favorite ingredients

demerara sugar
eggs
love
buckwheat flour
butter
honesty
inquisitiveness
rosemary
lima salt
bacon fat
espresso
humour
Jersey milk
cold water
freshly ground black pepper
goat yogurt
cocoa nibs
desire to learn
pink peppercorns
Madagascar vanilla beans
fennel seeds
patience
passion
humility
the ability to say a sorry you mean
beef bone marrow
crab
chocolate egg creams
leeks
Scharffen Berger milk chocolate
peach leaves
Royal Blenheim apricots
rhubarb
mangoes
passion
butter caramel
puff pastry
deep breaths
diplomacy
wet green peppercorns
lemon zest
orange blossom honey
mastic
strong black tea
homemade soy sauce
corn on the cob
roasted red peppers
overcooked broccoli
mama
family
research
Jane Grigson
Laurie Colwin
cherry blossoms
the scent of hay
cumulus clouds
roasted chicken
Little Gem lettuces
quince
sun warmed blackberries in August
wild blueberries
hazelnuts
kisses
French Horns
memories
egg bagels
red cabbage
fresh horseradish
playing bridge until 4 am
old school Adidas
holding hands
bicycling down a steep hill
sauteed foie gras
raw clams on a New York boardwalk
Coney Island
juniper berries
fresh blackcurrants
young ginger
asking questions
cardamon
jaggery
oats
thick cold tart yogurt
Meyer lemons
marmalade
crushes
sharp knives
baby offset spatulas
camaraderie
the banana song
homemade marshmallows
Yiddish
haroset
hip hop
raw fennel
eggplant/aubergine
canneles
bee's wax
persimmons
eating fruit off trees
Black Mission figs
mud pies
postcards
words
Sharpies
absorbent side towels
typewriters
silver quenelling spoons
stainless steel saucepans
parchment paper
lust
silpats
the color orange
sailors
unrequited love
novels
farmer's markets
craft
dark chocolate
leaf gelatin
green almonds
nocino
asking for help
golden raisins
rosewater
pistachios, untoasted
ripe tomatoes
the scent of rice on steam, cooking in your house
sesame oil
pomegranate seeds
soft brown sugar
hot porridge at dawn when there's snow falling outside
Thanksgiving dinner during the first week of November
flirting
compliments & complements
lobster
smoked fish
heirloom apples
dogs running through open fields
green olives
bread baking
brown butter
whisks
crushes
Santa Rosa plums
okra
tears
love letters
Doyenne du Comice pears
taking chances
having faith
walking through our fears
roux
Lyle's Golden Syrup
Damson plums
Meadowsweet pannacotta
sober sex
shallot-morel-puff pastry tart
black truffle
grapefruit
making new friends
teaching
learning
train trips
toasted English muffins
peeled chestnuts
whole roasted young fava beans
Muhammara
rolling pins
young coconut
forbidden black rice
confidence
seeded watermelon
green, opalescent fleshed H'aogen melons
pumpkin pie
sleep
vivid dreams
asking 'Why'
red quinoa
helping the most important person in your life die
walking through grief
Mara de Bois strawberries
scallops
swimming in the ocean
moving great distances
knitting
jokes you laugh at while telling them
corniness
adventures
loving
being loved
not being afraid of difference
redefining success
apologizing
watering all the plants on the same day
watching an orchid take weeks to blossom and stay for months
baths
organizing memorials
honey roasted peanuts
eating freshly churned ice cream off the spatula
adding baking soda to caramel and watching it froth up, turn opaque and later break it open and see why they named it Honeycomb, or Hokey Pokey
burning fingertips on tuiles
making lists
showing up for the hard stuff
surviving
glitter
a tongue on the inside of an elbow
torching meringue
raking leaves
lemon juice
hot fudge sauce
cucumbers
hot chorizo
padron peppers sauteed in olive oil and drenched in sea salt, eaten out of a black cast iron skillet
biscuits made with hand rendered lard
buttermilk
elderberry cordial
limes
gingerbread cake
yellow peaches
the desire to live.

Comments

[Kiri Mah]

I love Laurie Colwin and baby offset spatulas too...

[Hilda]

I love this list. Love it. Love it. Love.
May I ask you, have you eaten much Persian food? with Fatemeh maybe? If you haven't I think you would really like it.

[Danielle]

Thank you for this. It really touched me. What a world we share!

[kellypea]

Fabulous list...has me thinking of my own. Coney Island? ; )

[Noshzilla Kat]

that's a delicious list for sure...but i think you forgot to add 'woofs' to it

[Jeannie]

Like the whole as a poem, like the stream of consiousness, will make a note of the details....
My latest ingredient is summer farm butter from the market....it is amazing....

[MollyCookie]

Honey, coffee, and basil... definitely not together.

[Rachelle]

What a great list! I love it and you, Shuna. Missing you from N. CA!

[Julie Barrett]

Wow

[roger]

what do you do with peach leaves?
thanks for the egg white insight.

Hello My Favorite Roger!! So nice to see you 'round the eggbeater parts! peach leaves are amazing for infusions. They emit a subtle almond/noyeaux scent & flavor. But I believe you have to catch them when they're young, and when the tree is fruiting. The stems and leaves should be healthy. Wash and infuse in fruit poaching liquid. You're welcome and I hope to 'see you again.' xo Shuna

[Victoria]

I love this whole list - and I REALLY LOVE that Laurie Colwin is on it. What fun!

[Rachelino]

I want to paint this on my kitchen walls, so beautiful.

[Aran]

I have to say that I second every single thing on this list and yes, I read it all, even the overcooked broccoli. It seems like you are doing well Shuna. Is that so? xx

[Dad & Ellen]

Simply terrific!! We love that list!! Really fine writing!

[Johanna Brannan Lowe]

Was"overcooked broccoli" a red herring?
Loved the list and agree it would love great written on a wall.

Hello Johanna, No, the overcooked broccoli is just that. Especially the stems-- I might like them more than the florets. Al Dente Broccoli doesn't taste like much to me-- raw is ok, but when it's considered "overcooked" by most people's standards, it's tastiest to me. ~ Shuna

[whimsy2]

Oh, Shuna...beautiful.

[Ashley Boyd]

This is my favorite of all your posts. Thanks.

[papergirl]

You are a lovely, lovely writer and your posts are so heartfelt that I find myself tremendously moved by many of them and reread them a lot. Thank you.

[Aaron]

Well the Italians would certainly agree with you about overcooked broccoli. Cooked until grey with lots of olive oil.
Yum.

[Nicole]

so so lovely .

[Melinda]

hello shuna,
lovely list. i have something similar-- a little red moleskin book in which i write anything that speaks to me, things that i love. just looking at the book makes me happy and grateful.
i am in london now, near hampstead heath.