farm to table – zezoo cooks

Cupcakes and Gratitude

american, baking, birthday, cake, cake art, california, celebration, chocolate, christmas, cupcakes and muffins, dessert, european, fall, farm to table, freezer friendly, frosting, general announcements, german, holidays, make ahead, recipe card, snack, southern, spring, summer, sweet, thanksgiving, whole grain, winter

Final Update: August 25, 2021!

When I was pregnant last year, there were so many reasons it felt like a cloud was hanging over us, the pandemic being just one of them. Most of the time we powered through, busy with work, getting the house ready for the baby, and like everyone else in the world, tracking down toilet paper and disinfecting our groceries took up 80% of whatever time was left over! The upcoming early months with the baby seemed very daunting at the time, especially since we were not going to have anyone to help out at home, so to make it fun and to have something to mark the milestones and celebrate the fact that we were “surviving” early parenthood, I planned this very special little side project: I decided that for each of our baby’s monthly birthdays (the 25th of each month), I would make a seasonal cupcake recipe, and take his picture with the cupcakes!

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Leek and Tofu Potstickers

appetizer, asian, chinese, chinese new year, dairy free, dinner, farm to table, freezer friendly, lunch, main, make ahead, savory, snack, spring, tofu, vegan, vegetarian, weeknight

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Ever since I took the Wonders of Wonton class at San Francisco’s pop-up school The Civic Kitchen I’ve been on a bit of wonton bender. I had made two big batches of 2 types of wontons few weeks ago and I think I had them in the freezer but they seem to have disappeared, and they took some of the chili oil with them.

I had no option but to make more. Figured I would use leeks from my farm stand haul, with some tofu for bulk. I added some store bought lemongrass paste but it was quite intense, and a bit synthetic in flavor – the wontons tasted alright overall but not how I imagined they would. I guess I’ll need to try to a different brand or try to make my own – stay tuned! I’m not suggesting the paste in the recipe below but feel free to add 1-1 1/2 teaspoon of your favorite brand if you’d like to experiment (just adjust the salt and spice level accordingly)!

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Beckoning Spring + Rainbow Chard Crepes!

appetizer, breakfast, california, dairy free, farm to table, grain free, greens, indian, legumes, lentils and pulses, lunch, maharashtrian, main, make ahead, salad, savory, snack, soup, spring, vegan, vegetarian, weeknight

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A few weeks ago, we drove up couple hours north of San Francisco to check out some new places, early-Spring scenery and eat some oysters. We came back inspired, relaxed, and rejuvenated, already drawing up the schedule for a summer visit.

We went all the way north up to Cazadero and drove our way back south, visiting Tomales Bay, Inverness, Pierce Point (hello Elks!), Point Reyes, Bolinas and Stinson Beach, taking in the beautiful pastures, crisp air and grazing cows, as Northern California showed itself off preparing for an early Spring.

MarinCounty-002 — Pretties from the Inverness, Point Reyes Station and Bolinas areas

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