I discovered Waitrose Kitchen magazine while in London with my family last week. I know, everyone always complains about British food. However, these days the Brits seem able to cook up some pretty delicious meals from what's popped up in the back garden. Or allotment. It must be because of that love of gardening they are also known for.
We're back from a week in the UK and I am returning to some old British favorites. Stephanie Alexander is actually Australian, but this book follows the seasons of England and appears to be published there as well, which is a good enough connection for me.
I've said it before and I'll say it again - I am really lucky that my kids love dal! Usually we make chana dal, which uses split chickpeas, but today we will make Madhur Jaffrey's Red Lentils With Five Spices recipe, simply because I happen to have some red lentils. The recipe for ground lamb kebabs in on p.212, the dal is on p.212.
This year I made my desires for Mother's Day known well in advance: no gifts, just a day at home in the garden and a big dinner, cooked as a family. It was delicious, and I got gifts anyway - three of Andy Goldsworthy's books, much loved by my kids after we watched his Rivers and Tides together a week or two back.
We had a busy weekend, as usual, with one of the highlights being Urban Sprouts' Greens, Eggs & Jam brunch on Saturday. My husband, kids and I rode our bikes along Golden Gate Park's panhandle bike path over to Ida B. Wells High School in the Western Addition for the party. The greens and eggs were fabulous - lots of yummy food from NOPA, Radio Africa & Kitchen and Contigo Restaurants, and the bluegrass band was fun. My daughter was stumped when asked to identify their instruments - "a violin and three guitars" she told me. But it was actually a fiddle, mandolin, banjo and one guitar.
We had a wonderful lunch today - and the best part? I didn't cook it. My husband, who likes meat, cooked a leg of lamb and a pot of beans. He made fennel and blood orange vinaigrette. My friend Laure brought cream puffs. All I had to do was go out into the garden and snip some lettuce and arugala. Luckily, I have a nice raincoat, because it was wet out there.