New recipes, June 29, 2014

Grilled Flatiron Steak with Toasted Spice Vinaigrette, and Smashed Fingerlings with Jalapeños, both from the July 2014 Bon Appétit. Delicious, both get a 4.

Wine: Smith Madrone Napa Valley Spring Mountain District Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 (thanks for sharing, Rich and Tim!). A marvelous wine, might have been better with something a little less focused on the spices.

New recipe, June 28, 2014

We had dinner with Rich and Tim tonight--thanks guys! Our contribution was the Ciao Bella Cocktail from the Drunken Botanist by Amy Stewart--we love this--it gets a 5!

New recipes, June 27, 2014

Mint and Cumin Spiced Lamb Chops from the July 2014 Bon Appétit, which is delicious and gets a 4. Served with crudités and the Grilled Eggplant Dip from the July/August 2014 Eating Well--excellent, this gets a 5!

Wine: Bleasdale The Broadside Langhorne Creek 2008. Excellent match for the lamb

New recipe, June 26, 2014

Mozzarella Basil and Zucchini Frittata from the July/August 2014 Eating Well. This is surprisingly good--we give it a 4!

Wine: Arenal Carmenere 2010-worked quite nicely!

New recipe, June 24, 2014

Tonight we hosted a reception for the Board of the National Council for Behavioral Health, expertly catered by Epicurean Catering. A fabulous evening! So our new recipe is a cocktail, Dr Struwe's Suze and Soda from Amy Stewart's The Drunken Botanist. It is a nice digestif--we give it a 3.

New recipe, June 23, 2014

Chicken Salad with Grains and Pistachios--another simple dish made with roasts chicken from the July 2014 Bon Appétit. Again you get to pick the herbs--we used tarragon and fennel fronds from the garden. Yum! Another 5.

No wine, had a home brew.

New recipe, June 22, 2014

Chicken Souvlaki from the July 2013 Bon Appetit. Easy to make, and we give it a 5--a good dose of fresh herbs makes it. We used lemon thyme, oregano, rosemary and tarragon from the garden.

No wine, had a home brew instead!