FAST FINDS
Firing Up the Grill
Those of you who know me know how much I love to grill. With Memorial Day just around the corner, you can be sure that we have already gotten a head start firing up the grill and eating outdoors! If you are dusting off the…
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Simple Sundays | Rhubarb Scones
I feel a little ashamed. For the first time, I think I can make the (guilty) admission that in past years, Mother’s Day was a day that I thought I deserved something. Well, perhaps deserved is not quite the right word. Entitled, maybe. Entitled to…
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Events | James Beard Awards 2012
Time. There never seems to be enough, and I find this painfully true whenever I return to New York. There is just too much in New York. Too many people, too many buildings, too many restaurants. So many friends and family, so many new tastes…
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Simple Sundays | Creamy Brown Sugar Frosting
It is a perfect morning for flying, and I suspect the pilot knows it. As the airplane climbed, he circled over the glittering bay, the city below just waking up under the break of dawn. He took the scenic route, my beloved hills undulating in…
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Margarita Bars
Margarita Bars – put your favorite fiesta drink into a chewy dessert! These coconut lime bars with a shortbread crust are a vacation in every bite!
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Simple Sundays | Lemon Curd Frozen Yogurt
Wednesdays used to be our day. School let out early on an abbreviated schedule, and mom would pick me up. On Wednesdays, she didn’t have to rush to work, and still in my plaid uniform jumper, we would head straight to our special place. Carvel’s…
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Honey Yogurt Semifreddo
Semifreddo. Say it with me. It just rolls off the tongue, like honey, doesn’t it? Let’s say it again, together. Semifreddo. Italian is such a beautiful language. Who else could make the words for “half cold” sound so romantic? Well, perhaps the French. I guess…
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Lentil Spinach Salad
There is what I call the loud hours. Some of you with children also call it the witching hour, which really is slightly erroneous, because we all know the hour is more like three hours. I see you nodding your heads, you know what I…
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Simple Sundays | Filipino-style Braised Chicken with Cranberry Adobo Sauce
Lolo, what is your favorite dish? Around this time last year, my daughter was working on her 2nd grade heritage report, culling memories and family history. She picked up the phone and called my dad, going down her list of questions. When she came to…
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Events | Pebble Beach Food & Wine 2012
When I first experienced the epicurean delights that abound at Pebble Beach Food & Wine, all I could think of as I sipped and sampled my way through the day was, I wish my husband could taste this! Oh, I had a wonderful time with…
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Olive Couscous Salad
When we moved to our current house six years ago, the landscaping required a huge overhaul, and I had romantic notions of filling the backyard with olive trees, their gnarly trunks and branches growing into a graceful bramble shading our yard. I had visions of…
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Triple Cheese Bread
It was still dark when I heard footsteps approach my bed. My daughter crawled in under the comforter and snuggled close, and as I tried to settle back to sleep, I thought of all those nights when I would think, oh my goodness, will my…
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Grilled Cheese Sandwich with Roasted Red Peppers & Ibérico Ham
I think I may have been the only child to never eat a single grilled cheese sandwich growing up. It’s true. My mother never made them, and somehow, I lived a life sheltered from childhood “classics” such as grilled cheese, tomato soup, and macaroni and…
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A Weekend Away | IACP 2012 Annual Conference
The man to my left opened the window shade, and the brilliant sun shone down on rolling green hills thousands of feet below. As we made our descent into the San Francisco Bay Area this morning, my eyes were soothed by the verdant landscape, the…
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Nutella Swirl Brownies
Que bella! How beautiful! These sweet, doting words followed my little brother and sister as we traveled throughout Italy as children. Being the older one, in that awkward teenage stage, those words were never intended for me. But my siblings, who are seven and eight…
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