I got a huge amount done this weekend, at least cooking-wise.

A new batch of granola was awaiting us this morning for breakfast. This one was pretty simple: dried cranberries, sunflower seeds, just a smidge of cinnamon, sliced almonds, all added to the basic oats/wheat germ brew. I upped the quantity of maple syrup just a tad. It’s delicious.

Having been thwarted by the Cupcake Truck on Friday (they ran out of frosting — frosting, people, the cupcake’s raison d’etre), I vowed to make cupcakes myself this weekend. And so I did. Using a couple of recipes from Cook’s Illustrated, I made a dozen Dark Chocolate Cupcakes and topped them off with Easy Chocolate Buttercream. I hadn’t made buttercream in years — since way before I got my stand mixer — and I will now never buy frosting in a can again. Ever.

Jim made some iced chai tea yesterday and I made up a batch of simple syrup, so last night’s beverage treat was an iced chai — very nice to do at home.

Last but not least, pictured here you can see the nice chicken salad we’re having for lunch this week. I poached 2 lbs of boneless chicken breast in a bit of chicken stock and water, accompanied by a couple of bay leaves. Once cooled and diced, I added three stalks of sliced celery and a bit of mayo and some pesto I had leftover from last week’s pasta pesto salad. The chicken is served on a bed of arugula and accompanied by those lovely, not-from-my-garden-yet tomatoes. It’s quite tasty, if I do say so myself, and there’s a bag of fresh (and on sale!) cherries for dessert.

It’s amazing what a weekend of warm weather and sunny skies will do. We’ve been having an unusually wet spring (22 or so days of rain since June 1!) and the jury’s still out on the long-term effects this is going to have on the vegetables, but when we checked the garden last night, we were absolutely amazed. The tomatoes are suddenly producing fruit like crazy — even the little Romas are getting into the act. The Big Boys and Jet Stars are both producing and it seems like the tomatoes get bigger while you watch. On Monday evening, the tomato plants looked to be in danger of toppling their bamboo stakes over, they’re getting so big. Jim devised a clever way of tying them to an overhead brace, and I’ve got pictures, which I’ll post later on this evening when I have some time.

The eggplant seems to have grown a couple of inches overnight, and I think we can see where the peppers might actually be coming around, too. The zucchini is apparently poised for world domination, and we continue to enjoy harvesting and eating the Romaine lettuce.

The herbs, which are all set out in pots on the edge of the observatory deck now, look as though they’re doing well. I’m going to treat them to a bit of fish-in-a-blender this evening, because really, who wouldn’t love that?

I don’t plan on making a habit of posting non-food-related content here, but this was so breathtaking it needed a place to go.

Last night we had our first tai chi class at Someday Farm. The farm is beautiful and offers a great big view of the sky from a large field adjacent to the house. Anyway, we arrived shortly before 7:30, on the heels of a fast-moving storm. In the sky above the field we caught this spectacular double rainbow:

I can’t remember ever having seen a double one before (the one on the left is quite a bit fainter than the one on the right, which was truly spectacular). It was a nice prelude to an otherwise wonderful evening.

Tonight I’m making Grilled Chipotle-Lime Chicken Breasts. The recipe is from Cook’s Illustrated, so I’m sure it’ll be tasty and fairly easy to prepare. Will probably accompany that with some Mexican rice and either a plain green salad or some steamed zucchini. Since we need to bolt out of the house pretty quickly on Tuesday night, it’s leftover jambalaya accompanied by a quick salad.

Wednesday night is dinner-in-the-oven night — meatloaf, potatoes, roasted asparagus. Thursday night I’m going to try a lighter version of eggplant parmesan — i.e. without frying the eggplant. Friday is Friday, which means takeout or a quick trip to a restaurant or something I thought up at the last minute.

I took one of the leftover chicken enchiladas mole for lunch today. Let’s see if Cuckoo’s Nest can redeem itself.

