Springy, citrusy Sauvignon Blanc

May 15, 2012

I’ve never much been into sour candies, lemon meringue pie, or tart vinaigrette dressing, so it makes sense that, until recently, I wasn’t particularly enamored of Sauvignon Blanc. Like those foods, Sauvignon Blanc has a good amount of lemony, bright acidity—which can be refreshing, but also sometimes downright mouth-puckering.

How to make a perfect hard-boiled egg

May 3, 2012

Before spring—the season of chicks and bunnies and jelly beans but also fertility and renewal and eggs—is behind us, let’s enjoy some hard-boiled eggs, shall we?

Emerging from the rabbit hole

April 25, 2012

I’ve been sort of down a rabbit hole lately, finishing up the cookbook I’ve been working on and paying attention to little else. I turned it in last week—yay!—and am just now starting to feel human again—double yay! (The photos here are the working copies of all the recipes in the book, a pile of papers that represents about six months’ work.)

I first mentioned the book back in January, but now let me officially tell you all about it.

Mom’s big red Le Creuset pot

February 16, 2012

My mom used to have a big, red Le Creuset pot, and out of it came all my favorite dinners.

A wine-soaked beef stew, which mom might’ve had bubbling on the stove on all Saturday afternoon while we watched her favorite show, “ABC’s Wide World of Sports.” Or chicken and dumplings, which might’ve been cooking while we spent a Sunday working a jigsaw puzzle.

Cooking the books: In Conversation with Exceptional Women

February 7, 2012

This is not a book to zoom through. It’s a book to be enjoyed, savored, parceled out, and relished. This is “In Conversation with Exceptional Women: Seeds of inspiration to help you bloom where you are planted,” an e-book by Monica Bhide.

In it, Monica talks with fifty-six different women – most, but not all, in the writing and publishing world and most, but not all, foodies – about what makes them tick.

A post-holiday visit over a cup of tea

January 16, 2012

It’s been a while since we talked, and since then the holidays have come and gone. Whew. Can’t believe how fast that always happens.

In all the hubbub, I didn’t get a chance to wish you a merry Christmas, or Hanukkah or kwanza, or a happy New Year. Which is not so much a reflection on how much I wish you all those things as a reflection of how quickly they all got by me.

So how about the next best thing – a post-holiday visit over a cup of (virtual) tea?

Trendy twists for the holidays

December 15, 2011

It’s the same every year. I want to make the nostalgic holiday foods that the season inspires, yet I also want to branch out, jazz things up, and enjoy dishes other than the same-old, same-old.

According to the National Pork Board, I’m not alone. Their recent “Holiday Table Trends” survey revealed that, while tradition is important, it’s continuing to take a back seat in holiday cooking. The survey went on to identify six food trends for the season – and not too coincidentally, they asked me to develop a recipe to celebrate each of them.

Great Cookbooks for Holiday Gifts

December 6, 2011

Welcome to my virtual holiday potluck. Well, not my virtual holiday potluck, but our virtual potluck—meaning you, me, and a bunch of my cookbook author pals.

The idea is, to help celebrate and promote each others’ books, we each write about another’s book , including a recipe and links to all the others’ posts. So you get to virtually experience a potluck of recipes and, perhaps, become inspired to add one (or more) of our books to your holiday gift list.

Cool, eh?

The hows and whys of brining, take two

November 15, 2011

Last year’s Thanksgiving post was about the hows and whys of brining. But it was a video. A seven-minute video. So I doubt you watched it.

My bad.

I don’t doubt, however, that brining will make a huge difference in your Thanksgiving turkey. So I thought I’d ‘splain it again, but in a way that doesn’t take seven minutes of your time. Promise.

Yay for Chardonnay

November 8, 2011

Chardonnay is kind of the Coke of wines. It’s popular. It’s easy to drink. And it goes with a lot of great foods.

That popularity, however, has led some to look down on Chardonnay. I think the logic is that if it’s that popular, it couldn’t possibly be cool.