Height of summer Sunday brunch: Peach and Balsamic Pizza with Grilled Watermelon Salad

For the pizza:

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
Pizza crust (yeah, I used thin Boboli - you go ahead and make your own :)
1 T olive oil
Kosher salt
Course ground pepper
Red pepper flakes
4 - 5 oz fresh mozzarella cheese
2-3 nearly ripe peaches, thinly sliced
2 T basil julienned

Create a balsamic reduction by putting the vinegar in a small sauce pan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then lower to medium-low heat and simmer until reduced by at least half.

Brush 1 T olive oil over crust. Sprinkle with coarse ground black pepper, salt and crushed red pepper.

Layer on rounds of cheese, slices of peaches and basil. Drizzle with glaze. Cook according to crust instructions - this one was 8 - 10 minutes at 450- degrees

Adapted from Two Peas and a Pod

For the salad:

1 small watermelon (about 6 pounds), cut into 1-inch-thick rounds
1/2 cup small mint leaves, torn
2 ounces feta cheese, crumbled into large chunks
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar (or 1/2 T balsamic reduction if you have some left from the pizza)
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Preparation

Heat a grill or grill pan over high heat until very hot. Grill watermelon rounds, turning once, until charred (about 2-3 minutes per side). Transfer watermelon to a cutting board and remove rind; cut rounds into wedges.

Arrange watermelon on a serving platter; sprinkle with mint and feta. Drizzle with olive oil and vinegar, then sprinkle with salt and pepper.

As seen in Health magazine

We also made these magical cherry hand pies from Bon Appetit. This could be the last week of fresh cherries - i.e. last chance to make these magical things. Don’t miss it!

Fantastic phrasing. It’s the false promise that has made me a field-leveling liberal. It’s difficult to see just how much privilege and unlikely chance goes into the making of most boot-strap success stories. If you’re born in this country, with good health, near the middle class, to parents who read to you, you’re born armed to the teeth with privilege most of the world will never know. How different our country would be if we were more grateful for that and more generous with how we open doors for people who didn’t start with it.

Say you think it would be totally fun to go pick apples on a wonderful fall day, but the only thing you know how to bake is that cookie dough that comes in the tube. Not a problem. Thanks to the magic of refrigerated pie crusts.

Here’s a quicky apple dumpling recipe that is pretty delicious. Yummy savory app below that. (Apples keep for months in the ‘fridge - but, come on, no one is going to make it through 20 pounds one snack at a time.)

Apple Dumplings:

1 package refrigerated pie crusts
4 apples, peeled and sliced
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons butter
Cinnamon
One beaten egg 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

Cut each pie crust in half. Fold halves into triangles. Roll to ¼ inch thick. Place on apple in center of each triangle. Sprinkle each with 1 tablespoon sugar, ½ tablespoon butter and a little cinnamon.  

Brush dough edges with beaten egg and press around each apple. Brush with egg. Bake 30 minutes.

Cheddar with Sauteed Apples and Brown Bread

2  tart-sweet apples (such as Gala, Braeburn, or Fuji), each cored and cut into 16 wedges 
1/3  cup sugar 
1/4  teaspoon ground cinnamon 
Cooking spray 
4  (1-ounce) slices pumpernickel bread 
4  ounces extrasharp cheddar cheese, cut into 16 slices 
 
Preheat oven to 400°.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Place apples in a medium bowl; sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Toss well to coat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add apple mixture, and cook 4 minutes or until thoroughly heated, turning frequently. Remove from heat; cool slightly.

Cut each bread slice crosswise into 4 strips. Arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake at 400°  for 5 minutes or until tops are toasted. Turn strips over; bake for 3 minutes or until the tops are toasted. Cool completely. Serve with apples and cheese.

I could eat this every day. It’s summer in the winter.

15 minutes to make and a great complex flavor with really basic ingredients.

Capellini with tomatoes and basil

Serves 6

Kosher salt

½ cup good olive oil, plus extra for the pasta pot

2 tablespoons minced garlic (6 cloves)

4 pints small cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes (I used 3)

18 large basil leaves, julienned

2 tablespoons chopped fresh curly parsley

2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme leaves

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

¾ pound dried capellini or angel hair pasta

1½ cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Extra chopped basil and grated Parmesan for serving

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add two tablespoons of salt and a splash of oil to the pot.
2. Meanwhile, heat the ½ cup of olive oil in a large (12-inch) sauté pan. Add the garlic to the oil and cook over medium heat for 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes, basil, parsley, thyme, two teaspoons salt, the pepper, and red pepper flakes. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for five to seven minutes, tossing occasionally, until the tomatoes begin to soften but don’t break up.
3. While the tomatoes are cooking, add the capellini to the pot of boiling water and cook for two minutes, or according to the directions on the package. Drain the pasta, reserving some of the pasta water.
4. Place the pasta in a large serving bowl, add the tomatoes and Parmesan, and toss well. Add some of the pasta water if the pasta seems too dry. Serve large bowls of pasta with extra basil sprinkled on top and a big bowl of extra Parmesan on the side. 

The next can’t miss event: Available Light Theater – voted Columbus’ best live theater – is telling the greatest love story of all time: Pride & Prejudice. The two-week run of the classic tale will be staged in Studio 2 of the Riffe Center, starting this Thursday!

This refreshingly fast-paced and often outright-funny adaptation of Jane Austen’s novel stays true to the original period story, while mixing in some modern interjections.

While the actors are immersed in the story about five sisters in Georgian England and how their lives are turned upside down by a wealthy young man (Mr. Bingley) and his best friend (Mr. Darcy), the modern world continues around them. And, they find themselves occasionally interrupted by it.

