When Life Gives You Lemons...

... make Lemon Snow!

I grew up in Los Angeles, which if not the land of milk and honey, is definitely the land of lemons and avocados. Almost all social gatherings included an exchange of surplus, and I pretty much figured that they were always free.

Imagine my shock when I moved out on my own to San Francisco, and was expected not only to pay for lemons and avocados, but to pay through the nose! Luckily, for the past two years I've lived in a home with a prolific lemon tree that thrives on benign neglect.

A few weeks ago I got up the gumption to pick a lot of lemons and spend an hour or so zesting and juicing. I used some of the juice for making lemonade for the boy to sell at our recent yard sale (yes, I squeezed the lemons and make the lemonade, and he kept the profits. I've got to fire my agent) Making the lemonade was not without its hazards - see the end of this post for what will go down in Starr family legend as The Lemonade Story.

While sales at the boy's stand were brisk (a few senior citizens even tossed him a couple of bucks extra as a reward for my, I mean his, industriousness) there was some leftover at the end of the day, which we froze in ice cube trays


Today I made the kid and his pal a treat of Lemon Snow - both to reward them for playing nicely all afternoon, and to kill the last 15 minutes before the designated Wii time

To make Lemon Snow, fit your food processor with the grater attachment


Pass lemonade ice cubes through the feeder tube


Et Viola! Fluffy, cold, sweet, tart lemon snow

For the kids, I piled it into a cup, added a slash of lemonade, and served it to them with Slurpee spoon-straws. For grownups, I'd add a shot of cold vodka.

And now...

The Lemonade Story

I made my first genuine batch of old-fashioned homemade lemonade

2/3 cup sugar
1 cup water
zest of 1 lemon
1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 quarts water

Add the sugar, water and lemon zest in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Let the syrup cool, and strain out the lemon zest. Combine the syrup, juice and water in a large pitcher and chill. Serve over ice

I'd made it in a gallon jug with a spigot and added sliced lemons. It was picture-perfect! I placed the jug in the fridge and spent 10 minutes or so cleaning up the kitchen. I went to put something else in the fridge and the lemonade was.... GONE!

There was only an inch or two in the jug. I hadn't left the kitchen, and no one else had come in or out. Can you guess what happened?

The shelf in the door of the fridge had activated the spigot, and the lemonade had flowed out and filled the fruit crisper drawer! Can you believe it? I was definitely glad it hadn't flowed onto the floor, but it was still a big ol' mess to clean up, and a waste of "free" lemonade which had been pretty darn time consuming to make.

I Say Tomato (Sauce) and a Tool Tip!

The tomatillo sauce was so yummy, I decided to try the same technique with Simple Pleasures Farms sweet little cherry tomatoes. And oh I'm glad I did!

The "recipe" is very loosy-goosey:

Take a bunch of:

Cherry Tomatoes- I think I used about 2 lbs
Onion - 1 whole, peeled and cut into 8ths or so
Garlic - 3-4 whole cloves



Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar (which I didn't have, I so I used a mix of white balsamic and red wine, but I wish I'd had regular balsamic) Sprinkle on sea salt and pepper.

Roast in a 450-degree oven for about 45 minutes



Dump it all in the food processor and add a good amount of basil leaves (my Trader Joe's basil plant is nearing the end of its life. It has served me well)



Ta-da! A super yummy, fresh-tasting and healthy sauce. I poured it over TJ's tortellini and it made a lovely lunch.

Oh, and the tip? I'm lucky that I have the counter space to keep my food process or out on the counter (and yes, I keep it plugged in and no, I don't want any grief about fire hazards or energy) but storing the disc blades has always been a problem. They're too big to put in a drawer, and are awkward and take up a lot of spaced in a cabinet.

The solution? I tipped the chopper blade to the side...


...and can keep both it and the shredder blade in the bowl of the processor - kewl!



I honestly have no idea where the slicer disk is, I don't think I've ever used it....

Cookin' Good in the Hood

I love farmers markets - in theory. But in reality, I don't often make the effort to go. I don't have the time, and the offerings can be overwhelming. And when you go with the kid - especially when he's little - you have to deal with the clown. And in Marin you it's not just any clown, it's Twee Twee the creepy mute-except-for-a-siren-whistle clown with the byzantine system of stool placement that guarantees you're in for at least a 45-minute wait in 95-degree heat before junior gets a Blues Clues balloon animal.

Lucky for me, just down the street, there's sort of a freelance farmers market set up. A family on Broadmoor owns Simple Pleasures Farm in the Delta. They pack subscription farm boxes (more than I can take on) for pickup and delivery, and sell the leftovers from their driveway on Thursdays.

Tammy and her kids have yummy little cherry tomatoes, luscious pears, watermelons, peppers, peaches, onions, and even fresh eggs!

I stopped today and got the fixin's for a tomatillo salsa. Tammy said, "I'm so glad you're buying these - so many people don't even know what they are."

