Carmel Highlands and Big Sur in Winter

February 22, 2011

Living in California most of my life, I’ve traveled to Monterey Bay many times. Oddly, I’ve never ventured south to Big Sur. When Nepenthe and the Big Sur Bakery came out with cookbooks a while ago, Big Sur became big news in the food world, and I suddenly felt as though I was missing out [...]

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Valentine Love (when you’re in a hurry)

February 14, 2011

So let’s say it’s already late in the day, and you’ve forgotten that a special dessert is almost mandatory on Valentine’s Day. And maybe your pantry is rather bare, with only a few essentials in it. Do you run to the store and buy one of the last picked over boxes of bad chocolates (filled [...]

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I Can

January 14, 2011

I’ve been unusually quiet for a long while now; there have been major health issues in my life. It seems that my body, upon turning 50, realized the warranty recently ran out, and like every major appliance I’ve ever had, picked that moment to fall apart. Today, I visited a spine specialist, where I learned [...]

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Giving Thanks

November 25, 2010

Sometimes, when you’ve just turned fifty, and it’s Thanksgiving, and you spent the last 24 hours packing up a tiny car with baking gear (Kitchen Aid, cake pans, icing spatulas, and all), clothing, birthday presents for your son’s 11th birthday, and groceries (to make two kinds of rolls and a birthday cake with dark chocolate [...]

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Creamy Fennel Soup

September 19, 2010

Welcome to Fall, when my thoughts automatically turn to hearty warm soups and root vegetables. (Although this year, with our cold summer, I’m not certain they ever strayed. Grouse, grouse, grouse.) Still, the light is different, the leaves are turning, school has started, and things have simply changed. Like that, seemingly overnight! Also seemingly overnight, [...]

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Potato, Cheddar, and Chive Torpedoes

September 7, 2010

I don’t know what the weather is like in your neighborhood, but Autumn has definitely arrived here in the Bay area. Not that we ever had a summer. And yes, I’m still bitter about that. The zucchini just started producing in late August, and I’ve harvested exactly 4 red tomatoes, but who’s counting? I digress. [...]

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Slipping Away

August 29, 2010

Last week we experienced our first really hot days of the year. The temperature soared to 104 degrees from this summer’s norm of about 68, enough to make me sit up and take notice that summer was about to pass us by. For two days, I dropped everything, grabbed my 10-year-old son, threw him in [...]

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Italian Cream Cake

August 20, 2010

Until a few years ago, I had never heard of Italian Cream Cake. Clearly I had been living under a rock. But not a rock in Texas. Because people in Texas know their Italian Cream Cakes. I first heard about this ultra-rich cake when we were going to have a friend (native Texan) over for [...]

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Asiatic Lilies

August 4, 2010

These Asiatic Lilies are just some of the flowers that arrive with our CSA subscription each week. I have to keep them outside, because I have a strong reaction to their perfume. Luckily, they stay fresh for a very long time out on the deck, and they look totally stunning in our outdoor “room.” So [...]

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Strawberry Buttermilk Popsicles

July 29, 2010

While the rest of the nation is celebrating that fantastical thing called summer, wearing shorts and flip flops and lots of sunscreen, those of us in the Bay Area are sporting winter sweats and wool sweaters.  I kid you not, I wore a thick cashmere v-neck to a party the other night and I was [...]

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