Oh, this tart. I have eaten this for breakfast every morning and dessert every evening since making it on Monday. Basically I’m almost wholly subsisting on it. This recipe is almost not even a recipe. It goes something like this: make a crust, mix some mascarpone with honey, spread it on the crust, top with fruit. Pretty simple. Almost not even warranting a post. So I’ll keep this one short.
This is the second thing I’ve made with the beautiful produce I bought at the farmer’s market on Saturday. I couldn’t wait to eat the kale and I had to try the strawberries…and the cheese pretty much got eaten within an hour of being unpacked. I saved a few strawberries for tomorrow’s post, Strawberry-Fig-Mascarpone Tart (stay tuned!). And I made some vegetable stock today that will become Creamy Garlic Scape Soup tomorrow, with any luck. Anyway, now that you’re up to date on my activity, let’s turn our attention to our fickle mistress of the day: the gluten-free cake.
I don’t know what the temperature is like where you are, dear reader, but here (and, as it happens, in the places I’ve traveled in the last week) it is SWELTERING. I know it’s almost summer, but I thought we’d get at least a little more spring! Not that I’m complaining, exactly…also not trying to start every post off talking about the weather. Let’s try again.
Oh. Hi there. Remember me? It’s been a minute!
Last you heard, I was cleansing and loving it. Well, I have been cleansed, and immediately (predictably) went straight back to eating sweet. I think that’s what’s called “falling off the wagon.” But I make no apologies; I knew from the beginning this would be a temporary thing, and I’m so, so glad I did it anyway! I slept better, focused more, felt healthier, and saved money. I cooked things I have never cooked before. I rediscovered my appreciation for avocados and grapefruit. And…I’m still sick of brown rice. All in all, I’d call it a success.
Suddenly it’s Wednesday! How did that happen? I’m so busy this week I barely noticed the days slide by. Also, after I started drinking coffee again (all the saints be praised), it was all I wanted to talk about. And, well, that’s not exactly original fodder for a blog. We all know that coffee is wonderful. Even the people at Harvard think so. IT’S SCIENCE.
Anyway, where was I? While writing about how I thought I would get distracted by coffee, I…got distracted by coffee. Ahem. This blog post is about our dinner last night, not about the steaming delicious cup of heaven in front of me right now.
So this morning I totally had a giant plate of eggs, topped with cheese and sour cream, with a side of DEEP FRIED BACON and a huge slab of cinnamon raisin toast with strawberry jam and cinnamon sugar, and I washed it all down with a giant latte made with whole milk.
It was a long night of no sleep for me leading up to Day 1 of my cleanse. This was due in part to the fact that Ryan took me out for a belated birthday meal, during which I ate bone marrow, octopus, trout, five different kinds of cheese, three different kinds of liquor, wine, and a dessert which consisted of a dark chocolate crust underneath whipped vanilla custard, topped with salted caramel. I ate it with a spoon. A fitting end to normalcy, no? Suffice it to say I was enjoying myself so much it took me a while to fall asleep. And before I even ate breakfast I had to pack Ryan his lunch–only because those were the conditions to him doing the cleanse with me.
Condition 1: he still gets to drink coffee and have whatever he wants for breakfast.
Condition 2: I make him lunch and dinner every day.
Seeing as that wasn’t all that different than our normal habits, I agreed (it’s way better to do these with a buddy!). So I got up extra-early and made him lunch: curried lentils and rice, sauteed spinach with lemon, and sliced radish and carrots with a couple rice cakes on the side. I made extra for me, too, so it all worked out in the end.
Is anyone else getting excited for the upcoming week? I know I am. I spent the morning at the market stocking up on vegetables, rice, fruit, and juice for the week. My refrigerator is completely stuffed. I’ve assembled recipes, steamed up a batch of rice, organized the pantry….and cooked myself an appropriate final brunch.
After my dinner party the other night, I had a few blood oranges and almonds left over from my dessert platter and wanted to put them in a cake. I haven’t baked a cake in ages, mostly because I would have to eat the entire thing myself, and, while that does sound exciting, I actually know I’d just get sick of it after about two slices and end up throwing it away. But I changed my tune when I thought of a citrus kissed, nutty, gluten-free cake that I could eat for breakfast or dessert–and also I guess I just decided I didn’t mind the idea of eating an entire cake alone. I also had a potluck to attend, at which I knew a few guests would need some gluten-free treats. Perfect excuse.
I’ve been traveling a lot lately, back to Michigan last month and NYC last weekend. This means a lot of eating out, and a lot less eating sweet. Well, a lot less writing eating sweet. But I have spent a lot of time walking, and enjoying the sunshine and little buds just starting to bloom. I discovered a little park not far from my apartment and I’ve been walking there almost every day, snapping pictures and catching up on NPR podcasts. (Am I a full-blown yuppie or what?)
Eating Sweet 