Humble avocado toast can be transcendent. Any food can, made with care, from ingredients of good quality. Avocado Toast Cut a just-ripe avocado in half, take out the pit, and scoop the contents into a bowl. Mash with a fork into chunks, adding kosher salt, freshly ground pepper, and a squirt of fresh lemon juice…
Category: Life
Cooking with Red and Green
I like to cook with color any time of year, but especially during Christmas holidays. Red and green food is festive and delicious. Have a Christmas cookie! Christmas Shortbread To the shortbread and linzer cookie dough I write about elsewhere in this book, add 3/4 cup (3.5 ounces) finely chopped pistachios and 3/4 cup (4.25…
After the Feast
Thanksgiving is over, and it was good. We started the morning with Pumpkin Scones, served with a little cinnamon butter on the side. These were tender and delicious, and I’ll make them again. (Note for next time: try freezing the unbaked wedges overnight, and adjust the baking time accordingly. Might hold their shape a little…
Halloween 2014 Wrap-Up
Halloween is a Big Deal in my neighborhood. I bought 30 pounds of chocolate candy last week and prayed it would be enough for an expected 350-400 trick-or-treaters. And I prayed harder as temptation caused the chocoholics in my household (in other words, everybody) to dip into the supply again and again. Pretty soon, 27…
Raves and Faves 23
A Cuban sandwich pairs exceptionally well with Apple Cider Sangria. If you’re lucky enough to have a friend of Cuban extraction providing the Cuban sandwich, then life just doesn’t get any better. This inventive Apple Cider Sangria was a lovely way to welcome friends and fall recently. Get the recipe by clicking here. The link…
Green Pepper Steak with Tomatoes
The book sat on the edge of my desk for months. Amazon packaged it poorly, so the paperback arrived with its cover mangled, and it irritated me. To exchange it for a pristine copy was my option, of course, but that seemed like more trouble than it was worth. I finally picked up the…
Mea Culpa Cookies
I got a haircut a few weeks ago. Sitting in a pneumatic chair, draped in a cape, I had a good view of the salon’s centerpiece, a circular settee crowned with a large, elaborate flower arrangement. I asked my hair stylist, a stylish and pretty young mother, how often her salon’s fancy flower arrangement was…
One-Footed, Not Cooking
I have one working foot at the moment, which means I’m not cooking much. Because of surgery a couple of weeks ago, I’m sporting a bulky cast, and my mobility depends on a knee scooter, crutches, and a patient husband who doesn’t mind hauling all of the above here and there — on the rare…
Raves and Faves 21 (the California edition)
I just got back from a week in California. I’d go again tomorrow if I could. A world of fresh experiences always unfolds when I am lucky enough to travel there. Amazing things happen every time. Like new flavors on my plate. Octopus, for example… …and rabbit (which got me in trouble with Last born, who…
Bo, 2005-2014
He didn’t make it. But he was such a good boy, always keeping me company in a little bed on my desk. Rest in peace, Bo. So glad you have no more pain. I’ll see you again.
Cookbook Wall 