It’s been a good day, methinks! I’ve been relatively productive and managed to a) exercise b) be outside c) get my freelance articles done and d) catch up on my emails. Yep—all in all, a productive little Tuesday. What about you?
I went on a mission to find a smoked ham hock this afternoon because I had a hankerin’ for some amaaaazing split pea soup. Now, most often I’ll just make my usual go-to version of split pea that involves merely some water, an onion and peas (ideal for when mint.com tells you you have blown your monthly budget at the Nordstrom’s half yearly sale). However, the good stuff takes a little more finesse…and pork. While I chopped my veggies, I snacked on an Arnold’s Sandwich Thin with pb + jam:
Now, this actually is a recipe that y’all can get…..but you have to wait until my latest Health.com article is published because I stuck it in this week’s “Healthy on the Cheap” article. It should be up in a few days though and I’ll link you over when I get word! Here’s a teaser: it’s reallyyyyyyyyyy good. 
I had a steamy mug of it with a side of roasted brussels sprouts and Alice:
Really, there’s nothing quite like a cup of brussels sprouts.
Have I ever talked about my absolute obsession and adoration of Alice Waters yet on here? When other little girls were playing with barbie dolls, I was sitting crouched over my “Fanny at Chez Panisse” cookbook (Alice Waters book for kids) and memorizing recipes in my head. Eating at Chez Panisse is on my bucket list….I guess now that I live here I’m a little closer to the goal. When eating at a specific restaurant is one of your top 10 life goals, you know have it bad. Le sigh. Oh, Alice. Speaking of cookbooks, check out my latest True/Slant article, which gives you my Top 10 list.
Because I severely burned the roof of my mouth after sucking down simmering pea soup (I do this often because soup excites me so much that I can’t wait for it to cool down), I stuck with yogurt for dessert. With raspberry jam and trail mix.
I really wanted to have everything done tonight by 7:30 so I could just relax, read and go to bed early. So far so good.
Now, a speedy dish washing session! Between washing dishes and taking baths, I do love my bubbles!
{ 67 comments… read them below or add one }
I must say, I love the rustic look of your hardwood floor food pictures.
Thank you so much for alerting me to mint.com, it’s like having a nagging parent (in a good way) tell me to watch my pennies (so nice when you miss your nagging parents 3,000 miles away).
Also, I love the new picture of you! Beautious! Have a good night.
Love your cup of brussels sprouts! Cute.
love brussel sprouts!! sooo good
jenna
Congrats on the new book deal! It brought tears to my eyes to know that you have accomplished one of your life’s goals
Brussel sprouts are a newly favorite vegi! My husband hates them so that means that there always leftovers for lunch the hext day!
amen..nothin like a good cup of brussl sprouds! haha that is so funny!
I need to try roasted brussels sprouts, especially after hearing all the food bloggers rave about the ones at the festival.
Have a relaxing evening!
I love bubble baths, too. Just had one- such a lovely way to end the day and prepare for bed!
cup of brussel sprouts… to cute
I hate when I burn my mouth on soup! Or coffee for that matter… I tend to be a little impatient too sometimes.
I love the brussel sprouts in a cup. Such a unique idea!
That soup sounds great and delish, brussel sprouts too!
Soup sounds nice – could go for some with the cooler weather.
I will have to check out Alice Walters, can’t believe I haven’t heard of her before. She’s not the same as Fanny Farmer, is she?
Congratulations on your win at the Food Blogger Awards!
1. Love the new picture of you on the Arrowood porch!
2. Can’t wait to buy your book!
3. LOVE the blog!!
Yeah I can get to your blog again!
I love that you have such a passion for food. It makes reading your posts so much more fun.
Your soup is delicious! I also love doing this stuff and have lots of recipes posted on my site. If you are interested, you are free to visit! I promise they are all healthy!
I love your post
Congrats on the book deal! I cant wait to read it! I just started reading your blog about a month ago, its really great! Good luck!
I have never heard of that book before – I will have to check it out!
Jenna,
Just wanted to say congrats on the book deal! You are an amazingly beautiful and talented person and I can’t wait to read more of your adventures
You are a true inspiration!
Not eating at Chez Panisse is one of my biggest regrets upon leaving San Francisco
If only I’d had a car to make the trip to Berkeley! My boss had all of their old menus in a binder. absolutely beautiful!
omg, brussel sprouts in a cup! this makes me happy.
i haven’t had a chance to congratulate you yet, but jenna, i am so, so excited for and inspired by you. congratulations on living your dreams, and i am so thrilled for you! i can’t wait to follow along as you write your book!
I love Alice Walter, too!! SOOOO much!!!
just saw your post about the book deal- CONGRATS!!!
