Your not so humble correspondent sings her own praises . . .

You all know by now that I have strong opinions. You may not be easily convinced though, when I tell you I am usually willing to be proven wrong. Today, however, my aim is to show my single gentlemen readers what they are missing in a wife by not pursuing moi (she blushes coily).

It's still hot today, but the kitchen was reasonably cool and the nights are cooling and this always triggers a nesting reaction in me. I've never really had spring fever, except around the time of my birthday, I usually do go out in search of some new makeup. However, I have always, as long as I can remember, gotten horrible fall fever. The moment you can feel that tinge in the air, I start craving days cool enough to wear a sweater and I start paging through my cook books. I begin to bake bread again (something which summer heat usually deters) and experimenting with soups and stews. I start nesting in a bad way. But the achy-est part is not having someone who appreciates my culinary endeavours.

Today I again experimented with my favorite cookbook, The Flavor Bible and came up with three gems:

Shrimp poached in a sauce of butter/olive oil, orange juice, fresh Thyme and Capers

Flageolet Beans with Thyme, Garlic, lemon juice and olive oil

Greek Yogurt sauce with sauteed red peppers

Later on, I think I may have to bake a loaf of bread and there is some fresh fennel and spinach which both require something like steaming or sauteing - haven't decided yet. I might even throw caution to the wind and put them together in something magical.