Over the weekend I managed to walk 12 miles, learned make macaroons (french ones, not the coconut gobs of yore), procured a breakfast burrito and accompanying beverage, and watched some friends voluntarily throw their faces in freshly-iced cake.
Following a dinner party for 10 (I’m pleased to say I was a guest and not the host!), [...]

Yesterday we had some new friends over for dinner, and I planned the menu while starving after my morning yoga class. I resurrected the tomato soup (tomato soup recipe) I always make (but haven’t for about a year), took a hint from a restaurant we went to recently and constructed a fried-chicken breast nuggets dish [...]

Prosciutto wrapped Pluot
Simple–great fruit, slices of it, wrapped in very thin prosciutto, paired with a soft cheese like burrata in this case, or seasoned ricotta (season with olive oil or flavored olive oil, salt, pepper), drizzled with aged balsamic vinegar.
Halibut on Truffled Corn
I’ve made this as an appetizer as well, and substituted asparagus shavings steamed [...]

Epic! Bringer of many delights, apple of the world’s eye, greatest feat which mankind has eaten…the cheesecake. Those are chocolate chips my friend, consider it a bonus.

Not too long ago I was visiting Peter at Red Blossom Tea Company–I was going on a little about the ice cream maker I had just purchased and not really had a chance to use yet. P’s sister, Alice, jumped in talking about some ice cream she had made with their Golden Monkey tea. Now, [...]

Saikyo Yaki & Konnyaku to Ninjin no Shira ae

I’ve had a fabulous traditional Japanese cookbook for some years now, never really venturing into it. I was interested in it because an old friend used to cook, by nature, a lot of fusion food, and I loved the yuzu citrus so much that I”d go to [...]

A friend is moving back to her native Sicily and I hosted a brunch for her yesterday. There were 7 of us and our menu was:
- Butternut Squash & Kale gratin
- Southern Biscuits
- Trio of amazing fruit preserves
- Crispy Bacon
- Winter Fruit Salad
- Soft Scrambled Eggs
And a dear friend showed up with not only bubbly, [...]

A few weeks ago I celebrated a birthday. I invited only a small group of people, two of whom happen to be married. One ended up being legitimately exhausted, and she sent in her stead an amazing little backup cake. K works at a bakery, and does work on cakes, so this was quite an [...]

I’ve been procrastinating on this one, which was probably not the best idea since it is painfully difficult to remember the details of 10 courses the same night, let alone weeks later, delightful as they were.
We had the opportunity to dine at Quince (Yelp) with a friend who once worked there making pasta and other [...]

I had the lovely chance to discover and attend an event at 18 reasons, an art gallery and gathering place for those interested in the production and consumption of (good) food, which is owned by BiRite (Creamery & Market) in the Mission District of San Francisco. I even ran into a co-worker…
There was an exhibit [...]