I didn’t really grow up with dessert. Not that my family never made sweets; the heirloom box of Grandma’s recipes is practically nothing but sweets, written in an endearing yet frustrating shorthand style with helpful instructions like “Mix. Bake.” But we certainly didn’t have dessert every night, and when cakes and cookies and butterscotch haystacks…
Quick and Easy Whole-Wheat Flatbread
It happens to me all the time. I have a good idea for dinner, and all the components are in the house, but it sure would be nice to have some kind of bread with it. Something delicious and whole grain. But it’s too late to throw something in the breadmaker, and I’m too lazy…
Quick Eats: Middle Eastern Grain Salad
This is less a recipe than an idea. A really tasty, simple, healthful idea. It came about from a half-cup of leftover bulgur, a fridge full of odds and ends with a vaguely Middle Eastern flair, and a need for lunch. I tried something similar with quinoa and with brown rice, also to good effect….
Spiced Breakfast Bulgur with Winter Fruit
It’s January. The holidays, with their fuss and excess, are over. Thoughts turn, with some relief, to New Year’s resolutions: specifically, to diet and exercise. I don’t really like New Year’s resolutions, and I specifically am not a fan of diets – America’s favorite resolution – which I think set us all up for endless…
Basque Piperade (Red Pepper and Tomato Stew) with Eggs
Arne and I traveled to Portland for Thanksgiving this year. While the family festivities were near the coast, of course we had to fly into Portland – previously covered on this blog as my favorite food city. And while we were there, naturally we had to try a couple of new restaurants. We had breakfast…
Peasant Casserole of Potatoes, Tomatoes, and Cheese
This is true peasant cooking. Which means, essentially, “What-have-I-got-in-the-fridge” cooking. It’s in the tradition of folks all over the world who rummage through their root cellars, vegetable crispers, and bread boxes to summon forth delicious, hearty, nourishing meals for their families out of what may seem like nothing. True, this isn’t a soup made from…
Holiday Gingerbread with Raisins and Pears
I’m sorry I’ve been gone so long! My computer totally flaked out on me. And now that I’m back (with a brand-new computer!), I feel like I’m kind of cheating. Because this recipe is simply a variation on my beloved Elsie’s Gingerbread, which I posted back in February 2010. But I came up with this variant…
Cranberry Apple Gingersnap Crisp
A few weeks ago, Smitten Kitchen (by far my favorite food blog – go check it out!) posted a recipe that sounded so good I could hardly stand it: Pear, Cranberry and Gingersnap Crumble. My mouth watered just thinking about it, even more so looking at Deb Perelman’s beautiful pictures. I had to have it right…
Brown and Wild Rice Casserole with Cottage Cheese
Daylight Savings Time is here. Or is it over? I can never remember. The thing is, though, it hardly matters – a little manipulation of the clock can’t hide the fact that the day is short. The sun will set just after 5:00 in Albuquerque today, and we’re losing light at the rate of about…
Papa Del’s Thick-Crust Pizza
If you have spent time in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois (my hometown), your mouth is watering already. Papa Del’s is C-U’s grand culinary treasure – that delicious taste of home that almost all displaced townies dream of, and even shell out large amounts of money to have shipped to them on dry ice. Del’s is known for…