this is an end-of-the-summer tartine

*I'm saying goodbye to California with this beauty of a tartine. This weekend I am leaving sunny California, with its beautiful people, fresh produce, and lovely weather, and am arriving in Boston just in time for Hurricane Irene. Joy.

*Before the hurricane hits, I'll enjoy the last bits of California - storing up the good vibes so I can bring them over to the east coast with me. I'll certainly need them.



Ricotta, Fig, and Arugula Tartine
Serves 1

Ingredients:
1 slice sourdough farm bread
2-4 figs, sliced into rounds*
2-3 Tbsp ricotta cheese or spreadable goat cheese**
1 handful fresh baby arugula
1 tsp honey
cracked black pepper


*If desired, bake sliced figs at 350 degrees fahrenheit for 10 minutes to allow the juices to caramelize. The fig centers will turn yellow and the sugars will seep out. I used a combination of baked figs and caramelized figs.
**I used ricotta cheese because that is what I had on hand, but if I were to make this again, I would definitely use a sharper cheese like goat cheese or labneh for more tang. As such I recommend using a sharper cheese to accent the arugula and figs. Then again, if you like the mellow smoothness of ricotta, use that (I realized that I don't!).

Toast bread. Let cool for 1 minute. Generously spread ricotta cheese on toast. Sprinkle with cracked black pepper. Layer arugula on top, then the sliced figs, and finally drizzle with honey. Eat immediately (it's best with some milk tea in the morning or some red wine in the afternoon or champagne if it's brunch-time), put on some Beach Boys, and think about California.

this is a citrus display

*You know that phrase "curiosity killed the cat"? Well, I'm a pretty likely candidate for the cat. curiosity is a double-edged sword. I'm a very curious person—and though I'm sure my curiosity has in part driven my pursuit of knowledge, my interests, and my passions—it has also shaped a lot of my nasty habits, like eavesdropping and spending unnecessary money. The latter habit is applicable mainly to my food-related expenses. When I'm in the grocery store and I stumble across a new item, I have to fight my curiosity determinedly, put down the item, and back off immediately.

*Sometimes this tactic works, many times it does not. For these two specimens of citrus, it did not. It's citrus season right now—a fact i only realized when I went home to California for spring break and was re-familiarized with the idea of seasonal food—an idea not so salient in dining hall food (with the exception of the tons of poorly cooked squash served during the winter months). Here are two types of citrus that I tried for the first time: 1) Ugli fruit (top picture)—yes it's really called that, and 2) Sumo citrus.

*The ugli fruit is originally from Jamaica, and it tastes a lot better than it looks. It has a very refreshing, light taste—like a cross between an orange and a pink grapefruit, minus the bitterness. Very juicy. I liked it.

*The sumo citrus was developed in Japan and is now grown in California. This was also light and juicy—not as tangy as a categorical orange, but when a fruit costs as much as a sumo citrus, the only thing running through your mind (at least my mind) is—does this fruit taste good enough that it was worth shelling out the money I did for it? That thought kind of ruins any unbiased judgment of the taste. That's why free food tastes so good.

this is a spring in my step

*I'm back home in California for spring break... a week of being a happy homebody.

*Unsurprisingly, I have been mainly cooking and eating, which is the most enjoyable way to relax.

*First morning back, I made gingerbread oatmeal pancakes. Eaten with lots of butter, almond butter, and Italian acacia honey.

*This morning, I made a tofu-onion-egg frittata. caramelized onions, of course. With brown mustard, paprika, and a dash of cayenne.

*The fruit in California is always better than I can possibly imagine. I belong in California.

this is what i would like to call whimsy

*I have always tried to be a routine-kind of person. I would love to establish a methodical way of starting the day, but alas, after twenty years, that still has not happened. There are certain peculiar things that I do every morning after getting out of bed, like checking email and weather on my phone as I am peeing. Then I brush my teeth and wash my face, drink some water, and that is as consistent as it gets.

*One morning this week, I decided just to sit on my red yoga mat and eat a green apple with cinnamon (I probably consume way more cinnamon than necessary) before changing and heading down to breakfast in the dining hall.

*What is your morning routine?

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I'm going to start doing replies again in my posts - does anyone know of how I could reply to comments via email?

joanne - Drowning in cookbooks sounds soooo good to me... what a wonderful addiction. I think it would be amazing to be a part of a cookbook exchange club - how cool would that be? (but yes i have a severe obsession with borrowing cookbooks from the public library as well) - and I love discovering vintage cookbooks, "granny"-type recipes (Marion Cunningham's Breakfast Book is my favorite).

marella - you might enjoy these links: http://www.theselby.com/1_15_11_Favorite2010/slides/4_2_09_karl_lagerfeld06407.jpg, http://hookedonhouses.net/2008/02/05/a-rainbow-of-books-organizing-by-color/

this is gratitude for the immaculate conception

*today is an Italian holiday, Festa dell' Immacolata Concezione, Feast of the Immaculate Conception, so we have no school, thank goodness
*slow morning reading Crimson FM, random tidbits about Michelangelo, and other miscellany
*apples, yogurt, muesli, granola, seeds, cinnamon, raisins, hazelnuts, lots of chocolate; orange-cinnamon black tea