier, Tea, Denise and many others have been to me. Every morning I look forward to seeing what's been cooked for dinner last night, what going to be made tonight and what's in the planning stage. My fellow food loving bloggers inspire my cooking creativity. I cook because of them. This community is a living breathing entity unlike the food related magazines I used to spend so much time reading. These journals have their place too, but somehow I feel connected to the lives and kitchens of food bloggers. I hope I will be welcomed into the fold.

I have a few friends who are raw foodists, they've been trying to win me over with their tales of weight loss and high energy. So far I've resisted. Green smoothies have been a way I can conveniently add more raw vegetables into my diet without making a life commitment. My inspiration came from the book Green for Life. My local (Chico) farmer's market supplies me with a wide variety of greens. Late winter is the season for dinosaur kale, spinach, red russian kale, beet greens, chard, bok choy, endive, radicchio to mention a few. I pop these into my, non-vitamix blender, along with 2 cups water and chunks of whatever fruit I have in my kitchen. I've used kiwi, pineapple, banana or apples. I add a bit of frozen acai pulp for some omega-3's, blend and that's my breakfast. My husband has developed a fondness for the green smoothies in place of a large dinner. The green drinks have calmed his cravings for sweets in the evening. He's very pleased. I have found myself searching my cheese drawer less frequently too. I sleep better at night knowing I've eaten my veggies along with their enzymes. I have, however, not turned into supergirl yet.

Recipe

1 handful of raw washed greens
such as dinosaur kale, spinach, red russian kale,
beets greens, chard, bok choy, endive, radicchio.

1 cup chunked fresh pineapple, apple, kiwi,
banana or whatever is in season.

1/2 bar of frozen acai

Add 2 cups of water to blender along with greens, blend until smooth.
Add fruit and acai. Blend again.

Enjoy!

Serves 1 or 2

Renée