an unhealthy obsession?

cauliflower soup with beet chips from ad hoc, photo from tastespotting

i've been searching for a great cauliflower soup for years and finally found one that i love--thomas keller's from ad hoc at home. it's very white, smooth, creamy and subtle with a focus on the cauliflower flavor.  i made it tonight and it wasn't difficult at all, though my beet chips failed.  i'll have to work on those, because they're beautiful and delicious.

also made keller's roasted chicken with root vegetables on sunday, and loved that dish, too.  i hope to make at least a half dozen more recipes from the book before it's due back at the library. here's a link to the full recipe and a discussion of mandolins in case you're a kitchen equipment nerd.

i shopped for groceries today, made a menu for the week and a list of possible menus for family members to choose from/add to.  since i have an obsessive relationship with food, i have to be careful.  i'm gonna work on writing down ideas instead of letting myself whirl into the vortex of obsessive food prep.  (some might say i'm already there.)

i vow to stop right now.

legwear: bare, with royal blue dress.  color made me glad.

inspiration: the pure white color of cauliflower soup against garnet beet chips.

looking forward: to sleep, colbert, a break through.

laid flat by sunday dinner

lula's 14th b-day cake: chocolate with ganache, strawberries, whipped cream, & strawberry coulis

 i have a love/hate relationship with sunday dinner.  i love having a whole day to cook grand dishes, i love being with the whole family, plus extensions and friends, i love the opportunity to try new recipes, techniques, and ingredients & to make the table extra pretty.  i hate the stress, the two days of shopping and prep, & how exhausted i am by the end.  i also hate how, every freakin' time, i plan to make it more simple and less stressful and yet i always end up doing the opposite.

oh yeah, and how crabby i get.

so i vow i'm gonna stop,  but then i do it again, or my kids ask me if we can have people over and get all sad when it's just us and we're just having grilled cheese or something.

& i give in & give up.

once again.

hoping that, in the end, it's a worthy endeavor to go all crazy for our sabbath dinner. (cause that's probably what i'm gonna do anyway.)

the menu, on the fridge.  note the backwards "z" on zucchini

rose petals for lula

grilled artichokes with aioli