I awoke on Valentine’s Day morning, my birthday, to a gorgeous crimson sunrise. I was excited to be spending the day with friends and family on my favorite day of the year; a day to pamper and to be pampered. It was a stellar day that began with waffles and ended with meatloaf, both in the shape ...
Kitchen Chronicles
Peach Pie Anyone?
There’s nothing like a piece of homemade peach pie in the middle of February to brighten the spirits. Yes, it’s true! -- Especially if it’s made with farm fresh Jersey peaches and a homemade crust. But how you might ask did I possibly make a peach pie in the dead of winter? There are no peaches in ...
A Rice Ball and a Simple Chain of Events
Today’s blog recounts a simple chain of events that says a remarkable amount about cooking, friends, knowledge and inspiration. One recent afternoon, my friend Debbie and her Japanese friend made onigiri, a sticky Japanese rice triangle topped with a strip of dried seaweed. These sticky rice ...
Cooking with friends for a weekend away!
Cooking with friends for a weekend away! What an amazing reason to get together and cook with a friend. That’s just what Suzy and I did before our two-family ski trip to the Catskills this past weekend. Since a full day skiing with the kids can be exhausting, the delightful après ski restaurant ...
Barista Soup Making for "Souper Bowl"
Thanks to Baristakid’s “Ask Holly”, I recently participated in a lovely soup making event for the CWFC “Souper Bowl” and even have a "Hot from the Kettle" video to prove it. (Thanks Melody!) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbsDlSQeBJc embed: It was snowing lightly when I arrived at ...
Tortellini Time
Many months ago, as he often does, my 13-year old son casually asked me if his tortellini dinner was homemade. I’m not sure if his inquiries are meant to inspire me to make something from scratch the next time or more of an attempt to prove that not everything I serve is homemade. More likely it’s ...
The Crimping Groove
My friend Christina (aka the “dumpling queen”) hosted a dumpling making get-together this past Thursday for a few neighbors. I showed up a tad late, which wasn’t particularly a bad thing, since they had been busy prepping ingredients and offered me some ginger, garlic, bok choy and carrots for my ...
It's soup making time!
With bitter cold days in much of the country, January is an ideal month to make soup and a lot of it! It warms and nourishes us, while helping to fight the winter blues. Nothing beats a rich bowl of chowder or a hearty vegetable soup to beat the chill and fill the belly. It’s no surprise that ...
Happy New Year!
It's been a busy week getting back into the swing of things. (Note the Friday blog instead of an early in the week one.) With the kids back in school, I'm trying to reclaim my house, get on a work schedule and basically get organized. I am sure many of you are in the same boat. For me, the key to ...
Scavenger's Feast
In this week between Christmas and New Year’s, there hasn’t been a lot of cooking with friends. But there has been a ton of eating what I had been cooking and freezing ahead of time with friends. To our cozy Catskills cabin getaway, I packed a hearty and delicious batch of Farm Fresh Tomato Sauce ...