sweets in the kitchen: roasted brussels sprouts & an announcement

So I'm cheating a little bit today.  On this recipe, I mean.  I'm posting a recipe that Sweets cooked up, oh, I'd say about 2 weeks ago, when we caught our first glimpse of Brussels sprouts and couldn't leave the store without a big stalk of them, awkwardly poking from the top our reusable grocery bag. 

I'm sad that I didn't take any photos of the stalk. These puppies were the honkinest, most ginormous sprouts either of us had ever seen.  They may as well have been full-fledged cabbages hanging off that stalk.  We ended up pulling half of them off to be frozen, because we couldn't fathom that much Brussels in the short time they'd survive the higher temps of the fridge.  

At any rate, sweets turned our first Brussels sprouts into the most incredible roasted veggie dish I may have ever had.  She quartered criminis and sliced up shallot to go along with the greens, doused the whole thing in a healthy glug of olive oil, and plopped it all in the oven to brown and caramelize and become something insanely delicious.

raw date nut bars: my answer to 5 a.m.

There was finally a total and complete lack of sunshine in the sky today, friends.  A few drizzly drops of rain even fell from the greyness up above, scaring all the recent California transplants that have started at work since summer began.  People actually fear the weather here, especially those that haven't lived it yet.  What if eight months of damp pant legs and overcast skies is too much?

It can get tedious around these parts come February, but I've found after nearly a decade of living that I actually crave the gloomier months.  My knitting needles make their way into my hands more often, I bake more, eat more pho, read more books, and cuddle more with my sweetheart under warm, fluffy blankets.

We'll soon be adding another layer to our bedding and cranking up the radiator.  Perfect timing, I suppose, what with today being the first official day of fall.  My favorite season.

Despite my love for colored leaves and pumpkin patches, I do find that the shorter days add another layer of difficulty to my daily grind.  Waking up to an alarm at 4 am (no that wasn't a typo), trudging through the wet streets of the sleeping city, and doing what I must to pay the bills and put food on the table does become more arduous.  Add to that the horrors joys of the holiday retail environment and the constant threats of cold and flu, and the challenges continue to pile up.

I take a lot of vitamin-C, and wash my hands (poor things) like a madwoman at my workplace.  Ample sleep and water drinking help, as well.  One of my major weaknesses, though, in the Keep Myself Healthy for Winter Campaign, is consistently eating a decent breakfast.

raspberry coconut tartelettes; dairy, gluten & grain-free

I've noticed a lot of talk about fall here on the food blogosphere.  In my last post, I even threw out words foretelling the end of summer and the imminent need for woolen sweaters.  It turns out we're all a little ahead of ourselves on this fall thing.  My sunglasses are still getting daily use here in Seattle, and although the nights have been sweater-worthy, the sun hasn't given up yet, and our days have been pleasantly warm.

Yesterday, I went to the Captiol Hill Farmer's Market, and the booths were still filled with summery things like tomatoes, broccolini (just wait until you see what I made with that), and berries.  Nothing says summer like the delicate vibrance of berries.  The harsh chills of winter simply cannot support the dainty frailness of summer's tiny fruits.  

When the berries are gone, then I'll believe that winter is finally on its way.

gourmande in the kitchen's focaccia bread, gluten-free

Well, this week has been a challenge, so to speak.  Following a long weekend up on Lummi Island (not the challenging part), I've been feeling... just... bad.  I came down with something of this and something of that, and the collision sent me flying.

I'm working on a tale of our adventures on the high seas last weekend, but I still need to do some uploading and downloading, and I made this focaccia bread yesterday with the juiciest little tomatoes, so I'm going to tell you about that first.  Because it's the end of August already, and we'd all better jump on the tomato wagon while we still can.  It'll be leaving town before we know it.