I am loving the cup of b-sprouts!
You’ve got me hooked on mint.com too. I’ve tried to keep track of my expenses in the past with pen and paper, but why when mint.com can do it for you?!
Love the brussels sprouts. Yum.
Those brussel sprouts look great. I have never eaten them, but now I am thinking I should give them a try!
I love the new True/Slant article.. especially since I am one of the countless people who have emailed you about this!
Jenna,
One day far in the future when an inspiring movie is made about your life or a part of your life, it will be a good movie but ya know what?You are such an engaging writer we will all say”But her books are so much better!read the books!”
Yup,that’s a real compliment to a writer and a professional writer is now what you ARE (amongs many,many other delightful things of course!)
I really love the fact that you are down to earth about all this and through the things you have gone through the last year know ehat’s really important in life, not the fame and the flashy,but being a good person and doing good deeds in the world.Nice to see someone with their head on their shoulders and not a big ego to drag around.Stay true to yourself always no matter where life takes you…I have no doubt that motto will be true of you !
Jenna,
One day far in the future when an inspiring movie is made about your life or a part of your life, it will be a good movie but ya know what?You are such an engaging writer we will all say”But her books are so much better!read the books!”
Yup,that’s a real compliment to a writer and a professional writer is now what you ARE (amongs many,many other delightful things of course!)
I really love the fact that you are down to earth about all this and through the things you have gone through the last year know ehat’s really important in life, not the fame and the flashy,but being a good person and doing good deeds in the world.Nice to see someone with their head on their shoulders and not a big ego to drag around.Stay true to yourself always no matter where life takes you…I have no doubt that motto will be true of you !
Mm..can’t wait for your recipe book! you make things look way too easy!
Would you post your recipe for brussels sprouts? I’d love to try them. Thank you!
I like your dinner in cups . . . also your new side bar pic is tres cute
Can’t wait to check out your Top 10 cookbooks – I’ve been wondering about suggestions -anyone???!!!
Love the cup of Brussell sprouts – I always do that – even late at night – cooked broccoli/cauliflower while I’m trying to decide what I want !! not good for the tummy – but oh well
First time posting, but I’ve been reading your blog for a couple months. I loved the Waters/Panisse bio – eating there is one of my lifetime goals too. I live my city of NYC, but if we were to move, it would be to the Bay Area, so I’ll get the chance someday. I spent the summer reading all the women-focused foodie books – Julia Child’s bio, Julie & Julia (of course), Amanda Hesser’s book, all of Ruth Reichl’s books and The Sharper Your Knife the Less You Cry. I’m now onto MFK Fisher. Congrats on YOUR book deal! And ps, one of my favorite finishes to split pea soup is sherry vinegar. Throw a splash or two in at the end of cooking time, turn off the heat and let it marry with the other flavors for a while. I don’t eat meat and really appreciate the depth of flavor the vinegar adds.
Best!
Love the cup of sprouts!
I always burn my mouth too :/ LOL I have no patience! I think you’ve accomplished so much and make eating at your dream place the next big thing.
I burn my mouth on tea all the time because I can’t wait to taste it!
I can totally relate, I was the little girl who came home from elementary school to watch “Great Chefs” on the Discovery channel (the days before Food Network)!! I love your fave cookbook list, I need to get ahold of some of these for this torrentially rainy day we are having here in VA….
Jenna,
about her time in France, India, Australia, and maybe some other places. She’s from my area and did a signing at the bookstore where I work a little while ago and while I was too busy working to really talk to her, she seemed to have some interesting stories. You should check out her book if you haven’t. x
Have you ever looked at The Adventure Cookbook by Sofia Brandon? I’ve only flipped through it, but it seems pretty cool. She’s all about clean eating and it’s a combination memoir/cookbook thing (like what it sounds like you’re going to write!…congrats btw
can’t wait to get the soup recipe! it sounds wonderful for a cold evening
What a nice, productive, day! I always burn my mouth, too
My husband always, always used to burn his mouth on Starbuck’s drinks because he wanted to drink it NOW. Now he asks for it at 145 degrees LOL
Jenna, I can tell that there is a total lightness in your spirit now; I am sure it was so hard to hold back on the book deal. You are trulu inspirational!
I love mint.com, but why is it that it never tells me that I’m going under my budget?!
I am always burning the roof of my mouth… it’s awful!
Jenna-there is a summer camp here in Marin County called Steve & Kates’s camp that hired Alice Waters to do the food menu for the summer. All the recipes were from her Edible Schoolyard cookbook. My daughter LOVED it. She raved about the food everyday. The chili was Elli’s favorite. (You can read more on my blog.) Needless to say, the kids ate very well all summer. I was just a tad jealous.
