A feast of friendship

Who are we truly most thankful for?

Thanksgiving Day is usually reserved for family reunions, but the next day, the celebration is over. Refrigerators are packed full of leftovers that may or may not be eaten. Your home and dining table still boast the bounty of fall décor. Perhaps one of the new orange poinsettias at the nurseries, or an autumn wreath on your front door.

Why not make the most of this food-focused holiday by creating a second party the next day? Plan a “Day After Thanksgiving” banquet for your best friends, your “inner circle,” those who graced you throughout the year with support and encouragement. Like all of us, they will love feeling appreciated!

Many years ago we started this tradition and it continues to this day. We list all those people who make up our “family of choice” and invite them to bring their favorite leftovers to our open house. We set out a fresh roasted turkey and a ham, re-plate our own leftovers, and supply beverages.

Such a heart-warming gathering! Conversation happens easily as people share their family’s traditional foods along with stories of the recipes and where they came from. Communion among your guests deepens and grows richer as the evening goes on, especially if you invite each guest in turn to tell everyone assembled what they are feeling particularly thankful for this year.

This is the most effective party yet for guests to really connect and bond. (If your guests are shy and you think this might put them on the spot, take turns welcoming each guest and telling them specifically why you love and appreciate them.)

And here is my greatest holiday suggestion for keeping clean-up easy:

These gorgeous lacquer chop plates are on sale at Sur La Table stores. Only $4 each, they lend elegance and a sturdy base to seasonal paper plates for those who may be dining from their laps.

They also make clean-up a breeze. (Yes, this really is a paper plate!)

Recent research by Russian scientist Konstantin Korotkov reveals that our brain’s highest measurable vibration is gratitude. During our long Thanksgiving weekend we may feel thankful and count our blessings, but do we really take advantage of this opportunity to express appreciation to all our loved ones?

This year, truly express your appreciation for all the people who matter most.

DIANA’S CHAMPAGNE ROAST TURKEY

WITH HERB STUFFING AND GRAVY

I always baste my turkeys with butter and Champagne and here is my family's favorite preparation. Placing cheesecloth over the turkey to absorb the basting liquids produces the most gorgeous, tasty skin! A large, room-temperature turkey easily cooks in three to four hours.

For 16 servings with leftovers

1 fresh, free-range turkey (22 to 25 pounds)

½ stick butter, softened to room temperature

Salt and pepper

Cheesecloth

1 onion, quartered

2 cups cut-up or baby carrots

2 stalks celery, cut up

2 leeks, white part only, cut in half lengthwise and rinsed under cold water, then sliced

3/4 pound (3 sticks) butter, melted

1 bottle Champagne (if making a smaller turkey, use a half bottle)

STUFFING:

2 medium onions, minced

1 1/2 pounds (6 sticks) butter

6 cups chicken broth

2 teaspoons coarse salt

Freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons chopped fresh (or 2 teaspoons to 1 tablespoon dried) sage, to taste

3 (16 ounce) packages herb stuffing mix. (I prefer Pepperidge Farm brand, crumbled not cubed)

6 or more stalks celery, including some tops, diced fine (measures 4 cups)

2 cups finely chopped fresh parsley

TURKEY GRAVY:

9 cups chicken broth

1 large onion, quartered

2 stalks celery, cut up

Stems from one bunch parsley

10-12 black peppercorns

1 cup fat from cooking the turkey

1 cup all-purpose flour

Spice Islands chicken stock base (for extra flavor if needed)

About ½ teaspoon KITCHEN BOUQUET for color, if needed

The day before the party, begin the stuffing.

In a very large Dutch oven, place the onions, butter and chicken broth and a few teaspoons of fresh or dried rubbed sage, along with 2 teaspoons salt and freshly ground black pepper. Bring to a simmer and stir until the butter is melted. Pour in the bags of stuffing mix, and toss lightly and quickly to dampen the crumbs evenly, then add the celery and parsley, tossing to distribute evenly. Taste to correct the seasoning, adding more sage if needed (I like a lot), and more salt and pepper. Refrigerate until ready to stuff the bird.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees and place the rack on the bottom position. (Use an oven thermometer for accuracy.) Remove the giblets and neck from turkey cavities. Rinse them and set aside.

