Today my Ms. Bento contained linguine&nbsp;with tomatoes, fava beans and Italian sausage (can you tell that I bought a giant package of sausages?); arugula salad with grapefruit, goat cheese and spiced sunflower seeds; and strawberries and raspberries. This made a day spent studying Spanish syntax and Pericles&amp;#8217;s Funeral Oration go by that much faster.
My dear friend L is visiting later today! It&amp;#8217;s been nearly two years since L relocated to Germany and this is the first time I&amp;#8217;ll be seeing her since last spring. We plan to cook until the windows in our little apartment get all steamy tonight. On the menu is a no-knead whole-wheat bread; a pot of shakshuka* - a new to me dish composed of poached eggs, cubed haloumi and spicy tomato sauce; and a peach galette with a honey-thyme glaze.
*Shakshuka has a rather intriguing story: variations of this dish are found all over the Maghreb and Middle East under a variety of monikers. Apparently the Israeli version is the result of the migration of the Libyan Jewish community and Shakshuka has since become popular breakfast fare over there. Similar, although perhaps unrelated, dishes also exist in other cuisines - most notably in Mexico, Italy and Spain