With my first sip of very strong coffee (at 4:45 am!), after being woken by a very time confused and jet lagged five-year old, I am abruptly brought back from my time away. Friends have been calling and e-mailing their “welcome backs” and wondering if I am happy to be home. Well, yes and no. For ...
Kitchen Chronicles
First Tomato
Is there anything better than the first tomato from your backyard garden? Sprinkled with a bit of salt and pepper, it's one of my favorite foods. When you take the first bite and the flavor explodes in your mouth, you remember why the winter tomatoes just never could stand up to these beauties. A ...
Coming Home
It’s been an unbelievable time away, slurping and savoring various foods I’ve been craving all year. But now that I’m soon coming home, I’m in that mode to set aside what I’ve enjoyed so much and think about what I am coming home to. And there’s quite a lot! First, I can’t wait to see (and cook ...
Up North Vacation Cooking
When we go "Up North," whether it's to Lake Michigan on the Michigan side or to the lake regions of Wisconsin, a big part of the week is cooking. We pack a cooler of our CSA and garden veggies, bags of other supplies, and make sure to get the freshest lake fish, berries and foods our favorite ...
Taste & Mold
Throughout our many visits to the Algarve region of Portugal, my family has been admiring the whimsical fruit-shaped sweets called “Morgadinhos.” We’ve had such a fascination with these captivating little confections, some of which look like little animals, that we even came up with an “I Spy” ...
Book Club Pizzas
My friend Karolyn, inspired by the idea of Cooking With Friends, told me she just held her book club this week with a new twist--they cooked together, too. The members created pizzas as they sat around the table and discussed the month's book.Then, they grilled the pizzas outside. It's a great ...
Food Adjustments
In the days leading up to my vacation in the Southwestern coast of Portugal, I am thinking about all things food — what I will miss back home, the Portuguese treats I’ve been craving all year, the almond and fig trees abundant in the area, the distinctive aroma of wild rosemary and sage, and the ...
Food Adjustments
In the days leading up to my vacation in the Southwestern coast of Portugal, I am thinking about all things food — what I will miss back home, the Portuguese treats I’ve been craving all year, the almond and fig trees abundant in the area, the distinctive aroma of wild rosemary and sage, and the ...
Sweet Slow Summer
"Mom, can we make cookies?" I have to admit, my first reaction a week after school was out was to list all the things we had to do, before bathtime and booktime and bedtime. But after my younger daughter got a gift of some cool new cookie cutters, one in the shape of a party dress, I had no reason ...
Luscious Lemon Chicken
When Jackie raved about how her family loved the delicious chicken dish she made from her new Asian cookbook, I was more than interested. You see, the dish was Lemon Chicken, something I used to make long, long ago for my college sweetheart--a dish that he would absolutely swoon over. I made for ...