Urban Nest

We had the simplest, most delicious meal last night. And while we do eat pretty well when my husband and I are both at home, it’s not always like this. However, we do typically eat at the coffee table – a routine I initially resisted. But with handmade placemats that get tossed in the wash once a week and a couple of votives, we get plenty of ambience for any given Monday.

On the Menu:
snapper from my local fish market
zucchini and squash diced with onions, all from the farm co-op, tossed with fresh thyme from the deck
zesty arugula tossed with a few roma tomato slices (there would have been more if the dog hadn’t helped herself to close to a pound of beautiful tomatoes the night before!)

all of the above sprinkled with freshly ground pepper and kosher salt and drizzled with olive oil

served with the tastiest bottle of $9 sauvignon blanc

and followed by key lime tartlets (also from the fish market – I couldn’t resist!) topped with fresh blueberries and shaken, not whipped, cream

So let’s talk about dessert. I literally dropped the aluminum baking shells into white ramekins for stability and a touch of the aforementioned ambience. And here’s a trick I recently discovered for fresh whipped cream, which I’ve always preferred to anything out of a can or a container.

I simply pour heavy whipping cream into an empty jar, add a sprinkle of raw sugar and a dash of vanilla, screw the top on tightly and shake until I can no longer hear the liquid swishing around. It takes a couple of minutes and my arms may get a little fatigued, but I can shimmy around the living room, watch the end of a show, and  burn a few calories. For a single or double serving,  it’s so much simpler than getting out the beaters and the bowl. And, it tastes so much better than out of the can or the plastic tub. 

I’ll have mine, shaken, not whipped, please.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 4th, 2009 at 1:34 am and is filed under Feather the Nest. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.