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…
Category: Lunch
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…
I tried it, so you don’t have to: Mayo on the outside of a grilled sandwich
Dementia runs much too close for comfort in my family, so when First born saw me spread mayonnaise on the OUTSIDE of my lunchtime sandwich yesterday, she could be forgiven for her moment of concern — and the laugh she quickly squelched. I was trying a new way of making my favorite sandwich, an idea…
Cheese Soup
One box of fart bombs, please, I said, smiling at the toyshop owner. I put the small, red box emblazoned with caution tape – “MEGA STINKY! GAS MASK REQUIRED!” – on the counter. The shopkeeper grinned back. It had been his idea, after all. And that’s it for my weak defense. I’m the one who…
Avocado Toast
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…
Sauteed Boneless Chicken Breasts
A tender, tasty, boneless chicken breast is supposed to be easy to produce in a skillet, but as a novice cook, I often served my family ones that were either tough and overcooked or rubbery and not quite done. (Ignorance can be dangerous.) I followed instructions from a variety of cookbooks, but the outcomes were…
Chicken Frijole Soup
Making this soup the other day required deboning a rotisserie chicken in front of a rapt audience of four dogs. They sat two to my left and two to my right, about 150 total pounds of canines quivering with the effort of self-control, their silent yearning palpable: Oh, please, please, drop the bird. They behaved…
BLT Sandwich, egg and arbitration optional
BLT with egg. Heaven. Scene from a marriage. Wife offers to make a bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich for her husband’s lunch. He’s just back from a four-mile run and is on his way to the shower. Husband: Sure! Wife: Do you want an egg on yours? It’s really good! Husband: No, thanks. (Heads to shower.)…
Roast Beef Wraps & Turkey with Cranberries on Pumpernickel
I was hanging a big clock in the dining room today, so naturally I abandoned all my tools and got engrossed in reading cookbooks instead. I thought I’d cull a few to make room for new acquisitions. Since my children are now old enough to pay rent and regret tattoos, I thought it might be…
Broccoli-Cheese Soup
Soup doesn’t have to be seasonal, and by the looks of things in my state, neither does the weather. Snow fell over parts of Arkansas this morning in amounts never recorded before this late in the year. The wet chill in my backyard is confusing the hummingbirds and causing the dogs to make nests out…
Cookbook Wall 