Fresh Approach Cooking

This past Sunday I spent most of the afternoon at a glorious brunch wishing darling Astrid bon voyage and a very happy birthday. In a few days time the sweet baby-girl is headed off to the big apple to see what is to be seen, and I'm going to miss her like mad. If any woman is LA to the core, it's this child. She makes glamour look effortless and tops it all off with a heart of gold & a platinum card. She knows exactly how much valet costs at every restaurant in town, and always orders the turkey chop. God love her.




She made a few requests for me to bring dishes to the brunch, since it was a sort of pot luck thing, some of which I made, most of which (the list was about 8 pages long) I didn’t. One dish I did manage to concoct in her honor was this simple cold soup. It is just like her, a perfect balance between sweetness and light. I had a lot of fantastically bright yellow tomatoes and the combination of sweet and tangy with the zip of the zest and the sprightly mint was culinary perfection. Try it, and enjoy! And if you are in NYC next month and see a six foot tall glamazon shivering in the cold, tell her hi for me.





1 large cantaloupe melon
2 large yellow tomatoes, seeded
1/4 sweet Maui onion
pinch of salt
pinch of sugar
1/4 cup olive oil
a few fresh mint leaves
1/4 teaspoon pepper (that five pepper blend is what I used. Makes it more festive)
zest of one lime, and a small squeeze of the juice
1/2 cup club soda

Blend all, taste and adjust seasonings. Chill one hour and serve in shot or martini glasses.

Serves six - eight





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Round Up For The (First) Really Big Cook-Off will be posted tomorrow, stay tuned!

Today’s entry into “excellent Yahoo searches that bring up this site”: how many woman can produce baby in comoros in 2005

What we call 'cantaloupe' in the U.S., is actually a muskmelon. The true cantaloupe is a European melon named after a castle’s gardens in Italy.

“Dependency on private charity by thousands of people reflects how Holland -- long admired for its fast-paced growth, high employment and prosperity -- is increasingly falling on hard times.
After years of strong growth, the economy has ground to a near standstill and since April 2004, the number of people receiving free food packages at the Dutch Food Bank has jumped from 600 per week to nearly 5,000. Thousands more go without.
The conservative government has been trying to bring under control vast costs for welfare, by limiting the number of recipients, and healthcare, expected to balloon in coming years due to aging population.” – Associated Press

Labels: Soup