During a recent trip to the farmers market I noticed an unusually long line at one of the stands. It seemed like they were selling the same vegetables as everyone else, but then I spotted them – zucchini flowers. No other stand had them that day and they were nice and fresh. Five dollars for a good sized container. I hopped in line and bought some.

So then I had to decide what to do with them. Zucchini flowers were made for stuffing, but the only question is with what. I love stuffing them with crab or lobster, but that’s obviously not your everyday dinner. Even plain cheese is nice, but I wanted something different. I decided on polenta. I had never done it before, but it sounded like it might work. When soft polenta cools it is easy to stuff into things (especially with the help of a pastry bag), and when reheated it regains its creamy texture. The crispness of the fried zucchini flower provided a nice contrast to the soft filling. It was a very satisfying dish (and next time I think I’ll add some lobster).

Polenta Stuffed Zucchini Flowers (serves 4-6)

24 zucchini flowers
2-1/2 cups water or stock
1 Tablespoon chopped fresh herbs (I used lemon thyme, rosemary and sage)
1/2 cup fine cornmeal
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup diced cheddar cheese
2 Tablespoons shredded parmesan cheese
Flour for dredging
2 eggs
2 cups Japanese breadcrumbs

Wash the flowers and remove the stamen from the center. Bring the water or stock to a boil with the fresh herbs. Whisk in the cornmeal, salt and pepper. Cook and stir on medium-low heat until thick. Remove from the heat and cool completely.

Add the cheeses when the polenta is cool. Fill each flower with the polenta – a pastry bag makes it easy, otherwise use a small spoon. Coat the flowers with flour. Lightly beat the eggs, then dip in the flowers. Finally, coat each flower with the breadcrumbs and fry in a large skillet over medium heat until golden. Drain on paper towels and serve immediately.

It’s been a long week of meetings, but I now have a bit of time to decompress. It’s so hot outside and I’m not used to the daily commute on the subway or traveling during rush hour. I don’t think I’m used to so much thinking either. You can argue that much of design work is visual problem-solving, but not necessarily a task using analytical or comprehensive problem-solving skills. Designing a game for kids, on the other hand, and one that uses civics education as content, is just hurting my brain. I did, however, play tennis on the wii during my meeting yesterday and even though the wii is one game console that I would totally not mind having in the house, the thought is dangerous to entertain because I feel like we’d never get anything done.

I’m not a gamer, but video games were definitely part of my childhood. After all, I was part of a generation that grew up on Atari and the Commodore 64 – so so crude, yet so endlessly entertaining (we didn’t know any better then). The wii tennis game actually reminded me of those sports and Olympic games for the Commodore 64 that I used to play growing up, and maybe that’s why I even entertained the idea of getting a wii. I have such fond memories of playing these goofy games with my brother (who, one can argue, is a gamer – I mean if someone spends all night playing a video game – back then, Mario Brothers, these days, World of Warcraft, then I’m going to call that person a gamer). And with the 6 year difference between us (I’m older), it was one of the few activities that we could actually do together. Considering Mark spent one stint of unemployment many many years ago playing through the Tomb Raider series, I’m sure he wouldn’t object (uh, no Mark, I don’t think that means we’re getting a wii just yet). And Mia? Oh man, I can already tell that she’s going to be a gamer. Anything screen-related captures her attention completely, which is why we limit it so much. She spent most of one dinner out recently craning her neck to watch the kid at the next table play his Nintendo DS. I suppose it’s only a matter of time…

What is a sign of a great cookbook? To me, a great cookbook has a worn-out binding, a frayed cover and food-stained pages. That indicates that the cookbook is in use, rather than one that is just admired. On my shelf no book is more worn-out than this one: Frozen Desserts. I have owned it for over ten years and have used it extensively at every job I have had. The recipes are reliable and tasty and even work well in a commercial ice cream maker. I bought some plums to make ice cream the other day and turned to this book for guidance. I’ve used their recipe for plum ice cream on my dessert menus before. It calls for rosé wine, but I usually substitute with plum wine. This time I replaced it with créme de cassis. It ended up giving it a richer flavor as well as a much deeper color. Make sure to use dark-skinned plums for the best color.

Plum Cassis Ice Cream (makes 1 quart)

1 pound black plums
1/2 cup créme de cassis (blackcurrant liqueur)
1 cup heavy cream
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar

Wash the plums, remove the pits, then slice each into eight pieces. Place in a small pot with the créme de cassis. Bring to a boil, then simmer until the plums are soft – about 8-10 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Bring the cream just to a boil. Whisk the yolks and sugar together in a bowl, then slowly pour in the hot cream while continuing to whisk. Add the cooked plums. Purée both together until completely smooth. Chill completely before processing through your ice cream maker.

I enjoyed my last few hours of leisure last night as I started what will prove to be a very busy week. As predicted, I’m getting slammed with all of my 3 work projects at once and instead of trying to ease the workload by doing any “prep” work when I had the time, I’m just facing it head on. It’s funny that way. I’ve got a lot of nagging little things I need to get done that I should have been working on while I had my little bit of unexpected free time (like making the whimsy site e-commerce functional), but instead, I did none of it. When you’ve been out of the work mode for a few weeks, I find that it’s a bit hard to get settled back in, but I anticipate a few weeks of 14 hour work days again and I almost find it easier to just pile everything on all at once.

