this week’s highlights

Saturday / J.R. Organics at the Little Italy Mercato rolled out their Summer watermelon selection this past weekend, and I picked up a baby orange one for us. And beyond being super sweet, it was sooo juicy and refreshing!

Sunday / We stopped and picked up some coffee and doughnuts from Clayton’s to enjoy while we walked along the beach and listened to Day 13 of the (free) Oprah & Deepak “Miraculous Relationships” 21 day meditation series.

Monday / Cooking with seasonal produce that I pick up at our local farmer’s market is one of my favorite things to do. Additionally, it serves as a reminder to me that simple is so often better. So alongside our salmon, for dinner I made a simple heirloom tomato salad (dressed with evoo, salt, balsamic vinegar, fresh basil and dill), and a butter leaf salad tossed with David Lebovitz’s French Vinaigrette. The dressing (with the addition of some fresh dill, and straining of the shallots) was the perfect delicate yet sharp flavor to dress up our greens.

Tuesday / We ventured out in the late afternoon to enjoy the San Diego Zoo once the heat had broken. It’s been years since either one of us had been there, and somehow we had forgotten how much fun it is to see all of the animals and ride the Skyfari Aerial Tram.

Wednesday / Normally this is more so Ryan’s territory, but lately I’ve been on a real baking kick. And one of my absolute favorite things to bake, is the Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day Cinnamon Raisin Brioche. (I make their brioche dough recipe, and then roughly follow these instructions, with the addition of extra cinnamon sugar and lots of raisins.) This is easily the best bread that we have ever had, and it notoriously lasts far shorter than either one of us would like to admit.

Thursday / I did a bunch of errands to get us ready for the weekend (which is exactly when I don’t want to be at the grocery store), and I picked up two bunches of these yellow tulips from Trader Joe’s that have instantly made our apartment feel even more happy and Summery.

Friday / Nothing says “it’s the weekend” more than homemade pizza and some cold beer. And when it comes to pizza and beer, these are our hands down favorites – Frank Pepe’s Clam Pizza, and some Allagash White. (Here is a recipe very close to the one that we use for the pizza. And for shucking the clams, we follow Jacques Pépin’s genius and super simple method.)