I love Oikos with trail mix. And brussel sprouts
Glad you had a great day!
That Oikos sounds perfect
i love nordstrom like you love alice….
Homemade split pea soup with ham is the BEST!!! So easy, but so delicious. Hope you enjoyed your night
I would love to eat at ‘Chez Panisse’ too! I’m from Europe, so it will be a long trip for a restaurant;) But maybe the next time I visit the US and California…
And I wanna say CONGRATULATIONS with the book! I only know you ‘online’ of course, but it feels like someone I know is gonna publish a book and I’m so excited for you:) Way to go! Are you nervous about it?
xxx Julia (Taste of Living)
I would love to eat at ‘Chez Panisse’ too! I’m from Europe, so it will be a long trip for a restaurant;) But maybe the next time I visit the US and California…
And I wanna say CONGRATULATIONS with the book! I only know you ‘online’ of course, but it feels like someone I know is gonna publish a book and I’m so excited for you:) Way to go! Are you nervous about it?
xxx Julia (Taste of Living)
Hi, Jenna–
I happened to flip to Food Network last night. A Food Network Challenge where teams were making really tall cakes was on. While they were moving the cakes to the judging table, the camera kept cutting away to anxious faces in the audience. One of the faces was either yours or someone who SERIOUSLY could be your twin. Was it you??? (The Dish guide said that the show originally aired in April of last year.)
Love the blog!
That’s so cute that you studied cookbooks as a child… and now you get to write your own book!
Also, I loved your article on your top-10 cookbooks…I’ll have to check some of them out!
Can’t wait for the new recipe! Also, love the new picture.
that’s my absolute favorite alice waters/chez panissen book. and i am a little obsessed. but that’s my total 100% favorite.
and congrats on the book! can’t wait to read it!
I want to go to Chez Panisse! I lived in Berkeley for 4 years (undergrad) and never went
It was way too expensive! Maybe someday I’ll go back and splurge! Alice Waters is amazing!
On a different note, I’m completely jealous that you are in California, I just moved from California to Upstate NY and miss it like crazy. I can’t wait to go home in December!
Looooove Alice!
Ohh pea soup! So delicious! Seriously, as a kid I would have my own “cooking shows” and talked to my kitchen like it was an audience when I baked. Imaginative? Crazy? haha Crazy about food…for sure. haha
Hey!
I’m so glad to see you are reading that book by Thomas McNamee. I read it last year and loved it. I am enamored by Alice Waters as well, and thought McNamee did a great job. I’ve been to Chez Panisse a few times. Amazing place. If you get to Berkeley, also go to the Cheese Board. SOOOO delicious. My friend and I OD’d on garlic pizza there once. We didn’t (couldn’t) talk face-to-face for weeks!
I’m reading that book too!! I am in love with it. I don’t have much time for leisure reading, but when I go to the gym I take the time to read what I want. I’m less than halfway through, but seriously…Alice Waters is incredible. Just a girl in college who went to Paris, fell in love with food, and desired to open a restaurant. Sounds like me! Going to Chez Panisse is totally on my list of things to do in life–I guess I have it bad too!
I just went to Chez Panisse the monday before I met you! Fantastic restaurant – and if you go on Mondays, it’s much more affordable at 60 dollars a head for their set menu. Also my favorite breakfast spot is a favorite of Alice Waters called The Butler & The Chef at a little park called South Park in SoMa (downtown). Definitely worth checking out. Cheers!
Looking forward to the split pea soup recipe – so necessary in this cold weather!
I just popped over and back – great article!
I’m so excited to buy YOUR cookbook!
Love Chez Panisse–including for lunch when more $$ than $$$$…and really love the Cheeseboard Pizza Collective across and down the street a bit..that is one AMAZING place. Love that entire Gourmet Ghetto area esp when the Farmer’s Market is set up there. It’s just Cal cool.
hehe love your cup of brussel sprouts!
no matter how many times i eat them, i still can’t like em! i REALLY want to though.. i guess because i have some idea in my head that theyre like a magical super healthy food haha
I love brussel sprouts the MOST. Also, thanks for the top ten list, I love cookbooks!
Not to be a debbie downer, but don’t get your hopes up toooo high for Chez Pannise. . . it has been hit or miss lately (based on my own experience and that of some friends). I hope you have a fulfilling experience though when you finally go!
I’m farrrr from being a true foodie, but I DO know that the two meals I’ve had the privilege of enjoying at Chez Panisse have been among the best of my life!!
You need to go!! I’ve only eaten at the cafe, but everything tastes like a MASTERPIECE!
I love how you prepared the soup!