There are many reasons to cook: Love and Hunger are chief among them. But another key motivator in whipping up a great dish is Competition. Last week I judged an Iron Chef Cook-Off in Madison, which was lots of fun. The contestants were broken into eight teams. They were challenged to cook the ...
Kitchen Chronicles
A Sight to be Seen
Liz and I were a sight to behold (if anyone happened to take notice), as we sat together on my front porch, surrounded by cutting boards and mounds of vegetables. You see, it was too glorious a day to be inside peeling and chopping, so we took our work outside. While our little guys rode their bikes ...
Pot Luck
As I attended two potlucks this past week--a baby shower and an elementary school family dinner-- I thought about how the concept of sharing food this way is just what we do at Cooking With Friends. Both parties had plentiful, beautiful food, some of which was made in teams by friends. And both ...
Kitchen Hospitality
Remnants of last weekend’s torrential rain storms lingered in my kitchen ceiling, which began leaking a few days later. Apparently, my gutters were clogged and the water found its way into the walls and through the light sockets in my ceiling. It wasn’t the greatest week to have an out-of-commission ...
Irish Traditions
For St. Patrick's Day, each of my kids made their own loaf of Irish Soda Bread. They are, proudly, one-quarter Irish. As I created a menu for two Irish evenings--a cocktail party for my book club and a family dinner, the choices came to me naturally, as I remember what my grandmother loved to eat. ...
Fried.
Wow. I’ve always stayed away from fried food in my cooking. It just isn’t the healthiest method to prepare food. I do though, on occasion, make my lightly fried chicken tenders and drag the vintage 1960’s deep fryer out for crispy falafel balls or shrimp tempura. But today, the only “fried” item ...
Immerse Me
Okay, this one's for Beth. The past two times I've seen her, Beth has told me that after hearing me proclaim the virtues of an immersion blender, she asked (and received) one for Christmas. But, she's still not sure what to do with it. Both times, we were surrounded by other friends who chimed in: ...
A Sure Sign of Spring
As I wrote out a hefty check ($500 plus dollars) for my CSA share the other day, I was transported to warm weather moments of crispy kale chips, pastel colored cauliflower sauté and green garlic scape stir fry. I imagined times together with Debbie, scrubbing the dirt off the summer vegetables and ...
Let Us Eat Cake
We were eight women on a recent winter evening, practicing our buttercream letters. Some of us had made many cakes and were looking to perfect decorating skills, others were new at the craft. Each of us carefully chose icing tips shaped like stars or circles or moons, and created dozens of ...
To fill a cookie jar
There are so many reasons to cook with friends and as you probably know, I do them all! But, sometimes you just need to fill the cookie jar with something delicious and homemade. That’s what Jackie and I decided when we got together to make chocolate chip biscotti last Wednesday. Sure, with news of ...