Check Out My Mussels

I recently cooked mussels for the very first time. I know, why did it take me so long to make mussels at home? I order them a lot when I’m eating out and if they’re done well, there is nothing better. I suppose I was put off by all the dire information about mussels in [...]

Here We Go A-Gardening

Wow, these weekly roundups — which are supposed to be posted on the weekend, by the way — just keep creeping into the next week. I don’t even have the excuse of going out of town for the long weekend. No, it’s just laziness that’s kept me from posting lately, although I have been cooking [...]

Bookworm in the Pantry

Thanks to Lydia at the Perfect Pantry for featuring my food-related book selections as this week’s Bookworm in the Pantry. If you browse through this blog, you’ll quickly learn that another one of my passions is reading. (And if you want to see what I’m reading that is not food-related, go here.)
The Bookworm in the [...]

Serious Comfort Food

Let’s say you’ve had a week like mine. A week where you stayed late at the office nearly every night and still didn’t feel like you got on top of all the work clamoring to be done. A week where you received 3 new project assignments, all of which need to be done by the [...]

My Favorite Spinach Salad

One of my problems with spinach salads is the raw spinach. No, seriously. I actually love spinach and feel very virtuous when I’m eating it because it’s so packed with iron and vitamins. But raw leafy spinach is daunting. With the exception of baby spinach, I find it too bulky, too much work for not [...]

Herb-Garlic Roasted Potatoes

This is probably my favorite way to cook potatoes. Like the little black dress, this is a simple classic that goes with everything. This is also a versatile recipe, which you can make on the grill during the summer as well as in the oven during the colder months.

Herb-Garlic Roasted Potatoes
Time to make: 30-45 minutes, [...]

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Even though it’s been an unusually chilly, rainy May (in keeping with the rest of the odd weather this year — balmy winter, cold spring, what will summer bring?), the front garden is going bonkers. This small area next to the front porch is dedicated to bulbs and perennials, with some pots for annuals and [...]

De-cluttering My Kitchen

Whew, it is chilly this morning. It feels like a crisp fall day, and it’s May! I almost needed a hat and gloves for my morning walk. Whatever happened to the warming part of global warming? Meanwhile, the Brits are planting olives and almonds and vineyards. Lucky bastards…
After deciding to green my kitchen last week, [...]

French Onion Soup

Patricia Wells is my new best friend. I have had her cookbook, Bistro Cooking, for a while but only recently began cooking out of it. The recipes are simple but hearty French bistro fare that rely on the best ingredients for flavor, and each one I have attempted has been delicious. Her Marinated Goat Cheese, [...]

Bean Cakes, a Versatile Classic

Bean cakes — or croquettes, if you want to get all French about it — are a wonderfully versatile dish. They work equally well as a side at breakfast, as an appetizer with a dipping sauce, on a sandwich or in a tortilla. Use any kind of beans you like, and vary the flavorings to [...]