A few days ago, I was browsing around Saveur for some ideas on using up excess zucchini, cucumber, etc from my farm shipment. They have a seasonal produce guide which provides brief descriptions of fruits/vegetables, such as how to pick good ones, typical uses, seasonality, etc.
And lo, I found a solution for not only the [...]

Feel free to improvise the dairy combo in this; I used what I had on hand–full cream or whole milk would suffice, or you can combine skim and sour cream, whatever you have around.
For two
150 grams rigatoni
1 cup milk
2 T creme fraiche
1/2 tsp Italian dried herbs (basil, oregano, thyme, any combo thereof)
2-3 [...]

So. My organic container vegetable garden. I started thinning the lettuce yesterday to keep it producing and ensure tender leaves, so above you’re seeing little gem leaves, green leaf, and arugula.
There have been some challenges, which I’ve included in photos below, and I hope others find it helpful when growing in the future as I [...]

After thinking for some time, I planted a container garden. Actually, I planted half of what I’d like to, and can’t find some of the plants I’d like to plant. Perhaps they’re out of season. That’s how amateur I am.
The beets, rainbow chard, and early girl tomato plant are in pots. I’m awaiting more pots [...]

A few weeks ago I ventured to my local Whole Foods in search of a case’s worth of new wines.
In my experience, wine selection at Whole Foods locations varies quite a bit by neighborhood and by staff, but the one in SOMA within San Francisco, while small, has a nice selection, with more than 50% [...]

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, [...]

Let’s talk about comfort food. I took on my first porkroast after a pretty intense craving for some pulled pork mustered up a few days ago after having an extremely delicious pulled pork slider at the Alembic in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood near my house. Maybe it was the magic of the cocktails along with it [...]

Southern Biscuits
Make your biscuit dough and shape them and get them in the oven before starting the omlette, assuming you are not world’s slowest prep artist.
4 eggs, whisked with salt & fresh cracked pepper
1/4 small onion, sliced lengthwise thinly
2 small French red fingerling potatoes, about 3-4 oz, diced/small cubes
1/2 T butter
1 inch block of gruyere [...]

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, [...]