WE’RE BACK WITH ANOTHER INSTALLMENT OF FOOD YOU (STILL) DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH, IN WHICH YOU SEND ME YOUR CULINARY CONUNDRUMS AND MY SON, RUDY, AND I HANG OUT TOGETHER IN THE KITCHEN, TALK ABOUT STUFF AND TRY TO MAKE SOME SENSE OF THEM FOR YOU. Oh, Okra. We are all a little scared … Continue reading Okra!
On Monday I woke up feeling slow. Not exactly sluggish, though I was deeply tired. It was more like maybe my body decided my brain had had quite enough of the rushabout and worry that underscores most days, and just simply down-geared. As a result, I feel like I noticed and heard a lot more … Continue reading Saffron Aioli, Slowly, Slowly
For a variety of (boring-to-you) reasons, my therapist has tasked me with spending five minutes every day engaging in what we're calling "abundance thinking." This is just a fancy way of saying that she wants me to actively think about what I have and how grateful I am to have it every single day. I … Continue reading Cream of Mussels Soup with Saffron and Abundance
Still sick. More soup. This one's my homage to one of Paul's favorites, French Onion. I've never made a proper French Onion soup before, and don't even have the requisite stoneware crocks in which one must absolutely serve it. Well, I do have one: Classic. It's even called an "Onion Soup Crock." You can get … Continue reading Caramelized Three-Onion Soup with Parmesan Toasts
No meat to be found in this one! No photos, either, because I seem to have erased them from the camera card! I'm having exactly that sort of week, friends. Bear with me. I am a fan of warm, porridgey breakfast foods. I'm even a fan of savory bowls of stuff in the morning--rice and … Continue reading Breakfast Quinoa with Almond Milk, Dried Cranberries and Pumpkin Seeds
Vegetarians, I'm sorry. You know that I love you, that I am a staunch ally, a friend of all veggies. But I decided this week to give my meat-loving spouse a break and a treat. The two main recipes are meat-heavy, just like him. But! They are also highly customizable and can easily be made meatless … Continue reading Delicata Squash Stuffed with Quinoa, Sausage and Cranberries
If you're already impatient with how long it takes to cook beets, then I don't know how you'll feel about my suggestion to slow down even more and make risotto out of them. It's really Niki Segnit's suggestion, and one that I admit I put off for most of the week because I couldn't foresee … Continue reading Beet Risotto with Goat Cheese,Thyme and Lemon Zest
Welcome to Beet Week! Not as exciting as Shark Week, but maybe just as messy. So my friend and reader, Charlie, wants to know if beets a) always take SO long to cook, and b) always make THAT much of a mess. It's true. Beets are going to make you work for them. And I'll … Continue reading Salad with Pickled Beets, Candied Walnuts, Granny Smiths and Gorgonzola
Remember when we were talking about preserving textural integrity with zucchini and I suggested that sometimes maybe you wouldn't want to do that? And remember when you worried about the cores that remained after those pretty ribbons fell away from the squash, and I said, hush honey, I'll tell you how to deal with that later? … Continue reading Embracing the Mush
It's always exciting to see my work in print, and to know that people out there can access it and will hopefully enjoy it, but for whatever reason, some publications just feel giddier than others. Maybe it's a special piece, maybe a special venue. Maybe it's a bit of both, as is the case with … Continue reading Sweet!
Sheila squillante 