Sarah Kieffer’s pan-banging chocolate chip cookies are now world-famous and rightly so. Kieffer’s recipe for these insanely delicious cookies first appeared in her cookbook called Vanilla Bean Baking Book. They were later featured in the NY Times, and the rest they say, is history. Kieffer is a self-taught baker and one that I admire very […]

Chicken kreplach soup is a dish my husband has asked me to develop for a while now. Kreplach (pronounced krep-lakh) or “krepel” if singular, is the Yiddish name for the traditional triangular pieces of dough filled with ground meat or chicken, similar to dumplings. Also known as “Jewish wontons“, kreplach, just like Chinese dumplings, can be boiled and served in chicken soup […]

Rice pudding is something my mother loves. Although she never made it from scratch, I have always associated rice pudding with her. My mother did not teach me how to make this classic comfort food, ironically I learned how to make it at my first job out of culinary school. Although hired as a saucier, […]

The Cobb salad is an American classic and one of the first salads I was introduced to as a kid. It was and remains, the perfect salad. A Cobb is a beautiful, bountiful salad representing a symphony of flavors and textures. Eating a Cobb salad is never a chore, but rather a culinary experience. To […]

Every Jewish family has a kugel recipe as well as a strong opinion about it. Kugel is not a required Jewish holiday dish, but trust me, by not required, I mean it’s at every Jewish holiday meal. I have been asked many times over the years what my kugel recipe is…ironically, I had never really […]

In the United States, Labor Day pays tribute to the contributions and achievements of American workers. What it has also come to represent is a long weekend in September that unofficially marks the end of summer. As a kid raised don the East Coast, this meant the last hurrah before the new school year began. […]

The margarita is undoubtedly the most popular tequila cocktail the world over, followed by the Paloma. The Toromha cocktail is a close cousin of the margarita and is believed to have been invented by the Tequila Tezon company. The “Toronha” name comes from “toronja” (the Spanish word for grapefruit) and takes the extra ‘h’ from the […]

There is nothing better than fresh pasta. And despite what many believe, fresh pasta dough it’s not all that difficult to make, you can even make it in a kitchen mixer. Making homemade pasta was what I call a pandemic obsession. Along with homemade sourdough, I spent many hours making home pasta as I found it […]

I remember when smoothie bowls became a thing. And I’ll admit it, I didn’t fully get them at first, but now I do. Smoothie bowls are often confused with açaí bowls, but they are not the same they are completely different in origin. And to clarify, traditional smoothies, made of pureed fruit mixtures (the ones […]

Everyone has a preferred fruit, but not everyone will admit it. I have no secrets when it comes to food. Strawberries are my favorite summer fruit and this strawberry rhubarb galette is the perfect dessert to highlight beautiful summer berries. The Truth About Strawberries Most have no clue, but a strawberry is not a berry […]

Back to posting after a lovely week spent away with my family. I am so thankful for the ability to safely reunite after so many long and challenging months apart. If you have been separated from loved ones, I hope you have had some special time together recently as well. Now let’s talk about soup. […]

Meet my new favorite summer drink, a Saint Germain cocktail. A blend of St. Germain, (pronounced san-jer-man), white wine, and club soda, think wine spritzer, but better. Light, effervescent, and refreshing, this is a cocktail I have been sipping on all summer long. And the best part about this time of year, you can bend the rules […]

Note: “By posting this recipe, I am entering a recipe contest sponsored by California Walnuts and am eligible to win prizes associated with the contest. I was not compensated for my time.” Here is a new summer smoothie I can’t get enough of these days. This is my strawberry-plum walnut smoothie, and it is outrageously delicious. […]

Summer and jam just go together.  Strawberry rhubarb jam is number one on my list of jam favorites.  To clarify, jams, jellies, marmalades, and conserves are all somewhat similar. They all are a mixture of fruit and sugar and share the basic preparation of crushing ripe fruit to release its juice, adding sugar and heating the […]

Sweet cherries are here and they are irresistible. These summer cherry shortbread bars are a must-make if you are a cookie/bar lover like I am. Effortless in preparation, these bars bake up in no time and feel like the perfect cross between a cookie and a pie. The best part, they are not nearly as […]