In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, combine the broth, cut-up onion and celery, parsley stems and peppercorns. Bring to a simmer. Add the giblets (except liver) and neck. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat to a slow simmer, and cook, partially covered, for 30 minutes. Add the liver and simmer about 15 minutes longer. Remove giblets and strain broth. Set both aside. When the giblets are cool enough to handle, cut them in small pieces. Using your fingers, pull the meat off the neck in shreds and add them to the giblets. Spoon a few spoonfuls of broth over them to keep them moist and refrigerate until adding to the gravy.

Have the roasting pan ready and waiting next to your work area. (I line my roasting pan with a foil roasting pan the same size that I can discard to save cleanup.) Take care that both turkey and stuffing are cold or at room temperature so bacteria won’t grow.

Rinse the turkey under cold water and blot dry, inside and out, with paper towels. Turn the turkey breast down and season the neck cavity with salt and pepper. Fill the cavity loosely with stuffing and turn the turkey over, placing it on a rack in a large roasting pan, and tucking under the loose flap of neck to hold its stuffing in. Fold and tuck the wing tips under the turkey.

Season the main turkey cavity with salt and pepper. Stuff the turkey very loosely, as stuffing swells while cooking. Tie the legs together. This will partially close the cavity to hold the stuffing in place and give the turkey a more natural, compact appearance. Place the remaining stuffing in an oven-proof serving dish. (The stuffing from inside the turkey will be quite wet, and the stuffing cooked separately in the oven will be "dry.") Rub the turkey all over with the ½ stick softened butter. Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper.

In a medium saucepan or glass measuring cup, melt the 3 sticks butter and add the Champagne. Cut cheesecloth so it measures about 17 inches square and has four layers. Rinse under cold water and squeeze dry. Place in butter and wine and let soak a few moments, then lift it out, squeezing it gently and leaving it damp, place it over the turkey breast and part of the legs.

Put the turkey in the oven and cook for 30 minutes. Pour some more of the butter/Champagne mixture over the bird and lower the temperature to 350 degrees. Continue to baste in this manner for 2 more hours and using up all the basting liquid. If the roasting pan is getting dry, add a little of the giblet broth; if it is getting too full, spoon our some juices to keep the level below the rack.

Remove the cheesecloth. Baste with any remaining butter/Champagne mixture and cook up to one more hour, using a bulb baster to baste with pan juices every 20 to 30 minutes. If any of the bird is getting too brown, cover those areas loosely with aluminum foil.

Insert an instant-read thermometer into the thickest portion of the thigh. It should register at least 170 degrees (some say 180, but I think that will overcook the bird). If not done enough, continue cooking for another 20 to 30 minutes. Remove the turkey from the oven. Move the rack to the center of the oven and bake the extra stuffing and any other side dishes you’ve made while you make the gravy. Insert the thermometer into the center of the stuffing. It should read at least 140 degrees, but if it does not, remove it from the bird and place in its own baking dish in the oven as well.

Place the turkey where you will carve it and cover loosely with foil to stay warm. Pour the juices from the roasting pan into a bowl or 8-cup measure. Let rest a minute while the fat rises to the top. Spoon the fat off the top and reserve ½ cup, discarding the rest. Place the ½ cup fat in a heavy saucepan with ½ cup flour and stir this roux over medium heat for 3 or 4 minutes. (Alternatively, if you wish to eliminate fat from the gravy, simply shake flour and water together in a sealed jar before stirring them into the simmering giblet broth and pan juices.) Some in our family don’t like giblets, so I use two bowls for serving the gravy, adding the giblets to only half the gravy.

TO PREPARE IN ADVANCE: The stuffing may be made a day in advance and refrigerated, but our family objected when I tried that once because they love to sample the warm stuffing as it comes together. Leftover turkey freezes perfectly and is great to have on hand for making soups, noodle dishes like Turkey Tetrazzini, curry, and enchiladas. Leftover stuffing and gravy freeze well. You may wish to make up your own frozen dinners with a little bit of everything for simple family fare in the coming weeks.

