A Celebration of Family, Friends and Food

So I figured it was time to start my own blog.  I am grateful to my sister for her letting me hijack her blog for the last few months, but it is time to step out on my own. I chose the name Sundays at Lark because it has special meaning. My husband and I call our home Lark, and our goal has always been to host a big open house for all our family and friends on Sundays. They can wander in and out as their schedules suit them and there will always be something good cooking, or we will try new recipes together. The wine will be flowing and we can relax out on our decks. My three year old will be running around like a mad man, asking anyone who passes by to come hunt for dinosaurs or dig with his trucks in the yard. We haven’t yet made this happen every Sunday, but I am proud of the fact our home is where my friends like to congregate, whether it be for a Friday night “Downton” marathon or a random Tuesday night of wine drinking and deep conversation or a Saturday afternoon when someone stops by to raid our enormous avocado tree or pick greens from our garden.

I am inspired every day by the online food community.  By the beautiful photos and stories and by the recipes that I know have not only been tested but eaten and enjoyed.  I am excited to be joining this world – to share the pleasure of discovering and trying new recipes, not to mention creating recipes of my own, especially with ingredients from my garden. As I become a part of this online conversation, I hope that my own photographs and meals will inspire you, just as yours have inspired me.

View from Lark at sunrise

View from Lark at sunrise

Romanesco and Radish and Parsnips – oh my!

So I am not quite used to this blogging thing yet.  I get so busy and have lots of blog ideas but just can’t seem to find the time to write them up and post.  Especially with the holidays upon us and preparing to go to London for two weeks as well as shopping for my husband’s entire family!  Clive has many skills but a good “gifter” he is not.

Fortunately, one of his skills is gardening as you have all seen by my previous posts on the amazing tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchinis, yellow squash, eggplant, arugula and corn he grew this summer.  Well he has now planted our fall crop.  A couple months ago actually, see I told you I was a bad blogger.

Ollie helping daddy fix the drip system

Ollie helping daddy fix the drip system

 But regardless, I am very excited about all of our new veggies.  I found a company online to buy organic heirloom seeds, sustainableseedco.com and we “borrowed” a few packs from Kim, who had tons of seeds from her wedding shower which had a garden theme.

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We also decided to try planting garlic, which is interesting since the garlic bulb to plant looks exactly like the garlic that you would eat.  Except the colors were exceptional, they are like little works of art.

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It only took a week for the first little sprouts to grow.

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Now two months on, Clive has already pulled several radishes from our garden and they are delicious, crisp and spicy like a radish should be.

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I think our winter/spring crop will be bountiful.  Uh oh, does anyone have any good recipes for broccoli, cauliflower, romanesco, parsnips, carrots, beets, radishes, spring onions, sweet onions, kale, garlic and pickling cucumbers?  Because if it is anything like our summer crop, we’re in for it.

Originally posted on serveitforth.blogspot.com

Plum and Mascarpone Pie

I have been craving pie and recently I cut out a beautiful looking plum pie recipe from Bon Appetit. When my sister and I were growing up, one of our favorite fruits was plums, and since they are in season right now, plum pie seemed like the perfect Sunday afternoon activity.

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 Full disclosure: I didn’t make my crust. Have I made crusts before? Yes. Did I want to make a crust when it was 95 degrees out and I only had time to make the entire pie during my son’s nap?  No. So I used store bought. However, my goal this fall now that I have conquered canning (or at least figured out the basics) is to perfect the crust. Another Fay family talent that I will not let pass me by 

Sugar Plum Fairies

Sugar Plum Fairies

 I followed the directions exactly, which I don’t always tend to do, and I would suggest cutting back on the sugar. It made the plums very sweet, and I think the best part of a plum is the tartness. It would have been nice to have that come through a bit more. The mascarpone & crème fraîche filling was excellent, and I plan on using that as a base for many other fruit pies!

Ready to roast

Ready to roast

Satisfied customer

Satisfied customer

PLUM & MASCARPONE PIE

Click the above link for the recipe from Bon Appetit, August 2012

 

Fresh from the oven

Originally posted on serveitforth.blogspot.com