[Sonoma Coast, January 2011.] I took today off. No working from home, no working at work, no working, really, at all. I pushed off thoughts of my Friday deadline and went for a run in the morning -- just a short one, because I'm doing a ½ marathon this weekend and wanted to save myself […]
Rice Pudding + Cold Afternoons
[On the table this morning, January 2011.] Sunday afternoon post-pint (a Smithwick's), I made rice pudding. And you know, I don't really love rice pudding. I mean, I don't mind it, though I definitely wouldn't call it one of my Favorite Things. But when someone gets excited about a particular dish -- in this case, […]
Thanksgiving Rolls, Just Because
[Bay leaves, Point Reyes National Seashore, November 2010.] Last night I dreamed about soup -- butternut squash soup, perhaps because I ate a bowl of it for lunch on Saturday at a restaurant in North Beach. We sat outside and sipped glasses of white wine under the heating lamps and watched all the passersby -- […]
The Feasting
[Before, November 2010.] Home again, home again after a four-day weekend that whizzed by much too quickly. I know there was lots of cooking, lots of sleep (10 hours one night, even), many cups of tea, fires in the fireplace, reading (currently -- and appropriately -- "Mayflower," about the Pilgrim emigration to the Americas and […]
Thanks, the Giving of
[Apple pie, November 2010. Recipe here.] I am thankful for this sunny day.I am thankful for this good food, that I have enough when so many do not.I am thankful for my friends and family.I am thankful for sweet dogs.I am thankful for the Pacific Ocean (and all the oceans of the world).I am thankful […]
Vegetarian Thanksgiving: Main Dishes
[Dinner, quickly, November 2010.] I had planned to do a post today about vegetarian main dishes appropriate for the holiday table, but all that has fallen by the wayside because on Saturday night I had a dinner party, and at that dinner party I served something I must tell you about right now immediately because […]
Vegetarian Thanksgiving: Starting Off
Anyway, though, regardless of decadent chocolate cake and the strange weather in Northern California this weekend (in the 70s, dry and sunny, the poor trees shedding their leaves must be so confused), we all are well-aware of what's coming up next week: Thanksgiving. I often like to post some of my favorite (vegetarian) Thanksgiving recipes […]
Moments
[Maine, June 2010.] full black swan film hd In the past two weeks: * Riding an off-road vehicle thing through the woods behind my aunt and uncle's place in Vermont with two of my cousins, up the hills and past the apple trees and along the snowmobile trails, bumpily, and never being happier to smell […]
Almost
[Note: this is not the actual wedding cake (!).] In two weeks it will all be over, I tell myself. Not that I want to wish time away, just ... for the past month my mind has whirled with thoughts of buttercream, traditional; buttercream, Swiss; chocolate ganache; butter, what kind; sugar, how much I will […]
Items*
[Pre-breakfast, June 2010 buy i spit on your grave the movie the company men dvd rip buy the film .] * Today's word is: smitten. It's such a sweet, small word, with those two 't's' packed tight together like a little fence. Lately I am smitten with: my friend's dog, a 6-mile run straightaway after […]
Here's What I Do
buy the the man from nowhere (ajeossi) film [Breakfast, May 2010.] Well. All of a sudden it's May (May!), the month swept in on a rush of sunlight and wind. I sat in the park yesterday for almost two hours, nibbling on milk chocolate and finishing a book, glad for once I hadn't brought my […]
April Showers
[Flowers in West Marin, March 2010.] Hey April, I have a bone to pick with you. I know Mr. Eliot called you 'the cruellest month' and then there's all that nonsense about April showers bringing May flowers or some such (and, I swear, that had better come to pass), but what about, you know, the […]
Cornmeal Cake
This cornmeal cake could hardly be simpler to make and is full of gorgeous bubbly texture from the cornmeal. Top it with coarse sugar before popping it into the oven, and serve it with whipped cream and fruit. Simple Cornmeal Cake Recipe Suddenly, it's raining and I am drinking an americano (Blue Bottle, double shot, […]
Mustard (!)