One Delicious Day In The Eternal City

Please visit my new blog, Diana's Food, Fudge and Faraway Places on Womenetics.com.

This week the subject is:

One Delicious Day In The Eternal City

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Eat, Drink, and be Scary!

Celebration is contagious!

One of my great new adventures this year is finding my new friend Robyn, a passionate, joyful, woman I met through her entertaining blog. She loves her life as a full-time mom and shares it prolifically in What's Cookin'.

Today, Robyn is all excited about Halloween! Here is what she tells me in my morning email:

I've been busy painting my Halloween mural, I've got the progress up on my blog.

We're having three parties this month, each of the kids are having a halloween party and we have a neighborhood costume party too. It's so much fun, but--alas--a lot of work & details! But you know I don't mind & I'm making some fun party food.

I make a double cheese log recipe, but shape it into a mummy. Then I use a pastry bag to pipe cream cheese strips all over him like mummy bandages. Ripe olive eyes and a cheese knife in the chest and he's ready.

I also grow loads of jalapenos so I make Bacon Wrapped Ghosts in Coffins--just a half jalapeno, filled with a mix of cream cheese and jack cheese and wrapped with a half slice of bacon. I bake those and they're always the first thing gone.

For the kid's punch and our Sangria, I fill a food service glove with Hawaiian punch and freeze it. Peel off the glove and it floats in the punch like...well...like a severed hand.

As it melts the fingers fall off and that's always a big hit!!

So, it stands to reason that October is one of my favorite months doesn't it? Fun fun fun.

Robyn, her husband Tom and their kids get all their neighbors involved in painting an annual mural on their fence. Please follow this link to Robyn's blog to see it, and for even more ideas!

As for our own Halloween this year, Ted and I are getting in the "spirit" in Italy. Yes, they do celebrate Halloween in Italy, and its popularity is growing every year.  (This morning while having breakfast aboard the Celebrity Solstice we are cruising past the rather ominous island of Stromboli billowing plumes of smoke from its crater into the sunrise.) 

I may even find a new hat here to take home for my collection! 

Here I am two years ago with two of my granddaughters, Aidan and Caitlin. I bought the purple witch hat on St. Mark's Square in Venice. Last year I wore my new "good witch" hat bedecked with a wise old owl.

Put on your Halloween hat and join the celebration!

Fear of falling

Why do we take soufflés and life so seriously?

Is it because we hold a picture in our mind of whatever it is we attempt turning out PERFECT?Well, truthfully, perfect isn't very interesting, or fun. And, we don't learn all that much when things turn out just as expected. Haven't all your most interesting adventures occurred when your adventures didn't go according to plan?

Students in our cooking classes claimed their favorite moments were when things went horribly wrong. They loved watching us figure out how to fix them. For instance, I would purposely overheat and curdle Hollandaise Sauce in order to show them how to bring it back by whisking it into a raw egg yolk. If a kitchen disaster was unfixable, we'd advise students to just to rename whatever it was, or to tell their guests "It's the French way . . .," a phrase that works perfectly when serving a souffle that seems too soft in the center. (The French like their souffles runny, and spoon the runny center over the firmly cooked sides as a sauce.)

Once I horrified our television audience and my late husband Paul von Welanetz by turning a bowl of egg whites beaten to "soft peaks "upside down over my head. He clutched his heart and said "Don't do that!" But he was in on the joke and knew I was only demonstrating the secret to perfect souffles every time. Here is the secret:

Beat egg whites for souffles just until they adhere to the sides of the bowl and do not slide when the bowl is tilted.

Now you know! And now you just have to try one of my most sophisticated yet super-simple recipes featured in the brand new cookbook Orange County Fare by the Junior League in Orange County (see cover and details below).

Seriously, you cannot mess these tiny souffles up because they are supposed to fall! In doing so, little cavities are formed in the middle that can be filled with lemony cream cheese and topped with your favorite savory filling such as caviar (pictured), smoked salmon or graavlax. I promise your guests will be raving about these little show-stoppers:

Once you've served these to rave reviews, you'll have the courage to try a true dessert souffle. Here is a link to my favorite dessert soufflé in a past post:

A sense of playfulness and flexibility in the kitchen, and in life, makes all the difference.

