Sauced (BBQ)

Bananas do the darndest things

I'm making banana bread with some ripe bananas that I had put in the freezer last week. Look how they defrost! So weird and beautiful. So weird!

It was too hot for tarts

And the oven here is more than fickle. But ice cream - ice cream, I thought - that would go so nicely with a rhubarb compote.

And it did.


Rhubarb, Strawberry and Fennel Compote
this is sort of a recipe and sort of a fend-for-yourself-it's-worth-it

rhubarb, chopped
strawberries, chopped
fennel, chopped
sugar, to taste
dash of vanilla extract
dash of bourbon
butter

Heat about 1 tablespoon of butter in a saucepan over medium heat. When it's good and melted add everything. Let it all sit for for a minute or two, then stir occasionally while it becomes compote over the course of about 15 minutes or so. There should still be some soft bits of fruit.

Eternally yours,

These are busy times for Bread and Butter. Only quiet tables and stoop picnics cut the city heat. But I've got a little something for you. Diner Journal. Check it out. I'll be writing for their website about the meat program at their awesome restaurants. And the quarterly journal is really a treat for the intellect and the eyes. I know you'll like it. Interviews, features on oysters, a saucy centerfold, recipes - it's enough to make a over-heated, sluggish city girl jump for joy.


It even comes in handy on date night. Last weekend, Andrew and I made a small move-in feast. Hand-rolled cous cous with chile powder, raisins, and fried onions. A salad of tomato, basil and fennel. And an indoors adaption of Diner Journal's Grilled Squid with Eggplant, a toothsome mix, especially when generously accompanied by garlic and rosemary. Get your copy of the newly arrived summer issue, and you too can eat like Diner.

If you weren't convinced

that Wesleyan's own MGMT is everywhere, they are. Hellooo, stewed rhubarb. Hello, Brooklyn.


Classic and cheap: hunks of fresh sourdough with butter, some sliced radish (1 dollar for a bunch) and chives, because - as the man at the market told us - the hotter it is outside, the hotter the radish, and these babies were still oh so mild.