Aron teased me a bit about my wish to return to Disneyland again this year for Skyler’s birthday: it’s the Southern Californian in me, perhaps, that sort of expects it to be a piece of the kids’ childhood when in fact it’s a rare privilege.
In fact, I feel incredibly lucky that we got to go again this year. It’s such fun to see the kids’ reactions to things at different ages—to see their eyes light up with the thrills and surprises, the theme park magic. And bittersweet, too, as we come to see that Hudson is already “too old” for some rides and attractions. As with Riley in the movie Inside Out, some his fantasy island is getting a bit more shaky. It only made me gladder that we took the opportunity to go again this year, to soak it up!
And this time, for the first time with the kids, we went for multiple days and visited California Adventure, staying at the Disneyland Hotel.
Sometime last November, I discovered the beautiful food blog, Foolproof Living—its author, Aysegul Sanford, and I struck up a conversation and over the course of a few emails she agreed to contribute to a new take on our food series where we test seasonal recipes from some of our favorite cookbooks.
For this first installment, Aysegul chose the aptly named Cook Beautiful (it’s gorgeous!). Athena Calderone, who is also behind the blog Eye-Swoon, partnered with Johnny Miller on the photography, and in Aysegul’s opinion, he’s one of the best food photographers out there right now. We chose one recipe to feature, and Aysegul tested it out and took these pictures at her home in Vermont.
Recipes in Cook Beautiful follow the seasons, beginning with spring and ending with winter, and feature a mix of vegetable and meat-focused dishes and desserts. At the beginning of each chapter, the produce of that season is listed to give the reader an idea as to what to play around with in their own kitchen. Aysegul has cooked through most of the winter recipes so far, and had this to say about the book:
“Every recipe I tried was packed with a ton of flavor. Though there are a few recipes made with ‘hard to find ingredients,’ most of them are made with ingredients found in well stocked pantries. She did a very good job finding ingredients that would go well together. For example, I would have never thought to combine tarragon, citrus, and roasted hazelnut in one dish, but they work so surprisingly well together.”
She also noted that special attention was clearly given to the images, which are spectacular. “The color theme matches with the seasons and the ingredients used. Spring and summer is mostly light, happy, and bright colors and mood, whereas autumn and winter are more in grey tones with a winter festive and moody feel. However, as you scroll through the pages it works beautifully without overwhelming the eye.”
Cook Beautiful is definitely a book worth picking up and poring over.
Here’s one particularly stunning recipe from the book to try, featuring this season’s winter citrus…
Remember when skinny jeans became a mainstream thing? It was all straight leg, boot cut, or flare, and then all of the sudden the tide changed. I thought I’d never switch. “Good for you, not for me.”
