Tarragon and Chives

  further explorations into the zen of making potato salad  I never know where my love of mustard and dill will take me but playing together in a potato salad is a nice selection on the road of top ten hits headed to mealtime.  It's summertime and that's a time for potato salads and homemade pickles but showing up together in a salad -now we are talking about good stuff.  Dijon mustard and fresh dill in a creamy tartar sauce combined with warm lemony virgin olive oil coated  red potatoes cut with the likes of fragrant pickle brine, lemon juice and apple cider vinegar -waking up all those acidic taste zones.  I'm happy with my potato salad concoction and will serve it with just about anything we grill these days, like tonight's butcher made chicken and beef kabobs- yes bring on a bowl of potato salad straight from the fridge-all the work is done ahead in the morning while the house is still cool.  I may have to slice up a cold watermelon, throw together a grilled corn ar

  Romano beans braised in heirloom tomato sauce, shallots and garlic make an easy summer side dish -excellent served with grilled fish and potato purée.  I know because that's what we had for dinner last Saturday night.  I happily used purple basil from my own herb pots that are now watered with leftover shower water.  We have many more months of drought ahead of us in California and apparently mask wearing when in public, no not in the car. I appreciate our farmers markets more than ever, thank you farmers for romano beans and heirloom tomatoes and also myself for the fresh purple basil. Such a treat to find fresh romano green beans at the farmers market; they hold up to a fairly long, about 20 minute braise and become tender in the tomato broth from the heirloom tomatoes.  🍅 This is one of those simple good veg recipes. Ingredients and Recipe for Romano Beans with Heirloom Tomatoes and Purple Leaf Sweet Basil Serves 2-4 1 pound fresh romano beans, washed and trimmed 2 tablespoon

  It's not a secret that blueberries and cheesecake in any form, even no-bake, go wonderfully together for a summer dessert. I'm going to make this dessert again tomorrow using blueberries, raspberries and sliced strawberries on top, just to change things up for the holiday weekend.  My refrigerator is packed with food and just now we decided to drive out to the coast, Point Reyes area, for lunch.  Of course my husband wants seafood when I have beef and chicken in our fridge, such is life in our Bay Area suburban bubble. Just a quick note on this recipe from the NYT, I love using Bellwether Farms Basket Ricotta made in Petaluma, maybe we will wave to them on our drive out to the coast.  The recipe calls for 1 cup of ricotta so you have some leftover to use in pasta or wherever your creative mind takes you, it's wonderful delicious stuff. ps, I like sweet desserts so when a recipe calls for the possibility to increase sugar -nine times out of ten I increase that sugar to mak