Can you believe that I’ve never made these before? Its true. I set out this week to tackle the “chocolate chip cookie thing” and realized that I had never actually made one before. Weird, huh? I’ve made lots of cookies. Just not this kind. Lots of people make lots of chocolate chip cookies, they are […]

Yeah. Still on a diet. I’m just a glutton for punishment. Take a look at these! Yeah, I really am on a diet but honestly, I only had one bite! Oh, I looked at them a lot, photographed them even more, and then smelled them all afternoon while they were cooling but I only ate […]

.. with Banana Coffee Cake Chocolate Chip Cinnamon Streusel Muffins! Did you see her? She was here. One of my new blog idols, Mary the Food Librarian was here! I let her know I made her blood orange cardamom cake and she came over to take a look and left a lovely comment. [gush]Thanks Mary! […]

Here is ourHaft-Sin this year. It is modest in comparison to most but, of course, it is the principle here that counts. (Think Charlie Brown Christmas tree!) Had I thought of it years ago I would have focused my blog on the slow, often amusing introduction I had to Persian culture nearly 9 years ago. […]

I always get a giggle whenever someone tells me about their “famous [fill in name of food dish]”. Recently while dining with acquaintances we were informed that we were about to be treated too our hostess’s “famous meatloaf”. She actually informed us that she “was famous for her meatloaf”! Now don’t get me wrong, it […]

Persian culture has a fascinating custom called “T’aarof”that can be somewhat exasperating if you are unfamiliar with its complexities. It is a form of civility comprised of an abundance of polite phrases, language, and behaviors that can get rather extreme if you are not aware of what is going on. At its most artful it […]

It was a dark and stormy day and not feeling very creative, I put my ‘go to’ Chicken Chili with White Beans into the crock pot. Usually I would pull out a few more stops for a good friend visiting from London but all I had the energy for was to pull out the crock […]

Basil is abundant now so I am always looking for ways to use it such as in these Lemon Cakes with Lemon Basil Syrup. We all know that means pesto time as well. Pesto is a cook’s way of preserving the goodness of basil for use at a later time. As long as you have […]