Ok, I think Socca is a standout recipe. Not only is it super tasty, super healthy and re

A flatbread cooking nicely.

Ready to be dressed.

OMG

Gorgeous watermelon, mint and feta

Ok, I think Socca is a standout recipe. Not only is it super tasty, super healthy and relatively simple, it is also super pretty. Yotam, you’ve thrilled me again. The chickpea flour flatbreads, more like crepes really, were such a neat base; the taste difference (chickpea flour vs. regular) was subtle but nice. It was a slight, reserved, hint of nuttiness that just seemed right with the onions, tomatoes, oil and thyme.

As well, this salad was like spring blooming in your mouth. You might recall (but probably don’t and that is OK) my brief mention of barrel-aged Feta some weeks ago. Such a niche little product that I happened upon, but when you are only using 4 ingredients, this is the kind of special item that can really make a grand show.

Delish!!

The Socca prep is underway- how scrumptious do these caramelizing onions and oven-roast

The Socca prep is underway- how scrumptious do these caramelizing onions and oven-roasting tomatoes look? Aah, and how pretty is this radish? Spicy to the max- my first bite was quite a surprise. Off to make flatbreads.

8,000 buttons and receipts

Why on earth do I save some of the stuff I do? Since I first moved to NYC in 2000 and realized how much I needed to downsize, I have reveled in the somewhat regular life purge that moving often necessitates but that also sometimes feels like a great way to shed some old skin. A few years after relocating to New York, I visited my parents in Louisiana and found under my bed there, every corsage from every formal my high school boyfriend and I attended. It was the most insane “am I Miss Havisham?” moment ever! Fortunately I had the wherewithal to immediately toss them out.

I feel there is some psychic benefit to scaling back, giving away clothes or other things you really never use, finally tossing all those magazines you’re never going to have time to read, jettisoning those remaining boxes that you’re never going to unpack. It’s literal and figurative clearing out!

So back to my initial query about why I’m now surrounded by extra buttons (I can’t sew and don’t really intend to learn) and old receipts. Good grief, get me the garbage can!