MINI APPETIZER SOUFFLES

For 48 appetizers

A spectacular appetizer that stretches a tiny bit of savory topping long way! Best of all, can be made a day ahead of time and. You will need mini-muffin tins to make the tiny soufflés.

SOUFFLES:

¼ cup unsifted all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup whole milk

3 egg yolks

4 egg whites, at room temperature

Zest (grated outer peel) from 1/2 lemon

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

Dash of Tabasco sauce

Grated fresh nutmeg, to taste

TOPPING:

6 ounces cream cheese, softened

2 tablespoons sour cream

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

2 to 4 ounces black caviar (see Note), smoked salmon, or graavlax

Note: I use about 2 ounces of delicious and moderately-priced American bowfin black caviar available in the freezer section of fish markets or online. Caviar freezes beautifully and is handy to have on hand for very special occasions!

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Spray 48 mini-muffin cups with non-stick cooking spray.

In a heavy, preferably non-stick saucepan, combine the flour, salt, and 1/4 cup of the milk to a thick paste. Stir in the remaining 3/4 cup milk and stir constantly over medium heat, until the mixture thickens.

Remove the pan from the heat and add the yolks, stirring vigorously. Add the zest, lemon juice, Tabasco and nutmeg.

In an impeccably clean mixer bowl—this is an egg white rule because any oil in the bowl will prevent whites from increasing in volume--beat the egg whites until they do not slide when the bowl is tilted (soft peaks). Using a rubber spatula, fold half the whites into the mixture to lighten it, then fold in the remaining whites. Spoon this soufflé base into the muffin cups filling them about ¾ full. Bake for approximately 15 minutes, until lightly golden. Remove from oven and let cool in the pans—they will sink slightly.

For the topping, combine the cream cheese, sour cream and 1 teaspoon lemon juice in a bowl and mix well. Spoon into a plastic baggie, cut off the tip, and, just before serving squeeze just a bit of the mixture into the indentation of each soufflé. Top with a tiny dollop of caviar, smoked salmon or something else savory.

To prepare in advance: Make the mini soufflés up to a day ahead of time, cover and refrigerate. Serve at room temperature or slightly reheated in a low oven.

This beautiful new Junior League of Orange County Cookbook Orange County Fare: a culinary journey through the California Riviera was just published.

It contains many recipes I can't wait to try: Ambrosia's Roasted Tomato, Saffron and Fennel Soup, Duke's Souffle (a favorite of John Wayne), and The Five Crowns Black Pepper-Crusted Salmon.

A woman after my own heart

Has your heart ever led you to make a "crazy" decision?

When my maternal grandmother suddenly, in mid-life, opened a boarding house in Los Angeles so she could cook and gather and nurture people around her table, she amazed her family. She also lit my lifelong inspirational spark--women reinventing themselves.

Today that spark is reignited by Cathy Pavlos, a new friend and a sister member of Les Dames D'Escoffier International.

An architect, professor of architecture, and the department head at the University of Texas, Cathy Pavlos had a change of heart. Realizing that everything in that field had become computerized, and thus depersonalized, she had gone as far as she wanted to go.

Taking time off, she traveled extensively with her husband Elliott. "Wherever we went, I was drawn to the markets, the food shops and the restaurants in the cities--much more than the architecture. I could hardly help but notice that Orange County did not provide the kind of urban food experiences we found so easily in Chicago, San Francisco and New York, not to mention France or Italy."

Four years ago, wanting to share her own rich food legacy and provide something entirely new, Cathy completely changed careers by opening a restaurant and naming it Lucca after "the city in Tuscany where all the great olive oil comes from, and after my mom, Lucia, the feminine of Lucca."

It is not just any restaurant, but a unique and extraordinary restaurant, deli/charcuterie, cheese shop, and wine bar.

