What a beautiful weekend.  The sun is shining, a light breeze is blowing and life overall is wonderful.  Yesterday, I began my day at the spa with a facial and pedicure.  Then I made my way to my favorite farm, Blooming Hill in Monroe, NY, where I reconnected with friends and shopped for produce.

There is something about that farm that grounds me.  Being there fills my souls with a feeling of goodness and connection to both earth and community in a very wholesome way.

From the farm, I made my way up to Adams Fairacre Farms, my favorite local, gourmet grocer/farm stand up in Newburgh, NY.  Usually, I pick up an assortment of fantastic cheeses at Adams, but yesterday, I picked up fresh fish.  They had extra-jumbo wild shrimp that I bought with the intention of marinating in lemon juice, blood orange oil and cilantro – then steaming and chopping into pieces, (I throw them into salad when I bring my lunch to work all week).

Enclosing my back deck, I have a wall of Rhododendron that are about fifteen feet tall.  They peek up over the back railing of the deck and when I came home yesterday, I found them bursting with blooms.

After soaking in the beauty of my Rhododendrons, I began making a bread pudding.  You see, I bought a fresh load of multigrain bread at the farm, but when I got home, I realized that last week’s loaf was still sitting on my counter.  I knew both of my cousins, Michele and Caryn, would enjoy brad pudding, so I set about making it.

Michele and Caryn both planned to visit last night.  So, I made a dinner of coconut ginger risotto, braised ramps and grilled Arctic Char.  For the fish, I took soy sauce, minced fresh ginger, a chiffonade of scallions,  red pepper flakes, a touch of honey and the zest and juice of one lime and whisked it into a marinade, which the fish sat in for about an hour.   Then I took cedar paper and soaked it in water for about 20 minutes.  While the fish marinated, I julienned some yellow pepper and thinly sliced some button mushrooms.

Putting it all together, I placed the fish pieces on the cedar paper, placed the mushrooms and peppers on top, and wrapped them into neat packages.

I then took the marinade and put it in a saucepan.  I reduced the marinade on the grill while the fish packets cooked.

Our finished meal:

Bread pudding with homemade whipped cream: