1000 pizza doughs

Random Veggies

As much as I love CSA, and the weekly infusion of farm-fresh seasonal local produce, there's a point where it just gets exhausting.  I started a veggie board to remind me what I had on hand, to keep my impulse buys in check at the markets, and help me think of recipe ideas. And I have several crisper-clearing wonder dishes, like corn chowder and vegetarian chili that use TONS of veggies all at once.  But even those aren't keeping the squash (and potatoes and garlic and peppers and tomatoes...) at bay this year.

You see, we've had some schedule changes, and more often than not this CSA season I've just been cooking for myself. (Well, and my child, if you count making PB&Js as cooking.) Thankfully, this change was temporary, and soon we'll be back to dinner as usual.  I liked this post by Mark Bittman on cooking for one.  I've been pretty anti-recipe lately, and have just been cooking things and mixing them in sort of random fashion.

This one, for example. It was a mix of leftover rice, black beans, baked sweet potatoes, pesto, purple basil and toasted pine nuts (which I overdid here, by far).  

I didn't use a recipe for the pesto either, and way overdid the garlic (apologies to coworkers who had to be in close proximity the following day!).

As much as I love discovering fantastic new recipes (including the best squash recipe ever), when it's just me, it doesn't matter if it's perfect. It just needs to use some vegetables and be healthy, filling and edible.  So, I've embraced a new laziness creativity.  

What are your favorite solo meals?

 

Foodie Heaven: La Boqueria

On summer weekends, you can usually find me wandering around at a farmer's market, or riding my bike and thinking about what I'll buy later at the market. So when we went to Barcelona (part of this epic adventure), I had to go to La Boqueria. You should go too. Get on a plane. Now.

The market is what seems like miles and miles of beautiful produce, like this:

They also had eggs...

And seafood...

Including whatever the heck this is (anyone know?):

And there was bread...

And ham, glorious ham (sorry, channeling my husband there for a moment)...

 

Just outside the market there were tons of tourist shops and flower stands...

But one of the best sights I saw all day was a bit different. You see, on the last night of our cruise, the show introduced my daughter to the "wishing star." Later, we caught her at the window looking for the star so she could make a wish. What would she wish for, we wondered?  A giant pink ice cream cone. I want to remember the time when her wishes are so innocent forever.

Mediterranean Adventures

You haven't heard from me for a while because we decided to take an unplugged vacation (although I did catch my husband trying to get on the wi-fi from his phone in a few places). Destination: a Disney cruise to the Mediterranean (major plus: we have a 3-year-old, and they offer FREE babysitting).

We've never really been into guided tours and touristy souvenirs, but hey, when in Rome. (Which is actually one of the places we didn't go, this time.)  

First stop: Malta and blue grottoes. (Yep, they exist!)

 

Spent the day on a sailboat, and swimming in the beautiful blue water. We even saw an ice cream boat!

Next we went to Tunisia, first to the ruins of Carthage.

And then to a Tunisian bazaar. We actually lost our tour guide in the labyrinth of colorful shops (where we didn't buy anything, as the prices were exorbitant -- guessing they were "cruise special" prices). 

I liked this view from the rooftop. Aside from the craziness of the bazaar, it was pretty quiet in Tunis, possibly because we were there during Ramadan. 

Next up was the stop I was most eagerly awaiting: hiking up Mount Vesuvius, and touring the ruins of Pompeii. Here you can see the volcano 7 miles in the distance.

I was drawn (as always) to what was the fresh market, which still has beautiful paintings on the walls.

From TV specials I guess, I expected to see more scenes like this, but there were very few. Which makes sense--they deserve to rest in peace.

Instead of trying a mad-dash day trip to Rome, we toured an olive oil farm near Tuscany. While there was less detail on the actual farming, and more bread/wine/cheese/prosciutto tasting than we expected (not a complaint!) it was quite beautiful. There were grapes growing on the porch of the house.

While in Italy we also visited Cinque Terre by boat. It is a beautiful rocky island, with little villages that look like this:

I love how everyone hangs their laundry out the windows. A few more scenes from a quaint little village/vacation spot.

Our last stop was Corsica, where we didn't plan anything. We just got on a train and went a couple stops over into Nice, where these little candies caught my eye. They were so realistic.

Then we enjoyed an afternoon at the beach. Personally I liked the more rustic Cinque Terre better; Corsica seems a bit more posh.

There's nothing like looking at the ocean to make you feel small. View from the room.

 

We ended our adventure back in Barcelona, but La Boqueria deserves its own post. More soon!