lemonade cucumber spa pops...

lemonade cucumber spa pops..., a photo by credd on Flickr.

when i saw this featured on marcus samuelsson's blog...
i knew that i wanted to make them.

yesterday...
i picked some cucumbers...
and mrchazman brought me some lemons from the store...
and viola!

next time i make them...
i'll cut the cucumber smaller...
as my julienne's were a bit long.

mrchazman is skeptical of trying them...
so i made him some plain lemonade pops.

panzanella ala cheryl...

panzanella ala cheryl..., a photo by credd on Flickr.

the first time i make something...
i sorta follow the recipe.
the second time...
ummm...
what's a recipe?

i still have an abundance of tomatoes...
and my csa must too.
they gave us three bags of different types this week.

***

tomatoes
homemade croutons
shallots
parmigiano
capers
olive oil
basil
salt
pepper

panzanella bread salad...

panzanella bread salad..., a photo by credd on Flickr.

4 cups tomatoes, cut into large chunks
4 cups day old crusty bread, cut in chunks the same size as the tomato
1 cucumber, skinned & seeded, cut into large chunks
1/2 red onion, chopped
1 bunch fresh basil, torn into little pieces
1/4 - 1/2 cup good olive oil
salt & pepper to taste

i also added black olives and a bit of lemon juice.

mix everything together and let marinate, covered, at room temperature for at least 30 minutes, up to 12 hours. do not refrigerate or you will destroy the texture of the tomatoes.

serve at room temperature.

serves 6 to 8

recipe from simply recipes.

i made some iiiiiice cream...

i made some iiiiiice cream..., a photo by credd on Flickr.

a week ago...
i went to sur la table for my lunch.
when i walked in...
i saw the ice cream starters.

i first picked up salted caramel...
and then...
because mrchazman LOVES butter pecan...
i chose that one.

i spent the better part of saturday asleep...
because of an allergy attack early in the morning...
and...
when its bad enough to have to take meds...
my day is shot.

so...
of course...
last night...
i was wide awake...
and feeling the need to be creative...
i made ice cream.

***
and...
for a bit of eddie murphy  ice cream humor.

*explicit

figgy...

figgy..., a photo by credd on Flickr.

as i mentioned in the blog post about the padrons...
i also bought some figs when i was at oxbox public market.

i saw some figs at the farmer's market...
but when i inquired about them...
they'd all been sold.

i usually buy the mission figs (purple ones)...
but the clerk told me the green ones were really good...
so i bought some of them too.

i didn't ask...
but i think this is a green ischia fig.

padrón peppers...

i'd never even heard of these until saturday...

i was on feedler...

bouncing from blog to blog...

bookmarking those that i found enjoyable...

and wanted to read on a regular basis.  

one of the blog posts i read was about padrons.  

i thought...

that sounds interesting...

then i left for the napa farmer's market...

thinking i'd get some fruit...

and a few photos.  

when the market closed...

i went into oxbox public market for lunch.  

i first stopped at the produce stand...

just to see what they had...

as they always have something 'different'.  

and there they were...

two bags of padron peppers.  

$13.99 a pound.  

i was immediately excited...

and began to spout the blog post i'd read to the clerk.  

i grabbed a handful...

and a couple of figs...

paid for my purchase...

and went off in search of lunch.  

while i ate...

i tried in vain to find the blog post again.  

i went into feedler...

trying to pull up everything i'd read that morning.  

nothing came up.  

it wasn't until i google padron peppers and blog...

that i found what i was looking for...

the best way to enjoy padron peppers...

and immediately book marked it...

and added the blog to my reader.  

i read the article again...

and as i was heading back to my car...

stopped back at the produce stand to purchase another handful...

just in case.  

today...

as an appetizer...

i had them.  

i enjoyed them...

but was slightly disappointed to have only one spicy pepper in the bunch.  
*only one of ten or so is spicy.  

next time...

i'll add a few jalapeno slices in...

for a little extra kick.