This evening we ate our first garden produce. I went out shortly before dinner and picked some romaine lettuce from our garden — the first stuff that’s all grown up and ready to sacrifice itself for my dinner. Currently there are six tiny tomatoes on the vines, and there are perhaps three zucchini blossoms ready to spring forth. The peppers and eggplant are (I hope) waiting for warmer weather, but the lettuce is ready to eat.

Eating stuff we planted and grew ourselves was more exciting than I expected it to be. There was something amazingly satisfying about wandering out to the garden, colander in hand, and coming back in with fresh-picked lettuce, still warm from the sun and the earth. Wearing only a light dressing of extra virgin olive oil and our 18-year-old balsamic vinegar, it was joined in the salad bowl by fresh radishes from Stephe and Ritu at Someday Farm. I know exactly what fertilized it, I know exactly what kind of pest repellent was used on it. It’s organic, it’s beautiful, and it’s ours.

We left the house to do some errands late this morning. First we stopped at Home Depot, where we picked up a piece of indoor/outdoor carpet for the inside of the POD. Then we headed back toward home to do the grocery shopping. We were forced off I-95 by weekend beach traffic (what a surprise), and as we wound our way through Branford, Jim remembered that we had talked about getting lobster rolls this weekend.

So we ducked through the center of town and headed down to the river, to a little place that makes what might be the best lobster rolls on the planet. I know, I exaggerate — or do I? It’s called The Lobster Shack, and it’s on the industrial waterfront of the Branford River, in other words, the place where the commercial fishermen in town tie up their boats. There’s a lobster wholesaler there, and last season, or maybe the year before, they were inspired to set up a little take-out trailer in the parking lot. They’ve put some tables out by the docks and they serve the basics: lobster rolls, chowder, clams on the half-shell, hot dogs, and sausage and peppers on a roll. There are soft drinks and bottled water to be had (help yourself from the appropriately marked cooler) and a freezer with ice cream bars in it.

The folks who dish out the food couldn’t be friendlier. The place, for a parking lot, is immaculately clean. The lobster rolls are, in a word, perfect. These are elemental lobster rolls — nothing but warm lobster, butter, and a New England style (split-top) hot dog bun. In the ongoing debate between hot lobster rolls (with butter) and cold ones (with mayonnaise and sometimes a bit of chopped celery and the like), hot wins hands down every time with me, and these are superb. They’re also a decent size, and well worth the $14 they cost. Oh, and bring cash, ’cause they don’t do the plastic.

So we parked the van and strolled up to the order window. They had music on — a bit of Springsteen. I can’t think of anything better for the day. We got lobster rolls and a couple of bottles of water and parked ourselves at a picnic table by the river and watched a clamming boat come in and dock. I love this place.

Last night we went out for a planned dinner. We had decided to try Cuckoo’s Nest in Old Saybrook, a spot that fairly consistently wins “Best Mexican Restaurant” honors in various polls. While I was getting ready to go out we had a late-day thunderstorm, but the weather cleared by the time we were ready to leave the house and we went out in the M3 for a top-down drive down the Boston Post Road, along the shoreline, a really pleasant excursion after a hot, muggy day.

The restaurant wasn’t particularly crowded (but the hostess took our name, as if there might be a wait for a table –but we were seated instantly) and the decor is very casual. Our waiter was pleasant and greeted us promptly and took our drink orders. I had the house sangria (which is apparently “famous” for reasons that escape me) and Jim ordered a Negra Modelo. There was a basket of decent tortilla chips on the table and a small dish of good (and spicy) salsa.

For a supposedly Mexican restaurant, the menu at Cuckoo’s Nest is a tad confusing. They offer up a selection of Cajun and Creole dishes as well as some very standard Tex-Mex fare. This is certainly a case of doing too many things to do any of them particularly well. For an appetizer, we ordered the Cajun popcorn shrimp. We got a very decent-sized basket of small shrimp served with a spicy dipping sauce, heavy on the hot sauce. They were good — the breading was light, the frying tasted clean, and they were crisp and not greasy. They probably didn’t need to be served on a bed of lettuce.

Salad came next and wasn’t very exciting — a mixture of boring lettuces (most of which was iceberg, the cardinal sin of salad) topped with a few chick peas and a small slice of tomato. The dressings tasted bottled.