I did, however, prepare for my full week of client meetings last night by cleaning out the 2 junk drawers that we have. Must be a mental thing, but I feel sooooo much better now that I know that the junk drawer is organized! So…back to working…bye bye, leisure time.

We dropped off this box this morning for the Design Curator at MoMA as a gift from a client – a medium size gift box filled with assorted goodies. This time I wrapped the rigid gloss lidded box with paper, like a present, and finally used that beautiful Japanese wave pattern paper I bought awhile ago for the wrap around. And that ribbon that I’m in love with? It’s Martha Stewart. Did you know that she has this whole line of craft supplies? We’re talking everything from labels and stickers to patterned cupcake wrappers and shaped hole punchers. I had no idea, but discovered it while at a crafts store in the suburbs in one of my many searches for boxes.

We’ve been doing some specials for the Flea every week (and it looks like it’s going to be a gorgeous day – nearly every weekend last month has been rainy for some portion of the day). Today we have fruit tarts with apricots from the farmer’s market poached in tea, with candied ginger pastry cream and finished with glaze.

We’ll also have our watermelon shiso coolers, coconut five spice white chocolate cookies, and our butterscotch chocolate bar cookies, along with the usual fare. Mark usually goes to the market alone, but I might venture on the bus and bring the kids later. It’s been a while for me. Maybe we’ll see you?

I think I’ve mentioned my dad’s garden before, yes? He’s got an amazing collection of flowers, vegetables and trees, and is just about the only person I know who has a persimmon tree in his yard that actually produces fruit (and the fruit…wow! Like custard with the most delicate flavor). We love going to the house in the summer so we can see the progress of the garden. The girls get to pick the sweetest, crispest cucumbers from the vine and pretty soon, they’ll be doing the same with cherry tomatoes. This is about the only way to get Claudine to eat fresh veggies.

Which reminds me that I wanted to tell you how my dad brings back plants from his various state-side travels. I was telling this story to my friend Unha today and it reminded me just how absurd it is. Any normal-thinking person would just probably bring back little plantlings from a trip with them on the plane as part of their carry-on luggage. My dad, however, packs them in his suitcase and checks them in. Still in their pot. With soil. Yeah, I know…how? If I didn’t see it for myself, I wouldn’t be able to believe that this method actually works, let alone not make a potential mess of soil and broken leaves in his suitcase. Coming home from a visit to LA one summer (yes, this family trip thing to Seattle with my parents that’s coming up? Not the first time), I saw him start to pack a 12 inch plant with plastic bags and towels. Now, I didn’t get to see the crucial part where he actually packs the plant into the suitcase with his other stuff, but I did see that plant, freaking INTACT, with no leaves or stems broken, on a stand at their house 9 hours later when we got home. As for asking him why he packs the plant instead of just carrying the plant on the plane with him? Well…why bother?

What are these girls up to?

My fascination with Chinese crispy eggplant goes way back to when I lived in Portland, Oregon. I was with a large group of friends at a restaurant called Fu Jin. One person did all the ordering and one dish that arrived at the table was Crispy Eggplant. Sounds simple enough, but it turned out to be one of the most memorable dishes I’ve ever eaten. In a world where eggplant usually gets pureed and turned into things like Baba Ganoush and Baingan Bhartha, and then to be presented with this – crisp and saucy all at once – was truly a revelation. Sadly, twelve years later I have not been back to that restaurant, or even had the same dish elsewhere that was quite as good. Occasionally I have tried to recreate it on my own, as I did the other day. It is super easy, at least if you have a deep-fryer going. Although it doesn’t quite live up to my first experience, it is still a tasty dish. And maybe I’ll visit Fu Jin next month on my vacation!

Crispy Eggplant (serves 4 as a side dish)

3 japanese eggplants
cornstarch for dredging
oil for deep-frying
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 cup stock (chicken or vegetable)
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 green onion, thinly sliced

Begin heating the oil in the fryer. Slice the eggplant diagonally into 1/4-inch slices. Toss with cornstarch and shake off the excess. Begin frying the eggplant when the oil is hot. Fry in batches for 5-6 minutes, until very crispy. Remove and drain on paper towels. Continue until all the eggplant is cooked.

Meanwhile, bring the remaining ingredients (except the green onion) to a boil in a small saucepan. Boil for 2 minutes. When all the eggplant is cooked, mix it with the sauce and green onion and serve immediately.

Not to take anything away from Kumquat Cupcakery because Keavy is the undisputed queen of the mini cupcakes here in NY, but we made these lavender minis with lemon buttercream and candied violets for a Daily Candy book launch party yesterday, along with some brownies, butterscotch bar cookies and other goodies. Mark’s been baking more cupcakes for events after taking a break from them for awhile.

And I’m kicking myself for not taking any photos of Mia at the party (we only stayed a little while during set up), because she just blended her sassy own self in with the lovely Daily Candy editors and staff in her chic new dress. There were jars of candy everywhere and it seemed like every time we turned around, someone was offering her candy. Love how she can just walk up to anyone and strike a conversation, even if it’s only 4 year old banter (can you imagine if someone random walked up to you and said “I’m eating purple gum”?). It did give us a little preview of the future, however, as we imagined Mia could be one of those young women one day, dressed for a party in heels, and probably still eating candy.

We’re delivering a special custom gift box today – a large fabric-covered photo box filled with full size packages of most of our products. This is the 3rd large custom gift box we’ve done so far. It’s a lot of cookies.