One time at a restaurant – I think it was Palazzo Giuseppe’s in downtown San Luis Obispo – I had a really good salad. I vaguely remember butter leaf lettuce, peaches and vanilla vinaigrette.
Over the years I’ve thought about that salad. For some reason it took me until now to recreate it. This cooking blog really is bringing out the best in me. Click to continue »
Have I ever told you that cherry pie is my favorite?
Oh, look — I have.
So, yeah: I loooove cherry pie. And when I saw that this month is National Cherry Month, I was pretty excited. Think of all the cherry pie I could make! More importantly, think of all the cherry pie I could eat!
During my giddy search for a cherry pie recipe, I ran across this recipe for cherry cheesecake tarts. I’m not sure these are “tarts” so much as “tiny cheesecakes” but hey, semantics, schmantics, right? Click to continue »
Chocolate mousse is heavenly.
My first memory of eating chocolate mousse was at a restaurant in San Francisco. I was maybe 6 or 7. The restaurant may have been called The Green Room, but it’s possible that my memory is completely off base. Either way, I’m pretty sure it doesn’t exist now.
I do remember the mousse. It was AMAZING. So much lighter than pudding, but such a richer flavor.
I don’t care about the Super Bowl at all, but I do care about snacks. Which is why I’m telling you about this fancy six-layer dip.
I added “fancy” to the name because it’s way more hoity-toity than the average seven-layer slop people tend to serve up. Click to continue »
Are you one of those people who waits until the last minute before deciding what to do on Valentine’s Day?
Take some of the stress away this year and plan on making this dish for your sweetheart. It’s romantic, elegant (champagne is in the name!), and best of all, it’s easy. Click to continue »
Just a few days until Super Bowl XLIV! Know what you’re serving your party guests yet?
If you’re looking for traditional but tasty, try out this chili recipe. Click to continue »
I’m one of those lame people who always orders the same thing at restaurants. Take me to any restaurant — anytime, anywhere — and I will order one of the following entrees:
Seriously. That’s it. That’s my entire diet right there. Click to continue »
Doughnuts should be fried.
That’s the main lesson I learned from this recipe, which produced doorstops, not doughnuts. Click to continue »
It’s National Croissant Day!
Remember that day I made croissant French toast with caramel apples? Well, I had a couple leftover croissants, so I went and made another croissant-centric dish: caramel croissant bread pudding.
Bread pudding is yet another thing that I’d never eaten before, but Larissa’s pumpkin bread pudding looked tasty, so I figured I’d give this caramel one a try. Click to continue »
I was going through my personal e-mail account the other day, deleting hundreds of messages that for some reason I didn’t get rid of when they first came over. Not sure why I thought I would later care what my baby looked after 22 weeks in utero or a 2-bedroom home that dropped in price from $670,000 to $665,000 back in 2006.
What was fun was looking at some of the e-mail messages from friends. Some of my favorites came from my good friend Michaela, who now lives up in Sonoma County. A fellow foodie, wine lover and runner, it’s fun to see some of the stuff we’ve talked about over the years.
The subject line of a message she sent March 15, 2006 just read “Chocolate chip cookies…” I don’t remember getting this – it was four years ago, after all – but thought it definitely sounded worth taking another look. It was an Associated Press article about a “Best Darn Chocolate Chip Cookie” contest put on by Copia: The American Center for Wine, Food & the Arts up in Napa. Chaim Potter of Napa entered this recipe, which was determined the best of the 160 cookies entered. Click to continue »
On Christmas Eve, my cousin arrived at my parent’s house with her traditional olive bread and a fun surprise: a tray of perky penguins and holiday chocolate mice. Click to continue »