This weekend has been a vitamin-D fest, in January, which is worrisome, but I’m thankful for the sunshine nonetheless. Yesterday brought my neighbor Holly and I to the lake with a blanket and books for sketching and reading, and we shed layers and soaked up sun, and my sunglasses made of zebrawood actually started to release this earthy wooden fragrance as they warmed. It was perfect.
There’s something about the first really good sun after a string of cold wintry days. I always feel like my skin is ice blue—absolutely translucent after being covered up for weeks at a time. And this is California for pete’s sake. I can’t imagine how joyful summery days must feel after a winter in Minnesota.
This morning at the Jack London Square farmers’ market I dozed on a bench in the sun, read some Bukowski, looked across the water to Alameda and watched the dragon boat rowers workin’ up a sweat. Then I picked out apples for a blueberry-apple pie. Since there aren’t many fruit options available right now, I thought it might be the best combination for the season. Later this afternoon I thought of pear-blueberry pie, but it will have to wait for another time.
I mixed and refrigerated a batch of dough using this recipe, and if you’re like me you might consider peeling apples in your lap while drinking a beer and watching Friday Night Lights…
I tried my first attempt at a lattice crust ever (don’t look too closely at it) and the pie turned out like this:
And for dinner I combined two different recipes (one, two) pulled from Real Simple a while back, and made a garlicky kale pasta with cheesy broiled tomatoes.
It went like this:
Sauté onion and garlic until lightly browned, then add crushed red pepper and 1 bunch of kale torn into bite sized pieces. Sauté until the kale is tender.
While the spaghetti noodles are boiling, slice and prepare beefsteak or heirloom tomatoes. Arrange tomato rounds on a broiling pan, sprinkle with salt and pepper, a slice of mozzarella cheese, and a little sprinkling of parmesan cheese. Broil the tomatoes for about 3-5 minutes until the cheese is golden.
Once the pasta and tomatoes are ready, toss the noodles with olive oil, the kale and garlic mixture, salt and pepper, and serve with the broiled tomatoes on top and an extra sprinkling of cheese, if desired.
And someone is playing the harmonica on the porch next door as I write this. I ❤ my home.
Town Bakes 
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