Honey Roasted Pears Recipe

September 1, 2010

I’m telling you up front, this cookbook scared me when it arrived. I haven’t the patience to make confit, wouldn’t touch foie gras if you paid me and can’t even begin to tell you where to get quail eggs. Venison, bison and Cornish hens have never been, and likely will never be, on my grocery list. And quite frankly, I’m a bit afraid of pickled eggplant.

But despite all this, Simply In Season: 12 Months of Wine Country Cooking by Tony de Luca is just the kind of cookbook I need. Yesterday, while Stick Figure Charmian was falling off a treadmill, Real Life Charmian was looking for ways to break out of her comfort zone. And the path to culinary inspiration was sitting right on my shelf. [Read full article.]

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Draw A Dream

August 31, 2010
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This is me, in all my stick-figure glory. You can tell because a) the caption says so, and b) it ends in disaster. Before you write to inquire how I am, I assure you this drawing depicts a dream, not reality. Although I recently joined a gym, I have yet to be involved in an [...]

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Pink Angel Squares Recipe

August 30, 2010
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Pink. I hate it. It’s yet another carry over from my childhood. Every time I wore any shade of fuschia, magenta or bubble-gum some well-meaning adult would put a hand to my forehead and ask me if I was feeling all right. Classmates? They’d just tell me to get a tan. Hear encouragement like this [...]

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Peach, Apricot and Plum Galette Recipe

August 26, 2010
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This recipe is enough to make me eat my words.  I don’t like marzipan, I find Emeril Lagasse’s TV persona annoying (his toothpaste commercials were the final straw for me) and I avoid pre-packaged items on principle. And yet, this recipe, which  became a favourite within two bites, calls for almond paste, boxed puff pastry [...]

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Spicy Cauliflower with Cilantro Dressing

August 25, 2010
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A local Indian restaurant makes an addictive appetizer — bite-sized vegetables dipped in a spicy chickpea batter, deep fried and served with a cilantro dipping sauce. Whenever Andrew and I dine there, I pluck all the cauliflower florets from the plate and eat them myself. Since he doesn’t like cauliflower, it’s a pretty good system. [...]

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Gluten-Free Focaccia Bread

August 25, 2010
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I love wheat. I love chewy cookies, moist cake and bread with great big air bubbles in it. And let’s not forget flaky pastry, decadent squares and booze soaked trifle. With the exception of carob loaf, I don’t think I’ve met a baked good I didn’t like. And I’m fortunate. The only side effect I [...]

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Blog Aid: Recipes for Haiti Gets Gourmand World Cookbook Nomination

August 24, 2010
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Yesterday I got an email from Julie Van Rosendaal. The collective cookbook Blog Aid: Recipe for Haiti has been nominated for a Gourmand World Cookbook Award in the category of charity cookbooks. The awards will be announced in Paris this coming spring. Ooooohhhh la la. A big thank you goes out to Julie for getting [...]

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Peach and Blueberry Upside-Down Cake Recipe

August 23, 2010
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If you drop and upside-down cake on its head does it revert to plain old a cake? Sadly, no. It just becomes yet another item to file under “Kitchen Disasters”. The only advice I can give you, other than not to drop the final dish, is to resist the temptation to make this in a [...]

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Peach and Arugula Salad

August 20, 2010
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Here, in all her glory, is Green Leaf Platter in what turned out to be her final performance. Less than 24 hours before her untimely demise, GLP was working the salad like nobody’s business. A true artist to the end, she presented like no one was watching. As promised, here is the recipe for the [...]

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Broken

August 19, 2010
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In place of my scheduled peach post, I’m paying tribute to three fallen friends who gave their structural integrity in the name of food. Yesterday, as I carried a box laden with cake, bowls, wooden cutting boards and knives to the car, senseless tragedy struck Christie’s Corner. One small misstep on the back porch and [...]

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