In the Garden

Monday, June 22, 2015


John was playing a house concert with San Francisco Opera's Figaro on Friday night, so I decided to take full advantage of a solo evening–complete with rosé, fried chicken and a gorgeous bibb lettuce salad. You know you're a grown up when you pair fried food with greens...I curled up with trashy TV and the backend of the blog, and by the time John got home, I was ready for bed.

It was a good thing too, since we were up early the next morning to be first in line at Craftsman and Wolves, a self-proclaimed "contemporary pâtisserie". The Rebel Within (a doughy spin on a Scotch egg with an unctuous yolky center), a créme fraîche morning bun dusted with muscovado sugar and grains of paradise, and a spicy gougère were perfect with a pot of Earl Grey tea for me and a few Americanos for John, and we tumbled into the Mission sunshine full and gleeful that our day had began so decadently. The little bag of take-home goodies, included a banana bread with cocoa nibs and coconut, and a chocolate mousse mandarin-black sesame confection, might have inspired the feeling. We came home and curled up with our to do lists–language lessons, theory textbooks and housekeeping occupied the next few hours. Eventually we shrugged off our heavy sweaters and grabbed our sunglasses for a trip across the bridge to Oakland, where our favorite coffee shop was opening an East Bay location. We missed the party, which turned out to be more of a daytime affair, though John did catch sight of a skateboarding legend before we headed over to a house party that one of our friends from our Baltimore days was hosting. Regular readers probably don't need me to say how infrequently I use words like "house party", so our host was pretty surprised to see us, and though we hadn't planned to stay too long, we didn't get across the bridge until after midnight! After a little late night picnic in bed, we feel happily asleep.

And despite the late hour of our bedtime, we were still up reasonably early on Sunday morning–adulthood, I supposed. John made egg and cheddar cheese breakfast sandwiches on whole wheat rolls with slices of avocado, inspired by our college-era hangover breakfasts, and we took a mid-morning stroll through the park, stopping to watch the ducks and admire the magnolia trees. After a spot of tea, a nap for John and some reading for me, we took to our favorite cookbooks–I think Sunday Suppers are always a perfect opportunity to try out new recipes. We settled on a Middle Eastern feast, and after a trip to the grocery store, we had all the provisions we needed. I worked up a sweat (and an appetite) while John did his physical therapy, and we decided to have our supper bathed in sunshine on the rood. John must have been inspired by all the Iron Chef we've been watching lately, because he outdid himself on plating, and when we both started hungering for something sweet, he served the delicate chocolate cake we'd picked up on Saturday with ripe mango and strawberry slices. The glass of rosé we shared was the same color as the slowly setting sun, and the perfect way to welcome the official start of summer!


Tell me, what were you up to this weekend? Lounging poolside, enjoying a popsicle, or taking a spin on your bicycle, perhaps?


Image by Caroline Joy Photography, pink garden rose and astilbe bouquet by The Nouveau Romantics.

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