[Mustard greens from the market, March 2010] download wake trailer Never let it be said that I'm not stubborn. I'm the girl who will, if you offer to pay for dinner, cheerfully (but cheerfully!) fight with you over the bill (just ask my best friend). I'll finish books I'm not enjoying all that much (see: […]
On Misremembering
[Coconut bread, and tea, January 2010.] Quite a few years ago I read a book that would become one of my very favorites -- My Dream of You , by the Irish writer Nuala O'Faolain -- and which I subsequently have passed around to various loved ones. I first read it one long weekend in […]
Once, in Greece
[Spetses, 2007 .] If I were a better writer, I'd have some sort of lovely observation about this (endless) rain and how, if I didn't have to work, I'd like to be sitting in the Japanese tea garden in Golden Gate Park watching puddles pile up near the coi pond and crunching away on that […]
Whole Wheat Rigatoni and Broccoli Spinach Sauce
Perfect cold-weather fare, this whole wheat rigatoni and broccoli spinach sauce recipe is packed with vegetables, whole grains, and cheese. This past Saturday was chilly -- cold, by San Francisco standards (and granted we're wimps but it was actually pretty cold). Picture me camped out on my futon under piled-on blankets and wearing wool socks. […]
The Only Thing to Do
It's been cold here the past week or so. Not East-Coast cold by any stretch of the imagination (I find myself walking to the bus with my hands stuffed in my pockets and my shoulders perpetually hovering somewhere near my ears -- don't tell my yoga instructor! -- thinking Did I really live in Washington, […]
Giving Thanks (and Apple Galette)
[Pacific Ocean near Bodega Head, July 2009.] Today, Thanksgiving, is one of my one of my very favorite days of the year, mainly because it combines two things very close to my heart: food (and the cooking of it) of course, as well as the giving of thanks - or, really, the feeling grateful-for. Is […]
Thanksgiving Sans the Bird
[Roasted and stuffed pumpkin for Thanksgiving, fall 2008.] Thanksgiving is the cook's holiday -- sure, Christmas can be, too, or Easter, or even New Year's Eve if you're kitchen-inclined and like me take any excuse to have a dinner party. But Thanksgiving is truly the only U.S. holiday where the entire focus is on food […]
Les Oeufs Avec
[Redwoods, August 2009.] The end of summer is always sort of a difficult time -- oh sure, I know there is a month yet until the fall equinox, and if we're very lucky Northern California will be blessed with its usual spate of hot, sunny weather that could stretch all the way into October. I […]
The Dream of Cake
[Cake for Whitney, May 2009.] Once, a few years ago, I had a long layover in Munich on the way back from Thessaloniki to Washington, DC. I wandered the airport in a fog of sleepiness and humidity (who knew Germany was so grey and hot in the summer?) and bought a sweater in Benetton on […]
Pizza + Root Beer Float
Yesterday was pretty much my ideal day. I woke up in time to make my yoga class -- and Muni didn't thwart me after all though it was dodgy there for about 10 minutes while I waited for a bus that seemed like it would never come -- and came home to eat prodigiously and […]
A Slice of Cake
[Des fleurs, April 2009.] I was talking with a friend the other day as we're wont to do, and somehow during the course of it we came up with a great idea: writing about writers with whom you'd like to cook, have a drink or slice of cake, or go for a walk in the […]
My Favorite Things
Last summer I ate a lot of chard for various reasons -- mostly because it's so damned good you'd be crazy not to but also because it helped smooth out my finicky stomach during a rough patch (break-ups, even if necessary, are usually never easy) when I didn't feel like eating much of anything at […]
Just Because
[Milk chocolate pudding, June 2009.] Sometimes I forget that I like sweets. I honestly do. This may seem an odd statement from someone who bakes as much as I do -- a travesty, really -- but I swear days will go by when I won't have as much as a cookie crumb. Pints of ice […]
The Other Night
[Dinner the other night, May 2009.] I've noticed a few things about myself since moving to San Francisco: I really can go on at great length about my farmers' market and beautiful vegetables (tell me you love roasted cauliflower as much as I do and you'll pretty much have my heart forever); I actually care […]
A Day
[Mother's Day breakfast, May 2009. ] I'm not a breakfast person, really. I've gone on about this before and it's really not that interesting; suffice it to say that I'm a fairly simple girl for most things and so most days of the week see me happily noshing away on granola with soy milk, a […]
