My latest "go-to" pasta sauce is a simple tapenade. For the version I made for "date night" last night, I roasted one red pepper, some Vidalia onion, and two cloves of garlic. I whirled this in my food processor with a mix of black and green olives, fresh basil, some olive oil, a few mint leaves, and a few shakes of Jane's crazy salt. (The lights went out briefly in the middle of making it due to strong storms, but luckily they come back on!) Mixed it with whole wheat penne pasta from Whole Foods and a few multicolored farmer's market cherry tomatoes. It paired surpisingly well with a very nice Domaine de l'Eule Chardonnay - a four star pick from our WSJ wine club. Very tasty

Was finally able to hit Lower Makefield Farmer's Market this week - yeah! Excited to see some new vendors, such as Apple Ridge Farm from Saylorsburg, PA. Snagged their last whole wheat pizza crust - perfect for dinner after day at the pool. Paired it with some fresh red leaf lettuce, English peas, and colorful cherry tomatoes from Promised Land Natural Farm and Sterling Farm, along with some fresh peaches and feta cheese I had at home - yum! Looking forward to getting back to my weekly trip there and getting to know the new vendors.

Wonderful Father's Day celebration today at my Mom's house. All the Dads were there - mine - still truly amazing at 82, along with my hubby Joe, brother Jon, and brother-in-law Paul. Only my other brother Chuck was not there - we missed you!
We put together a yummy meal for these guys: steak and clams on the grill, crusty bread, mashed potatoes, green bean salad with tomatoes and garlic, and I "invented" a tossed salad comprised of butter lettuce, mint, fresh cherries and peaches, edamame and crumbled goat cheese, served with citrusy mustard dressing.  My Dad and I worked together to grill the clams - we were a great team. Brownies, choc chip and shortbread cookies for dessert along  with ice cream cake. Perfect ending to a perfect day :)

What a fantastic, productive week!
First I received a lovely e-mail from Molly Yun, assistant to Chef Walter Staib of the fabulous City Tavern in Philadelphia thanking me for the copy of the book I sent to him and how it is always wonderful to hear from another food history enthusiast - he is loving the book. We will stay in touch as he would like to do something at City Tavern later this year - an evening or event of some sort. I so much admire all that he does to preserve American culinary history, and am honored to share this ideal with him. 
On Wednesday the Midtown Scholar Bookstore in Harrisburg hosted me for a Book Signing. What an impressive place (the building was a former movie theater), and owners Eric and Catherine Papenfuse were so hospitable. We talked about a food-themed event for the fall - that would be great!
Then I headed over to PCN to film their PA Books program with Brian Lockman, who was a great interviewer and conversationalist. I was nervous but he put me at ease. The program airs on June 17 at 9.m.
When I got home my Spring Rutgers Magazine was in the mail - got a mention in the Alumni notes, and also saw an intriguing article about fellow Rutgers alum Chef Bill Yosses who is the White House Executive Pastry Chef: http://magazine.rutgers.edu/departments/spring-2012/the-arts/executive-sweets.  He also shares an interest in culinary traditions and using fresh, wholesome ingredients, so I sent him a copy of the book as the topic is right up his alley.
Thursday I attended the meeting of a book club here in Yardley who read my book, thanks to my friend Maureen Petrosky's suggestion. Jennifer and Ryan Adams were the gracious hosts. The discussion was lively and so helpful to me. I was flattered and thrilled that they enjoyed it and brought up some really interesting points. Thanks again ladies!