I recently signed up to receive produce through New Roots Organics and my first bin came last Tuesday. It was very exciting!

I ordered the smaller “personal” bin and it contained: 1 peach, 4 Santa Rosa plums, 1 cucumber, 1 bunch of basil, 1 bunch of Romaine lettuce, 1 ½ pint of cherry tomatoes, 2 ears of bi-color corn, 1 bunch of spinach, 2 yellow zucchini, a hefty bunch of green beans, and 3 heirloom potatoes.

I was so excited when it arrived that I immediately started cooking with it. I made butterfly pizza with roasted green beans and corn on the cob.

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Tonight I had a group of 6 people over for dinner. I had a bunch of pasta to cook with, so I made Rigatoni con Crema di Pomodoro e Pancetta Affumicata. Recipes and photos behind the cut!

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My friend Aaron had a birthday yesterday, and held a little gathering at a local bar here in Seattle. I hadn’t seen him in several months, so I was looking forward to wishing him a happy birthday.

We met a couple years ago at our mutual friends’ wedding. He was the best man and I was the maid of honor and therefore, we got to know each other through wedding planning, rehearsals, and whatnot.

Now, Aaron and I are about as opposite as they come. He’s a hardcore metal musician, and I’m a church-going goody 2 shoes. But for some reason we really hit it off. Our friends call it odd and unexpected. I call it friendship. He’s a great guy and I’m glad to know him.

Anyway, I was thinking about his birthday and decided I wanted to make something to bring to his gathering. I figured there would be a good crowd and although drinks and bar food have their time and place, birthdays require homemade treats.

“What would be a good treat for Aaron?” I asked myself. “Oh I know,” I thought, “Black Metal Cupcakes!! There’s got to be something like that out there!”

Thanks to Google, I found an awesome recipe over at The Black Oven Blog. The owner of the blog, Meg, is a black metal enthusiast who also has a passion for cooking. Check out her blog. It’s pretty sweet. Erm...I mean...it’s full of wrath and eternal gloom! Or something.

These cakes are known all over the web by various names, but I just want to call them ‘Death Cakes’. I really like the way it rolls off the tongue. Try it: “Death Cakes”. See? Hey Aaron, is there a difference between Black Metal and Death Metal? Hopefully it’s okay with you that I’m leaning toward the death side on these.

Anyway, less talky, more cakey! Here’s Meg’s recipe, along with some of my own additional notes and a few photos.

( O beware, all ye who enter here! )

We made mac ‘n’ cheese over the weekend. It didn’t turn out as great as I’d hoped. It had kind of a bitter taste to it, and I couldn’t figure out if it was due to too much rosemary in the mix, or perhaps the fact that the breadcrumbs got slightly burned. It was fun to try this recipe, though, and now I want to do more cooking with figs, just because!

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Tonight I looked to a recent issue of Bon Appetit for dinner inspiration. This recipe is from the June 2008 issue. It turned out quite yummy!

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So, we had some leftover caramelized onion and deli ham from the quesadillas we made on Wednesday. And, we had a ton of eggs. Like, three cartons worth. Why? Because I’m a space cadet and keep thinking I need to get a full dozen for every recipe that calls for eggs, forgetting that we already have some sitting in the fridge.

Any-hoo-diddly, we used up some of those leftovers in quiche!

Andy has recently discovered the magic that is quiche. A basic recipe is really simple, and you can make variations to your heart’s content, so it never gets old!

Here’s how he made last night’s yummies:

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Last night we made bacon asparagus pizza. It was to die for.

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On Saturday, we went to Pike Place Market here in Seattle and grabbed ingredients for dinner. We ended up with some asparagus from a local produce stand, prosciutto from DeLaurenti’s, and Sweet Potato Pasta from Pappardelle’s Pasta.

Recipe and photos behind the cut!

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I recently quit my job to take a different (read: better!) one. One of my last days there, my office had a surprise pseudo going away party for me. People brought potluck items, there was a “goodbye good luck we’ll miss you” card, I had to give a little speech – you get the idea.

Even though it was a surprise party, I ended up contributing to the potluck. I’d made a cheeseball the night before and thought I’d bring it into the office for everyone to munch. It fit in nicely with the other snacks people brought for the potluck.

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Monday night’s dinner:

Baked Pasta with Sausage, Tomatoes, and Cheese

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The other day I stopped in at Panera Bread to grab some lunch. I tried the sample bread they had out, and LOVED it, so I ordered a loaf. Tomato Basil. How can you go wrong?

Over the weekend I used it for toast and sandwiches. On Saturday morning I made myself an egg sandwich and oh my...so good!

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We also made heavenly grilled cheese sandwiches last night. Tomato Basil bread, sharp Australian aged white cheddar, fresh basil, and sliced tomatoes. Grilled to perfection and served with tomato soup and garden salad. Alas, no photos. But holy cow. You should try it. Yum.

My favorite cookbook is a large, textbook-sized, falling-apart monster of a book. I got it through one of those “Buy 5, Get 5 Free” book club dealio’s way back when I was 17. It’s dog-eared and bookmarked, and I probably get it out at least 2 or 3 times a month.

I got it out last night to make the following recipe. I tried this one for the first time about 10 years ago, and have probably made it 6 or 7 times since. It’s almost always a hit.

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From Whole Foods.

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I think prosciutto would’ve been an excellent addition to the chowder, but I forgot to pick some up so I didn’t try it this time around.

Again, no photos, but recipe is behind the cut.

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Whole Foods didn’t have smoked provolone, so I got smoked mozzarella instead. The chicken breasts I bought ended up being SUPER thin, so instead of slicing them, I just layered two together with the stuffing between all sandwich-like. Surprisingly, everything held together just fine. (We tried skewers at first, but that didn’t work.) Less expensive ham can be used in lieu of the proscuitto.

Asparagus and sun-dried tomato scones on the side, and this was a tasty dinner. Mmm-mm!