Archives: 2010 August

Simple Saturday

Monday, August 30, 2010 at 4:08 pm Duchess Food 3

Saturday was glorious. Not too hot or humid, we made do with the fans and open windows. I had a hankering for Granita. Then I was lusting after tomatoes. There were also chicken cutlets that had to be cooked, not to mention of a container of ricotta begging to be used so... a little of this, a little of that, and a really wonderful late lunch was had.

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Katsudon

Friday, August 27, 2010 at 1:54 pm Duchess Food 1

My friend, the same one who we celebrated High Tea with, introduced me to Katsudon. It’s a simple Japanese dish that I fell in love with immediately. In fact, I fell so hard for it, that I figured out how to make it myself. I could have just looked at a book I realize, but then there wouldn't have been all those nights of gobbling down those tasty failures! Katsudon (Kaht-soo-don) is a bowl of rice, with sautéed onions, a pork cutlet, and an egg on top. It's simple and so damn good.

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A Celebratory Tea

Tuesday, August 24, 2010 at 5:48 pm Duchess Love 3

Four friends met at Lady Mendl's Tea Salon this past Saturday wearing their best summer frocks and pearls. After all, it isn't everyday that three of those friends become Aunties! One of my dearest friends is expecting, she emailed me from Japan while on vacation with her family to let me know - I squealed and jumped about. We went to high school together, then college. She met her husband while abroad in Japan, they've been together ever since. She moved to Minnesota and although I don't get to see much of her, email and phones keep us close.

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1 Week, 1 Grill, 8 Friends (Part 2)

Tuesday, August 17, 2010 at 8:04 pm Duchess Food 2

You can read part 1 here.

Although neither of these are grill recipes, we did have grilled veggies on the side at every meal. Nothing like really good thin asparagus drizzled in olive oil, salt & pepper, then grilled until sligtly charred. And now, back to the recipes at hand...

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1 Week, 1 Grill, 8 Friends (Part 1)

Tuesday, August 17, 2010 at 2:56 pm Duchess Food 1

I just got back from a lovely, albeit too short (aren’t they always), week vacation. Nothing too fancy, a condo near the beach, a gaggle of friends, and a grill. To the rest of the country a grill is common place, to 99.9% of city dwellers, its like Christmas, rainbows, and chocolate all rolled into one. We ate a lot. We lazed a lot - I have pictures of said gluttony and sloth to prove it. I also have some great recipes to share, just in time for those last summer bashes and lazy Sundays.

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A Block in Brooklyn

Monday, August 2, 2010 at 2:16 pm Duchess Food, Love 2

After weeks of stifling, miserable, all consuming heat, Mother Nature gave us a break.

It was beyond lovely this weekend. We turned off the air conditioners, put in the window fans, and even had to sleep under a blanket at night. Saturday morning I took a walk through the 'hood to get some food for the week - to 5th avenue for olive oil and fresh feta at the Greek market, and also to my favorite fruit and vegetable lady who always has a megawatt smile on. Back to 3rd Avenue to the grocery store and down a street that took my breath away... Everywhere I looked there was something beautiful, charming, or funny to look at. It could have been the lovely weather, the sunshine, or just my general happiness about grocery shopping (a task that I love), but I found myself taking out my phone and clicking away at the shutter button.

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