What they are is yummy! Tart, sweet and fun to release from their little papery outer leaves.

I don't have a tested & measured recipe, but here's what you do

Take a bunch of:

Tomatillos - 10 or 12 (remove paper and rinse. Or don't rinse, I'm not looking)
Onion - 1 whole, peeled and cut into 8ths or so
Jalapenos - 1 or 2, remove the stem
Garlic - 2-3 whole cloves

Arrange them on a foil-lined baking sheet. Drizzle with oil (olive or veggie) and sprinkle with salt & pepper.

Roast at 450 degrees for about 45 minutes (I use a toaster oven)

Pour it all into a food processor and Ole! Salsa Verde!

Veggies Grown by Wookies are Chewie

Yours truly has been invited to Skywalker Ranch to be a guest chef at their weekly BBQ lunch. The talented, generous, handsome and brilliant Steve Simmons and his staff will be cooking recipes from The Frugal Foodie cookbook, and I'll be set up at a table signing books, shaking hands and kissing babies.

To say I am honored is an understatement, and how lucky was I that I got to do a recon mission at the ranch last week? The place lives up to its legend. You drive past the 3-acre organic farm, past the "if you build it they will come" baseball field, past the vineyard and several "they make movie magic in there" buildings to get to the main house. The huge, fancy, beautiful main house. Steve gave me a tour of the joint and it is impressive on every level. Since I'm not much of a Star Wars geek, I was only mildly interested in the memorabilia case. But since I am a book geek, I was thrilled to see a genuine copy of GOAT in the library. And because I am a food geek, was tickled to be able to buy a big bag of organic produce on my way out.

Ranch rules dictate that you must be in any photos you take there, so I can't show you the right-out-of-a-movie-adorable farm stand, but take my word for it - it was precious. And the veggies - delish!

Little Green Onions

Did you know you could re-grow green onions? You can! I feel a little like Dr. Frankenstein - I have the power to re-give life!

Just cut cut the onions a couple of inches from the bulb, stick them in an inch or so of water and set them in a sunny spot. Soon you'll see green shoots sprouting up - cool!

Keep doing it as long as you can, adding more water as needed. You should get 3-4 re-growths from your onions.

Kale Krisps!

My friend Danielle and her family were going out of town for a couple of weeks and in the midst of all of the backing and scheduling, she realized that she had a fridge full of fresh fruits and veggies. She hated to toss them, and could only eat so much - so she put out a call to her friends to come on over and grab a bag of organic farm produce as well as garden-variety grocery store goods.

My grab bag included a beautiful bunch of Tuscan a.k.a.Dino Kale. I knew that Mr. Meat & Potatoes and Young Master Picky would be less than inclined to eat it no matter what I did to it. but that the Gourmet Gals of the book club would love a to nibble on a basket of Kale Krisps.

These earthy little snacks have are great with cocktails, and have pleasantly bitter aftertaste. Don't be alarmed when they crackle loudly in the oven, or fill the house with a smell similar to cooked Brussels sprouts.

Kale Krisps

1 head Tuscan or dino kale, washed and cut into tortilla-chip-sized pieces (the stems are a little chewy, but tasty - go ahead and use 'em)
½ tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 300°F.

Place the kale pieces in a bowl and drizzle with vinegar and olive oil.

Turn the leaves a couple of times to coat. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Arrange leaves in single layer on 2 large baking sheets.

Bake until crisp, about 30–35 minutes, tossing halfway through cooking time and turning down the heat down if they get too brown before they get crisp.

Transfer to a rack to cool.

Makes about 6 cups.

Garden Goods: Tomato Watch '09!

Thanks to the wisdom, encouragement and well-appointed nursery of my friend Silke and her fabulous store, Local Flora, I am attempting to grow my own tomatoes. I love a good, sweet, juicy tomato - but not paying $1-$2 each for them at the farmer's market.

I could have paid $19.99 + S&H for an upside down tomato planter, but why would I do that when I can grow mine in a recycled grocery bag I got for FREE with the purchase of the Wall-E DVD?


And I could spend up to $200 for an Eclectic Tera Cotta Planter, but I think my 'maters will taste just as good grown in the cage of an old circular fan.

So far the little guys seem to be healthy and growing beautifully, and have sprouted a few flowers. At the end of the summer, I hope to sip a glass of wine and nibble a slice of homemade bread topped with home-grown tomatoes and basil. Stay tuned for further developments!

Garden Goods: In Praise of Free Herbs

A friend recently loaded us up with stalks of thyme and marjoram from his garden. We used them to jazz up some fish fillets from Trader Joes.

I brushed Dover sole (a mere $4.99 a pound) with olive oil and sprinkled with chopped garlic and a dash of salt. I laid the herb sprigs on the fish, covered it with plastic wrap and let it marinate for about 1/2 an hour.

I baked it, uncovered, for about 15 minutes. To serve, I removed the herb stalks and squeezed a little (free from my tree) lemon. Delish!

Is it me, or does free food just taste better?