Secret Pleasure

Asparagus with Hollandaise Sauce. All alone for dinner - need something fast. Freshly steamed asparagus dressed in silky smooth buttery rich lemony Hollandaise. Oo la la.

It's Mother's Day, It's my birthday, It's a SUNNY Day!

Every so often my birthday coincides with Mother's Day, something I am sorry about, Mom.
This Mother's Day, it was a gorgeous sunny day, the first day all the snow melted from the front lawn and the street side of the drive, and a day off! Got up early, and got a bunch of stuff done that has been snarling in the corners like cleaning up the kids' rooms in anticipation of their return, repotting root-bound plants. Cleaned the deck of the two rotted planters. Refilled the hummingbird feeders. Put the lawn furniture out. Weeded the strawberry bed. Uncovered and weeded the roses & perennial bedss. Cleaned the bulb beds. Potted up the geraniums, petunias, herbs, and other annuals and arranged them decoratively on the deck. Put out the summer flag. Rested on my laurels and read (Assassination Vacations by Sarah Vowel, quite funny in a macabre way, loaned by Jeanine). Walked the dog. Came home to a big bouquet of Asiatic and Calla Lilies, a chilled bottle of Nicholas Feuillatte champagne, and John bustling about making an incredible meal:
Charlene's Salad (see the Fiddlehead Cookbook, bacon fried in olive oil with garlic, walnuts and chevre over Romaine and lemon juice)
Lamb Roast with Mustard glaze, served with a fabulous dark and intense Merlot
Homemade Parsley pesto pasta
Shitake and Snowpeas
and a dessert of homemade mango sorbet, dark chocolate, and vanilla ice cream topped with macerated strawberries.
And he did the dishes.
I slept well.

Homemade Pizza

Threw caution to the winds and made pizza tonight. Fresh dough, sauce, toppings.
Used a recipe that made it pretty easy. I've stayed away from doing any kind of baking for the last several months. Don't know why, just have not felt the need for working dough. This crust was easy to assemble. My year old yeast still foamed up, so I really had no more excuse not to make the pie.
For the sauce, I used an 8-oz can of tomato sauce, added 1.5 tablespoons of grated Parmesan, and a variety of spices, red pepper flakes, and two pressed garlic cloves. Spread that over the dough, covered it with prosciutto, onion, and chopped tomato, mounded with mozzarella.
425 oven for about 14 minutes.
Yowzah, that's some good eats.
And a nice Alexander Valley cabernet.