Easy summer salad with farm fresh corn and tomatoes

I just came back from a farmer's market and got some fresh vegetables so I had to make a salad for lunch. Today, I got those corn, mini tomatoes, egg plants, potatoes and basil.

The tomatoes were just amazingly sweet and I couldn't stop eating them.

Simple Summer Salad with corn and mini tomatoes

Serving 1

Salad leaves    a handful
cucumber         1/4 cup (cut into small pieces)
Corn                 1/4 cup (boiled)
mini tomatoes    about 8
Crumbled Feta Cheese   1/4 cup
Olive Oil           2 table spoon
White Balsamic Vinegar    1 Table Soon

1, Toss salad leaved and cucumber with vinegar and olive oil

2, Add Feta Cheese, tomatoes and Corn on top

I love eating Salad in summer especially when you find fresh ingredients. This is super easy salad which you probably don't need recipe for and you can add any kind of vegetables of your liking.


By the way, we were in Germany to see our in-laws. We had a great time there and since my in-laws were watching and playing with my son all the time, I was able to do some reading for myself. Here are the books which I read during the trip.

This one is a mystery which is quite dark as the title indicate.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0307341577/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0307341577&linkCode=as2&tag=mauskit-20&linkId=P6SZV5VXLIE63EHJ

Since I like her other book "Gone Girl", I might have expected too much. It was OK but not as good as "Gone Girl" in my opinion.



This another book is called "The Glass Castle". It is about authors childhood and it is quite a childhood this author had. It was very interesting and I liked it.



Since I finished two books which I brought with me, I went to the library in Germany and borrowed this English book.


After I borrowed this one, I realized that I actually read another book from this same author before.
I did not really like this book. I think the concept was good and it makes you wonder what happens next throughout the book but it was actually a bit disappointing at the end for me.

The other book I read before from this same author was this one.


Again, I think the concept was interesting but I didn't really like the story and how it end. Well, it seems like she is a popular and famous author so I guess it is just I don't like her style and many people find her book very interesting.

This last one was the most entertaining book I read in this trip. Actually, I wasn't really interested in reading this one but I didn't have anything else to read so I borrowed this one from my father-in-law.


I know the author is super popular and many of his books were made into movies. I just didn't think I would like this kind books. I thought the vocabulary will be too difficult for me since it was about lawyers and tax and stuff. However, I was pleasantly surprised how easy and entertaining to read this book. Now I know why he is a popular author and I would love to read his other books also.

I would definitely watch the movie also. I think Tom Cruz is a good choice for the main character. I am just very interested who else were casted for other roles. You know, when you read a book, you have a certain image in your head for all the characters and sometimes it is right on when you watch a movie but something it is so different from what you have in your head. Anyways, I am curious.

Well, I am excited to cook some food with the vegetables I bought today at farmers market. Love Summer!

Japan

We are in japan! Enjoying japanese bread!

Osteria Morini

My in-laws were visiting us from Germany and we have been quite busy. They spoiled us and played so nicely with our son everyday. During their stay, they watched our son to let us go for a date nights and let me go have hair cut and a day in Manhattan.

It was really nice to have a day in Manhattan all by myself. I went to book off and got some books for myself and for my son. Then, went to have lunch by myself at a restaurant which I wanted to try for sometime.

The restaurant is called "Osteria Morini" and it is owned by a well-know chef named Michael White. He owns many restaurants here in NY. I actually didn't know about him until I went to this one event in the end of 2013. It was a dinner event which 7 famous chefs prepare each course. One of the chef was Michael Symon which is a iron chef and I took picture with him :-) But the best dish of the night was a dish from Michael White and I wanted to visit his restaurant since then.

He has one restaurant near central park but this one is quite fancy and I found out that he has this another restaurant in Soho which is more casual and affordable.

Since my hair dresser was close to soho, I thought this is the perfect opportunity to try his restaurant.

He is famous for his pasta dishes so I ordered pasta. It was truffle ricotta ravioli with butter sauce. It was sooooooo good!!! It taste rich but light at the same time. The portion was quite small but I was not super hungry so it was just perfect. I am sure my husband would love this dish so maybe I would like to visit this restaurant with my husband sometimes again. Next time, I will try something else even though this one was really good.

There are many dishes I wanted to try. I might have to go more than once ;-)

Anyways, it was wonderful and as much as I LOVE my son so much, it is also nice to have a day off for myself. I really appreciate my in-laws gave me this opportunity. They even let me sleep in. This is like unheard of in Japan. I mean, I think Japanese daughter-in-law will never sleep in even when your parents in-laws tell you that it is OK. They just don't. But I know that they mean it and I took the opportunity and it was great. I know I am a very lucky daughter in-law.

Now, I have my rest and have my energy back so I can cook more! I got this vegetable cook book from the library the other day and excited to try some stuff from this book. My in-laws have very healthy life style and they eat lots of fruit and vegetables. I inspired me to eat more fruit and vegetables so this book will help me to cook with more vegetables.