Here at Lucca Cafe I have enjoyed the best antipasto of my life. Below is my photo of her showcase featuring some specialty platters, an array of artisan cheeses, and a selection of Armandino Batalli's sausages (yes, Mario's father) from his salumeria called Salumi in Seattle. (My favorite is Salumi Agrumi brightly flavored with orange and cardamom.)

Cathy and recently I sat together at a rustic table by the window nibbling on Fleur du Maquis cheese and fruit when she began to tell me about her grandma's "Sunday Sauce" . . .

"My earliest memories of food and pleasure were Sunday dinners in the 1950's at my grandparents' house in Huntington Beach. My grandfather was a commercial farmer who raised tomatoes, lima beans, broccoli and alfalfa. I never tasted ‘store-bought’ produce until I went to college, so when someone told me to go get carrots, that meant going outside and digging them up.

“My mom has five sisters and I grew up with all of them.We had cousins in the fishing industry in San Pedro, the orchard business in Whittier, and some who owned a bakery in L.A. On Sundays, everyone would bring their basket of goodies to my grandma, Maria Bottari, to cook, because she was the best cook.

“We all sat around a big picnic table, anywhere from 10 to 30 people, and courses would just keep coming out of the kitchen. I remember so well the vivid colors, the textures, the aromas, the flavors, all the laughter, all the fun, and everyone helping out (even me). Whatever fish, veggies, bakery goods, wine and eggs were left were shared—no one went home empty handed.

“It never occurred to me that not all families lived like this. The lavish displays of food on Sundays seemed like magic because my grandma and the other women her age made it all look so effortless. As we were finishing breakfast we discussed what to make for lunch; while we finished lunch, we discussed dinner.

"When Grandma was cooking she was always happy, and she patiently described for me everything that she was doing and why it must be done in a particular way. Whether frying peppers, kneading dough, or preparing her Sunday Sauce, she never followed a recipe. My cooking lessons with her were intimate and we had a deep culinary connection, because she knew that her gifts were being passed on to someone who would cherish them. When she died, Grandma left me her stove--it is still in immaculate condition."

Lucca Café in Irvine (Orange County), California has a welcoming rustic décor. The lunch menu, less formal than dinner, offers remarkable tartines, imaginative salads, and reasonable pasta including penne with “Sunday Sauce.” On the menu as Grandma Bottari’s original Meat Ragu with Lucca Meatballs and Italian Sausage it is rich with tomatoes, meatballs, sausage and pork simmered for three hours and served over penne pasta with parmigiano—exactly as Grandma made it for more than 70 years.

"My big family, when gathered together, numbers close to 50. When I put a menu together for a big family party I had to come up that recipe for the Sunday Sauce (I told you that she never used a recipe). My aunts all argued over the taste, so we tried it many times until we got it just right. I remember asking over and over "Is that it? Is that it?"

Now everyone agrees: "That's it!"

"My parents come every Sunday for breakfast. When my cousins and brothers want some of Grandma's Sunday Sauce, they come in for lunch."

At dinnertime, Lucca becomes a European-style bistro serving cheeses and charcuterie along with "small plates" that keep cost down and flavors high. Cathy's husband Elliott Pavlos selects the wines for their extensive and imaginative list that offers more than 30 excellent wines by the glass.

“My grandma would certainly be very proud if she could see Lucca Cafe. And downright giddy that people come from all over just to eat her Sunday Sauce. But in the same breath, she'd cluck her tongue and say "I dunno Cati, alla dis education, and you wanna work inna da kitchen? Are you crazy?"

"I guess that I am, grandma, crazy just like you!”

Passion in one's heart paves the road to a crazy and adventurous journey!

CIPPOLINI IN AGREDOLCE

For about one quart

My very favorite selection on the antipasto menu! I keep a covered glass dish of these in the refrigerator at all times and use them in salads or on antipasto platters, or as garnishes for meat entrees.

3 pounds Cipollini onions, blanched and peeled (See note)

1 1/3 cups turbinado sugar

1/3 cup water

1 1/3 cups red wine

1 1/3 cups red wine vinegar

1 ounce (2 tablespoons) olive oil

¾ teaspoon sea salt

scant ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 fresh bay leaves

4 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

Note: These are easy to find in farmers markets and supermarkets. (See photo below.) Trim and cut a little cross in the stem end of the onions. Drop them into a pot of boiling water for 30 seconds, then drain and dunk in a bowl of cold water and ice. The skins then slip off easily.

