fruits of labor. first feast of 2011

last night was our first dinner together at home of 2011.

simplicity, homemade and good wine were on the menu. smoked salmon, oysters, cheese, capers and red onion accompanied by homemade irish brown bread and fresh satsuma mandarin and a light but earthy syrah.

after all the holiday travel and eating out it was so nice to finally be home again sharing a meal - this dinner was the perfect way to set off the new year. we make a conscious decision to eat at home as much as possible. We also eat meat only about once a week if that. I have been reading Anthony Bourdain's newest book "Medium Raw: a bloody valentine to the world of food and the people who cook" and while its written in his expectedly brash and sometimes over the top style he raises some interesting points about the importance of featuring meat as the main part of the meal or as the case may be moving away from it as the focal point.

we are lucky enough to live in a part of california that is food-centric and always has an amazing selection of fresh vegg. making it easier to choose an eating style which features more veggies and very little meat. im by no means a vegetarian (though i was earlier in life for about 10yrs) but personally i notice a huge difference in the way i feel physically when i eat less meat and more vegg.

I am going to be more diligent in 2011 about doing more fruits of labor posts and sharing more recipes. I will also be introducing a new weekly column - Wednesday Wine List look for that to start next week!

find the recipe for the brown bread here.

glasses pictured can be found in the shop