Hey Ma Thanks for the Bounty – Yellow Tomato Jam
I need to interrupt my 3 Bean posts to tell you about a present I got from my mother. Mama is kind of a domestic genius. She can cook, sew clothes (my childhood princess dresses were to die for), make just about anything, was a boy scout leader, home school-er, and gardener. When I fly threw town for a minute to go to a friend’s wedding she sent me back with bounty from her garden. “I want to see recipes posted! I need ideas…” She calls to me as I head... Read More
Savory meet Sweet. You guys could really get along – Olive Oil Cake
I have a new favorite cake in this world. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t make it for my choice of birthday cakes. Birthdays are for special occasion foods and I’m making this cake WAY too often for it to be a special occasion cake. It’s more of an everyday cake (if there really were such a thing). It’s an eat-another-piece-for-breakfast kind of cake. It’s an I-like-savory-way-more-than-sweets kind of cake. That’s what drew me to it in... Read More
The City’s Great Street Stalls – making apricot upside down cake
So I live in New York City and one of my first shocks when I started to live here is how truly expensive food is. Not just eating out (which there are too many great options for to choose from) but in the grocery store. Everything is “an arm and a leg” kind of expensive. I’ve made a spaghetti dinner for 6 people and had a grocery bill of over $70 for it! I’m not the kind of girl to waste heirloom tomatoes on spaghetti – that was the bill for my mom’s... Read More
Brunch Problem Solved – Egg Cups
The age old problem is the same for every dinner party whether at home or in a restaurant kitchen. How do you get all the food done at the same time so people can sit and eat together? I would say the #1 problem with my first draft dinner party menus is over-scheduling either the oven or stove top. The first thing I’m inspired to make generally leads me to more inspirations that use the same cooking method. If I want to make a roasted veggie platter (and I generally always... Read More
Sometimes You Just Need Something Fancy – candied orange peels
I am not one of those people who shy’s away from extraordinary ingredients. Don’t get me wrong – I’m not going to go buying a Berkshire pig leg without knowing I have a seriously great recipe/occasion for one. Yet my heart thrills to see the fancy packaging of the Italian chocolate-hazelnut spread on my shelf and will occasionally concede in spending the extra $1 more than nutella just to have that moment of love for myself. My favorite “fancy”... Read More
