Argos Farm

Good morning friends! How's everyone's weekend going so far? I haven't done much cooking so far this weekend other than a quick salmon curry on Friday night before our weekly Sons of Anarchy ritual, but I'm hoping to change that later tonight and make a big pot of cauliflower soup for the week. The curry was decent but nothing to brag home about. I've gotta make some tweaks to make it spicier.

Saturday morning started with omelets made by Matt, big cups of coffee and then yoga with the girls. Matt and I decided a few weeks ago that we would take turns every other Saturday doing our exercise of choice since he loves to go mountain biking and I love to do yoga at the studio, neither of which is conducive to having Riker with us. Yesterday was my turn, and after yoga Heather, Cathleen and I went to a local coffee shop for some pumpkin lattes and a light lunch.

I ordered the special salad, which was Thai shrimp over caesar. It was really tasty but kind of a salad fail if you're looking for veggies. The lettuce was a mere vehicle for parmesan dressing and crispy fried shrimp. Oh well, I ate and enjoyed almost all of it.

When I got home Matt and I had plans to take Riker to a local farm for some fall fun.

Argos Farm in Lacey was like a country amusement park for toddlers. He absolutely loved this place. For $20 total (Riker was free) we got 4 hours of non-stop fun and excitement for this kid.

Hay rides, slides, pig races, farm animals, pumpkin picking, corn maze, I mean what more could you want? Matt knew some of the managers there since he's a teacher in that town, so they even gave us some of our pumpkins for free and gave Riker a free pony ride. Gotta love teacher appreciation. ;)

A day at the farm isn't complete without a snack, so of course we had to get some freshly popped kettle corn and an apple cider donut to share.

If you're a local I highly recommend this place!

For dinner Matt and I actually had a date night planned which we were both really excited about. I'll be heading to Vermont next weekend with Riker, then to Indianapolis for work, so we won't have much time to spend together over the next week. A date night was definitely in order. We made a reservation at Xina, a Chinese bistro, sushi and oyster bar we'd been wanting to try forever. It's BYOB so we brought a bottle of our Nicholson Ranch orange muscat wine from Napa that was supposed to be great with sushi (and it was); we were a little early for our reservation, though, so stopped off for a quick cocktail at Aqua Blu, which is right across the street, before going to the restaurant.

By the time we finally sat down to dinner we were starving. We ordered a few apps and a bunch of sushi rolls, and everything was fantastic.

I'll be doing a review for Jersey Bites soon and will have a bunch more pics to share there.

Well it's time for me to drown my cup of coffee and jump in the shower. I have a baby shower up north with my family today, and am looking forward to spending time with my sister and cousins. Enjoy your Sunday!

Sesame Kale Slaw with Scallops

I'm on a kale kick.

I've been buying it every week and making massaged kale salad, using it in veggie lasagna and adding it to frittatas. It feels so good to eat the crunchy bright green. I can actually feel myself getting healthier when I eat it, if that's possible.

A few weeks ago I made Ina Garten's Winter Slaw with kale, radicchio and Brussels sprouts when Heather and Kevin came for dinner, and we loved it so much that I bought the greens to make it again this week, but with a twist.

This salad is similar to the lemony kale salad with scallops I made a few weeks ago, but with other colorful greens and the Asian flavors of sesame oil and ginger. I used the scallops I received from my wild caught, organic seafood delivery and they were perfectly sweet and tender.

Fall salad deliciousness.

Sesame Kale Slaw with Scallops

Serves 2-3, Adapted from Barefoot Contessa's Winter Slaw

Ingredients
6 oz. Brussels sprouts, trimmed, halved and cored
6-7 large kale leaves, center rib removed
1 head radicchio, cored and halved
12 sea scallops, heel removed and patted dry
1 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. pepper
Dash each of dried ginger and garlic
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. low sodium soy sauce
1 Tbsp. sesame seeds

Vinaigrette
1/3 cup grapeseed or other flavorless oil
1 Tbsp. sesame oil
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. low sodium soy sauce
Salt & pepper to taste

Using the slicer blade on a food processor, pass the Brussels sprouts and radicchio through until sliced thin (alternatively, cut in thin strips with a sharp knife). Slice the kale leaves into thin shreds with a knife. Add all greens to a bowl.

Make the vinaigrette by whisking all ingredients together. Pour over the salad and massage gently with your hands until the kale softens a bit and the greens are fully coated, about 1-2 minutes. Set aside.

Heat a cast iron skillet with the olive oil over medium heat until very hot. Sprinkle the salt, pepper, ginger and garlic over the scallops, then add to the hot pan and cook about 3 minutes on each side, until seared golden brown. Once the scallops are cooked, turn off the heat and pour in the soy sauce. The soy sauce will bubble up and reduce very quickly; remove the scallops and place them on the salad. Top with sesame seeds and serve.

Meeting John Goodman

It's already Tuesday and I'm behind the game with the weekend update, so here we go with a quick one!

Riker wasn't feeling well on Friday or Saturday so I spent a lot of time at home.

That would be "chicken parmesan" with spaghetti squash and Lightlife soy "chicken", and it was delish.

The seasonal closet switchover: Out with the summer colors...

In with the fall!

Sunday included a few errands and an afternoon at the horse races celebrating MomMom's 91st birthday. No joke, I haven't had this much fun in a while. I won $7 on my first bet! :)

After the races we had a Breaking Bad finale party at our house with the family. No party is complete without some dessert, so I made homemade strawberry shortcakes. Aren't those apple shaped biscuits the cutest? 

The recipe will be coming your way eventually, it was sooo good.

***

I came into the city for work yesterday and actually ended up staying overnight here since my best friend from high school, Julie, was in town promoting a new movie. Every time she comes to New York I try to stay with her for one night so we can catch up.

She's staying at The London, which is a beautiful hotel only a 20 minute walk from my office. When I arrived around 7 we had a quick dinner at the hotel restaurant, Gordon Ramsay's Maze.

We split the tuna tartar appetizer and then I went for the crispy salmon for my entree (which went devoured, unpictured). Then the coolest thing of all happened. Julie was headed out for a media event for a few hours but took me up to see the actors' hospitality suite before she left, and her client John Goodman was there unexpectedly. We got to sit and hang out with him for a good half hour before they had to leave for the event. I didn't want to be annoying and ask for a picture, but this is all I could think of while he was talking:

"Mark it zero!" Omg I love him. He was so nice and down to earth, and that pretty much made my year.

I stayed in the hotel room and worked for a few hours while Julie was out doing her thing with the movie crew, but when she got back we went down to Maze with the rest of her peeps for a late night snack.

I feel like I've had a lot of wine and cheese lately.

I just woke up to room service and now I need to get my butt moving for another work day. 

Up and at 'em, as my mom would say!