Upon my return from vacation, I was greeted by an overgrown garden with one extraordinarily large, on steroids-like, zucchini. I wasn't functioning too well the first day feeling the jet lag pretty strongly. Having already had a few mishaps in the kitchen (like nicking my finger on the mandoline) I ...
cooking with friends
Vacation Cooking
When I think about my vacation kitchen, far away across the Atlantic Ocean, I think not just of the foods I've made for more than two decades with and for my family, but what it is that I will make that's new this year. My vacation kitchen is in the Algarve region of Portugal, surrounded by fig, ...
Fig, Goat Cheese & Honey Crostini
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Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies With white chocolate chips, cranberries and coconut
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Blueberry Bread, A Reflection of Life
Sometimes things just don't go right in the kitchen. Last week, it was as if a bomb exploded in my oven. As smoke rose and the aroma of burnt blueberry bread swirled about the kitchen, I watched a disaster form in my new oven. What do you do when you have an epoch food failure? Or really any kind ...
Cooking with Friends Party Time!
A few times a year I will donate my time for a charity event. Last night it was for a group of twelve fellow fifth grade parents who won a Cooking with Friends evening at a silent auction. When I run a cooking party, my life stops for two straight days as I'm hyper focused on prepping and ...
Marscapone Cream Filled Strawberries
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Busily Baking with Barberries
When I get a new ingredient to bake with, I'm always eager to call my friend Suzy to help me create new recipes. She's the ideal friend to test and taste since she's always honest and will tell me what she really thinks. Yesterday, still soaring with excitement after my successful dinner ...
Barberry Orange Scones
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Sweet and Salty Seared Shishito Peppers
Sweet and Salty Seared Shishito Peppers. Say that three times in a row! This couldn't be a simpler and more scrumptious snack to throw together. The combination of brown sugar and sea salt balances the pungency of the peppers perfectly. (Say that three times!) Sorry for all the alliteration -- I ...