Chicken and Bean Stew

with fresh turnip greens and whole wheat penne thrown in.

Roasted Butternut Squash with Sage and Shiitakes

and for once I didn't over-roast it. I can't tell you how delicious it was; sweet and sticky and savory and oily. We had it with sauteed bok choy, and scrambled eggs.

Chicken Sausage

with quinoa and roasted cauliflower.

Frankencarrot

Check out what the spouse dug out of the garden this evening!

Hello Kitty Waffles

For Sunday breakfast. Today's flour: equal parts whole wheat, kamut, and teff. I used to use the Hello Kitty waffle-maker for my daughter's sake, but now I don't know what I did without it: perfect portions for toddlers and adults alike. And cute!

Fried Chicken

with roasted brussels sprouts and brown rice. This turned, the next night, into a soup of chicken, white beans, squash, tomatoes, and peanut butter, heavily perfumed with ginger. Mmmm.

Frittata

of beet greens, mustard greens, and red peppers; with giant sweet potatoes.

Ribs and Rice

This never disappoints; I put together barbecued rib meat with leftover brown rice and whatever vegetable is to hand; we're having it again tonight because it can't be beat for ease and deliciousness.

Clam Chowder

Courtesy of Boston's Legal Seafood, via a good friend. Totally delicious; we had it with sauteed red peppers and fennel, and buttered sourdough toast.

Kenzo

I don't remember when I last even thought of the name Kenzo, but I loved everything in the collection. Show me a belt, a pattern, and some color, and I'm all yours.

Frittata

of potatoes and bok choi, with sauteed bok choi stems on the side.

Lamb

Those sort of steak-looking leg pieces; with brown rice and roasted cauliflower. On Saturday I made another chocolate-beet cake (from the Hot and Hot Fish Club cookbook) and this time I went whole hog tweaking it: lots more beets, whole wheat flour, 1 C instead of 1 and 3/4 C sugar, coconut oil instead of butter. Still delicious.

Field Peas

with sauteed escarole and bacon, with roasted yellow fingerling potatoes. I ate myself stupid on the latter.

Costello Tagliapietra

Boys, send me this dress. I will never, and I mean never, take it off.

On a related note, it is so interesting to read reviews of fashion shows one can only see online. It's clear that the difference between clothes in life and clothes in pictures is important; people who actually see them have such different reactions from mine, and the year that Viktor and Rolf made their show available as a Quicktime film was a real revelation to me. This year, the Lanvin show is getting worshipful reviews. I always love Lanvin, so I'm down with it, but I don't see the kind of paradigm-shifitng influence people who actually saw it describe. Partly, of course, I don't know fashion like the experts, but a lot of it, I think, is that clothes really have to be seen in person to be appreciated. Maybe they have to be worn to be appreciated.

Which reminds me: C/P! Send me that orange dress right now!

Pesto Meatballs

with yellow wax beans, and whole wheat penne with parmesan and butter. Noodles with parmesan and butter is one of my favorite things to eat; there were times in graduate school when it's more or less all I did eat.

Apple-Pear Tart

We had pizza for dinner, tart for dessert. It was a very simple affair: I rolled out the pie crust left over from the pumpkin pie into a tart pan, and threw in three peeled and sliced pears, and one peeled and sliced Fuji apple, all the fruit seasoned with a little lemon juice and sugar. (In retrospect I'd add a pinch of salt, too.) I baked the whole thing at 400 degrees for 35 minutes, and it was really delicious.

Rodarte

Someone seriously needs to explain the continued existence of Rodarte to me. I don't mean artistically; I loved the first show of theirs I ever saw and I only get hungier for more, season after season. But honest to Pete: they make clothes that cost thousands of dollars, that require endless complex handwork to make, that can only be worn to formal events of the most fashion-forward kind. Who is funding all of this?

Rochas

It's fashion week in Paris! My heart is singing. Rochas, once the home of supernova Olivier Theyskens, has a new designer and this is his first runway showing. I loved it—it's full of gorgeous color and shiny fabric and flattering silhouettes I'd wear tomorrow if I could; in all it pleases the "make me look pretty!" part of my brain the way Comme des Garcons satisfies the "make me look brave and interesting!" part. I also notice that if there is one runway trend that dominated in all four fashion week cities (NY, London, Milan, and looks to be Paris too), it's socks with everything.

West African Okra Stew

Found a recipe on the internet and followed it loosely. The stew involved:

6 chicken thighs
1 can of tomatoes
a whole lotta okra
one small pumpkin
one onion
four cloves of garlic
one half cup peanut butter
chicken stock
tomato paste
cilantro

We had it over rice, and it was delicious.