Bring water and sugar to a boil over moderate heat in a large sauepot and boil until the syrup turns deep gold. Remove from the heat and carefully add the wine. Return to the heat. Add the onions, red wine vinegar, oil, bay leaves and salt and pepper and simmer for about an hour. Transfer onions with a slotted spoon to a glass storage container. Boil liquid until reduced to about a cup and a half--10 to 15 minutes. Stir in balsamic vinegar and pour liquid over onions. Cool to room temperature, then store covered in the refrigerator. For best flavor, chill for one to three days.

To prepare in advance: These will keep for weeks in the refrigerator if you don't devour them right away.

News from Lucca: Beginning now, on the Second Sunday of every month Lucca is introducing Sunday Suppers, a four-course menu from a different country complete with its specialties and rare wines. (You may become a fan on Facebook by joining the Lucca Café Fan Page, or simply emailmona@moxxepr.com to be added to a special VIP list and receive mouth-watering newsletters.

Best friends forever!

Is anyone more cherished than a best friend?

Mary Olsen Kelly and I met 25 years ago at a life-changing motivational seminar when we were assigned to each other as "Perfect Partners." Our task as a team was to set outrageous individual goals for ourselves and then do "whatever it takes" to achieve those goals in only three weeks. The stakes were high--failure was not an option! With daily phone check-ins we kept each other on track and accountable in achieving those goals "no matter what."

Mary's naturally ebullient energy and enthusiasm made our assignment of talking on the phone every day a joy. As our friendship and trust deepened, we realized we'd found the best friends we could each imagine. We did achieve those goals because we were great cheerleaders for each other and learned that we could be and do and have so much more that we had imagined.

In the 25 years that followed I comforted her through a painful divorce and consoled her as she yearned for a deep and lasting marriage just like mine. A few years later she met her future husband Don Kelly, and as she made plans to move to Hawaii to be with him, my husband Paul von Welanetz lay dying of cancer. Mary buoyed my spirits during that painful and poignant time, reminding me of my many blessings and how much life I had ahead.

Mary obtained a ministerial licence so she could perform ceremonies as a "celebrant" (no better descriptive word for Mary exists!) and when the time came for me to remarry, she officiated at Ted's and my ceremony and the weddings of two of our daughters.

When Mary was diagnosed with breast cancer ten years ago she rushed into our arms at the airport and found new resolve in our loving embrace. She told me how, because of the successful Tahitian pearl stores (the Black Pearl Gallery) she and Don built together, she always finds inspiration in how the pearl oyster deals with an irritant, turning the experience into something exquisite and unique. She was determined to do that through her treatments and she did by writing three inspirational books:

Path of the Pearl

Chicken Soup for the Breast Cancer Survivor's Soul

Tools and Tips from the Trenches of Breast Cancer

Here we are at one of her booksignings . . .

Mary and I have celebrated together over time far more than we have greived, and we stay in touch by text or email daily no matter where we are or how busy our lives often become.

Sometimes we travel together with our husbands. On our three week trip to Asia we dined in the oldest Peking Duck restaurant in Beijing . . .

Now she and Don have two homes, one in Maui and one here in Corona del Mar. The three of us look forward to our "Yoga Tuesday" when we meet at a restorative yoga class nearby then try out some local restaruant for lunch where we bubble over with news and catch up, still encouraging each other to go for it in our creative lives.

Husbands and hairstyles come and go,

but devotion as best friends endures forever!

ROASTED SALMON SALAD

WITH BERRIES, NECTARINES AND WALNUTS

No menu is more fun for me to create that Mary's annual birthday luncheon. We invite the members of our "Emergency Book Club," so named when a meeting was suddenly called when one of our members faced a crisis. Because Mary loves salmon, this year I made her a salad and topped it with salmon roasted in the manner of the Herbfarm Restaurant outside Seattle.

