What I'm Reading | May 2014

Brunch at Playa Provisions

I'm normally going on an on about asparagus and peas this time of year, but the entire month of May has turned life upside down, leaving me little time to fawn over spring produce. On May 1st, I was exactly four days into a new job, and today, we're moving! In between, I celebrated my birthday (at one of my favorite LA restaurants), and ate exactly one pint of gorgeous strawberries, while standing in my kitchen last night, packing up the plates and baking dishes. It was the opposite of glamorous, but perfect just the same. 

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Have a meal with Virginia Woolf.

Food Bloggers Los Angeles published a mac and cheese ebook, and proceeds will benefit the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank. 

Why success can be as disorienting as failure.

Vincent Van Gogh and the importance of doing.

If you need to bring a dessert to ANYTHING, this is the one. 

10 pancake-making mistakes.

This ginormous poem sucks pollution from the sky. 

A few things I'd like to be eating: this cake, this soup, this galette. 

How not to be obnoxious even though you're passionate. 

Famous advice on writing.

An inconvenient truth about our food.

Literary City Guide: Iowa City, IA

Photo by Nate Roelfs

With a university famous for its creative writing program, Iowa City is literary tourist's dream destination. Tour guide Jennifer Brinkmeyer grew up 30 miles away, and decided to put down roots after attending the University of Iowa. 

If you're on the fence about visiting, three words: lavender blackberry muffin. (You can find these at local coffee shop The Java House.) Iowa City is also home to one of the most well-known independent bookstores in the country, located in a building that housed a literary society in the 1930s where ee cummings, Langston Hughes, and Robert Frost were three of its famous patrons.

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Stop by to visit Iowa City!

To be expected

There was little time to prepare this year, but it was to be expected.

Instead of making pedicure or massage appointments, I've booked a cleaning crew and spent a recent lunch break buying semi-gloss paint from Home Depot. I've come home every night for a week and packed a single box of books from the shelf. It feels as though I will never see them again. I wanted to linger and turn through every page, but time would not allow it. 

In little more than a week, my home will be different. My windows, my kitchen, my bedroom. My job is different. My commute is different. I feel different. I'm feeling in my bones Mary Oliver's call, "joy was not made to be a crumb." How at once can you feel so much joy and gratitude, yet muscle through the difficult times? Eating dinner at 8 pm, missing yoga, spending evenings sifting through papers, sorting and sorting and sorting. Being tired, yet being inspired. It's really a wonderful mess, and by the time summer arrives, the normalcy and routine I crave will have taken root, which makes today's uncertainty entirely bearable.

For the past five years, I've kept a ritual of taking my birthday off and treating myself to an indulgent day that usually consists of waking up late, getting a pedicure, taking myself out to lunch, baking something festive, reading a book in my favorite coffee shop (or at the very least, my favorite birthday poem), followed by dinner in the evening with Andrew. With the new job and all, I'm spending this year's birthday at the office, but life is good, and I've been enjoying this special breakfast for several days now. I hope you can try it before the strawberries disappear. 

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Steel Cut Oats with Balsamic-Roasted Strawberries

Strawberries, as I've mentioned before, are one of my favorite fruits, and I look forward to them every May. I'm embarrassed to admit that I've eaten fewer farm-fresh strawberries this season than I would like. Luckily, this recipe works splendidly with frozen berries, so you can enjoy it in any season.

Berries adapted from A Thought for Food

1 cup steel cut oats
2 cups whole milk or almond milk
2 cups filtered water
Pinch of salt

For the strawberries
1 10-ounce package organic frozen strawberries
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, divided
2 teaspoons raw honey
1 teaspoon vanilla
Heavy cream, for serving

Add oats, milk, and water to a 4-quart saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer 1 minute. Cover and leave on the stove overnight. If you're using frozen berries, this is a good time to put them in the fridge to thaw.

In the morning, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Add the berries to a baking dish and drizzle with 2 tablespoons of vinegar; toss to coat. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the liquid is syrupy.  

While the berries bake, bring the oats to a low simmer and cook for 5 to 10 minutes, or until any remaining liquid has been absorbed and the oats are creamy and tender. 

While the oats reheat, whisk together the balsamic vinegar, honey, and vanilla in a small saucepan. Boil until liquid has reduced by half and is syrupy. When the strawberries are done baking, pour the sauce over the top and give them a stir. 

Serve oatmeal with a few spoonfuls of strawberry sauce and a dash of heavy cream. Chopped nuts would also be welcome.