A magic brew of olive oil, garlic, thyme and red chili flakes spices up this bubbly, wheaty round of emmentaler, mozzarella, goat cheese pizza topped with spinach salad. No illusions here, the simplest tricks are a delight to the senses.

I was feeling a bit under the weather, but thanks to my pal Susan's nurturing and her backyard orange tree, she delivered a little hand-picked, hand-squeezed sunshine in a mason jar. Just a sip of nature's medicine and a dose of friendship is all it took to brighten up my day.

Are you serious?  6 basic ingredients? This incredibly light, crumbly, pure marbré au chocolat is no-joke the frenchiest cake i've ever baked in my humble american kitchen. Oui, I really am serious.

Someone better get out in my front yard garden and do a little clip, clip here,  a little clip, clip there and a couple of  la di das. 

cooked up some roasted pork-potato-carrot-onion left-overs hash, added spinach and gruyere for our FINER DINER saturday morning special.  

Searching for my Inner Ukranian...childhood memories of Sunday visits to Gramma's house in Perth Amboy, NJ... stuffing tons of these sweet-tart little apricot-filled pillows of softness into my mouth. I have been tinkering with the dough recipe looking for just the right touch of Gramma, but I'm not there yet. As soon as I find it I'll send you a box.

It's a beautiful morning...especially when Rebecca offers to make you bowl of black and blue berry oatmeal. 

walnutty bread

ok, nutty nuttingtons, these crunchy, sweety, soft and warm bundles of deliciousness were borne from that stretchy mass of 3-day-old silly putty. Miracles DO happen everyday and then you get to eat them.

SPONGE

Well...it's...bloggin' time again, I really missed it.

Totally inspired by my doozey-musey, flickriffic girlfriend Carol and the long-awaited arrival of Eric Kayser's NEW FRENCH RECIPES I'm back to the ol' blogspotting.

This is the first day sponge for a "hearty, warm and delicious" walnut bread. On the third day there will be bread. I'll keep you posted.