Hello, it’s me. I was wondering if after all these months you’d like… …a recipe?* Spring evening with my husband and dear friends. Narcissus blooming tall in the big clay pots. A space station sighting.** Coconut Cream Pie. Pretty perfect. Coconut Cream Pie (This recipe is a mash-up of the best ideas from several sources,…
Category: Life
Meyer Lemon Curd
The petite woman knocking gently on the door of ER bay 17 last Wednesday opened it slightly and poked her head through. “May I come in?” she said softly. Everyone else had rapped loudly and bustled in and out. I nodded and moved to make room for her near the gurney where my father lay….
Chicken Cutlets with Mustard-Cream Sauce
Wednesday afternoon. Last to-do: pick up some Chardonnay to serve with chicken cutlets, steamed rice, and broccoli. Kai the husky was riding shotgun, his preference any time a car door is open. Sometimes he even settles behind the steering wheel, and I have to flat out tell him he can’t drive. We had just left the…
The Dogs of Cookbook Wall
Dogs dictate much of what I accomplish in a day. I can run errands for exactly as long as it takes the smallest canine bladder in my house to reach capacity. I can cook efficiently only if the shepherd/collie mix doesn’t nap in front of a kitchen cabinet or the oven. I can chop onions…
Baked Eggs II
“These dogs have it made,” my husband declared, surveying three shaggy mounds reclining under and around our breakfast table. They could say the same about you, I replied, as I put a prosciutto-lined ramekin of eggs baked with cream on the placemat in front of him. One for B, and one for me. Freshly cut…
Snapshot(s): Halloween 2015
Last night’s Halloween was one for the record books. Five hundred ninety-six trick-or-treaters came calling, descending upon our neighborhood in hordes of super heroes, princesses, and pirates. We had just enough candy to go around. After days of endless rain, the weather turned autumnally perfect — crisp and cool, stars speckling the damp night sky…
Flourless Chocolate Cake
Cheesecake might’ve been a more appropriate, if ironic, choice for dessert to enjoy while watching the Miss America pageant on TV last week. Instead, people at my house had warm and delicious flourless chocolate cake. I would have made enough for everyone, contestants included, if that were possible. Those women looked like they hadn’t had…
Skillet Burgers
You do know how much better homemade burgers taste if you wrap them in squares of waxed paper and let them sit for a few minutes before serving, right? Cook the seasoned beef (I like ground bison) patties in a skillet filmed with vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Turn to brown both sides. Cover with…
Peach Caprese Salad
Do you have access to two sweet, ripe peaches, grown by a farmer within your area code? Rinse, dry, and quarter them, and then array them like a first grader’s idea of the sun on a plate. Is basil still growing in a pot on your backyard deck? No? Has the sun fried it? Can…
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
Last born had a birthday on Sunday. After warm spinach-artichoke dip and zingy cucumber dip; after frozen strawberry margaritas whose fruit factor was boosted with homemade strawberry jam; after burgers and hot dogs sizzling from the grill, sweet and bacony baked beans, and potato-egg salad with fronds of fresh dill (that I should have chopped…
Cookbook Wall 