Wheat Berry Salad - Fresh Herb and Feta

Here's another delicious variation for preparing the versatile wheat berries. This one is more robust and tangy for the addition of lemon juice and feta cheese.

The Manhattan Cocktail

Manhattans can be made more or less sweet depending on the amount of sweet vermouth. We started with a "perfect" Manhattan (even balance) but decided we favor this sweeter version. Cheers!

Lemon Chickpea Salad or Slaw

I made this the first time as an experiment, not yet sure if the proportions were right or what tweaks would be needed.  I hadn't yet planned to make this a slaw but I thought the taste of just the salad was so irresistible that I needed to find a way to bulk it up or slow myself down. The next time I made it and incorporated the slaw, Brian walked into the kitchen just as I was putting it in a big bowl. He tasted it and then stood there with a fork, eating. It never did make it onto the dining room table that day and the slaw version has been our house standard ever since. Super nutritious, this is more of a lunch than a side salad and, with so much fiber, it's quite filling.

The Cosmopolitan

Labor Day weekend marked the end of our summer festivities, our pup chasing balls on the grass, steaks on the grill and those lovely, refreshing frozen daiquiris. Oh, how we'll miss those daiquiris. Sadly, we put away the blender. But cooler weather, autumn jackets and the pumpkins appearing in the market put us in the mood for some more traditional cocktails.

Wheat Berry Salad - Tomato & Basil

Wheat berries are a wonderfully healthy whole grain, nutty tasting and loaded with fiber. They don't need to be soaked or rinsed prior to cooking and should be available wherever you buy other grains.

Frozen Peach Daiquiri

This drink is where our cocktail story all began. Last Memorial Day weekend, we were at Costco shopping for the steaks and sides we'd need for holiday grilling with our guests. Anyone familiar with Costco knows you can practically eat an entire meal from their tastings and give-aways. On this start-of-the-summer shopping day, they were appropriately pushing their frozen daiquiri and margarita mixes.

Sojourn

244 East 79th Street, New York, NY, 212-537-7745 www.sojournrestaurant.com

Yum is the best way to describe a meal at Sojourn. The room is pretty, in a wine-bar sort of way, although we wished for cushier and more spacious seating. Our waitress was friendly and efficient if perhaps a bit too chatty. But, in the end, the heavenly food stands out and only half-way into our meal we were already making plans to come back.