Hello, hello! *taps mic* Is this thing on?
First order of business: My new book, COOK COLOR, is officially out in the world! Hooray!! You can find it everywhere books are sold. And did you see the feature in Oprah Daily Magazine’s spring beauty issue?! Gosh, I still can’t believe that’s real!
On July 15th from 10:30-11:30am, I’ll be doing a casual meet-and-greet at Book Passage in the SF Ferry Building. (You bring the casual; I’ll be nervous at the honor of getting to do this.) Best part is that it’s during farmers market hours, so you can pick up all the gorgeous summer melons, peaches, and berries AND your very own copy of COOK COLOR. I hope to see you there!
Now onto this months recipe!
Thank you for your patience and for sticking with me over the past few months. I know it’s been quiet around here, and I’ve missed writing to you and hearing from you all about the delicious foods you’ve been cooking.
I’m back, baby! And so happy to share the news that our family joyfully welcomed Lewis Zizka Bradley on April 24th! Life hasn’t been the same since. We are beyond grateful he’s here and we cannot get enough of his gummy smiles.
The early weeks with a newborn were blurry from sleep-deprivation (oof, harder than I remembered from when Arthur was brand-new) and also at times euphoric from the awe and borderline disbelief that this perfect, tiny baby exists by some stroke of magic. I remember one of the first evenings at home as a family of four, as we struggled to figure out how to do dinner and then bedtime for both our toddler and our newborn, I looked at Graham and asked, “what have we done!?” There have been moments of utter chaos, but we are somehow slowly finding our footing.
Cooking—whether in a leisurely way or even just in a panicked sprint—has been tricky. One of the greatest gifts during this postpartum phase has been our meal train. Have you ever participated in a meal train? During the first 40 days or so after Lewie’s birth, our sweet friends and family delivered dinner to our doorstep every other evening. It was GLORIOUS - a lifesaver! Phyllis braised chicken legs with kimchi and a beautiful radicchio salad and a whole tray of dips and sauces. Shak and Ohn sent nourishing soups, breakfast goods packed with fiber and berries, chia pudding, and more. Kristina brought us dried shrimp jook and she also made the most spectacular jade dumplings, which she tucked safely in our freezer for moments when we really needed them. Kiersten and Dante sent sushi, something I had been desperately craving. Chloe sent funds for a dinner feast. Pizzas (plural) were dropped off. Eclairs, chocolate chip cookies, and lemon bars. The lemon bars from Lisa came on the same night that I landed in the ER with a terrible mastitis infection, and wow did it taste good to bite into one after midnight when we got home. Kristen came by with a gallon-size bag of rinsed and chopped vegetables—carrots, fennel, sugar snap peas—plus hummus and baba ghanouj and fresh loaves of bread. Our community fed us, nourished us, and made me feel so deeply loved.
The recipe of the month for July 2023 (coming at you a little early because of next week’s holiday) is one of the foods we were grateful to receive. I’m calling them Powerball Cookies, because they are made from nutritious, sustaining ingredients like oats and flaxseeds, but they also have chocolate in them and therefore taste like a treat. I confess that I’ve never met an energy bar that I loved. They just always taste like cardboard, don’t you think? These cookies, however, are exactly what I’d reach for were I ever to run a marathon. (I will never run a marathon.) The recipe comes from my friend Kristen via her doula, Lisa Schoenholt. You can mix up a batch in one bowl in a matter of minutes. Powerball Cookies are superb for breastfeeding mamas or anyone who needs a little pick-me-up.
Powerball Cookies
Recipe by Lisa Schoenholt via Kristen Miglore
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup fine shredded coconut
1/2 cup ground flaxseeds
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup almond butter
Shake of ground cinnamon
Choc chips
Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Roll into golfball-size balls. Store in the fridge for up to 1 week.
With love,
Maria