Helping Chile...On Sunday morning, around 7:40 am, a continuous ringing of the phone wakes J. and me up. My husband ran to answer the phone, while I was trying to open my eyes and understand what was the phone call about? ... It was my sister in law (read full article)

Secret Sauce

While I was at Target the other day, I happened to see that Starbuck’s had a new line of coffees out ~ Vanilla, Caramel and Cinnamon. I LOVE cinnamon in my coffee and often sprinkle it on top. I LOVE Starbuck’s coffee so I could (read full article)

Honey Spice Cookies

I honestly wasn't sure whether I was going to be baking something new before next week. Early on Thursday I made a huge batch of Sugar Donut Muffins to take over to Karin's so she could include them when she visits the parks this week on her mission (read full article)

French Food Facts 3: Walnut Flour And Oil.

I have always had a fascination with flour. Probably because my love of bread making, I have waded my way through pretty much every flour I have come across here, played with it and come up with something that pleases me to eat. I have to admit tha (read full article)

Strawberry Cardamom Bread

 'Tis the season...for luscious, and cheap, strawberries!  I was looking for something new to do with strawberries and this recipe grabbed me due to the addition of cardamom.  A spice used mainly in Indian cuisine, I had only used this (read full article)

Upside Down Plum & Blackberry Cake

I know I have talked about this – like million times already in this blog. At the risk of becoming monotonous and boring, I am repeating it once again – I am a WHOLEGRAIN lover. I cannot get enough of them. And esp. in this country with (read full article)

Saturday Morning Tea

This morning I felt like having something fresh and clear and green so I turned to a spring harvest Japanese Sencha called Uji Shincha.  The word “shincha” literally translates to “new tea”, referring to the harvest of only (read full article)

Fig, Serrano and Bocconcini Bruschetta

I have been the laziest cook lately. For the last few weeks as this blog will attest I have had minimal time in the kitchen. Actually it hasn’t been intentional at all, I’ve just been so busy lately. We are desperately trying to find a h (read full article)

Frozen Puff Pastry

Here is a fast and simple recipe that is not made from scratch, but it will delight your family everytime. Raspberry Napolean 1 package (17 1/4 oz) frozen puff pastry, thawed 1 cup cold milk 1 package (3.4 oz) instant vanilla pudding mix 1 cup heavy (read full article)

Creamy Creole Crab Pots: Anniversary Dinner, the Second Way

For those of you who were expecting me to cook up a Creole feast for my anniversary surprise for Poppa Trix, I apologize. I  have just one dish to share with you - but what a dish it is! This little pot of goodness is loaded with sweet (local a (read full article)

Poaching Fruit

Poached Fruit Be sure to respect the fruit and while peeling it, let the fruit tell you its shape.  Cut in half  to gently remove the pit or melon ball the center. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 8 to 10 pieces of fresh fruit (pealed and cut in half) 2 (read full article)

New Shoes

Go ahead and try them on for size. They don’t really fit you say? It must be that we have become sedentary and fixed in our everyday lives that we forget to do new things. Reach out. It’s time to grow. Stepping out into a new place is unc (read full article)

Recipes from an Italian Summer - Review

Phaidon Press, publishers of The Silver Spoon, has released a new cookbook focusing on Italian Food!Recipes from an Italian Summer contains 380 summer recipes. The recipes are authentic Italian recipes that use fresh, seasonal ingredients. It has r (read full article)

Lox Deviled Eggs

I had some lox leftover from P's most recent camping trip, but this time I knew it was in the fridge before it went bad. I don't have any bagels and I really don't have time to make any (this new class has a truly extraordinary amount of reading in i (read full article)

Free Chicken Stock

Ok , well not free but almost. You see now that I'm in my new home, I'm trying to start stocking up and doing better with what I have around here. I read somewhere of a woman who saved all her veggie peelings and such and froze them for when she w (read full article)

why didn’t i ever think of this before?

Just a quick line here to share the joy that is Not Pouring Salt From a Goddamn Spout. This might be old news to a lot of you, but it’s brand spanking new to me. I have no idea why I never thought of it before. It began when I bought a carton (read full article)

Wheat Couscous Patties

Sometimes it can indeed get boring and monotonous to make the same things again and again. But by making  few changes, either by way of adding new ingredients, adopting a different cooking process or something as simple as changing the way the dish (read full article)

Cranberry Tea Bread

This is one of the recipes we prepared in culinary school. Quick Breads/ Cranberry Tea Bread Batter: 6 1/2 oz butter 5 oz sugar 2 large eggs 2 T orange zest 1 t almond extract 1 T orange juice 7 oz A. P. flour 1/2 t baking soda 3 oz buttermilk 1/2 c (read full article)

Um. Yeah. People are crazy.

I'm all for trying new things -- new foods, new restaurants, etc. But this is one thing I am not interested in doing -- cooking lasagna in my dishwasher. Every so often I get odd emails from people trying to get me to write about something "cool" th (read full article)

Mexican Chocolate Blondies

Houseguests - Part 3Desserts. We all love them but they can be a little intimidating. Or boring. By the time we have decided upon an appetizer, a salad and a main course, our creativity and sometimes our energy is exhausted. So, we go with the old st (read full article)