Winter Squash

One of my family’s favorite tales to rehash time and time again takes place while we were camping in an extremely crowded national park–tents cheek and jowel so that every noise your neighbors made could be easily overheard.  On this fateful night, my Dad, in the throes of some all-too-vivid dream, leapt from his sleeping bag and proceeded to attempt to climb the tent pole outside of our shelter.  Blame it on exhaustion or on having an exaggerated sense of culinary guilt, but his horror of horrors this night was summed up in his chorus:  “It’s the Squash!  I can’t cook it!”   Read more

Pork Chops

On a good day, pork chops are a delightful little platter of sweet meat on which all kinds of delicious flavors can be served.  On a bad day, pork chops have all the appeal of chewing on a piece of Humvee tire tread.  Why this dichotomy?  Its all about technique. Read more

One Chicken, Three Meals

The voice on the other end of the line was tentative – a determined calm on the verge of hysteria.  I asked the caller to hold on just a moment while I dropped the other call I’d been on.  I clicked back over to my husband, “Sorry honey, I’ll have to call you back later.  It’s a chicken emergency.” Read more

My Frozen Treasure Chest

Colleen, this one’s for you–albeit probably a little late.

The farmer’s market is a community for me not unlike church or a PTA–or for my mom, the sales staff at Nordstrom’s.  I love Monday mornings during the season not just because finding heirloom potatoes is as thrilling as finding Jimmy Choo shoes on discount but also because I get a chance to connect with people I like there and talk about stuff I love.  It is a delight for me on every level. Read more

Eat Your Greens!

We’ve been admonished from every direction about how important it is to eat hearty greens.  However, I know that the most compelling case in the world about the nutritional value of kale isn’t going to get you or your kids to touch the stuff if you aren’t pleased with its flavor.

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Crystal Flight

Kyle and I recently had the great privilege to go into someone’s home and purge their fridge and pantry of all the crappy fake “diet” and highly processed foods that were keeping them from having the foodlife they wanted.  We did this with an audience.  We are trying to market a TV show based on the ideas behind this website and this was the topic we chose for our “sizzle reel” episode. Read more

Spaetzle

Adapted from The Betty Crocker Cookbook, 40^th Anniversary Edition

Spaetzle [shpet-sluh, -suhl] are wonderful, light, tiny dumplings that just love anything made with a gravy or sauce.  They couldn’t be easier to make (buying a boxed version of these is unthinkable).  Think about substituting spaetzle for noodles in a chicken or beef soup. Read more

Spicy Stir-fried Chicken with Fresh Vegetables

Adapted from A Spoonful of Ginger, by Marie Simonds

To make this recipe is to take a mini-course on Asian stir-frying.  The marinade, seasonings and sauce are so typical and use many Asian pantry staples.  You can play with all elements of this recipe and come up with endless combinations of vegetables and seasonings.   Read more

Steak au Poivre

I spent a few years looking for a great recipe for Steak au Poivre.  It is my husband’s very favorite dish, and is sort of the quintessential man-food.  This dish is great as special weeknight fare because it is so easy, but is also sophisticated enough for a dinner party for up to eight (You can only cook 2 steaks at a time in a pan, so it would be very hard to scale beyond eight and still enjoy your guests). Read more

Sweet Black Pepper Fish

Adapted from The Best of Cooking Light

A very simple, quick, crazy-good fish dish, this is a very simple dish and a great example of a simmer.  Fish just can’t be cooked very long before it falls apart, but cooking it in a flavorful liquid gives a mild white fish like halibut so much amazing flavor.   Read more

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