Watermelon and Cucumber with Spicy Sumac Salt

Chocolate babka, the crown jewel of jewish baked goods. Is it cake? Is it bread? I honestly don't care so long as its edible and in front of me. My love affair with it began about four years ago when I took a stab at Smitten Kitchen's riff on chocolate babka. It's a decadent sugary and chocolatey butter bomb. 

Besides Ina, there is no one I turn to more than Deb Perlman over at Smitten Kitchen for excellent recipes. I followed her Peach and Pecan sandy crumble to a t, except for the fact that I added in some oatmeal to the crumble mixture. You can follow Deb's recipe for any stone fruit - nectarine, apricot, plum, you name it. Once it's cooled, serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. 

I didn't grow up eating Pineapple Upside-Down Cake. Like most foods that I now love, my Mom likely tried to introduce me to it back in the day. No frosting? That wasn't cake! My husband on the other hand, did grow up eating it thanks to my Grandmother-in-law. He recently started reminiscing about how delicious it is so I decided to buck up and make it. 

This Almond Cake recipe, passed on by my Grandma Marion, tastes like the middle of an almond croissant. I'm fairly sure that's why my husband and I can consume multiple slices in a sitting. It's one of those treats that I take just a small sliver of to start, then end up returning back to the cake platter for 5 more. It all adds up to....1 piece...? 

Ever since Joy the Baker posted her "Best Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie" recipe, I've considered her a baking goddess. Since CCCs are a staple for me, I'm always on the lookout for new and improved recipes. While I was perfectly happy with Jacques Torres's "Secret Chocolate Chip Cookie", I wasn't a huge fan of waiting the recommended 24-36 whole hours to bake.

There are few things more satisfying to bake than a really airy and delish cake. That's because on more than one occasion I've ended up with one that is dry and dense. When my husband's birthday came around I decided that I was feeling up cake from scratch challenge. What did he want? A classic yellow cake with chocolate frosting.

Despite the fact that there was a pastry or chocolate shop around every corner in Paris, I felt like my apartment's kitchen would have gone to complete waste if I didn't bake at least once.  After finding a tart pan in the kitchen cabinet, I came up with grand plans to assemble a strawberry tart with fruit I purchased from the market. 

As a resident of California (and San Francisco specifically), I've been lucky enough to always have delicious Mexican food at my fingertips.  Save for tacos de lengua (no gracias Señor), I love all Mexican comida, especially their desserts. When a friend decided host a little Cinco de Mayo bash, I wanted to contribute a treat but was short on time. Enter Mexican Wedding Cookies. 

Jam Thumbprints are one of my top three favorite cookies - this is only meaningful because the number of cookies I have consumed in my lifetime is great. This is a classic shortbread style cookie - just butter, sugar, vanilla, flour, salt. I will look for any excuse to make these cookies. So when I decided to have a few friends over for dinner, it seemed like the perfect post-dinner treat.

The thing with chicken is that it can often become a neglected ingredient in the kitchen. We often grill it and roast it, but it's not often that chicken becomes the highlight of our meal. In this recipe, Ottolenghi uses a combination of spices inspired by a Palestinian dish called m'sakhan to deliver a tasty and beautiful dish that makes chicken the star of the show.

Now that fall has arrived you may be wondering why I'm posting about cherry tomatoes. While the post is overdue by about two months, our cherry tomato plants are STILL producing. Thanks El Niño? We've had so many cherry tomatoes this year that I began to run out of ways to use them - we ate them roasted, in bruschetta, frittatas, you name it. Enter Pioneer Woman to save me from my creative rut. 

If you want to feel confident about your gardening abilities, plant arugula. When we picked up a six pack of cute little arugula plants back in early April we had no clue that they'd grow like weeds. No joke, we harvested some leaves on a Saturday morning, and went back to continue our gardening on Sunday afternoon only to see that new leaves had cropped up overnight. 

Similar to the Smashed Fingerling Jalapeño Potato Salad I made by Bon Appétit, this French Potato Salad uses a vinaigrette as opposed to a mayo-based dressing. It's fresh herbs and scallions give it a fresh and bright flavor that tastes even better the day after. 

On a recent trip down to Punta Mita, Mexico, I was introduced to the watermelon margarita. Where has it been my entire adult drinking life? In comparison to its traditional cadillac margarita sister, the watermelon margarita is less acidic, more refreshing (aka you can drink many of them for better or worse), and the bright color is pretty lovely to boot.

On a fruit obsession scale of one to ten, I'm about a twenty, give or take a few points. Until about 10 years ago, "salad" in the traditional greens sense was not something I put in my meal rotation. However, given my passion for all things fruta, I have always been a connoisseur of the tried and true fruit salad. When I lived in Madrid, I think I startled my Señora with the sheer volume of "Macedonia de Fruta" I could consume. It's a gift. 

Every winter I'm tempted by the stock of fresh local Dungeness crab in the markets. For one reason or another (usually the exorbinant cost), I've never pulled the trigger and purchased. This year was different - the sea stars aligned and the crab were fat and plentiful which meant that I could buy this little luxury without breaking the bank. 

The whole plant, from the root which is commonly roasted or shaved raw, to the willowy green fennel fronds that look like dill, to these pretty little blooms, is edible. During our last visit my Mom snipped off a few of these fennel flowers and I placed them into one of my favorite vases - a lilac Heath Ceramics bud vase. 

The Pincushion Protea flower (formally known as Leucospermum) is a sight for sore eyes. The contrast of the Pincushion's soft ribbons and pointy 'pins' makes for a pretty stunning stem. Varieties are available in orange, coral, pink, red, yellow and everything in between. 

Cinco de Mayo is upon us and I've already consumed my yearly quota of Mexican Wedding Cookies, enchiladas and carnitas. So to distract myself from the deliciousness that is Mexican cuisine, I pulled together a festive flower arrangement. Using freshly cut roses from my parent's garden and a talavera pitcher from my wedding, these flowers are begging to sit next to a big skinny marg. 

Hydrangeas are good lookin' alone, but combined with a small bunch of tuberose before the blooms opened, they are even more lovely. The tuberose's green/pink color added a subtle punch of color and texture that breaks up the bright white and green leaves of hydrangeas. Some day I will line my backyard (imaginary for now) with these beauties.

Spring has almost sprung! There is no better reminder of the change in season than the purple, pink, green and yellow flowers that are popping up in the markets. Yesterday something new caught my eye at Whole Foods - Kale flowers. While I've seen the cream and green combination many times, I'd never come across the purple to green ombré variety.

Ranunculus are a staple in my apartment. The white and cream beauties above cost only $10 for 3 full bunches at the Ferry Building Farmer's Market. That's a deal I just can't pass up. When combined with a formal vase, this arrangement finds just the right balance of fancy casual.