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I just edited the original post to add a link to this short video:

Caramelized Onion, Coconut and Egg Curry served over Caramelized Onion and Jeera Rice, both from Meera Sodha's Made in India. Grilled Broccoli with Chile and Garlic from Ottolenghi on the side. Per the recipe, the eggs are supposed to be folded into the sauce before serving, but I wanted to see the pretty yolks.

If anyone's going to be in or close to Santa Barbara on the weekend of March 13-15 (Friday - Sunday with a few extras on Monday), check out the events being offered as part of the Santa Barbara Culinary Experience. While her name does not appear in the title, there are a lot of Julia Child-centric events. All kinds of stuff from dinners to classes to a downloadable guide to Julia's favorite places in Santa Barbara county. List of events by date I'd like to catch the special advance screening of Nothing Fancy: Diana Kennedy the upcoming film and contemplating what else I might fit in without blowing my budget!

Indeed. The whole picture reminded me of my grandmother in the kitchen, wearing an apron, sitting in a chair pulled up to the kitchen table and cutting apples or peeling potatoes with a little paring knife. 💕

When I was getting a weekly CSA box, I was often inundated with greens of all sorts, attached to roots like beet, turnip and radish) or on their own like chard, collards, etc. I would wash them, blanch or sauté to cook lightly, give them a rough chop and freeze them in a zip lock bag so I could break off what I wanted to use. I don't know if this would be as good as what you get from wilting the fresh leaves directly in the soup but it's worth a try in the chez @rotuts laboratory. Two other options to consider in the bagged section. Trader Joe's sells a "Power to the Greens" salad mix consisting of baby kale, baby chard and baby spinach. I believe that would be tastier than the plain baby spinach and I've found it can stand up to a quick sauté if you don't manage to use it all up which is good because the baby chard in particular seems perishable. TJ's also sells baby kale on its own. It's flat leaves, not curly. This stuff keeps quite well in the fridge (better than the above mix) and can also be sautéed for a quick cooked green. It may be sturdier than you want in your soup but it might be worth a try.

Today's breakfast was the Warm Squash and Chickpea salad that I shared over here in the Salad topic.

Nice article in today's LA Times about the woman who started and ran the French Laundry restaurant for 16 years with her husband before selling to Thomas Keller in 1994. Before that French Laundry, there was Sally Schmitt’s French Laundry Can't wait to see her cookbook when it comes out! Edited to add this short video:

Warm Squash and Chickpea Salad with Tahini, adapted from Moro and included in the Food52 Genius Recipes cookbook. Recipe available online here. Based on comments from others who found this mushy or bland, I crisped the chickpeas, slivered the onion and pickled it lightly in lime juice, tarted up the dressing with a good bit of extra lime juice and added a little roasted sesame oil to boost the tahini flavor. This was apparently conceived as a lettuce-free salad but I served it on curly endive.

This looks like a study for one of the very commercially successful artist Thomas Arvid's super-realistic wine paintings like this one.

That takes me back - when we were kids, mom used to give us buttered saltines for a snack all the time.

Agreed! I store my homemade pita in the freezer and reheat them at 275°F on steam-bake for 3 min and they come out as soft and pillowy as when first baked.

Escarole Salad with Crispy Pimentón Chickpeas and a Runny Egg from Melissa Clark's Dinner Changing the Game I crisped the chickpeas in a skillet rather than in the oven and used a boiled egg instead of fried. Also, the recipe calls for 2 teaspoons of sherry vinegar to 5 tablespoons of oil. That's not enough. I used 2 T vinegar.

I'm going to make the kale & andouille jambalaya from Shaya. Just realized that I'm out of the Massa Organics brown rice I'd like to use so I put in an order. We'll see if it makes it here in time.

Being a non-member, I never realized that I could have!

Philips grilled asparagus topped with Shaya's salmon roe ikra and a boiled egg A decided improvement over yesterday's glass of green glop!

Fried Chicken Liver Po'Boy with Mint and Asian Pear from Everyday Korean This photo fails to show how delicious this was. Should have taken one of those mid-bite close-ups but I couldn't stop eating 🙃 The combination of gochujang mayo with the lightly pickled slaw of red onion, Asian pear and fresh mint was so good. I kept opening up the sandwich to add more!

I do have a Fried Chicken Liver Po'boy planned for a late lunch, does that help? 🙃 Was going to move it up to breakfast but the livers were still too frozen and in need of a buttermilk bath so I took pity on the poor avocado.

A glass of green glop for my breakfast today. Or maybe I should channel Gwyneth Paltrow and call it Goop? The Avocado and Cardamom Smoothie from A Modern Cook's Year seemed like a reasonable way to use up a too-ripe avocado. I added some tofu to the mix to boost the protein. Not bad, though I will be more diligent about my avocados in the future. A lovely avocado should not come to this end.

Salad of Chorizo, Avocado & Bell Peppers with Sherry Dressing from Diana Henry's Simple. Apparently the result of a merger between a Spanish tapas bar and a California salad joint! Delicious salad and lots of fun to eat - you can make each bite a different combination of ingredients. I crisped the chickpeas in the oil left from the chorizo. The rich ingredients (chorizo, avocado, roasted pepper, etc.) need a nice bite from the sherry vinegar. I only tasted the dressing by dipping leaves of greens and ended up drizzling a bit more vinegar on afterwards.

I made another half batch of the Jammy Winter Fruit and Browned Butter Bars from Midwest Made. This time, I used a jar of the Whole Fruit Fig and Lemon Preserves from Deep Run Roots plus a few spoons of homemade lemon marmalade, all blitzed to a spreadable consistency. Kind of a cross between a Fig Newton and a nutty oatmeal cookie with a touch of lemon-y bitterness from the marmalade. I like them but I'm not sure they are universally appealing so I'm glad I just went with a half batch.

Now that's a bacon sandwich!

Leftover lamb arayes (from Ottolenghi's Simple) nicely reheated in the CSO I also had some of the yogurt & sumac sauce plus the pictured feta, tomato and oil-cured olives.

Nibbles for dinner At the left is a plate of fresh veggies to accompany the Salmon Roe Ikra from Shaya. At the top is a basket of Pita and at the bottom is a bowl of Hummus, both also from Shaya. In the middle, from Ottolenghi's Simple is a plate of the Lamb Arayes with Tahini and Sumac served with Sumac Yogurt Sauce. He says these are most often made with pita but uses tortillas in this recipe.

Given the confectionary bent of this trip, my first thought was a very fancy peep store 🤣

Another bean-y breakfast Marcella beans sautéd with onion and diced chorizo, topped with a poached egg. Steamed broccoli, fresh tomato and pita on the side.