It’s time for a Top 10 List. Individual tastes aside; I’m going to share with you my personal top 10 pantry staples. Those go-to ingredients that are always readily on hand so that, even without a special trip to the grocery store, you can cook from scratch and avoid desperate dialing for carry-out (or take-away, as they call it on this side of…
Happy day after Thanksgiving!! Before I forget, if you find yourself post-Thanksgiving with an abundance of cranberries that didn’t make it into the sauce, you must bake these Cranberry-Pecan Muffins from Cooks Illustrated. They’re seriously the best muffins I’ve ever made. The toasted pecans are so good and with the tart cranberry and a streusel topping – yum!! Now back…
Nearly 10 years ago I was lucky enough to get a publishing contract with Chronicle Books out of San Francisco for a hot drinks cookbook. The result was “Some Like it Hot: 50 Drinks to Warm Your Spirits” which I co-wrote along with my dear friend, Holly Burrows. We had such fun developing those recipes from her kitchen in San…
Here is the second installment in my Thanksgiving series (two posts on the same topic can be considered a series, right?). The first installment was for my favorite Thanksgiving carb, Herbed Oyster Stuffing. Now we have its partner in crime, cranberry sauce. It’s a tangy, fresh accompaniment to hearty Thanksgiving fare. I know some of you are bound by tradition to…
This will be my third Thanksgiving in London and I have to say it’s the holiday that makes me miss home the most. Christmas, Halloween, Easter – they’re all celebrated here. We don’t necessarily celebrate them the same as we would in the States: Christmas Eve we now go to our local pub for dinner rather than gather around my…
I’ve been blogging for nearly two months and haven’t posted anything sweet!! Oh, the shame. I’ll start with one of my ultimate go-to desserts – Blueberry Crumb Bars. I found this recipe two years ago when I organized bake sales for my girls’ school. Every other month I’d bake up a storm, and bully my friends into doing the same. After a while I…
Though it’s been nearly two weeks since my last post, don’t think I have abandoned you. No, rather I spent a week eating my way through Rome, Italy and now I’m ready to report back. Being it our first time in Rome, we started out with a food tour of Trastevere, the neighborhood in which we were staying. It’s a really cool…
The concept of one-dish meals is brilliant: one recipe to prepare; includes your protein, veg, maybe even a carb. All together, one happy family. No side dishes required. However it’s typically only associated with casseroles, crockpots and stews. Nothing wrong with any of those, but it’s fun to occasionally mix things up a bit. These lettuce wraps do just that.…
Leaves are falling, temperatures are cooling and the soup is a simmering. This is my favorite time of year for a bowl of homemade soup! But so many choices….what kind to make? Lured by the gorgeous pumpkin/squash/gourd display at the local market, I bought a butternut squash and decided it belonged in a lovely soup. I’ve attempted many butternut squash soup recipes…
Hungry kids after school? Check. Superfast homemade snack? Check. Late-night snack for the adults? Check. This recipe ticks all those boxes. In less time than it takes to make a trip to the store, these spinach bars will be baking away in the oven. I first made this recipe while doing one of my “quick-fire challenges”. For those of you who’ve watched “Top…