Behind the scenes at Gertrude's

I stopped by to see John for a little morning visit.

I love going through his kitchen at Gertrude's and seeing what's cooking.

Doug, his pastry chef, was baking olive bread. 

And rolls.

He was in the little office just off the pasty side when I came in.

I think this is hands down the cutest coolest tat I've seen in Baltimore. And there are LOTS of tats in this town.

John was talking with vendors as I helped get his computer ready for our Blogger 101 session. Hilarious that I'm helping him set up his blog, as I've only been doing this for a month. But I really wanted to get him started. He has exciting new adventures on the horizon that I will be very excited to share when all is finalized.

I couldn't help but admire his cookbook collection. This is just a fraction of it. He said most of his books are at home. When I worked for Nora, I coveted her office. It was filled, wall-to-wall with cookbooks. I sincerely wish I had a photo of her at her desk surrounded by her beloved books. 

Gertrude's has a garden in the back yard. They had just picked these jewels fresh.

John treated me to the first bite.

The restaurant is on the campus of Johns Hopkins University. This is their little garden out back.

They have figs in their garden too! They do so well in Baltimore. We loved figs even before we knew we would own two huge fig trees. When my family had a party for us in Memphis in celebration of our wedding, we gave each host a fig tree as the hostess gift with a recipe for grilled figs, stuffed with blue cheese and honey on a love note tied to the tree. It was the most fun gift I've ever given quite frankly.  I just emailed the hosts to see if they have been fruitful and multiplied.

These sunflower shots remind me so much of my friend Nette. She loves sunflowers. It also reminded me of a section in  Animal, Vegetable, Miracle where she described a sunflower house. I hope to plant one someday and watch the bees, while laying down in the little sunflower haven. You can find the directions here.

Almighty God, We thank you for making the earth fruitful, so that it might produce what is needed for life; Bless those who work in the fields; give us seasonable weather; and grant that we may all share the fruits of the earth, rejoicing in your goodness; through Jesus Christ of Lord. Amen  BCP pg 224