Crash-Free Baking – If you walked into my kitchen one afternoon, the winter light reflecting off of cabinets and counters like a blue-ish laser beam, and saw this cake sitting on one of those counters, delicate and decadent, you might feel your shock crowding out your hunger.
Squirreling Away Flavors – Bon Appetit recently published an entire spread on Sqirl, a restaurant in LA that writer Matt Duckor calls “the future of restaurant food”.
Plums + Buckwheat – We were once again gifted a box of plums from our neighbors’ plum tree.
Rhubarb Alone – By June, I’ve become dismissive of rhubarb – a feeling I hate to admit, because it means that in the span of a month, I’ve transformed from actively, and eagerly, seeking it out at the market, to haphazardly tacking it on at the end of my shopping list, well after strawberries.
A Non-Buckling Buckle – Throughout strawberry season – which lasts all summer in Oregon – our kitchen is rarely without a few tiny blue baskets of strawberries.
Quinoa in a Supporting Role – I can never eat enough quinoa – which is not to say that I consume quinoa for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but rather that no amount of it seems to fill me.
My Maui Food Memory – Along with visiting the Haleakala Crater and driving The Road to Hana, I planned another must-do for our trip to Maui: eating as much banana bread as possible.
Embracing Change in the Form of a Cookie – Certain things change when you get married.
Portland Larder? – When we lived in Brooklyn – which seems like at least a year ago, but in reality was a mere four months ago – I visited Brooklyn Larder three to four times a week.
Roasted Chickpeas – Before we moved to Portland, we stayed at The Ace Hotel three times.
Six Pints of Strawberries: Strawberry Shortbread – I love it when dishes take familiar taste combinations and present them in slightly altered ways.
Seeking Familiarity – To ease the transition, I've tried to replicate certain arrangements we had in our last apartment: our ubiquitous eiffel tower print is now hung above the television, per usual.
Memories of Summer: Ginger Peach Muffins – Smelling a ripe peach immediately brings to mind several food memories: summers on my parents' deck, eating the fruit as quickly as I could as it leaked all over my arm.
Pumpkin Wedges – These pumpkin wedges capitalize on the remaining whole pumpkins you can still snag at the farmers' market or grocery store.
Sweet Potato Pudding – I'm intrigued by how certain recipes incorporate flavors in untraditional ways.
Cooking it Fresh: Apricots – I brought a bagful of Red Jacket Orchards’ apricots home with me on Thursday.
Inspiration from North Carolina – This weekend, we turned these plump sap green okra into a delicately fried appetizer, topped with homemade tomato jam.
Happy 4th! – I made these portable pies yesterday and we've been munching on them all weekend.
Pistachio Biscotti – It shouldn’t be a secret that I have a fondness for pistachios.
A Harvest Pie – My favorite kind of baking doesn't involve icing cupcakes, decorating cookies, or layering a cake.
Pistachio Obsessed – My love for pistachios is practically predestined.
Earl Grey Biscotti – I love the idea of cooking with tea and, in fact, own a different tea cookbook, Tea Cuisine.