This week in foods

I thought it was about time for another post but was a little surprised (ok, not really) when I realized all I had to share was food. That makes me wonder where my week escaped to. Truth be told, having the time to plan a meal, do the shopping and mess around in the kitchen is just how I like it. I'm thumbing through my cookbooks and internet recipe stash to try new dishes. Finding reasonably healthy and veggie dishes that Nathan will also enjoy has been a fun challenge.

First off, I forgot to post this photo from a couple weeks ago.
 

I shot this cake display in the restaurant where Dianna and I stopped for drinks a couple weeks ago.  The glow coming from the case, reflecting off the slick cakes was so alluring. 

The liquid over this cake is incredible, isn't it? I would really like this photo if my own reflection wasn't in it!

 

It was a live action Wayne Thiebaud moment.

He does these great paintings of cakes and pies. I always think of my mom when I see these. Does anyone else get excited when they walk past a bakery window full of cakes?

The repetition of waxy pies all in a row and the shadows from each slice make me feel nostalgic for any diner I've ever been to. They're something a little lonely and also very comforting in the excess.

Also, this week in foods: ratatouille!

I made a big pan full. It came out of the oven so pretty. Doesn't it look nice next to Nathan's rooster pot holder? :) Mm. I think I like eggplant more than he does though.

We keep making unsuccessful plans to go to the farmer's markets, and Saturday we finally made it. And thank goodness! The Redmond market is quite extensive with such a variety of produce.

Shelene sent us a thoughtful housewarming package with a sweet little plaque for me and a well-loved hand-me-down cookbook for Nathan. And, Melinda sent some money to help us stock our baking pantry! A great big THANK YOU, especially because Nathan made these totally awesome chocolate chip cookies last night!

Look how perfectly formed and browned they are! Who knew he could do this, and why hasn't he done this more often?!

That's what I've got for foodie pictures this week. Making ratatouille this week really made me want to watch the movie Ratatouille! I have a warm heart for animated flicks, and coincidentally I also love movies about food. As a kid I couldn't watch the opening scene of Willy Wonka (the old Gene Wilder version) without chocolate milk. Chocolat is one of those movies I could watch over and over. 

One of our Chicago house favorites is Big Night! The food is practically its own character. The soundtrack is great, all of those cool, jazz age Italian tunes.

The one piece of food unrelated news I have is that we finally got a sofa! It's a sofa bed in case anyone wants to visit. ;) At first I was overwhelmed by how much of the living room area it takes, but now it doesn't look too bad. I suppose we were getting used to the big empty space.

Check out the three laptops sitting in front of the couch! haha

That's all for now. ciao.