My entree was off the specials menu; I ordered a crab, shrimp and spinach quesadilla. The quesadilla itself was okay, but nothing to write home about. The unremarkable tortilla was largely at fault here — it did nothing to enhance the filling. I’m also accustomed to seeing some cooking or grill marks on a quesadilla — this one just looked as if it had been pressed flat. The accompanying rice was dry. The small serving of pineapple salsa that accompanied the dish was good, and just the right combination of sweet and spicy. The colors — all orangey-beige — made for a fairly bland presentation. Jim ordered the chicken enchiladas mole, which looked like a better choice. I’m going to reserve judgment until I’ve had a chance to taste the leftovers.

We drove home the same way we came and got a glimpse of the Madison fireworks on the way back, and I leaned my head back and watched the moon and the stars go by. It was a great excuse for a ride, and I think we’ll head out to Old Saybrook for dinner again. I just think we’ll pick a better restaurant. For Mexican, we’ll stick to Jalapeno Heaven or Baja’s, both closer to home, both serving way better food.

We had the day off yesterday and took a quick trip to the garden center, mostly to buy some potted herbs since the re-potted kitchen counter plants seem to have given up the fight. The parsley’s hanging in, but honestly, the parsley wasn’t the most interesting thing there.

So we got a small pot of cilantro, a pot of rosemary, a pot of dill (even their dill doesn’t look thrilled to be here), and a pot of lemon thyme. I have no idea what I’ll do with the lemon thyme, but it smells lovely. We also got a pot of cat grass (to be kept indoors where the cats can eat it) and a small pot of catnip, which I’ll probably keep outdoors for the summer and then bring in, assuming it survives my attentions.

Oh, also, a pot of marigolds. It’s a big pot, but it has perhaps four or five separate plants in it. I’m going to separate them and plant them right in the vegetable garden, where they supposedly will do an organic job of repelling things that will eat the plants. Of course I’ve since read a lot of conflicting stuff about whether or not this works or is indeed an old gardener’s tale, but since we know they don’t hurt anything and they look pretty and add an unexpected splash of color to my very green garden, I’m going to give it a shot. So later on today I’ll be doing a little digging and potting those herbs.

Wish them luck.

I know it’s not much, but a few days ago we saw our first tomato. Since I took this picture, it’s grown some — it’s about as big as a good-sized grape right now — and has been joined by two siblings, barely as big as peas. This is almost the moment we’ve been waiting for.

And yeah, I’m as surprised as anyone. If this little bit o’ produce manages not to get blown off the plant in the severe weather we’re expecting tomorrow or eaten by some garden pest — and doesn’t just up and die — then we’ll be eating one day soon. Yes we will. Because, after all, we kill for food.

You know summer’s really here when the Fourth of July rolls around. Although the weather’s been warm and muggy these last couple of weeks, it’s also largely been grey and rainy, so most of us aren’t exactly feeling the season (our AC is broken right now, so we’re feeling it, but not in ways that we’d like).

One of our plans for the weekend is to have dinner at The Cuckoo’s Nest out in Old Saybrook. They pretty consistently win awards for Best Mexican Food, but since Mexican food in these parts is usually mediocre at best, I’m not really holding out hope that it’ll be anything to write home about. Mostly we’re looking at it as an excuse to take the M3 out for a top-down spin along the shoreline. If there are decent nachos and a good margarita at the end of that, I’ll not complain. If it does turn out to be worth writing home about, I’ll do that. Or at least I’ll post something here.

Other than that, we’ll be staying close to home. I’m thinking there will be fresh berries on the menu somewhere, either in the form of shortcake, or perhaps adorning a bowl of homemade ice cream. Oh, and I’m going to do a jambalaya, complete with andouille sausage, chicken, and shrimp. It’s a Cook’s Illustrated recipe, and I will certainly report on that. I’m thinking it’d be nice to have some sauteed greens to go with it, or perhaps (or also) some corn on the cob.

Sometimes thinking about food is almost as good as cooking it.