For 4 to 6 servings

ROASTED SALMON:

1/2 pound wild (not farmed) salmon per person, skinned

Olive oil to coat

Salt and pepper

parchment paper for roasting

SALAD:

6 cups mesclun or Herb Salad Mix

2 nectarines, peeled and sliced 1/4 inch thick

1 box each fresh raspberries and blackberries (if out of season, use 1/2 cup dried cranberries)

1/2 cup walnut halves, toasted

2 teaspoons capers, drained

BALSAMIC DRESSING:

1/4 cup raspberry balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon Dijon or stone ground mustard

1 teaspoon honey, or more (depending on the sweetness of the balsamic vinegar)

1 medium shallot, minced

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

To make the dressing, combine all but olive oil in a small mixing bowl. Slowly whisk in the olive oil--the dressing will emulsify and thicken thanks to the mustard. Set aside.

To roast the salmon, preheat oven to 225 degrees, or to 200 if using a convection oven. Coat the salmon with olive oil and place on a sheet of parchment on a baking sheet, seasoning it lightly with salt and pepper. Roast for 20 minutes. (The salmon will be cooked through, but will have a translucent appearance.)

Toss salad ingredients in a large bowl with balsamic dressing. Divide between serving plates and top with salmon.

My heart is in Hawaii

I am basking in the remembrance of plumeria blossoms, the softness of tropical air and pastel sands and ocean waves foaming over my feet. Those early morning walks in Hawaii were just the beginning of long days filled with stimulation and growth at the best writers conference of all.

The enthusiasm in Deb's voice as she notified me of her enrollment in the upcoming Hawaii Writers Conference over the Labor Day weekend in Honolulu reminded me of my own seven years in a row of being a presenter there.

Conference co-founders John and Shannon Tullius are the most generous of leaders, taking care to fill every attendee with feelings of welcome, expansiveness and ohana (family).

I will always be grateful for the spirit of inclusiveness that led to finding my literary agent, polishing my romantic memoir (purchased by Lifetime for a movie-of-the-week) and becoming a co-author of my second Chicken Soup for the Soul title. Here I am with Jack Canfield at our book signing there:

If you are an aspiring writer, I encourage you to sign up right now.

Almost every day at the Conference we would make our way over to Longhi's restaurant for a serving of Opakapaka with Grapes. Now, still on my stay-cation in Corona del Mar (meaning that I am home but hardly working), the sight of sun-drenched green seedless grapes on Saturday at our local farmers market called to me to recreate the one recipe from Hawaii that most brings the flavors of Hawaii home.

My heart and my plate are filled with Aloha!

SAUTEED SNAPPER WITH GRAPES

In adapting this recipe from Longhi's: Recipes and Reflections from Maui's Most Opinionated Restauranteur, I doubled the sauce amount (I love lots of sauce!) and used red snapper from our California coastline instead of Opakapaka, the species of pink snapper found in the tropical islands of Hawaii.

1 pound snapper (or other fish of your choice), cut into two pieces

Sea salt

1/4 cup flour (I prefer Wondra for coating fish)

3 tablespoons butter, for sauteeing, plus

5 tablespoons chilled butter, cut in pieces, for the sauce

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 cup white wine or dry Vermouth

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 to 2 tabelspoons cream

3/4 cup of green seedless grapes (cut in half lengthwise if large)

2 teaspoons snipped fresh chives or garlic chives, or parsley

Rinse fish and pat dry with paper towels. Lightly flour it on both sides.

In a skillet over medium heat heat the butter and olive oil until foamy; add the fish. Saute 3 to 4 minutes, then turn and saute on the second side for 3 to 4 more minutes. Remove form the pan and keep warm while you make the sauce.

Pour the wine and lemon juice into the pan drippings, scraping up any brown bits, and simmer the liquid over high heat until it is reduced to about 3/4 cup. Reduce heat to medium and whisk in the cold butter, a tablespoon or so at a time, until the liquid emulsifies into a sauce consistency. Remove from heat and stir in the cream, which will stabilize the sauce and keep it from separating.

Season to taste with salt. Add the grapes and chives or parsley. Pour sauce over servings of fish on warm serving plates.