This Cilantro Shrimp and Orzo Salad is flavored with fresh herbs and lime juice. It's a great side dish to make with a friend for a summer barbeque, potluck or social event like a shower or graduation. The salad also makes a lovely light lunch. Two perfectly ripe avocados lend the dish a creamy ...
Cooking Forecast
Despite the five day weather forecast, with lots of drizzle and limited sunshine, my cooking forecast for the week couldn’t be sunnier. I have plenty of scheduled cooking dates, a variety of different foods to make, an empty refrigerator just waiting to be filled and lots of friends back from Spring ...
Empty Kitchen
It’s Spring Break this week and for various reasons, my family stayed home. All of my primary cooking friends, however, are on vacation, a plane ride away. It’s a strange feeling not having a friend to cook with -- no friend to make a big batch of sauce or a week’s worth of granola. Fortunately for ...
Making Macaroons
My friend Jackie and I got together the other day to make coconut macaroons for the Passover holiday. Having eaten (and enjoyed) the kind from the can for most of our lives, Jackie and I decided two years ago to make them together from scratch. And, I have to tell you, there’s nothing like ending a ...
Wing Tips
Being neighbors with a West Indian family has some definite advantages, especially when the husband and wife both love to cook. Huguens and Carol are always concocting some Caribbean dish with various island spices and tropical ingredients. As the foodie next door, I often get a sampling of their ...
Scone Extravaganza
After meeting every Thursday morning for two years, my toddler playgroup is evolving. Suzy, having consistently gushed over the sweet buttery flavor of scones served fresh for playgroup snacks, never thought that she could make them herself. In fact, she declared one morning that scones were ...
Girlfriend’s Grits
Anytime I see something in a recipe that I’ve never made before - a method of cooking, an unusual ingredient or even an exotic spice — I’m invigorated by the challenge. Awestruck like a child in a candy store, I can’t wait to explore all that a new food has to offer. But first, I try to find a ...
What’s Mine is Yours
Shannon strikes a familiar chord in her latest blog entry “Community Gardens.” I whole heartedly agree that there is nothing more fulfilling than giving what we grow in our gardens to friends. In fact, sharing a garden’s surplus is something that most everyone can afford to do, even in a tight ...
Follow Your Nose
I love spice shops and must add to Shannon's blog! Spice shops are an endless source of cooking ideas and are usually run by passionate foodies enthusiastic to share their culinary insight. If you ask, they'll often share a recipe or two. Experimenting with spices is also one of the simplest ...
The nose factor
Ahhh. . . what a wonderful smell! Walk into a house that has a loaf of banana bread in the oven and it’s almost as good as taking a long hot bubble bath. There’s nothing more comforting to the soul. It’s a known real estate fact that homes that have appealing smells will sell faster than those ...