I spent a lot of time in the kitchen today. Lunch was a thai green curry ling cod with rice and chard. Supper was a steak sandwich with grilled shoulder of beef and pagnotta garlic toasts. I thought shoulder of beef needed a moist cooking environment. I was wrong – it’s excellent grilled. I should have known, as my favorite bit of grilled pork = shoulder. This evening I prepped a kilo of vanilla bean ice cream base that’s ready to be churned, a pint of vanilla bean creme anglaise [and yes, I have something up my sleeve with these two items], and a paté de campagne. So after deboning fish, skinning and deboning pork shoulder, grinding and cleanup of the meat for the paté, and all the million other things involved, I’m pooped.

Add to that: we’re nearly positive Evelyne’s teething. That’s not good news. I suppose it has to happen some time, but now it’s throwing off her sleeping and eating, and she’s crying from discomfort. So they who said ‘straight from colic to teething’ were right. Lucky us.

Lastly, a photo from yesterday. I’m working on my ‘garden beet salad’ recipe. This one’s got goat cheese, tarragon from my garden, and a Tuscan olive oil vinaigrette. It was good. But I’m hoping to do better.