Playwright Daniel Elihu Kramer collected real conversations about P & P from around the web and around the world. Scripted from those quotes, bloggers, critics and pundits contribute incisive comments, quick summaries, and analytical questions. The story’s own popularity and cult status affect its performance – with an addictive real-time conversation that can’t quite be quieted.

Jane Austen fans will delight in this authentic production that captures the spirit of the book while Available Light fans will appreciate the quest to understand how its sustained relevance in our all-too-modern world.

The production features Jeremy Ryan Brown, Acacia Duncan, Kim Garrison Hopcraft and Michelle Schroeder. A dashing Darcy is played by new-to-Available Light Wolf J. Sherrill.

www.darcy4ever.com

Think of “all those searches you conducted — on old boyfriends, or some disease you have, or your personal pornographic fetishes — are now in Google’s giant brain. ‘People turn to the search engine box and admit things to it that they would not admit to their doctor, their shrink, their priest, their wife or husband or anyone else, without a thought that all of these queries are being stored,’ says Kevin Bankston, a lawyer at the Electronic Frontier Foundation.”

Tina Fey

I am home tonight with ice packs (ok, bags of frozen spinach and edamame) on my knees. But, really, I could not be in a happier mood.

Craig and his two wonderful sons (the math maven, soon-to-be chef - or lead guitarist - is the spectacle-wearing one and the sweet as sugar, soon-to-be drummer - or zookeeper -  is the soccerball-covered one) taught me how to ice skate today.

When I say they taught me how to ice skate, I mean: SERIOUSLY, I can ice skate. It’s amazing. I’m definitely someone who is on the ‘fraidy-cat end of the try-new-things bravery spectrum. I never really learned how to roller skate, had a traumatic one-try attempt at rollerblading (that ended in me walking home in my socks), and had never even laced up an ice skate before. So, I assumed the first go would be - at best - hugging the wall and - at worst - very wet and painful. I was planning for how to get to work with a broken ankle on the way up there.

But Craig and his oldest are fantastic teachers. In two hours of skating I only fell five times. Of course, two of them were pretty dramatic, but still, nothing is broken and I got right back up again. I was zooming around the rink almost as fast as they were (although, really, I noticed that they weren’t wobbling back and forth so much or squelling quite so regularly). Nonetheless, it was a total success.

There’s something so thrilling about trying something you would never picture yourself doing and having it actually work out. Next up: snowboarding. (Seriously.)

For now, I will be satisfied with replacing the wallflower roller skating rink pictures of me in my mind with the super speedy ice skater ones. Weeeeeeee, people, weeeeee!

Thanks to all who came to ring in the new year with us and extra thanks to those who asked for the recipes :)

I followed the Barefoot Contessa Cocktail Party Rule (make three, buy three); so, these are the only homemade ones:

Roasted Tomato Bruschetta

18 roma tomatoes

Loaf of crusty bakery bread, sliced (buy it at Katzingers and they’ll slice it for you - love that!)

Log of fresh mozzarella

~30 big leaves of fresh basil, julienned

Olive oil, salt, pepper

Preheat oven to 325 degrees

Slice tomatoes in half. Toss with a few tablespoons of olive oil, salt and pepper. Lay cut side up on baking sheets (the ones with sides) (you can really pack them in). Roast for 2 - 2.5 hours until they smell delicious. Cool.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Dice tomatoes. Mix in basil. Thin slice mozzarella.

(I diced them in advance and drained some of the liquid)

Lay bread directly on the rack in oven. Toast for 3-4 minutes, until firm.

Remove bread from oven and layer each piece with cheese and a couple scoops of tomato mixture. Return to oven. Toast for 5 minutes. Cut into smaller pieces.

Spiced Pecans

1 pound pecan halves

4 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon kosher salt (maybe less if you use salted butter)

1/2 teaspoon each: ground cumin, cayenne pepper, cinnamon, dried ground orange peel (mix together in a small bowl with salt)

1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons brown sugar (I used dark - I don’t think it matters)

2 tablespoons water

Cover a sheet pan with some parchment paper

Toast the nuts in a heavy 10-inch skillet over medium heat (stirring frequently) for 4 to 5 minutes until they smell toasted.

Add butter and stir until it melts.

Add the spice mixture and combine.

Add sugar and water (it’s like a sizzling science experiment at this point)

Stir until the mixture thickens and coats the nuts, ~2 to 3 minutes.

Transfer the nuts to the sheet pan and separate them with a fork or spatula.

Fig and goat cheese tart

1 package (2 sheets) frozen puff pastry, defrosted

2 jars of fig spread (I got them at Whole Foods)

10-11 ounces goat cheese

1 egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon water

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Cover a sheet pan with parchment paper.

On a floured surface, roll out the first sheet of pastry to 10 by 12 inches. Place it on a sheet pan and crumble/spread the goat cheese on it, leaving a 1-inch border around the edge. Cover the cheese with the fig spread, also leaving a 1-inch border. Brush the border with the egg wash.

Roll the second sheet out the same way. Place it on top of the filled pastry, lining up the edges. Cut the edges straight with a small, sharp knife and press together lightly. Brush the top with egg wash and cut a few slits in the top to allow steam to escape.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until puffed and golden brown. Allow to cool for a few minutes and serve hot or warm. I think when I make this again I’ll serve it with vanilla ice cream (and, importantly, a fork!)

Why I prefer electronic documents: Half an hour in and I already cannot see my desk.

The ultimate Householder Holiday photo.

An open Christmas letter to my world. Happy holidays, friends.

“If life is like high school, then today’s educated, ambitious women are the student-council presidents and Sarah Palin is the head cheerleader.”

One of my favorites from Lynette