Shrimp two ways

As I feel I've not spent any time with my husband lately, I decided to cook us a feast tonight despite having been up since that awful pre-rooster time of 4:40p. I felt totally drunk all day; truly my fatigue was other-worldly. Anyway, I miss T and so am making a beautiful shrimp bisque and okonomiyaki, some Japanese scallion-cabbage-egg-shrimp pancakes that I've been wanting to make for a while. The former recipe is one I clipped from the NYTimes Dining section several years ago, and the latter dish is a beloved one from Food52. I'll post the bisque recipe for you later!

Avo-love

This past May, during the Eat, Write Retreat I attended, I met a new pal. She and I clicked pretty immediately and have been enthusiastic friends since, even though she upped and moved to Jersey, for the love. In any case, amongst other things, we share a real passion for avocados. My going-away present to her was an Avo-save (see first pic); I am the no-longer-skeptical owner of one and she admired it once. Both of us now strap our av-halves in the saver with what might seem to others an excessive glee, but we take our avocados seriously and dislike when the brown. The plastic wrap thing is wasteful and not terribly effective, and while the Avo-save isn't fool-proof, it is, nonetheless, effective enough and reusable. I enjoyed half of this avocado for lunch today, alongside some toasted multi-seed bread, fresh tomato, feta, roasted turkey and a drizzle of aged Balsamic. It was a lovely lunch, so tasty and pretty, in fact, that I ate it before snapping a picture. So moved by the simplistic beauty of this av-halve (peeps, I've been up since 4:40am with not one but BOTH boys so throw me a bone, I'm punchy!), I did photograph it.

The Julia

In addition to the dozen scones, I've spent the morning concocting this gorgeous cake. Butter, sugar, eggs, chocolate, almonds and rum are really all there is to it, and boy is it divine. It's basically flourless, and after creaming the butter and sugar and then incorporating the pulverized almonds you've just made, you alternate in the chocolate which you've melted gently with rum and the egg whites you've whipped until stiff. Every bite makes you pause; it's rich and decadent, yet manages to feel light. Truly a marvel what with its ingredients. Several years ago, when they were here for Christmas, my parents and sister gave me Mastering the Art of French Cooking. This was the first or second recipe I made from it, and I've never looked back. Julia's Reine de Saba! C'est magnifique!