Happy birthday to me

Yesterday was my birthday, and I had a very fine one, thanks to S. There was no cake, because I am the one who usually bakes the birthday cakes in these parts, and my request for the day was that I should have a lovely time, and be in no way responsible for how it happened. Morning was the farmer's market, and now we have a truly monumental basket full of produce, much of which I want to convert into dishes before I go away in the middle of the week, leaving S. bereft and alone. Afternoon featured a jaunt to Baltimore, where visionary art was viewed and many used mystery novels were purchased.

Dinner was at Jaleo, which is never disappointing. We gambled on a possibly long wait for a table outside, and were fortuitously seated almost right away. Somehow, I think everything tastes better when eaten outdoors. The major new treat of this visit was fava beans with squash blossoms and romesco sauce. The blossoms were good, though a little bit incongruous, but the fava beans were plentiful and cooked just perfectly.

Fava beans make a particularly good thing to order at a restaurant. In real life, you get what seems like an enormous quantity, even though you know the yield will be small; you think, but I have allowed for this, this time there will be plenty! Then you shuck and shuck and shuck and there really are not very many. And then you parboil the beans and slip off their skins and the next thing you know, you have been laboring for hours and you have a bushel of pods and skins and three tablespoons of beans. But last night, we had all the fava beans we could desire, and plenty of everything else (spinach with pine nuts and raisins, trumpet mushrooms wwith tomato, stuffed piquillo peppers, assorted Spanish cheeses) too. Happy birthday to me.

The day after tomorrow, I am off to California, where the produce will be even more copious. Hooray!

Posted by redfox at July 19, 2004 09:51 AM (etcetera) | Comments (6)

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