Hey there! Sorry for the several month break there. I have been busy chasing after a 1 year old (she is one now!!), dealing with hospitalizations (yay IBS!) and eating my weight in summer produce. Here’s a quick review of what you’ve missed.
First, and most importantly, Ella turned one! She REALLY got into her cake eating. Big surprise there—she IS my offspring!
A little cake for my face, a little for my hair. A little for my face, a little for my hair...
For her first cake ever, I made her a delicious chocolate cake topped with cream cheese frosting and sprinkles. She loved it. She also loved staying up until 11pm, which is what happens when you flavor your chocolate cake with real, caffeine-filled coffee. Joy.
Ella ignored the healthy food in favor of sugar topped with sugar. Can you blame her? It takes more than a fruit rainbow to win her stomach over.
Since the birthday party, I have been baking enough pies to feed an army of hungry goats. There is just something about the summer and all it’s seasonal fruits that turn me into a crazy baker.
Homemade cherry pie with crust a la Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc
Strawberry rhubarb hand pies!
Luckily, this pie obsession has not rubbed off on my daughter.
I want to go to there.
I also started a new job giving food tours of SF with the company Gourmet Walks! My specialty is the Gourmet Japantown/Fillmore tour, with has SO. MUCH. ASIAN. FOOD! And that is not a bad thing. Check it out if you are interested in a tour, and tell them Leena sent you!
The spicy green onion ramen at Suzu Noodles in Japantown mall, SF.
And of course, to help my addiction to seasonal fruit, we took a Father’s day drive down the coast to Davenport, California, home of the famous Swanton Berry Farm! All I gotta say is, organic strawberries $2.50 a pound, across the street from the ocean. Ridiculously awesome.
Pik yer berries here!
Ella even invented her own strawberry-picking method–mouth first.
Biting them off is so much easier, Mommy!
It has been a hectic but fun summer here, and I can’t wait to share with you some recipes I’ve been working on! How have you all been?
~LTG!
