Get your sunscreen out and get your pancakes on.

I think we can all agree that this New York weather is getting ridiculous. You know it's hot when:

1.) You're talking on your cell and your elbow crease starts to drip.

2.) The idea of carrying your laundry to the laundromat is so daunting you'd rather find creative ways to wear whatever sad collection of clothes you have left in your closet. Even if they don't match. Channel Punky Brewster and own it.

3.) You're considering taking advantage of the heat by cooking eggs on your fire escape. Which I will do later this morning and report back to you. I'm strangely excited about it.

That said, even in this heat wave, I'm getting a little tired of fresh fruit and juices for breakfast. Why is comfort food relegated to the colder, winter months? A 100+ degree day calls for a little comfort food along with healthy doses of blissful air conditioning. (Let's take a moment today and thank God for this man.)

This morning we celebrated summer with a pancake breakfast in our chilled apartment. Not just any pancakes though. Banana Ginger Pancakes. That are gluten-free. The flavors of the banana and ginger really transport you to someplace tropical. In retrospect I could should have thrown in shredded coconut, played some Marley and pretended I was in Barbados. But alas, ideas like "Vacation Reggae Pancakes" don't occur to me before 10AM.

It's now up to you to make that happen.

Banana-Ginger Pancakes
Makes 4 medium-sized pancakes/ Serves 2

1 cup Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free All-Purpose Baking Flour
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. xanthan gum
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup almond milk
1-inch piece of fresh ginger, grated on a microplane
1/3 cup agave nectar
1 ripe banana, mashed
1/4 cup hot water


1. Combine the first six ingredients and stir until evenly combined.
2. Make a small well in the middle of the flour mixture and add the milk, ginger, agave and banana at once. Stir gently until the wet mixture is incorporated and the batter is smooth.
3. Add the hot water slowly and fold into the batter until it takes on a smoother, thinner consistency (If you prefer thin, less cake-y pancakes, you can add more hot water until the desired consistency is reached.).
4. Over medium heat, lightly coat a nonstick pan or griddle with oil and pour a 1/2 cup of the batter into the skillet. Cook about 2 minutes on each side.

Wilma, my loyal and curious kitten, likes to sit at the table with me when Brian isn't around. Publicly I discourage her, but secretly I love it.

She needed a plan.

Brian (read: husband) and I dated for nine years before tying the knot. Yes, that's a long time. But when you only see each other once or, if you're lucky, twice a week during that almost-decade, there still remains a lot to learn about the other person. That was the case with us.

During the last three years before getting married, he worked an overnight shift while I kept more traditional office hours. So almost every day during this period, we would talk from 7:45PM-8PM, during his drive to work. Those 15 minutes were fast and efficient. We updated each other on our day at work, quizzed each other on availability for social outings, talked logistics and/or wedding plans, and said our 'I love yous'.

What didn't get talked about was a lot. We would make up for it when we finally saw each other in person at the end of the week, but there was one question that never got asked until recently, when Brian finally transfered to Manhattan full-time, meaning that we now see each other every night:

"What's for dinner?"

Oh, yeah. Meal planning. Something I rarely, if ever, did. I'm Italian-American, which means I definitely think about my meals. The we-just-finished-breakfast-what-do-we-want-for-dinner syndrome is alive and well in my bloodline. The only thing was that seeing my boyfriend/fiance during the weekends only meant that weeknight dinners were catered to me and only me.

Fruit and Granola. Salad with Sauteed Tofu. Hummus and Crackers. Blissfully simple for me; utterly boring for him.

I needed to get on my A-game. This recipe for a summertime quinoa salad helped me get there. In fact, we scarfed this down in such a fast and furious manner that taking photos didn't even occur to me until I was doing the dishes. Oops.

I riffed a bit on Kalyn's recipe by adding crispy shallots and garlic and toasted sunflower seeds. I also omitted the cumin. Just a personal preference.

Did you know that quinoa is also a complete protein source, which means it contains all essential amino acids? Definitely extra credit points for me with my protein-loving hubs.

Easy recipes like this remind me how fun sharing meals can be. Cheers to one of many dinners we are finally eating and enjoying together. Let me know how you like it!

Berry Optimistic

I sleep violently. A typical night's rest is usually marked with fits of tossing, multiple trips to the kitchen to refill my water glass and an indecisive relationship with our blankets. On or off? Comforter or top sheet? Do we need fresh air?

Saturday night was no exception. After a night out, Brian and I planned to sleep in before heading out Long Island to celebrate Easter with our families.

And then I woke up. At 5:00AM. Scratching my arms.

It took me a minute to realize that I'd been the victim of an obese mosquito. My arms were covered in cherry-sized welts. War was waged.

I'll spare you the gory 'skeeter-versus-cranky girl violence that ensued; I've returned to a happy place by repeating these one, two, THREE things:

you need to put screens in the windows...

b e c a u s e:

summer is almost here...

w h i c h  m e a n s:
it's time for fun with summer fruits!

That's positive thinking, folks. Let's make a fruit crisp to celebrate.

Tropical Crisp with Blackberry, Mango and Basil
Serves 6

For the fruit:

2 1/2 cups blackberries
2 cups mango, diced into 1-inch pieces
2 Tbs. all-purpose flour
1 Tbs. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
pinch salt
1 Tbs. lemon juice
2 Tbs. agave nectar
1 Tbs. basil, sliced very thinly

For the topping:

1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup toasted coconut (unsweetened)
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
pinch of ground ginger
pinch salt
2 Tbs. vegetable oil
2 Tbs. agave nectar
2 Tbs. rice milk
1 Tbs. vanilla

1. Prepare the fruit: toss all ingredients in a bowl and set aside while you work on the filling.

2. Prepare the filling: Combine the first seven ingredients until they are evenly distributed. In another small bowl, stir together the wet ingredients. Slowly add this mixture to the dry ingredients and stir with a fork until the dry ingredients are all moistened and slightly crumbly in texture.

3. Spread the fruit in an even layer in a greased 9-inch square baking dish (or in individual ramekins). Spoon the topping over the fruit and spread out in an even layer (as much as possible). Bake for 30 minutes, until the top is golden and crunchy and the fruit is bubbly.