The Longest Conversation
[Easter dinner table, April 2009.] My cousin Julie makes the best tomato sauce (and lots of other things, too, I suspect, though I don't see her nearly enough to get to eat it all). She used to own a small pasta business and turned out the most amazing spinach-and-cheese ravioli, lobster ravioli that I heard […]
Barm Brack
This recipe is adapted from Malachi McCormick's Irish Country Cooking. It features a traditional Irish Barm Brack sweet bread studded with raisins and currants, along with some musings on a trip to Ireland many years ago. When I die Dublin will be written in my heart.- James Joyce Once, I went to Ireland. My best friend […]
Hot Fudge Sauce
⅔ cup heavy cream ½ cup light corn syrup ⅓ cup packed dark brown sugar ¼ cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder ¼ teaspoon salt 6 oz fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened), finely chopped 2 tablespoons unsalted butter 1 teaspoon vanilla Bring cream, corn syrup, sugar, cocoa, salt, and half of chocolate to a boil in […]
Brown Sugar Blood Orange Angel Food Cake
This beautifully flavored gluten free brown sugar blood orange angel food cake elevates angel food cake with the bright sweetness of citrus juice and zest. The addition of brown sugar is an unexpected touch. This gluten free angel food cake calls for a lot of egg whites. I recommend saving whites if you're making a […]
Post-Thanksgiving Lentil Soup
[In the backyard, November 2008.] Actually, I suppose that should be pre-Thanksgiving lentil soup, because I cooked a big pot of this delicious, vegetable-laden goodness last Tuesday for my office as a little pre-holiday celebration and also to sort of cleanse our palates for the big feast that was to come in just a few […]
What We Ate
devil full movie Thanksgiving 2008 was chilly and grey, but we managed to sit down early-ish at 4p to dinner. Here, a small sampler of the meal: Cranberry margaritas, of course, to start things off. Spanikopita, dolmas, hummus. The bird. Lightly sauteed vegetables. Mushroom galette. It was a great meal.
Sweet Potato Biscuits
Tender gluten free sweet potato biscuits are rich and savory with just a touch of sweetness and packed with gorgeous orange sweet potatoes in every bite. They're lovely on the Thanksgiving table or anytime. I love adding a warm plate of sweet potato biscuits to my Thanksgiving buffet, especially with a little dish of softened, salted butter […]
On Love, Joy -- and Chocolate
When I really think about it there are these common themes: love, family, death, sex, reconciliation, food. All the rest is peripheral -- even music, even writing. What drives us is relationships, both of the blood and of the body; the physical connection and emotional ties; the nourishment that slips down to our stomachs to […]
Cobbling Together
[Cobbler, before the oven, July 2008.] Well, that was an inauspicious 4th. I baked brownies, zipped up my jacket tight against the chilly breeze, wished for a sun that never made an appearance, and took them to a party where I ate: grilled veggie burgers, cupcakes, and quesadillas (not necessarily in that order). I had […]
Gluten Free Cinnamon Sugar Muffins
These irresistible gluten free cinnamon sugar muffins are unbelievably soft and fluffy! You'll roll them, still warm, in melted butter and homemade cinnamon sugar. Yes please! Ultra cozy cinnamon sugar muffins are dipped in melted butter and cinnamon sugar to make the BEST little gluten-free muffins ever. Just oat flour makes up the whole grain […]
For Mum
[Strawberry ice cream, April 2008.] The first fall after I graduated college, I went to hear a lecture by Isabel Allende, who was speaking to a packed crowd at a book signing in downtown DC. The summer before, on my first trip to Greece, I'd picked up "Daughter of Fortune" at a little Athens English […]
Gluten Free Pumpkin Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache Frosting
Gluten Free Plum Torte
Juicy plums star in this gluten free plum torte, my take on the classic NY Times plum torte recipe. Make this total winner of a cake with late-season plums, or bake it year-round using seasonal fruit. The New York Times claims that Marian Burros' original plum torte recipe is its most-requested recipe and if you've […]
Blueberry Pancakes
A basic, reliable recipe for blueberry pancakes that can be adapted to include any fruit that you like. The secret ingredient - cake flour - helps these buttermilk pancakes turn out with a tender, light texture. Saturday mornings were pancake mornings when I was growing up; my dad used to make his special recipe -- […]
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