Gluten-Free

I talk about shortcuts in home cooking all the time, I’m the first to admit, that we all need them. And while such shortcuts would not be permitted in a professional kitchen, in your kitchen, it’s a different story. This malted chocolate peanut butter no-churn ice cream is one of those shortcuts, and if you […]

I adore frisée. I love the taste, but truthfully, it’s the name that gets me. This is my frisée and poached egg salad, lightly dressed with a homemade mustard vinaigrette and it’s a staple in my home. This classic French country salad is one I could live on, especially in the summer. What most people […]

This coconut ice cream is for all my coconut-loving friends out there. It’s also dedicated to my older son, who starts his sophomore year of high school (via distant learning) today, during a Pandemic and in a state burning from wildfires. He is a huge coconut lover like I am, so I thought what could […]

Cookies are my weakness, especially a good cookie.  Despite not being a huge sweet fan, I rarely turn down a cookie. I also love coconut and feel it is greatly underrepresented in the dessert world. This lovely cookie recipe is not my own, it is from The Sprouted Kitchen Cookbook by Sara Forte. This entire […]

I’ve always been a polenta fan. This is my favorite, effortless oven polenta with mushrooms that takes all the work out of making this hearty favorite. But when you break it down, polenta is nothing more than coarsely ground cornmeal. Served as a hot porridge-style dish, or cooled and cut which can then be baked, […]

If you have ever baked for Passover, I think it’s fair to say that dietary restrictions can be challenging. The absence of leavening agents leaves most home bakers bewildered at the prospect of an overly dry, leaden Passover dessert no one wants to eat. Enter the old reliable; flourless chocolate cake. This dessert has rightfully […]

I love soup. Soup is comforting, healing, often healthy, hearty, and, except consommé, relatively easy to make. I honestly think I could eat soup every day, even in the summer. This black bean soup is a favorite of my family.  To me it is simple, subtle, and nourishing, and one I have made recently while in […]

A Special Note With COVID-19 slowly closing in on my Northern California area, I’ve been too distracted to write or post these days. But today, with my boys home from school, the reality of this pandemic is truly settling in. Cancelations of life events make me feel like a giant “pause” button has been pressed on […]

This is one of my favorite easy and healthful salads; roasted cauliflower and chickpeas with honey mustard vinaigrette. This wonderful, flavorful cauliflower and chickpea salad is not my recipe, it’s from Half Baked Harvest. I have only lightly adapted the recipe, mainly reducing the heat factor, but the original recipe can be seen here. This […]

Tomato soup is a quintessential American comfort food. Native to western South America and Central America, tomatoes, a member of the nightshade family, did not arrive in Europe till the early 1500s. Bright shiny tomatoes were thought to be poisonous by Europeans. In Europe, tomatoes were planted as ornamental curiosities, but not for consumption. The […]

Poached pears, or Poire à la Beaujolais, as they are known in French, are a classic dessert of the wine-growing region of Beaujolais. A simple and somewhat understated dish by today’s standards, but one I have loved for a long time. If you’re looking for a simple but eye-catching dessert during the winter and spring seasons, look […]

Love them or hate them, Brussels sprouts have been considered a tradition at Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations for centuries. My childhood memories of sprouts are not flattering. Most of my friends have similar stories. To clarify, there is nothing more unappealing than a mushy, flavorless, overcooked sprout–nothing! But this dish for roasted Brussels sprouts with almonds […]

I recently learned that potatoes originated in South America and that although they were brought over to Europe in the early 1500s, it actually took a few hundred years for people to get over their apparent distrust of this strange new food. Fascinating. Fast forward to current times, potatoes, in any form, are considered a […]

This is a lovely recipe from Ian Garten’s Barefoot Contessa How Easy Is That? cookbook that I have been making for years. My husband first introduced me to this effortless shrimp dish years ago after having it at a friend’s house. Now it’s considered a staple in my weekday meal repertoire. Ina Garten is a well-known […]

Despite my boys being back in school, technically, it’s still summer. This has always been a strange thing for me to accept. In New York, school started after Labor Day.  Even after so many years living on the West Coast, that still seems “normal“. With August winding to a close, Northern California is still seeing […]