Tomato Risotto

Due to my recent travels, it had been two weeks since I last got produce from the local farmers market, and it was such a joy to sink my teeth into super-fresh corn and tomatoes again tonight. I don't like winter for all sorts of reasons, but the absence of juicy summer produce is up there among them. So let's live in the moment, shall we?

This is "Tomato Risotto," from NYT Cooking (subscription required). There was some chopping and grating involved, but other than that, it was easy, and both my back-up dancers liked it.

Fresh from the shower, one of my backup dancers helped me add the tomatoes.

I forgot to add the two tablespoons of oil at the end, and I do think it would have been good to add it. Note to self. I used homemade veggie stock (Bittman, of course).

A friend noticed that Emma likes to help me in the kitchen, and very kindly gave her a gift this weekend: a kids cookbook called "Baking Class." It has a lot of fun-looking recipes and Emma had trouble narrowing down what she wanted to make first, but she settled on these mummy cupcakes, and we wasted no time.

By chance, the cupcakes (but not the buttercream frosting) were vegan too! I felt that they tasted good and were pleasantly moist. While they didn't have the "crumb" of a more standard cake recipe, they represented a perfectly good vegan alternative. And Emma thought they were phenomenal. Thank you, Aunt Pat!

Emma's cute dress was also a recent gift, from my cousin Jon and his girlfriend Angel.

Someone got to lick the beater, a time-honored kid tradition.

A watched cupcake does eventually bake, fortunately.