• Summer Love

    by Vbar • July 13, 2010 • cookbooks • 1 Comment

    Hello all!  I admit to laziness lately, mostly because this intense urban heat has left me with little desire for time in the kitchen and more inclination towards things like frozen veggie burgers and take out.  Of course, there are always ways to get around it being “too hot to cook” and I think that all this ordering out is finally putting a great enough strain on my budget that I’m recommitted to finding out what they are.

    In case readers are interested, my ManCrow and I recently made it official and got engaged.  Yay!  We had a celebratory party last weekend and the amazing outpouring of love that came from my fellow Crows made my lil’ heart swell.  Lucky for me, a lot of this love came in the form of amazing food, which I will leave to them to share.   Let me just say that the antipasti was legendary.

    Along with the Crows, I was lucky enough to have the beautiful company of two of my all time besties, Elaine and Katlhleen who came all the way from New York for a mere 14 hours just to show the love.  They also brought me some just amazing (and unecessary!) gifts- a beautiful bamboo bowl and a lovely leaf platter from the MoMA.  Also, a cookbook/culinary essential that I have been meaning to pick up for a long time: Alice Water’s The Art of Simple Food.   I can’t wait to sink my teeth into it.

    I used Elaine and Katlheen’s gifts for the fist time tonight, and I think that along with some leftover Cava, they made for a beautiful spread.

    IMG_6479

    I’m a lucky lady, in so many ways.  Our quick and easy summer dinner included:

    -Brown Basmati Rice

    -Green beans- grilled in a pouch with lemon rounds, crushed garlic and olive oil. Topped with clumps of riccotta (not shown)

    -Grilled chicken sausage

    -A fresh garden salad with white balsamic

    A perfect solution to the to-hot-to-cook rule is always to grill.

    About Vbar

    The Story of VBar

    Told by Riane

    Vanessa (VBar) Barton is a crow near and dear to my heart, although we often find her soaring the globe. Vanessa’s true passion is traveling; her most recent adventure brought her to India where she had been yearning to go for years. She will undoubtedly picks up a few tricks on her Indian adventure and always incorporates her cultural findings into her own culinary repertoire. I can’t help but draw the conclusion that this 'spice monster' developed her palette from her exotic adventures, I (and I know her boyfriend Mark has my back on this one) have definitely had to bring this heat crazed crow down a notch, after nearly catching my mouth on fire. But I have to say, I’ve gotten her back with another flavour; being a huge fan of mushrooms, I have forced VBar, on more than one occasion, to get past her inhibitions and eat whatever mushroom laden dish myself and the other crows have created. Well hats off to you Vanessa, who can now confidently say ‘I don’t mind mushrooms’ from her initial, ‘I hate mushrooms.’ On that same note, she’s the only vegetarian of the group but is slowly warming up to meats, given her sister crows’ influences. Proud’a you.

    Her second passion is cooking which emanates with her Italian heritage. Her Sicilian roots are evident in her flair in the kitchen, often cooking up Italian classics including, but definitely not limited to: Homemade marinara, not to mention PASTA like her Sicilian Grandma used to make (which has been borrowed on more than one occasion), pumpkin risotto, tiramisu and even homemade limoncello! She’s a crafty crow, jarring her own sauces, tackling homemade booze and even growing her own kitchen herb garden. Always ready with open arms and a delicious cocktail, VBar is the Italian flair in our flock.

    http://crowsinthekitchen.com

    One Response to Summer Love

    1. Elaine
      July 13, 2010 at 10:02 pm

      oh, you. that looks delicious! woooonderful party, worth every minute of megabus. :)

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