Creamy Roasted Carrot Soup

Sometimes the obvious thought will swoop in and save the day. make carrot soup at least a half dozen times each year. Its one of those things I do without thinking. It was one of the first soups I ever learned to make and it was one of the first dishes I ever started experimenting […]

Gerard’s Mustard Tart

French Fridays with Dorie I have this fantasy/memory playing out in my head about French cooking and how it is prepared. Its seeds were planted when I took a family vacation to France as a teenager. Our family was hosted by a business associate of my father and his very elegant wife. Their names were […]

Fig Balsamic Ice Cream

The love affair with the ice cream maker continues… I’ve been awash in figs the last few weeks trying to take advantage of the wonderful Black Mission and Honey figs that have been showing up at our local farmers market. Mostly they have been destined to become versions of the same fig jam we made […]

Crust

French Fridays with Dorie I’m not one to back away from a cooking challenge but the one skill that continues to vex me is crust. No matter how many times I make it I just never really warm up to the task. I suppose I would do just about anything not to have to make […]

Gougères!

French Fridays with Dorie The interwebs are about to be inundated with posts featuring this elegant yet simple appetizer so I’m piling on the bandwagon. In a spasm of silly impetuousness (which I am sure to regret soon) I agreed to join the ranks of those whom I have previously (and lovingly?) referred to as […]

Prosciutto Wrapped Shrimp aka “those shrimp things”

These shrimp things” are orange and rosemary prosciutto-wrapped grilled shrimp marinated in Sambuca — a cult-favorite appetizer with a story, a following, and just enough drama.

Peanut Black Salted Caramels

You didn’t think I would give up on candy making so easily did you? When I get an idea into my head I don’t let a little set back stop me from figuring it out. My first attempt at a chewy caramel confection ended up brittle and crunchy. Much like an Almond Roca so I […]

Cantaloupe Sorbet is Easy!

My bigotry free ice cream maker continues to get a workout. Its amazing how good food can be when you omit the hate from your kitchen tools! This past weekend my hubby and I were out doing errands when we remembered we needed a new garden hose and a wheely thing that a hose goes […]

Why Do People Bake?

No shit. I saw this postcard on postsecret.com last week. This wasn’t my card but it might as well could have been. Only I don’t pretend its a secret. In case you don’t know about Post Secret they describe themselves as “an ongoing community art project where people mail in their secrets anonymously on one […]

Caesar Salad Dressing

One New Year’s Resolution I made back in January was something I didn’t talk much about at the time. I just did it. I tossed out all the bottles of store bought salad dressings that had been crowding out nearly one shelf of my refrigerator. Along with the vowed not to buy bottled salad dressings […]