Hi there, sunshines! I hope you ‘mericans enjoyed a lovely long weekend.
You know what I realized this morning? Before having kids, I was never aware of what time the sun comes up in the summer. I’d just yawn and stretch some time in the neighbourhood of 7:45 after a nice 8-9 hour nap.
Now I know that it comes up around 5 am. Because it acts as an excellent alarm clock for my pudgy-wristed tomato-stealer (scroll down).
I actually quite like being up that early. It’s so quiet, the water is glass-still, and the city, devoid of chaos, appears so peaceful and clean from our high-rise vantage point. Although when I’m up that early, I wish I could pad around barefoot in a grassy back yard with a giant mug of coffee.
But hey. That grass is always greener on the other side of the fence isn’t it?
I always forget that I’d have to mow it.
The only thing about rising with the sun is remembering to go to bed at a decent hour. Â My lengthy sleeps of days past have been truncated to 6 hours (which are consecutive now that I moved the baby into his brother’s room). Â It’s so hard to get to bed before 11, though.
So many books to read (currently can’t put down The Lake House)!
So many bubble baths to be had!
So many Modern Family re-runs to watch!
But I think I have to try. Â Because at 6 am, shortly after I (accidentally) poured buttermilk in my tea, I missed the counter and dropped my bowl of oatmeal on the floor where the porcelain shattered and gloppy porridge was flung far and wide. More rest would probably benefit me.
It’ll require a bit of discipline.
I’ve been really busy with recipe development for clients the past couple of weeks. Which means testing recipes over and over until I’ve had a steady diet of, say, oatmeal cookies for 3 days straight. I actually delivered a huge tray of test recipes to construction workers who are tearing apart the penthouse in my building. Hungry dudes. I think we could all benefit from this arrangement.
Coming down off of that, all I want to eat is green juice, salad bowls, and all the farmer’s market vegetables with a bit of protein. Â Like creamy hummus.
This one is made with black sesame seeds in place of tahini. Â Nothing particularly fancy, but I wanted to share it – mostly because I had so much fun taking pictures of it. Â I keep a batch of something dippy in my fridge every week to make veggie munching easy and delicious.
Black Sesame Hummus
Ingredients
- ¼ cup olive oil plus more for serving
- ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
- 2 garlic cloves peeled
- 2 tbsp black sesame seeds plus more for topping
- 1 large can of chickpeas about 2 cups, drained and rinsed
- salt to taste (I use 1 to 1-1/2 tsp of sea salt)
- Aleppo pepper and/or snipped herbs for serving optional
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in the blender in the order listed and process until very smooth and creamy. Taste and adjust seasoning. Spread into a shallow bowl and make shallow valleys with a spoon to drizzle with olive oil. Â Top with more sesame seeds, Aleppo pepper and/or herbs as desired.
