The Weekly Recap #114
Recipe: Tomato, Cucumber, and Avocado Salad
Before we moved I was filled with fear and anxiety. I knew moving back to LA was something I wanted deeply but disrupting our entire life was terrifying. In the weeks leading up to the move, I walked around our house and questioned everything. Would I have a big enough kitchen to continue doing what I do? Would I enjoy taking baths in our new bathtub? Would we have a backyard at all? Was our life in KC really that bad?
Now that we are moved into our home and are starting to settle in, all of those fears have instantly vanished.
During our home selling and buying process we continuously got lucky. We got lucky that our house sold fast and at the number we needed it to. We got lucky again with the home we purchased. We had two days to hunt, made one offer, and initially were outbid but then got the house as the backup offer. If that’s not luck I don’t know what is. Now that we are living in our house every day, I am reminded of how lucky we really are.
The reoccurring theme of the last few weeks has been gratitude. Every time something mildly annoying pops up, I am instantly okay with it because I remember how fortunate we are to be here. So far this new chapter has been good to us and I couldn’t be more grateful.
While awaiting the delivery of our pod, I have been busy unpacking all of the boxes that came in the trailer we pulled. I only have a few pots and pans from those boxes but that hasn’t stopped me from cooking in my new kitchen. The first proper meal I prepared was mushroom breakfast bowls, which gave me flashbacks to when I cooked breakfast for Marco every day during the quarantine times.
Another day I prepared some soba noodles with ground pork, ginger, garlic, scallions, and a tamari sauce. That dish was surprisingly tasty. Then I made a simple salad with tomatoes that my neighbors grew in their backyard. These little tomatoes were the best tomatoes I have had in a very long time. They were up there with my favorite Hungry Hollow cherry tomatoes. Mid-week I made a big pot of beans and those sustained us for a few days.
Besides that, we have been eating out a ton. We have been spending time with family and friends almost every other day and trying new restaurants in our area. Don’t get me wrong, I love eating out, but dare I say…I’m a little over it. Once the pod is unpacked and I have all of my kitchen tools I plan to pick things back up and start cooking regularly again. New Kitchen Club recipes will come shortly after.
Something else I am grateful for – mature fruit trees in our backyard! We have orange, persimmon, fig, and pomegranate trees. Plus grapes growing along our fence. The fig tree looks a billion years old and like it is ready to retire. There were a few figs when we saw the house a few months ago but they have since dropped. There are both green and red grapes but they have dried out for the season. A neighbor down the street, where I got the tomatoes from, had also placed pomegranates out that were ripe. When I got home from my walk I decided to pick one from our tree and discovered they were also ready to be picked.
In other fruit news…we all know I’m not the biggest fan of grocery delivery services but I appreciate the accessibility they provide. I used a gift card to order groceries from Good Eggs this week and holy moly I loved it. They source products from local farms in California and deliver seven days a week. I ordered tons of stone fruits, grapes, melons, and vegetables hoping they would be decent, and was ecstatic to discover I had farmers’ market produce delivered to my door.
They only deliver in Los Angeles and the bay area but HERE is a code for $25 toward your first order.
*Not sponsored, just a personal referral code.
We might not have furniture but we sure do have fruit! One last thing I am grateful for is the king-size air mattress I borrowed from my dad. It has been over a week of sleeping on it and I’m sleeping surprisingly well. Fingers crossed our mattress is delivered next week 🤞🏼. We went with a Purple mattress FYI and I’ll update you in a few months on how we like it.
Tell Me 💬
What are you grateful for this week!?
Tomato, Cucumber, and Avocado Salad
Have I sent this out before? I feel like I must have because it is my lazy “we need vegetables” go-to.
Chop up tomatoes, cucumbers, and an avocado. Add a generous amount of fresh basil leaves or other herbs you have on hand. Parsley, dill, and scallions all work. Salt everything! Black pepper over the veggies too followed by good olive oil and balsamic. White balsamic won’t darken the plate whereas traditional balsamic vinegar will look dark over everything but oh well.
Mix things up with a sprinkle of chili flakes, sumac, za'atar…the options are endless.
The Charleston Singles Edition *Not about dating, about architecture!
Let's dive into the ravioli-verse. *A collection of stunning ravioli
Korean Corn Grilled Cheese *I shared this last year and I’m sharing it again. I want one right now!!
Marbled Deli Rye Bread *I didn’t know the dark color came from molasses.
2020 Domaine Bobinet Piak! Blanc
I didn’t pick this one, my girlfriend Clare brought it over, and it was the best glass of wine I had all week. It’s a white wine made from red grapes, cool! An easy sipper with light fruity flavors. More details here and here.
This is a “cleaning hack” that went viral last year. You grab a refillable scrub brush that’s meant for washing dishes and fill it with dish soap and vinegar. Leave it in your shower and scrub the shower down once a week to get it squeaky clean quickly.
Well, back in KC I did this and loved it. I didn’t keep it in the shower because I didn’t want the visual clutter but it lived under the sink and I scrubbed down the shower as I showered when needed. I also discovered it is great for giving your sink a quick wipe down a few times a week so it is always clean.
I bought another one for this house and love how incredibly convenient it is to bounce from one bathroom to the next. I fully endorse this cleaning hack!
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Best thing I ate this week: Hummus plate with grilled chicken from Dune.
A refillable scrub brush…duh!
Talk to you next week, in September! Woo hoo!
Xx, M
Is there a recipe for that amazing mushroom egg bowl!?
My family - particularly, my daughter and her children and my two sisters!!