Four for Dinner

Fattening, but worth it. When I prepared desserts for our dessert party a few weeks ago, my sister-in-law, JC, loved the blondies that I made. Blondies are without a doubt one of the easiest recipes in my arsenal and never seem to fail to please even the most avid chocolate lover – but they generally [...]

When we were in Italy, almost 3 years ago, we took a family cooking class in Tuscany. It was a blast. The cooking class took place at the home of the cooking instructor. Some of the participants were staying at the instructor’s home to cook for the week. We were only there for a morning/afternoon [...]

Last time I checked, chicken was still supposed to be fully cooked when it was served. Juicy, but well done. Oops. Last night, mine came out medium-well. I had to boost the finished product with a little zap time in the microwave. Not the best solution, but if you have to give your medium-well chicken [...]

We have harvested our bumper crop of artichokes (I think we got, all told, 11). We will probably have another crop bud in the fall. This week, we need to eat 8 artichokes. What a tragedy! J asked to have spaghetti with tomato cream sauce, which is a recipe we learned while in Italy. That [...]

Day two of a nice heat wave. Like the last one, it is warm enough to eat outside in the evening, which is pretty unusual for where we live. So, we like to take advantage it. Tonight, we had a Salade Nicoise, which is something that you put together, more than something you cook. Though, [...]

When we went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium a few weeks ago, it was noted that Tilapia was a good, sustainable fish to eat. In looking at the aquarium web site, I saw that tilapia farmed in the U.S. is considered a “best choice”, with Central and South American farmed tilapia a “good alternative”. I [...]

Throwing a party is very, very fun and very, very low stress when you share the work with good friends. Last Friday, I hosted a luncheon at my house with 2 great friends in honor of another great friend. The menu was inspired by a Russian theme, but we didn’t stick totally to the theme. [...]

Not too much cooking will go on this week. S & I have a couple of dinners out, with old friends (yea!) and business associates. Plus, we have a nice dinner planned with the girls for a certain, gulp, leap into full on middle age. Dinners will be less put together this week. A little [...]

Okay. I didn’t have it in me too make the souffle on Friday night. I was pooped from the luncheon. So we had leftover delight. L & J were definitely disappointed. I made it up to them last night. For the first Saturday in a long time, we were home. Just the four of us. [...]

Thankfully, mother nature is an indulgent parent. She makes lots of candy. I can think of so many incredibly sweet treats that are healthy, plentiful (depending on the time of year) and require no cooking. Fruit is the obvious candy-like provision that comes to mind. But, this weekend, we saw a treat that is just [...]